Saturday, March 23, 2013
Mayor argued plan would have saved money without laying off any township employees
The Mahwah Township Council voted down a plan Thursday to outsource recycling pick-up. The plan would have switched the job from that of township Department of Public Works employees to that of a private company. Thursday night’s vote marks the second time in the last year that the council has voted recycling privatization down. This time, privatization was presented as part of Mayor Bill Laforet’s 2013 proposed budget. Laforet made a presentation Thursday night on privatizing, which he said would save the township money and would not cost any DPW jobs. According to Laforet’s presentation, recycling pick-up currently costs Mahwah $625,184 a year. A private hauling company bid $178,000 to pick up the township’s recycling. In contract …
Monday, January 21, 2013
DPW workers started handing out fliers around town urging people to attend this week's presentation on the 2013 township budget
A debate last year over whether or not the township’s recycling department should be run by the town’s Department of Public Works or by a privatized company might replay itself this Thursday night. The Mahwah mayor and business administrator are expected to give a presentation on their proposed 2013 municipal budget at this Thursday’s township council meeting. The budget, which will dictate the year's municipal tax rate, must meet a state-mandated two-percent tax levy increase. Representatives from the DPW Union who say they will be on hand Thursday night to see if privatization is part of the plan, started handing fliers like the one attached to this article around the township this weekend urging residents to attend the meeting. “We just…
Thursday, January 10, 2013
DPW worker says the ongoing feud he has with the mayor is not over, and he is likely to file additional civil suits against the mayor
Mahwah Mayor Bill Laforet was found not guilty of a harassment charge filed by a township Department of Public Works employee, NorthJersey.com reported. Central Municipal Court Judge Roy McGeady said Thursday morning that DPW worker Marc Bracciodieta’s story that Laforet elbowed him inside the Bagel Express in Mahwah “could not be corroborated, therefore necessary proof beyond a reasonable doubt could not be reached,” the report said. Bracciodieta, who had accused Laforet of elbowing him at the Franklin Turnpike bagel shop in October, said he was not satisfied with the court’s ruling. “I don’t care what the court says,” he told Patch after the ruling Thursday. “I know the truth, the mayor knows the truth, and there is a video out there …
Thursday, December 20, 2012
The DPW says it will be finished picking up leaves and brush from the storm by year's end; then it will begin clearing fallen trees from the superstorm
Mahwah is going to take about two weeks longer this year to pick up all of the leaves and brush piled at residents’ curbsides, but they say the delay is for a good reason. “The amount we’ve picked up this year is already more than what we had picked up by this point last year, and last year was more than ever before," thanks to Superstorm Sandy, Department of Public Works Director Keith Hallissey told Patch Wednesday. Leaf pick-up in the township generally begins in mid-October, and ends the second week in December, “finishing up the stragglers the week before Christmas,” Hallissey said. This year, he said he expects the pick-up of leaves and brush downed by Hurricane Sandy to wrap up by the end of the year. So far, Hallissey said a vast …
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Assault charges the two filed against each other were dismissed by a judge Thursday, report says
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
A breakdown of the township's emergency response to the hurricane
According to the department heads of Mahwah's emergency service teams - the Mahwah Police Department, Fire Department, Ambulance Corps, Office of Emergency Management, CERT team, and DPW - Hurricane Sandy was one of the most demanding emergencies the township has ever responded to. According to Police Chief James Batelli, about half of all roads in the township were closed at the peak of the storm. At least twelve streets and six neighborhoods were completely blocked off due to falling debris. In the seven days during and after the storm, Mahwah police received about 2,750 calls to its 911 and non-emergency call center lines, Batelli said. “During this time period our 911 calls increased over 300%,” he said. “This is probably the highest …
Monday, October 29, 2012
DPW worker was suspended over the summer after cursing at Mahwah police chief
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Council voted down proposal to privatize the township's recycling department this summer
- OPINION
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Wednesday, September 12, 2012
To Our Neighbors, A few weeks ago, Mayor Laforet, proposed to the town council the idea of outsourcing your DPW's recycling department. The amount of support we received from you, the residents, was, and still is, hard for us to comprehend. You stood by our side, and along with us, we were able to defeat this administration's attempt at privatizing your services....and for that, and from the bottom of our hearts...we say thank you! From, Your Mahwah DPW [Employees] -- Got a letter to the editor to submit to Patch? Email it to jessica.mazzola@patch.com.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Council upheld department decision to suspend the worker for two days with no pay at a grievance hearing Thursday night
The township council supported a decision made by the Director of the DPW to suspend one of his employees for two days this summer after the employee admitted cursing at the Mahwah Police Chief. The five council members present at a meeting Thursday night voted unanimously to uphold DPW Director Keith Hallissey’s punishment after seeing written explanations and hearing testimony from Hallissey, Chief Jim Batelli, and DPW employee Marc Bracciodieta about the incident, which happened July 16. Bracciodieta, a township Department of Public Works employee, spoke out at public meetings in July against a plan to privatize the township’s recycling department. According to testimony from Bracciodieta, he was confronted about his comments at that …
Thursday, August 9, 2012
The council voted 5-2 against the administration's plan that would have led to the firing of four DPW employees.
The Mahwah Township Council Thursday night voted to keep recycling services in Mahwah despite urging from the administration that outsourcing would be the best available option to help the township meet its financial obligations in the face of a state 2 percent tax cap. The council voted 5 to 2 to keep the Department of Public Works as the recycling service provider. The decision came after a two and a half hour back and forth meeting in which the administration presented its argument for outsourcing the Department of Public Works and dozens of Mahwah residents adamantly spoke out against the proposal. Council members John Spiech and Samuel Alderisio voted for the outsourcing and council members Roy Larson, John Roth, Charles Jandris, Lisa…
JP
5:12 am on Friday, April 5, 2013
Yeah, my mind is long gone from listening to people like you whine all the time. more ›