Council Officially Endorses Toolkit

Gov. Chris Christie's proposed property tax toolkit picked up the support of the Republican dominated Town Council Tuesday night, with the Council urging support for the measures.

Council members unanimously passed a resolution urging the State Legislature and Christie to adopt the 33 remaining bills in the package the governor has proposed. The first bill, a legislative action capping property tax increases to two percent was signed into law by Christie last month. The legislature is meeting in special session this summer to consider the remaining bills.

"I am glad to see we have this resolution," Councilman Frank Arena said. "Our governor has been getting a lot of national media attention lately for his stances."

The resolution was passed with the support of the five present Council members, all Republicans who endorsed Christie in last year's gubernatorial election. The Council's lone Democrat, Councilman Dave Haas, was one of four Council members not present at Tuesday evening's meeting.

The toolkit proposals include changes to arbitration with public employee unions, changes to health care plans for public employees, new reviews of teacher contracts by state officials and a proposal to cap the pay of schools superintendents based on a the amount of students in the school district.

Mayor Andy Skibitsky has previously endorsed the plan, saying the proposals are needed to govern with the tax cap and to allow town governments to control tax increases. Schools Superintendent Margaret Dolan last week came out against parts of the the plan, saying that several of the education related provisions are already being conducted by Westfield and will not save money for Westfield residents. Dolan indicated she is against Christie's proposal to reduce her salary by $20,000 a year.

Council members praised Christie for his actions on local government and property tax reform, saying they believe he is doing a good job.

"Our governor has shown he is not interested in reelection bu in doing what is right for residents," Arena said.