Monday, July 27, 2009

President Of BOE Resigns-Message From The LAC

RESIGNED: We would like to inform the public about a recent occurrence on the Board of Ed. Mr. Chet Galdo, the longtime president of the Board, suddenly resigned Friday morning. Most of us remember the last time this happened, back in December when Mr. Braude resigned. At that time it was the opinion of the BOE attorney that an ad must be placed asking for resumes for possible replacements. The ensuing nomination of Mr. Tift over Mr. Silver caused the Tzibbur to vote en-masse for Yoni in the past election. This time however, at the behest of some Vaad members, the replacement was sworn in immediately, at the special meeting of the BOE on Monday morning. The replacement was Ada Gonzales- the candidate that lost in the last election. The candidate who lost because the kehillah felt she did not do enough to lower costs. This was done without any prior notification to some of the Board of education members, however we suspect some members did know about it since Ada was waiting ready to accept upon approval. Click here for more.

46 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you LAC
I really didnt pay any attention, to LAC until i got my tax bill and then i remembered all the articles that LAC wrote about the politicians and askonim not paying any attention, to out of control BOE and Township budget.
Wow its so refreshing to have someone let the tzibbur know who is really working for the oilam.
LAC you have my vote come april.

waiting for elections said...

This is a wake up call to everyone who cares about taxes in this town. Now is not a time to keep quiet . Enough back room wrangling. Out with those that have nobody but their own honor and $$ at stake. Its time to eradicate all forms of bribery and corruption , open , or Lakewood style. It's all the same , we are the one's who lose.

Anonymous said...

The LAC needs to grow up and realize that machlokes is not the way. To be effective they need to learn to work with people and not trash them.

To suggest that our Askonim don't care about the Oilum or taxes is at best ignorant and at worst a blatant lie and Moztei Shem Ra.

There are many Askonim who care as much about the Oilum as they purport to do.

Anonymous said...

Rabbosai
lakewoood mishpochos are under huge pressure financialy barely surviving, i just cant believe that at times like this the vaad who are mostly very well off completely disregard the tzibburs needs.

Anonymous said...

Hello who ever you are its not LAC talking its the tzibbur talking,
forget about lac the people of this town dont feel that askonim care about them, just walk in to shuls and speak to people, do askonim do any good yes absolutly but when it comes to taxes they get an F .
so dont bash LAC who are in my opinion just doing your job ,
i dont see them as trashing anyone they just open my eyes and the proof is in my TAX BILL.

Anonymous said...

you know we have ten ladies working in the office and one conversation that comes up every day is where can we save , and then we read in the papers and here about township and boe just raising their budget year after year and always come up with a good excuse , people are not stupid we see what is going on year after so after reading the lac post everyone said we must get to the polls this year , to support lac , we are collapsing over here , working overtime, and not being there for our kids.
Shame on you the so called VAAD.

Anonymous said...

YOU ARE ALL MISSING THE POINT.CHET GALDO RESIGNED ON FRIDAY AND MONDAY MORNING BEFORE MANY PEOPLE FINISHED SHACHARIS THEY SWORE IN A NEW PERSON,WAS THIS A MEIS MITZVAH OR SOMETHING?EVEN SOME OF THE BOARD MEMBERS DIDNT KNOW ABOUT IT.THIS IS NOT ABOUT LAC OR TAXES!THE QUESTION IS WHAT DOES THE BOE AND ITS ATTORNEY HAVE TO HIDE?WHAT ARE THEY SCARED OF THAT THEY WERE IN SUCH A RUSH?THESE ARE THE QUESTIONS THAT THE TAX PAYER SHOULD BE ASKING

Anonymous said...

I think its time that our rabonim start askng questions, the lacis ok but we need the rabonim who are hearing from the families that can't pay food bills to stand up and do what's right!!

Anonymous said...

Welcome to the world of politics

Anonymous said...

The Vaad is the most corrupt body in town with not a single ounce of rachmanus on the struggling lakewood mishpachos they only care about themselves and their mosdos. How about the Taxpayers in town don't we count also? are we supposed to sacrifice evreything for the sake of torah while you enrich yourselves on the backs of the temimusdiger tzibbur???
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH ......

Anonymous said...

Ahhhh ada gonzalez whose salary is paid for by the vaad. We have a very prominent vaad member that makes a nice salary running english courses and job programs for the hispanic community. Over a quarter of a million a year. When it was proposed that only one certificate of occupancy per legal home per family enrolling into a. Lakewood school be accepted,which would in effect drasticallyreduce our hispanic school population. Our vaad did not support this. Putting ada gonzalez on the board is just an example of the vaad doing whatever is good for it to keep the money flowing to themselves. Each member of the vaad is there to represent their own interest. They pretend to represent the yeshiva ,but abuse that power to take for themselves. The lac is the extreme opposite. They have no respect for the yeshivas interests. They use the anger of the taxpayer to try to gain power in our town in order to .....have power. And that is what it boils down to. Two groups now fighting for power. And the people of this town will be left with nothing to show for it. The time has come to take matters into our own hands. Refuse the free busing they have been using to bribe us into complacency. And then tell them what they can do with their school budget by enrolling all of our children in lakewood public schools. One ceo per home doesn't sound so bad now guys ,does it?

Anonymous said...

could this have something to do with the arrest of jeff williamson? coincidence? u be the judge .

Anonymous said...

The LAC has been trying to get all the different media outlets to post this today. People, lets calm down one minute. Your oversight board did nothing about cutting taxes. At the meetings you were exposed as people who didn't have a clue what you were doing. You didn't come up with a single real way to cut the taxes. After our taxes went up you put out screaming articles decrying this tragedy but at the meetings you said nothing and brought nothing to the table.


Did you metion that at the meeting with the township manager and liaison to the budget committee you guys "realized" that your tax appeals cost the township millions of dollars and next year will be twice as bad. Why not write an article describing the complex methods of the state required reserve system which will cost tens of millions of dollars next year to the taxpayers.

Sure,since the seniors already did it we had to do so as well or we would have had to pay all their appeals in our taxes but did you even know the millions and millions of dollars it would cost us 90% OF THE TAX INCREASES WAS A DIRECT RESULT OF THAT!!! (therefore the cuts made by the township were not reflected either since they went toward the appeals costs) not even you could deny this we both know these facts and for the most part you do try to be honest. In closing I do not claim to know if this was the right thing to do (although I think everyone agrees Ada is a good person)however I really think you guys should pipe down a bit until you actually accomplish something.

Lets not forget Ada was a great candidate according to everyone at the table a few months ago. You had no problem with her as long as Yoni one also So why come screaming now?

Anonymous said...
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Chesky Seitler said...

Mr. Anonymous who spoke abput the co idea. You seem to have your head screwed on straight. Would you like to join the LAC? We are always looking for more people who are level headed and have no agenda. Please email us at lkwdassociationcoalition@gmail.com
As for the co idea itself, it is a great idea which was nixed because of the basement problem. it would mean anyone living in a basement would not get early intervention or any therapy for their child nor would they get bussing (unless of course we all give up our bussing, another fine idea). The solution to that was to legalize basements which would require fire proof between floors and an extra exit. This would add an extra 5000 to the cost of making a basement. The vaad was too scared to inconvenience a few hundred families and so we continue to pay for it. We discussed this months ago and agreed to take the flak for the idea, but we need a majority on the BOE to implement it. we also need a legal opinion saying it is legal.
all in all there are ideas to be pursued and the LAC needs people like you to help out. the issue is not who wants the power, but what they do with the power is the key. someone has to be in charge, whether the vaad or the lac or yudel shain, but what the person or group who is in charge does is what matters. so while you probably meant it as an insult, I took it as a proud compliment. in any case we need all the help we can get, so please join in. we are not an exclusive group and we do not know more than you, some people probably know more than all of us put together, including some vaad members. we need to pull all the resources together and help out the taxpayers.

Anonymous said...

chill out. The appeals cost us dearly, and the cost cutting meassures were solid. They were not accepted because the Municipal manager has all the cards. One example. Mayor singer said on viseo that downtown garbage would not have saved a dime unless we cut the mosdos too. Last week in the voice you were quoted as saving the town 100k by eliminating 29 places of garbage pickup. So when the manager says it wont save who can argue? thats why it looked like they were fools, but in truth the committee knew they were right. they didnt implement it because they wanted to claim the credit. so next year there will be a reduction and steve langert can claim the credit. very nice. we pay for an extra year so steve gets more credit.

LAC said...

The LAC has nothing to do with the PRV issue. One of our members spoke about it but did not do so on behalf of the lAC. it was a private thing. We support the Yeshiva and everything it stands for. We would never sanction such an action.
We welcome any member of the community, even vaad members to come join our ranks. we would even give over the orginazation to a group of willing indivduals, if they exist.

Jewish Observer said...

Okay, here's my take.

Chet Galdo resigned because he knows that Jeff is going to squeal. In order to not make an issue of it, the board was told in advance that he would be resigning and that they should immediately appoint someone else, so that the entire story would be a non-story.

Thanks to the LAC we found out about it. We all need to agree that if not for the LAC, nobody would have known about it, or cared about it.

EVERYONE in power in this town, including the VAAD, knew that it was of utmost importance to immediately appoint someone else so that the issue of Chet Galdo resigning would be a non issue.

You see, EVERYONE is shivering in their pants. They know that Jeff will be opening a can of worms.

Did you know that the "askanim" in town are trying very hard to get Jeff a lawyer from inside our community. I don't believe they've been successful, because nobody honest will touch this case.

They are trying to keep Jeff from talking. But Chet Galdo knows what's coming next.

Wake up Lakewood. Alot is happening under the radar.

Anonymous said...

LAC is trying a 'tachlis' as it can get. Others come up with all 'practical' reasons why it can't be done.

Everyone has a right to do a tax appeal when their assessment is so high.Whos idea was it to make the asseesment 'Priced right' to begin with so there ahould be a low tax rate....yes our wonderful mayor/senator who said something about state funding thats why it should be low tax rate. We are all paying for it. Jackson did a reval and the town was in an uproar what did they do the Township committe slashed the assessment by 20%b and everyonme was happy and no tax appeals. Lets see that in Lakewood Howell had isssues last year withtheir BOE what happened they cleaned up shop lets see that happen in Lakewood.
The truth is if we wouldn't have so many 'unzerer' onm these boards and who have to tiptoe around the others bec. they have to make a kiddush hashem' maybe the others on the bord wouls be able to work for the comunitee better.


Go LAC! Go! And yesher koach to Yoni for putting up with all this nonsense!

Anonymous said...

Please stop the balogna of being together with the Yeshivah. When it came to the board of ed you guys were ready to back down right? I refuse to write Loshon Hora about anyone and will not comment about why the LAC didnt back all the garbage cuts proposed and who on the LAC is freinds with whom etc. I will not stoop to your lows. I dont think this is the right venue for it this does nothing but rabble rousing. You dont need to claim to be with the Yeshivah and you dont need to claim to be against them just be honest.

Anonymous said...

Way to go LAC!
I don't agree with them on alot of issues, but at least they are doing something to try to lower taxes, unlike others who just blow steam and do nothing.

Anonymous said...

Chezky you r really good guys and mean well. But so far let's be honest you were busy screaming about 3,000,000.00 in cuts which u admitted in your own words were false and wouldn't have neutralized the tax increases.Things need to change in this town but first accomplish something and then yell fire. There are many ppl who can yell and bash ppl but don't profess to have made a difference.also the lac was saying at the election time that all candidates were fine as long as yoni was included. You guys NEVER sais Ada wasn't "good for keeping costs down". And by the way yoni stay tough although u want out stick it out a little maybe one day u will make a difference!! And we certainly need ppl on the board who care about the taxpayer whether they r from the orthodox community or others

Anonymous said...

Chet galdo resigned many times before,this time he resigned so his son can get a job in the board of ed computer dept,ASSUMING HIS CORRUPT FRIENDS WOULD GO ALONG WITH IT.This time the board attorney called his bluff and made it permamanent.Eager to bring back ada as soon as possible.Why now were they in such a rush to get her back?FOLLOW THE MONEY TRAIL!!
NOT ONE MEMBER OF LAC HAS ANY FINANCIAL INTERESTS NONE OF THEM EVEN OWN A BUSINNESS IN THIS TOWN

Anonymous said...

WHO EVER THAT IS AND I THINK ITS LANGERT, AT LEAST CHESKY HAS THE GUTS TO PUT HIS NAME ON HIS COMMENTS

Anonymous said...

steve langert, thank you for your kind words of encouragment. Together with you we can make a difference. We cannot get anything done since we dont have the votes on the committees. the only thing we have is the media. We all want out of this mess, but imagine what would happen if we closed up shop. Nobody would try again for another 10 years. we are stuck in this up to our heads. We never mentioned Ada since we didnt want to get involved in internal vaad politics. But the fact is she is an employee of one vaad member who only has nasty things to say to and about us. Yet never personally, just on our agenda. so we must deduce that she will oppose our agenda. As for the 3 million, yes it was impossible, but at least half? or 2 million? c'mon you know more could have been done. Why did Bob say on Jan 1st tha he wil cut taxes only to say in June that he needs a full year? Is this stand up comedy?

chesky seitler said...

And what about you??????

Anonymous said...

CAN ANYONE EXPLAIN WHY O WHY ARE NOT BANNING TOGETHER AS A REAL TZIBUR, AND ALL CALLING THE BOE TO REGISTER ALL OF OUR CHILDREN IN PUBLIC SCHOOL FOR SEPT 2009. IM SURE WHITEN 72 HOURS WE WILL HAVE ACHIEVED OUR GOAL TO LOWER OUR OUTRAGEOUS TAX BURDEN!!!

Anonymous said...

good idea

chesky seitler said...

The idea has been broached. Theproblem is that the state only looks at enrollment on Oct 15th. if we enroll in sept and are not there in oct we gain nothing. If we enroll in oct the state has leeway for a few days and could "decide' to come on a different date. In any case we would need the students to physically be there and that means a day of 15000 kids standing outside BOE offfices. It was thought about and ruled out as something the chadorim would never do. Also, the state would fight it in court as an illegal ploy and there is no telling what the outcome would be. But there may be some way to get somewhere if we keep brainstorming. Keep it up!

Anonymous said...

to the lac. i am sorry for the insult,but i am from the generation that came to this town when it was controlled by a chosen few,and to the most part still is and i am very skeptical of those that seek power for any specific group.i have seen millions of dollars wasted on pet projects that bring no revenue or pleasure to our townspeople.approvals given for developments that don't have the infrastructure to support them.slumlords taking advantage of their connections to fill them with those that are bleeding us dry(i know i know,we brought them here,we use their services,they clean our homes and stores.but we always had workers to do that and can still without having 20 families per house that pays one tax bill for their education)i personally don't care if a few people are making money under the table and costing me extra property taxes.that is between them and the fbi.i do care when i see my town being destroyed by one crazy scheme after another implemented for the sole benefit of a few individuals.if a person gets a contract to fix the roads and it costs us a few dollars more that is bad,but common practice in government,and at least we get a road out of the deal.when a person builds a 23 million dollar stadium that benefits no one in this town,and brings in no revenue that is inexcusable.and when a person is willing to prop up our public schools with illegal aliens while we struggle to pay our tuition,just so he and his wife can receive a salary from the government to "help" the hispanic community,that is impeachable behavior.or another willing to make a deal to build a totally unnecessary parking garage that would put his fellow jews out of business.or those who would rent out stores to drug money laundering businesses in their own town. to have people like that existing under the guise of community askanim is the worst insult to a town filled with the most wonderful goodhearted people that i have had the honor to be a part of all these years.

Anonymous said...

I am not steve but believe what u wish. Yes there are ppl that follow your succes's besides him.

Btw did ure fellow lac board member end up getting the job he was pushing to get in the townshp.

Don't feel the need to respond!!

Anonymous said...

I think this whole "Dwek" thing is going to have some good come out of it. Time has come for change. The inspection guy will most likely sing like an American Idol to get reduced jail time if found guilty of the charges. I’m sure there are other former disgruntled or disgusted employee’s of the Town or BOE that will also chime in to the proper officials about alleged improprieties in their work locations now that the can of worms is opened. Checks and balances of government is a good thing. Those of you who betray the public trust -Take your seat next to Bernie M.
I hope there’s only the need for one FBI vehicle to transport the next round of crooks away, but having lived here for awhile, I realize that a double-decker bus will probably be needed to cart off those that have cheated all the Taxpayers of Lakewood in one way or another. Yes- better days are ahead - hopefully some lower taxes too- LOL

Anonymous said...

Chesky,
“broached” is a “copout”!!
YES!! 1 day BUSLOADS pull up to the BOE and come to “apply” – Inzulbuch will panic – but who cares, we need other lawyers to study this subject with a fine tooth comb, and determine what obstacle MI will cause, and the workaround –and the “action” – one day schedule for boys, the next girls.
Why the chadorim won’t cooperate only tells me there possibly in cahoots with MI and his boyz!! If that’s the case lets expose those chadorim for who they are!

GIVE ME A VALID REASON WHY IT CAN “HURT” TO TRY??!! Hatorah chas al momonaom shel Yisroel. Too many parents cant afford tuition and all the yeshivos are hurting – a solution must be sought, and I think I’m onto something

If I’m not mistaken yeshivas in Kiryas Joel are “public schools” – there is no reason why we cant do the same here!! We who cary this townships tax burden should at least benefit from public school.

WHERE IS MR. JOSH PRUZANSKY ON THIS ISSUE??

chesky Seilter said...

Maybe Josh Pruzansky is the answer. Never thought about that. The right word should have been "researched". The chadorim won't do it because "hevel pihem shel tinokos shel bais rabon" and "what type of chincuh is that-teaching kids to waste time from torah to fight about gashmiyus' etc.
Inzelbuch is not the problem here. The effort to put it together is. We need to know that it will succeed because if we do drag busloads of kids down there and it dos not work we will be the laughing stock of the generation.
Why dont you post your name and we can get to work on this right away?!

Anonymous said...

I read in the voice this week where the township is stopping garbage pickup to 29 businesses in town and that the credit goes to Steve Langert. also read in the paper that Ray said that the township knew about Jeff years ago and did nothing about it. what do these two things have in common? that we finally have someone on the committee that actually is doing something to help us! Way to go Steve. keep up the good work and keep doing the right thing eventhough people curse you out! at the end of the day you know what you are doing is right! Chazak V'amatz.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

To 11:14, "binfol oyvecha al tismach"

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

To 11:07
I just saw the post now, not sure why I missed it. I know why you did not want me to respond! You gave yourself away. WHo else would talk to yoni and refer to the phantom job seeking, which never had any real hope, just a pipedream, and nobody on the LAC supported. I thought you are a busy guy working 12 hour days and have no time to look at blogs. " you dont even know how to use it, and not from frumkeit or anything just becaus you are busy". Ok I i will stop here because I do not want people to figure out who you are and embaress you. But you know i got it right this time, you are not steve......

Anonymous said...

Stop blaming the Tax appeals ,how about all the Land swapping deals that are that are a direct loss of revenue for the town,how about all the geneivos in the BOE?
The Vaad is corrupt and acts as if they can spent thre tzibburs tax dollars like a blank check we will not name them yet but the members who have personal interests and don't represent the tzibur at all should resign immediatly before we expose them and throw them out.This is just the beginning but the tax payers of lakewood are waking up to the lies and excuses that were fed to us by the corrupt Vaad spokesmen all these years weathher its the free bussing scare, or the hakaros hatov excuse, or it's better for the mosdos etc... all these reasons were to cover up for their own thievery and deceipt on the backs of the tzibur which continues to this day with ruthlessness and no Rachmanus ..chazal say hamatil aimah Al Hatzibur...............

Anonymous said...

I am surprised that this letter was printed during the Nine Days - a week when we are supposed to promote Ahavas Chinam - not Sinas Chinam.

Anonymous said...

I am mamesh confused....What does Jeff Williamson have to do with Chet Galdo? Or is this merely a tactic to throw a bunch of mud at the wall to see what sticks?
A. Felicci

Anonymous said...

I SAW THIS HAPPENING YEARS AGO.THE BOARD IS SO CORRUPTED AND THE JEWISH COMMUNITY CONTROLS THEM AND SUPPORTS THEM.WHAT IS NEEDED IS PROFESSIONAL NON-JEWISH CANDIDATES.

Anonymous said...

Chet Galdo and his wife have no children

Anonymous said...

I am with the above comment that we ned more non-jewsih board members/commitee. People who will not be afraid to raise their voice and get things done w/o being afraid of "chillul hashem" Lets be honest there is only that much 'our unzerier' can do because thya do not want to make a 'shem ra' for themselves.
Jackson did a reval and people complained to local officaials they rolled back the assessments on the town by 20% and everyone was happy and no TAX APPEALS why didn't that hapeen? Instead the assessor has been spending millions of our money over the past few years 'losing' from what I have heard a majority of the towns appeasl because people have valid reasons to appeal the over-assessed property taxees in outr town.

Howell had issues with BOE last year thay resolved their budget issues making tough decisions. Lets see Lakewood make some tough decisions instead of letting the taxpayer shoulder the bill.
One thing everyone agrees the Jews and Non-Jews have in common in this town is the need to lower taxes lets build some bridges and I think LAC should be wise to build some to the senior community and work top eradicate wasteful (and corrupt) spending.