GalaxyFacts Chat Room

[Mike]

'Kickback couple' face the press
by The Jersey Journal
Friday September 28, 2007, 5:53 PM

Reena Rose SibayanGuttenberg Mayor David Delle Donna and his wife, Anna, leave federal court today after being accused of taking kickbacks from a bar owner, a real estate developer and a town fire official.

Guttenberg Mayor David Delle Donna and his wife, Anna, face dozens of reporters, photographers and television cameras on their way out of federal court in Newark this afternoon after being hit with corruption charges.

The accusations say Mrs. Delle Donna spent much of the ill-gotten gains on personal pampering.

Get the full story in tomorrow's Jersey Journal along with commentary by the paper's Political Insider columnist.

[admin]

This letter was placed under the 1,074 doors of each resident of the Galaxy the night before a Galaxy board of Director election in an attempt to discredit me and the group The Concerned Unit Owners Group (CUOG) who supported some of the candidates. The letter states that I have been making false claims of construction work without permits. It was sent by the general manager with the approval of the Board which included Alan Ellinger, Harlin Blank and Martha Norget.

On the back side of her letter was this letter from Mayor David Delle Donna dated February 25, 2004. He addresses my "misinformation" and claims to have spoken with the construction official and found that there were no problems with lack of permits at the Galaxy.

Then I made an Open Public Record request OPRA and found this letter in the Guttenberg Building Department files dated February 26, 2004 written by the then Guttenberg constuction official to the Department of Community Affairs official informing them of the violations he had issued to the Galaxy for lack of permits. Some of them were issued days before Delle Donna's letter was written.

DCA State Report
Notice the February 18th and 21st violations

[Mike]

Delle Donna's Attorney:

RALPH J. LAMPARELLO

http://www.chasanlaw.com/lamp.html

[Guest]

rah/trc/2006R00357 -
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY

I N D I C T M E N T The Grand Jury in and for the District of New Jersey, sitting in Newark, charges:
COUNT ONE
CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT MAIL FRAUD

Defendants
1. At all times relevant to Count One of this Indictment:
Defendant DAVID DELLE DONNA was a resident and elected official of the Town of Guttenberg, New Jersey (“Guttenberg,” or the “Town”). Beginning on or about January 1, 2002, defendant DAVID DELLE DONNA served as the Mayor of Guttenberg. Prior to 2002, defendant DAVID DELLE DONNA was a member of the Guttenberg Town Council. In both capacities, defendant DAVID DELLE DONNA was in a position to influence, and did influence, official action taken on behalf of Guttenberg.
Defendant ANNA DELLE DONNA was a resident of Guttenberg and the wife of defendant DAVID DELLE DONNA. Beginning on or about January 1, 2002, defendant ANNA DELLE DONNA was appointed to serve as a member of the Guttenberg Planning

Board (the “Planning Board”). As a Planning Board member, defendant ANNA DELLE DONNA was in a position to influence, and did influence, official action taken on behalf of Guttenberg.
2. At all times relevant to Count One of this Indictment, defendant DAVID DELLE DONNA operated and caused to be operated certain campaign committees (the “Committees”) responsible for raising funds on behalf of the election campaigns of defendant DAVID DELLE DONNA and the campaigns of those candidates for Guttenberg Town Council with whom defendant DAVID DELLE DONNA affiliated himself and who affiliated themselves with defendant DAVID DELLE DONNA (the “Campaigns”). The purpose of the Committees was to raise funds in order to defray the expenses associated with the Campaigns. These funds were regularly deposited into accounts at various financial institutions, including Summit Bank, Bridge View Bank, Fleet Bank, and Bank of America.

Committee Reporting Obligations

3. Pursuant to the New Jersey Campaign Contributions and Expenditures Reporting Act, N.J. Stat. Ann. §§ 19:44A-1, et seq. (the “Campaign Act”), the treasurer of a candidate or joint candidates committee must make an accurate written record of all contributions to the committee. All such funds must be received in a campaign depository of the committee within ten days, or may be transferred to another candidate or committee provided that a record is made of such transfer.
4. The Campaign Act further provided that the campaign treasurer must report all contributions received on forms required by the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (“ELEC”) and must submit the reports to ELEC in Trenton, New Jersey. According to the forms, only the names and addresses of individuals whose aggregate contributions did not exceed $300 in 2005, and $400 in years before, were to be excluded from the reports. The completed forms were to be filed with ELEC on the 29th day preceding the election, on the 11th day preceding the election, on the 20th day after the election, and on a quarterly basis until a final report was filed. The campaign treasurer and the candidate were under a duty to the campaign committee and its contributors and creditors to, among other things, honestly and truthfully account for the committee’s receipts and not to use any of the committee’s funds for any improper purpose or expenditure, pursuant to N.J. Stat. Ann. 19:44A-1 et seq., N.J.A.C. 19:25-1 et seq., and their common-law obligations as fiduciaries of the committee.
5. The Campaign Act was amended in 1993 to explicitly prohibit the personal use of campaign contributions. In 2004, the Campaign Act was further amended to require the reporting of any contribution made in cash, regardless of amount.


Cash Contributions
6. At all times relevant to Count One of this Indictment, defendants DAVID DELLE DONNA and ANNA DELLE DONNA held and caused to be held two major Campaign fundraising events
each year (the “Campaign Events”). In the years that defendant DAVID DELLE DONNA was a candidate for Mayor of Guttenberg, the tickets were sold as contributions to the joint candidates committee of defendant DAVID DELLE DONNA and the candidates for Guttenberg Town Council affiliated with defendant DAVID DELLE DONNA. In the years that there was no mayoral election, the tickets were sold as contributions to the joint candidates committee of the candidates for Guttenberg Town Council affiliated with defendant DAVID DELLE DONNA.
7. At all times relevant to the Indictment:
An individual, I-1, owned or had an interest in commercial and residential property in Guttenberg and operated a bar in Guttenberg that bought and sold items in interstate commerce. From in or about 2001 to in or about 2005, I-1 spent between approximately $2,000 and $6,000 in cash on tickets for each Campaign Event. These payments by I-1 therefore exceeded the limits set by New Jersey State law for permissible cash campaign contributions. I-1 also purchased certain tickets by check during portions of this time period.
An individual, I-2, was involved in the business of real estate development in and around Guttenberg. In or about August 2003, I-2 hosted a private fundraiser for defendant DAVID DELLA DONNA’s mayoral campaign on I-2's boat, which included a river cruise and dinner. Among the funds collected from the guests, I-2 received approximately $500 in

cash, which I-2 subsequently turned over to defendant DAVID DELLA DONNA.
c. An individual, I-3, worked as a fire official in Guttenberg. In or about 2005 and 2006, I-3 agreed to sell tickets to a campaign event. Among other ticket sales, I-3 received approximately $100 in cash from a local businessman, which I-3 subsequently turned over to defendant DAVID DELLA DONNA.

The Mail Fraud Conspiracy

8. From in or about 2001 to in or about 2005, in Hudson and Mercer Counties, in the District of New Jersey and elsewhere, defendants

DAVID DELLE DONNA and ANNA DELLE DONNA did knowingly and willfully conspire and agree with each other to commit an offense against the United States that is, using the United States mails for the purpose of executing a scheme and artifice to defraud and to obtain money and property from the Committees and their contributors and to deprive the Committees of their right to the honest services of their respective treasurers and candidate DAVID DELLE DONNA, by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises, contrary to Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1341 and 1346.

9. The object of this conspiracy was for defendants DAVID DELLE DONNA and ANNA DELLE DONNA and others to divert and attempt to divert cash campaign contributions and ticket proceeds
from the Committees and to conceal material information regarding this conduct.
10. It was a part of the conspiracy that, from in or about 2001 to in or about 2005, the cash campaign contributions of I-1, I-2, and I-3 were not deposited in the appropriate campaign depository, but were diverted by defendants DAVID DELLE DONNA and ANNA DELLE DONNA.

11. It was a further part of this conspiracy that, from in or about 2002 to in or about 2005, defendants DAVID DELLE DONNA and ANNA DELLE DONNA prepared, caused to be prepared, signed, caused to be signed, filed, and caused to be filed ELEC forms that were certified by the Campaign treasurers to be truthful and accurate but that, in fact, intentionally failed to disclose the cash contributions to the Campaigns.

12. It was a further part of the conspiracy that, from in or about 2002 to in or about 2006, defendants DAVID DELLE DONNA and ANNA DELLE DONNA prepared, caused to be prepared, signed, caused to be signed, filed, and caused to be filed Financial Disclosure forms that intentionally failed to disclose the defendants’ receipt of these cash contributions. The New Jersey Local Government Ethics Law, N.J. Stat. Ann. §§ 40A:9¬22.1, et seq., provides that all local government officials must, on an annual basis, complete and file a Financial Disclosure form with the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, Local Government Services Division, Local Finance Board. Among other things, the completed Financial Disclosure Form must list all
sources of income, earned or unearned, exceeding $2,000 and all gifts having an aggregate value exceeding $400 from a single source during the previous calendar year.
13. It was a further part of the conspiracy that from in or about 2002 to in or about 2006, for the purpose of executing this scheme and artifice to defraud, defendants DAVID DELLE DONNA and ANNA DELLE DONNA placed and caused to be placed in a post office and authorized depository for mail matter to be sent and delivered by the Postal Service, Financial Disclosure Statements and ELEC Reports of Contributions and Expenditures to the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs and ELEC in Trenton, New Jersey, respectively, that failed to disclose the cash contributions referenced in paragraph 7 of this Count.

In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349.


COUNT TWO
CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT EXTORTION
1. Paragraphs 1, 2 and 7(a) of Count One of this Indictment are hereby realleged and incorporated as if set forth in full herein.

The Extortion Conspiracy
2. From in or about 2001 to in or about 2005, in Hudson County, in the District of New Jersey and elsewhere, defendants
DAVID DELLE DONNA and ANNA DELLE DONNA did knowingly and willfully conspire and agree with each other and others to obstruct, delay, and affect interstate commerce by extortion under color of official right, by obtaining corrupt payments that were paid by I-1, with I-1's consent.
The Object of the Conspiracy
3. The object of the conspiracy was for defendants DAVID DELLE DONNA and ANNA DELLE DONNA to obtain from I-1 cash campaign contributions and other payments and benefits with the intent to be influenced and rewarded for taking, attempting to take, and refraining from taking official action in their positions as Guttenberg officials.
Manner and Means of Carrying out the Conspiracy
4. The manner and means employed by defendants DAVID DELLE DONNA and ANNA DELLE DONNA, and their co-conspirators, to carry out this conspiracy included the following:

a. From in or about 2001 to in or about 2005, defendants DAVID DELLE DONNA and ANNA DELLE DONNA accepted and caused to be accepted from I-1 cash campaign contributions for the election campaigns of defendant DAVID DELLE DONNA and the campaigns of those candidates for Guttenberg Town Council within whom defendant DAVID DELLE DONNA affiliated himself and who affiliated themselves with defendant DAVID DELLE DONNA.

b. From in or about 2002 to in or about 2005, defendants DAVID DELLE DONNA and ANNA DELLE DONNA solicited and accepted from I-1 various additional payments of cash, goods, and services. These payments included the following:

i. Approximately $2,000 in cash for cosmeticsurgery for defendant ANNA DELLE DONNA;

ii. Several thousand dollars in cash for defendant ANNA DELLE DONNA to gamble withduring visits to casinos in Atlantic City,New Jersey, and elsewhere;

iii. Approximately $1,000 in department store giftcards;
Bottles of liquor from I-1's business,including bottles of Grand Marnier; and
The purchase of a dog and related accessoriescosting in excess of $1,000.

c. In exchange for I-1's cash campaign contributions and other payments and benefits, defendants DAVID DELLE DONNA and ANNA DELLE DONNA agreed to take and refrain from taking official action on behalf of Guttenberg as specific opportunities arose. Defendants DAVID DELLE DONNA and ANNA DELLE DONNA agreed to assist and did assist I-1 with the following issues, among others:

i. Problems that I-1 was having with theGuttenberg Police Department regardingsecurity issues at I-1's bar business;
ii. Problems that I-1 was having with theGuttenberg Township Council, which serves asthe Town’s Alcoholic Beverage Commission,relating to incidents at I-1's bar business;
iii. I-1's need to obtain a variance for construction on a piece of residentialproperty in Guttenberg in which I-1 had aninterest; and
iv. Multiple citations received by I-1 forvarious municipal violations involving I-1'sGuttenberg properties, including the improperstorage and disposal of garbage.
In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section
1951(a).
A TRUE BILL
FOREPERSON
CHRISTOPHER J. CHRISTIE United States Attorney

[Guest]

Hello Gerald Robert Drasheff,
Did you or did you not....???
.................................................................

a. From in or about 2001 to in or about 2005, defendants DAVID DELLE DONNA and ANNA DELLE DONNA accepted and caused to be accepted from I-1 cash campaign contributions for the election campaigns of defendant DAVID DELLE DONNA and the campaigns of those candidates for Guttenberg Town Council within whom defendant DAVID DELLE DONNA affiliated himself and who affiliated themselves with defendant DAVID DELLE DONNA.


2. At all times relevant to Count One of this Indictment, defendant DAVID DELLE DONNA operated and caused to be operated certain campaign committees (the “Committees”) responsible for raising funds on behalf of the election campaigns of defendant DAVID DELLE DONNA and the campaigns of those candidates for Guttenberg Town Council with whom defendant DAVID DELLE DONNA affiliated himself and who affiliated themselves with defendant DAVID DELLE DONNA (the “Campaigns”). The purpose of the Committees was to raise funds in order to defray the expenses associated with the Campaigns. These funds were regularly deposited into accounts at various financial institutions, including Summit Bank, Bridge View Bank, Fleet Bank, and Bank of America.

[Barry0]

[miked]

Will arrested woman open another bar?
By: Jim Hague , Reporter staff writer

The owner of a Guttenberg bar that was closed last Saturday because of reports of illegal practices already had received a liquor license to open another establishment in town last month.

Luisa Medrano, the owner of El Puerto de la Union on 68th Street and Bergenline Avenue in Guttenberg, was indicted in federal court in Newark last week, along with nine other people, for allegedly smuggling girls as young as 14 years old from Honduras to Union City and forcing them to work and drink at Medrano's three area bars.

However, Medrano was granted a license to own and operate another bar in Guttenberg, currently known as the Tequila Bar and formerly known as Harpo's, on 71st Street and Park Avenue. Medrano purchased the bar in March and received the approval to own the liquor license from the town's Alcohol Beverage Control board for the establishment in June.

The Guttenberg ABC board is run by Mayor David Delle Donna and the Town Council.

Medrano's two Union City establishments, El Puerto de la Union II and El Paisano Bar and Nightclub, were ordered closed Friday night by Union City police after word of Medrano's federal indictment were handed down.

Delle Donna confirmed that Medrano, who has been an active member of the Guttenberg community in terms of donating money items for the annual Kids' Day event and Christmas drive, did receive a license to operate the Tequila Bar and was in the process of making renovations to the establishment at the time of the federal indictment.

"Right now, she does have a liquor license and permits with the building department to do some renovations," Delle Donna said. "Had anyone known about this situation before, things would have been different and maybe we would have voted against granting her the license. But we had no idea that there was a federal investigation going on. We had to go on the facts that were presented to us at the time she applied for the license."[/size]

Minor violations

Medrano has been the owner of the Guttenberg establishment for the last four years. During that time, El Puerto de la Union has been cited with a handful of minor violations, like unlicensed bartenders and loud music complaints, and the town's ABC moved to have Medrano's liquor license suspended. Delle Donna said that he had been about 18 months since El Puerto de la Union was handed any minor violation.

But even the minor violations wouldn't have been enough evidence to the New Jersey State ABC to have the license revoked.

"As far as the state ABC laws go, you need to have four major violations to revoke a license," Delle Donna said. "We have a very active ABC, but we have to follow state laws. When they came in front of us for the new license, we checked everything out and there was nothing on the record not to give them the right to have a license. It's not just for the buyer. The seller is also involved. The seller wants to make sure that he can turn over the business."

According to the terms of the federal indictment, Medrano was involved with smuggling the young women in from Honduras and promised jobs as waitresses. However, they were allegedly raped by their captors, help captive, forced to have abortions if they became pregnant, and forced to entertain male customers at the three establishments with provocative dancing.

Regular customer

Francisco Arroyo was a regular customer at El Puerto de la Union in Guttenberg. Arroyo, a truck driver, said that he would go into the place after work to have a few drinks and talk with a few friends from his native El Salvador, where owner Medrano was born.

However, Arroyo noticed a few months ago that these young girls were serving beer for $14 and then the girls would dance and grind their bodies into the customers for the increased price.

"If you wanted a beer, it was $4," Arroyo said. "If you wanted the 'special beer,' it was $14. These girls would do everything to the guys. I couldn't believe it was happening."

Another customer, who asked to remain anonymous because he is not naturalized, said that he was offered other things in the bar.

"I was told that I could have sex with any one of the girls for a price," claimed the man, also a truck driver, speaking in Spanish, with Arroyo as an interpreter. "For $25, $30, I could have sex somewhere with them if I wanted. I never saw that before. It was all a shock to me."

Another worker, making a delivery to a store nearby, chimed in.

"That stuff has been going on in there for a long time," said Edwin Rivera of Union City. "I'm here making stops for work all the time and you see the young girls out here. You know they don't belong there."

A reporter tried to see for himself Saturday if the lap-dancing practice was taking place in El Puerto de la Union. Although there were two young ladies present that appeared to be workers, there was no dancing. None of the customers inside the establishment were interested in talking about possible lap-dancing or increased beer prices for "special beer."

Dancing?

Delle Donna said that he didn't know whether any dancing for increased prices was taking place in the Guttenberg bar.

"There is no basement and no second floor to the Guttenberg bar, so if it was happening, it would have been in front of everyone else," Delle Donna said. "I don't know if there was any lap-dancing happening, but we have a special officer who is stationed every Friday and Saturday nights and patrols the bars. We have another officer who patrols regularly from midnight to 4 a.m. right in that area. We have never had any reports of lap-dancing or anything going on. The only complaints are when people leaving the place, there has been some noise. Those I have received."

However, one customer said that he contacted police about the raised prices and supposed prostitution.

"No one has ever presented anything like that in my office," Delle Donna said. "I've been told by the police, by Lt. (Joseph) Gryzbowski (the highest ranking uniformed Guttenberg police officer) that he never received anything either. I don't know where this person is coming from."

Delle Donna said that he was "disturbed" by the news of Medrano's arrest and the accusations behind the indictment.

"It's a terrible thing to happen in any establishment in my town," Delle Donna said. "As mayor, I take responsibility for anything that happens in Guttenberg. But in this case, how could anyone know? What could we do?"

For now, Medrano gets to keep her new license. It has not been determined how long the existing establishment will remain closed.

"She's been accused of crimes, but just accused," Delle Donna said. "I'm not sure if we can keep the bar closed and I'm not sure if we can revoke the new license. I understand fully well what it looks like. But any naturally thinking person would realize that if I knew this was going on, I would do anything and everything in my power to stop it and shut it down. For now, we have it closed while an ongoing investigation continues."

[Mike]

[Mike]

I always understood why the Mayor would write this letter but I never understood why he would not write another letter to correct the record after he was presented with the facts or why he would never respond to my letters.
NOW I think I know why!

[galaxy insider]

I used to serve on the executive council of the Galaxy Board until I got savy to their politics.

First, they gather their committee and club members. Huddle up and give them the owners list with address and phone number.

(something that is not allowed to the "average" owner)

Next, they give marching orders to call each owner and tell the to vote for column A

Column A the Dellla Donna, Lavilla and other cronies slate.

The same folks who have been bleeding the town and galaxy financially for years.

They have their "good old buddies' put into positions in town for doing the dirty work of the BOD such as singling out new owners and working on them to get them to take sides.

They hold a meet your neighbor night and position a security guard at the door so that only they can influence the new owners and get them to drink the cool aid.

Then they get them into the "family - la familia" and have them do the calls, working on the local elections, and running smear campaigns against any resident who speaks up about what they are doing.

They keep the Galaxy locked down so that owners cannot speak to each other about the BOD elections by restricting candidates speach and making it too expensive for owners to rent the spa lounge to hold an owners meeting.

However, they let their allies conduct business out of the spa lounge for free, i.e. former board member Kathy Moberly gives her student piano recitals in the spa lounge and does not pay. This makes it seem all warm and fuzzy when these wonderful poeple appear on Ch.26 and then we elect them cause they are so good! Yeah right, the same folks who wouls not allow any other piano teacher the same rights or any other resident the use of the spa lunge for free.

Except when Simon wined and dines Gulrajany, a big real estate mogu and give him the Indian Gala in the spa lounge to get the block votes from him and then made his son V.p. of the board.

Also, they have their committee buddies wine and dine local politicians and potential voters on the Galaxy charge accounts at the Green Kitchen and Benitos.

If you can't win votes, then buy them especially the votes of multiple unit owners.

Next, get a local public official to run the board elections even though there is a conflict of interest.

I could write a book but I'LL STOP HERE FOR NOW.

I pray the squealer appears soon to put an end to our financial misery and blood letting that those who have had the control and pulled the puppet strings for years at the Galaxy have perpetuated.

Some say, they live here too why would they do that?

I say, a creative board member can always afford to live here!

[admin]

Do you have any facts to support these serious allegations?
If you do please send them to admin@galaxyfacts.com

[Mike]

From 2004

Link

[Guest]

Looking for something Rotten?
You are in the right place.
Susan Fitzpatrick, you've got to be kidding…
Eugene Ferraro, you've got to be kidding… No permits needed?
Gerald Drasheff, you've got to be kidding… Now we know who is in charge of the Guttenberg Building Department. Clowns, F.... Clowns!!!

[Mike]

You need a permit to change your kitchen sink but you don't need a permit for this work on the roof of the Mall? The Town of Guttenberg only charged 65 dollars.














THANK YOU VERY MUCH MR. DRASHEFF FOR SAVING THE GALAXY CONTRACTORS $400,000 ON PERMIT FEES. THE GUTTENBERG SCHOOL KIDS THANK YOU TOO!!!

Kids left out in Guttenberg budget cuts
After-school activities sliced due to voter rejection of referendum
By: Jim Hague , Reporter staff writer

Basketball practice for Anna L. Klein elementary school's famed boys' and girls' teams were supposed to begin last week. The boys' program has been around since the school's namesake was still alive.

Basketball has been a part of the fabric of Klein School since the 1900s. But those practices were delayed for at least several weeks.

And there are unlikely to be meetings at all of the school's student council or art club at all this year. The same can be said for the school yearbook and student newspaper. Marching band practices, cheerleading sessions, get-togethers for the school's color guard and flag wavers - are things of the past. There will be no sweet sounds from the school chorus.

Last May, Guttenberg voters were asked during the regular Board of Education elections to vote on a special referendum that would have earmarked $186,000 of increased taxes toward funding the school's extracurricular activities, teams and organizations that have kept Guttenberg's children occupied and safe for decades. The referendum was voted down.

Now, the school's kids do not have the programs that kept them off the streets after school. And it's a pain that has filtered throughout the close-knit school community, with school officials and residents alike wondering how this could happen.

According to the Board of Education's business administrator Jolene Mantineo, the board was forced to make several cuts to fit within the state-mandated 3 percent cap on budget increases. Teacher salaries and health benefits were a major concern.

"They were fixed costs," Mantineo explained. "So we had to sit down and make cuts right down the line. Our state aid did not increase, so we had to make some tough decisions, and regretfully, all the extracurricular activities were cut."

However, the Board of Education devised a way that would have kept the programs functioning, by placing a special referendum on the ballot that would have called for a minimal tax increase.

"A matter of pennies per year per each household," Mantineo said.

Voted down

That referendum was voted down, with two current members of the Board of Education, Vasilios "Bill" Scoullos and Sari Zukerman, campaigning against it. Scoullos said that it was the wrong way to go about handling the budget problem.

Scoullos has been an active opponent of the current town administration headed by Mayor David Delle Donna, and has run for Town Council unsuccessfully on several occasions. He was elected to the Board of Education last year. He denied charges that his campaigning against the referendum was politically motivated.

"This has nothing to do with politics," Scoullos said. "I was on the budget committee and I felt that the increase of health benefits by 33 percent across the board was too much. To me, it was a wrong approach to put the question on the ballot. It was a tactical mistake by limiting that question to only the extra items. I did campaign against it, but I felt they made a wrong decision. They took a calculated risk and lost. I feel bad, but it was a gamble the other board members took. The bottom line is that they lost with that gamble."

Since the item appeared on the ballot and was voted down by the general public, New Jersey state education laws clearly state that the programs eliminated by budget cuts cannot be reinstated as school activities, even if someone donated money to help fund the programs. They can be reinstated in next year's budget, but not now.

"We're out of luck no matter how you look at it," Mantineo said.

"We tried to do some creative things with the budget, to keep the programs active," said Guttenberg Superintendent of Schools Dr. Robert Penna. "We also did not replace a teacher's aide, a reading teacher, and a bilingual teacher that retired. The first place where we made cuts was with staff. But we weren't going to eliminate positions."

Teachers can't volunteer

There was talk among some of the teachers to volunteer their time to keep the programs active. However, since the Guttenberg Education Association, the union representing teachers and staff, has begun negotiations on a new contract again - the teachers are currently working without a contract, since the old one (which took nearly three years to ratify) expired last June - the officers in the union were told to instruct the teachers to not volunteer for anything.

"Some wish to volunteer and some don't want to," Penna said. "It's been a tough time."

Other organizations have stepped forward to try to help.

Mayor Delle Donna and the Town Council have decided to fund the basketball, cheerleading and outdoor track programs, placing them under the umbrella of the town's recreation department.

"To not have a Klein School basketball team would have been unacceptable," Delle Donna said. "I refused to allow that tradition to die. From what I understand, we have to hire people to coach the teams and keep the teams going. The voters decided that unless everything is funded, then the programs for the kids should be eliminated. I find it very disturbing to think that way. I'm kind of at a loss for words over it. The only people getting hurt by this are the children. And it's a shame that a current board member [Scoullos] and another board member who was an educator from another district [Zukerman is a retired teacher] actually lobbied against the budget."

Added Delle Donna, "We currently have the lowest cost per student in the state and the voters still voted this referendum down. I have to abide by that, but it's still very disturbing to me."

Basketball, cheerleading, track can remain

While the basketball, cheerleading and track programs' costs will now be absorbed by Guttenberg Recreation and will beginsoon, the other programs remain either in limbo or are now history. Penna said that the school's Parent-Teacher Organization is looking into raising funds to help the other programs remain active.

"The PTO is trying very hard to raise the funds and pick up the costs," Penna said.

Penna was particularly disturbed to see the end of the school's marching band, which is something that he worked diligently to restore three years ago.

"It broke my heart," Penna said. "That's what really hurt me the most. The band is my baby."

Mantineo said that the losses of the after-school programs will only lead to problems down the road.

"We don't want the kids hanging out on the street corners after school," Mantineo said. "Because that only leads to trouble for everyone. No one realizes just how tight we are, cutting back on staff, supplies, now this."

[admin]