There are many seniors in Lakewood in various developments who can not drive the township has yet to provide them with shuttle bus routes. The current buses service other parts of town one loops from Westgate to Forest Avenue and others to south Lakewood area.
Township officials were surprised to hear that the Shuttle bus servicing Belz community and south Lakewood was not being managed by the DPW and volunteers stepped up to run it even paying out of their own pocket.
Story on FAA
LAKEWOOD TOWNSHIP TO HIRE SEPARATE SHUTTLE BUS LIASION
For the past few years, Lakewood Township has been operating buses to shuttle members of the Hassidic Belz and Satmar communities from their neighborhoods in South Lakewood to CHEMED and other businesses in Downtown Lakewood.
The buses are operated in-house by Lakewood's Department of Public Works, and their office staff is supposed to be able to provide phone support to community members who need information on the bus routes.
Lipa Klein, an Askan (community activist) in the Hassidic Belz community in South Lakewood, is well known for lobbying for these busses. Since the buses have begun running, Lipa has become the "go-to guy" to call with any questions or comments regarding the buses, and Lipa has unofficially served as liasion to the Township regarding the buses.
Lipa is now requesting a modest salary for his services, in a new position of Shuttle Bus Liasion, separate from the Department of Public Works.
Lipa has requested the Lakewood Development Corporation (LDC) to use $75,000 of UEZ funds (a sales tax supported grant which they administer) to make him an official Shuttle Bus Liasion. Of this money, $55,000 would be used for his salary and taxes, $15,000 would be used for spending on public relations marketing for the buses and $5,000 would be available for him to spend on a phone and computer.
Lipa provided to the LDC members his phone call log from the past year. He claims that he received over 1,200 phone calls from community members regarding the buses.
At the LDC meeting in March, Board Member Rabbi Moshe Zev Weissberg presented the proposal to the LDC. Board Member Albert Isaac Akerman, who also serves on the Township Committee, questioned why there is a need for a separate Shuttle Bus Liasion when the Township should already be covering the needs for this service through Public Works. Board Member Rabbi Moshe Zev Weissberg responded that he doesn't know the answer, but that since this proposal came to his desk he wants to go forward with it. See more at FAA
So you volunteer to do a job. Then you say you want to be paid for that job with taxpayer money? What if I said that I've been cleaning the area around my house for years & hereby declare that I should be paid a salary by the sanitation dept. for that work since I'm doing their work. That wouldn't go over very well, would it? Anyone moving to Lakewood knows that Lakewood doesn't have much mass transit. If you start a bus route, that just fine and dandy. But you can't just wake up one day and ask for a salary for running that bus service!
ReplyDeleteAnother example of officials giving township resources to the powerful well connected. While Lakewood residents who lived here all the years did not get the benefit of free mass transit, built sidewalks and nice parks.
ReplyDeleteAre the buses going to the new lcsc office at rt 70 and Chemed south. Who decided which business get bus stops.
Are they providing buses to the Litvishe developments on prospect Street too or only to those who don't drive.
Gas is so expensive they should flood the townahip with free buses.
Anon 3:42,
DeleteIt’s interesting that you mention the nice parks for the newcomers.
Let’s not forget how the LDC in cahoots with Twp Committeemen decided to take away the longtime park and community center on 4th St (near Princeton) from the neighborhood and give it away to a very connected private developer to build Kikar Shabbos 2.0 for a measly ONE (1) DOLLAR and an unkept promise to build a different community center for newcomers from Williamsburg.
Oak and Vine got a brand new state of the art park with new playing equipment. The ones who lost out are those who played basketball in the gym.
DeleteThey only like Belz and Satmar all others are galicianer
DeleteMy neighborhood has been asking for a park for a few years already, but the Committee keeps saying that they have no money.
DeleteI wonder why?
Give credit to the chasiddim for taking care of their own and squeezing the township for resources. The taaneh is on the Lakewood Vaad members who claimed all the years to represent the needs of the community and did nothing but help themselves. They didn't take care of traffic or lobby for sidewalks and safe quality of life. They let the downtown rot and yet bend over backwards to provide newcomers with whatever they need because they want to keep control.
ReplyDeleteThe unspoken part is that Albert is up for reelection and if he wants the Belz and Satmar endorsements......
ReplyDeleteLDC officials should disclose to the public if they financially gain from the township. The corruption is not that they are constantly recusing themselves but that the other members vote for it knowing that it can benefit the refused member
ReplyDeleteMichael D'Elia is already the liasion for bus transportation. Why doesn't he do his job? we don't need someone else.
ReplyDeleteGregg Staffordsmith, Sr. was added to a few important township committees recently. Who is he? Who's puppet is he?
ReplyDeleteSchedules and routes are a secret...why arent they posted?
ReplyDeleteHow’s the Westgate shul coming along?
ReplyDeleteThe headstart program was also taken away from toshvei Lakewood and given to the newcomers
ReplyDeleteAs predicted , sadly though
DeleteWho do you mean by "newcomers"? The Jews? Sounds like a Jackson resident who doesn't want Jews moving in.
DeleteThose families who put in blood and sweat without taking fancy shteller descriptions
Deleteto build up this magnificent
Shtut That everyone else wanders in because they have wishes to be part of should have this also taken from them?
If they spend 15k on publicizing the routes for the buses, then he wouldn't be getting phone calls for info on the buses. Even if his numbers are correct $75k for 1200 phone calls comes out to over $16 per call, how long is the average phone call, two minutes? So he is getting paid at a rate of $720 per hour?
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't know a single person who has ever used the bus in this town
the real point is if you see something do something , mr. klein is an example of one citizen making a diff. , i agree 25 calls a week is not a full time job , 20,000 would be fair compensation for doing a good job & still a good value for the town , and yes ackerman ...
ReplyDeleteThousands of calls a month? No chance that’s true
ReplyDeleteExpensive phone and computer for 5k! These guys get what they want, the whole bus thing was for them
ReplyDeleteHonestly, with the traffic in town anyone who successfully gets people on to public transportation deserves alot kore than 75k. The township wasted millions over the years trying to get the public to use public transportation. If thisbguy can do it for 75k then it's money well spent.
ReplyDelete