A vote last week to install a 1,400-foot sidewalk has opened a fissure in the usually close-knit Board of Commissioners.
The vote came after weeks of debate about the 2012 road improvement program, a topic that usually hardly raises an eyebrow among borough residents. But a push to install sidewalks along the Washington Avenue corridor that leads into the Tavistock golf course rallied neighbors against it.
Commissioner Jeff Kasko sided with the neighbors and voted against installing a sidewalk along the sprawling, winding roadway with large, distinctive homes. Commissioners Tish Colombi and Ed Borden voted to install the sidewalks. The sidewalks will be installed.
"It amazed me that any elected official would take a vote, in my opinion, against pedestrian safety," Colombi, the mayor, said. "What I heard at every meeting from neighbors there was that 'we need something to control the speeding. Why not give us speed bumps?'"
Neighbors there have grown accustomed to not having sidewalks and extending landscaping to the street. The residents have also expressed concerns about maintenance of sidewalks, which customarily reverts to the homeowner once installed.
Borough officials have argued that they have a responsibility to promote pedestrian safety and sidewalks are part of that mission. They also stressed that the cost of the sidewalks is significantly reduced when including them with area road projects. The sidewalks here are expected to cost about $60,000 out of a $700,000 road and drainage improvement.
But Kasko eventually decided the neighbors' concerns and the sidewalk cost added up to a no vote.
"I don’t think we should have a blanket rule that where ever there isn’t a sidewalk we’re going to put one in, no matter what," Kasko said. "I’m all for public safety and pedestrian safety, but there are other concerns. You weigh the cost of the project, what effect it has on flooding and shade trees.
"It didn't pass the test. Is it worth it to spend that money and create divisiveness up there in that neighborhood for the couple of people who are going to walk on the sidewalk? It's not worth it."
Kasko has increasing found himself at odds with Colombi and Borden in recent months. He and Borden had a when both slammed their hands on a desk to make a point.
Borden, the commissioner who oversees public safety, said the sidewalk on Washington Avenue was the right thing to do.
"I think when we are installing streets it's the least expensive time to install sidewalks," he said. "To me, it's a safety issue. Sidewalks are safe for pedestrians. It's the right and safe thing to do."
Colombi hinted that Kasko's vote could be "political." All three commissioners, the highest elected borough officials, are up for reelection in 2013. But the current division in borough government crosses party lines. Kasko and Colombi are Republicans and Borden is a Democrat. But borough elections are nonpartisan and party affiliation is not listed on the ballot.
Kasko dismissed Colombi's insinuation that his vote was about politics.
"Everything that I approach, every vote to spend tax dollars, is not motivated by politics," he said.
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In my opinion they've stopped doing what is in the best interest of the community as a whole a long time ago. There are priorities all over town that dwarf this by light years but by God, those sidewalk are going in no matter what. When politicians stop listening they need to hear your voice...loudly. Bill, I respect your opinion and understand where you're coming from. But when politicians take a series of stands against the community and consistently rebuff their concerns, people reach a breaking point. The Mayor and the commissioner have fully earned this anger. This is what happens when the special interests who got them where they are sets the agenda. If anyone thinks Tish Colombi and Ed Borden are the visionaries for the direction Haddonfield's been heading, I have a bridge I want to sell you. If the two of them can't take the heat they should get out of the kitchen. Either that or try another solution...do a little walking in shoes of the people being affected by their decisions.
Go on facebook.com/HaddonfieldUnited and take a look at issues of real pedestrian safety that have been ignored for years. if the Mayor really cares about the safety of the residents she professes to serve she'll fix these problems NOW.
All kidding aside, (about the toboggan, anyway) every resident of Haddonfield should drive by the proposed sidewalk area and look at the beautiful trees and bushes, manicured lawns, landscaped gardens and driveways that will torn asunder and ask yourself if this is a wise expenditure of taxpayer dollars. It also looks like the electric and telephone poles are in the line of fire. Of course, any cost given to you by the commissioners should automatically be doubled or tripled. Those sidewalks are no 60 thousand dollar job but hey, it's not their money they're spending in their quest to remake Haddonfield in their vision.
Many of these programs are run by groups of concerned citizens trying to make a difference and have lots of input along the way. For example, "TAPS", Traffic and Pedestrian Safety has effectively improved many areas for residents and much of these projects have been paid for by public grants and not by the local taxpayers directly. I'm still a little flabbergasted that folks would use an issue like a needed sidewalk to trash folks who are serving us. I also wish they would quit saying we don't need them. I and others who walk need them. Am I nobody? And for what, so the people in that posh neighborhood who took over our public land like it was their own can have their yards look even bigger than they rightfully are? They know that land is not theirs and they or their predecessors knew it when they tried to take it. I love your passion, but you need to get the facts first to be fair..
I examined the field. Using my knowledge from when I used to landscape, I observed the field hadn't been rotated or thatched in years and more surprisingly, the whole sprinkler system was so poorly maintained it produced tiny lush patches of green grass while the rest of the field was burnt toast. As a result, the undergrowth is compromised, which means easy breakdown and dangerous playing conditions for the girls field hockey team. Got that? DANGEROUS CONDITIONS. There is now total weed growth in front of the girls goal areas on both sides of the field. Total incompetence. When you hear four different explanations from your Mayor, use your brain and figure it out. By the way, go on facebook.com/HaddonfieldUnited where you'll see the pictures I took from my Radnor Field investigation
Which brings up the anger issue. Yes, I'm angry all right. Do you know the debt our town is in? 45 million dollars. By state law, the debt of our town cannot exceed 69 million. When the commissioners finish up with their Bancroft/turf/sports complex with it's added expenses (you know, like saying the sidewalks on Washington will only be 60 grand) and their other projects like tearing down a tree they weren't supposed to take down to lay down asphalt for their permanent bleachers at Centennial field (ask and I'll give all the companies involved and the total operating costs of the project) our commissioners are going to take us up to the 69 MILLION DOLLAR cutoff point. 69 MILLION DOLLARS in debt for the town of Haddonfield while the infrastucture falls to pieces. 69 MILLION DOLLARS IN DEBT. Remember Borden's remarks? "Haddonfield will become more expensive. Some of the less affluent will have to leave". People taxed so high they have to leave the town they love and don't even try and dare to deny that because I've talked to hundreds of residents and I KNOW. So what happens to a town that's so full of debt it can't borrow anymore?
On a personal aside, one of the reasons you said you agree with the commissioners installing sidewalks on the Washington Avenue is because it was legal. You know what else is legal? Eminent Domain. If someone decided to bulldoze your house to stick a road through it, you might feel a little more sympathy towards the people who have had their lives turned upside by these politicians, who have little regard for all but a handful of residents. The government statistics on Haddonfield's debt will be available on Haddonfield United and the link to the Patch. Bill, I respect your opinion and know you're a good citizen and person but I know just what's going and believe me, so do thousands of Haddonfield residents. I don't question the character of our elected officials outside of of the political arena. But inside the political world of Haddonfield they are oblivious to the everyday concerns of the average resident and are an unmitigated disaster to our historical heritage.
To watch this from the beginning, how it's been maneuvered is quite the coordinated effort. The support from this has been a universal effort touted by Mayor Colombi, Commissioner Borden and Steve Weinstein. The Mayor has been a front person for the conditions of the fields being a reason for the turf, The Mayor is responsible for the municipal work force. The field is taken care of by borough workers. The commissioners are responsible for the safety of Haddonfield's residents. This notion of "addressing the responsible party" while the issue conveniently gets tossed back and forth is as old as politics itself. By the way, addressing the "responsible party" with these people is a joke in and of itself. The collusion between the commissioners, the BOE and all the special interests involved have been running this town into the ground. I'm taking my concerns to the people who really matter...the residents of Haddonfield. See you at election time.
As for the fields being sold the first one already would have been a DONE DEAL if it wasn't for the RESIDENTS who live there making there voices heard. Got it? They want to destroy the historical heritage of this town and force our hard working citizens who live here but weren't afforded the advantages of wealth they were out of town? The funny thing is, in all this you're portraying our elected officials as the unfairly criticized put upon victims. As far has channeling passion for the good of the town, that's just what I'm doing. Bill, don't think I'm just one person that feels this way. We all love our town so much and we're saving it. It's called Democracy in action. It's what America is all about.
FACT #2. Sidewalks on the portion of Washington that is in question are a waste of money and completely unnecessary regardless of "legality". It is not dangerous to walk in the street there. Use common sense. The only people that should be campaigning FOR the sidewalks there are the residents that live in that area which are effected, which DOES NOT EXIST. If one grumpy old person wants a sidewalk in that area that does not suffice as a reason to install one and our for the bogus commissioners to abuse their "power". This is such a ridiculous "non-issue". C'mon now people.
As for the fields, Radnor field would have already been a DONE DEAL if it wasn't for the residents voicing the anger. I call that damn conclusive evidence. It's so funny you make the the commissioners out to be the victims in all this. The poor commissioners who have let the town fall to pieces while running the town into such debt some residents are forced to leave. As for your charges of misdirected passion, people uniting to make their voices heard from politicians with their own agenda is the epitome of Democracy and the ultimate show of American Patriotism. I also find your attitude towards your fellow neighbors having their streets torn asunder so you can walk on an unneeded sidewalk selfish, self centered and callous. Just my opinion. As for this POSITIVE passion you're seeing, I'm just a cog in the wheel. People in charge better get used to it.
As for Maryann Campling's comments about the catholic ghetto east end, she is a referring to herself and her neighbors at Lee avenue and how an unfair political decision has affected their lives. The very attitude you correctly pointed out has been thrust upon them. Haddonfield at its finest indeed.
On another note, I've always wondered... if the land belongs to the Borough, why doesn't the Borough accept repsonsibility for maintaining it? Many towns have certificate of occupancy requirements that hold home owners responsible for repairing cracked and uneven sidewalks prior to the sale of their homes. Most of the time, its the trees the towns have planted that destroy the sidewalks and the owner ends up paying to replace the damaged pads. Fortunately, Haddonfield has not adopted that requirement, yet.