Politics & Government

Half of Scotch Plains Management Corp. Board Steps Down

The resignations were sent to consultant David Biagini on Tuesday.

Half of Scotch Plains Management Corp.'s board of directors resigned on Tuesday, just days after the business improvement group approved its 2010 budget. 

SPMC's consultant, David Biagini of FirsTEAManagement, told the Scotch Plains Council Tuesday night that he received e-mails from board members throughout the day stating that they no longer wanted to serve. Those members include President Jim Watson of EKA Associates; Tom Britt of Stage House Restaurant; Tom Cusmano of Park Avenue Printing; Treasurer Ted Schiller of Schiller & Pittenger; and Dr. Frank DiLollo. Jeff Kowalczyk of Connections Personnel stepped down from his role as vice chairman, but not from the board entirely. The decision was also made that Ken Marke of Bowcraft Amusement should no longer hold a position due to his lack of attendance at meetings. In total, that drops the board from 13 members to seven. 

Biagini said the resignations came as a surprise to him. The group had a fairly tame meeting on Friday afternoon during which those in attendance approved the 2010 budget, 6-1. Several of those who voted in favor of the budget on Friday went on to resign on Monday.

The shift comes on the heels of a host of recent issues for the Scotch Plains Management Corp. It all started in late January when the board decided to spend the bulk of its budget to hire Biagini as a consultant and Lisa Schiller as a part-time manager. The next week, that move was deemed irresponsible and too expensive by the township council, thus prompting them to pass a resolution urging the SPMC to halt all use of its funds. After some heated confrontations, the two groups began working to repair their differences, and at a meeting on Feb. 24, Biagini presented what he felt to be a budget approach that would satisfy both parties.

That approach proposed allowing Lisa Schiller to bid for the role of project manager on each of the group's activities, rather than hiring her as a part-time manager with office space. Biagini said doing so would allow the SPMC to allocate more of its funding toward programming instead of administration, and at the time Schiller sat next to him in support of the change.

But a few days later when Biagini called her to follow up, Schiller told him she had changed her mind and no longer wanted to be involved.

Biagini said the board members also gave very little explanation for their resignations on Tuesday, other than to say in their e-mails that they appreciated the opportunity.

Now, the Scotch Plains council must decide whether it wants to fill the vacant positions or amend the SPMC ordinance to keep the board of directors at the smaller size.

"It is really unfortunate that all those people chose to resign," Mayor Nancy Malool said Tuesday. "I do feely badly about that. I guess we would never be able to agree on how to spend that money."

Also at the council meeting, Biagini presented the $67,280.71 budget the board of directors approved on Friday. That budget, which covers April to December 2010, allocates $37,000 for programs and marketing; $19,000 for management and office; $7,800 for operations; and $3,480.71 for reserves.

As part of that, Biagini said the board has proposed returning $200 to local business owners in the form of tax relief this year. The consultant noted that the $67,280.71 budget actually represents the amount of money the SPMC currently has on hand, all which was accumulated from carryover funds not spent in 2008 and 2009. Since property owners were already billed their SPMC assessment fee for the first half of 2010, equaling $32,800, Biagini said he will deduct that amount from the current cash on hand, thus leaving a $34,480.71 balance at the end of 2010. Therefore, the SPMC board recommends that no SPMC tax be billed for the second half of 2010, instead giving each property owner a $200 break from assessment fees.

"What we want to do is use this fund balance to try to provide tax relief to taxpayers," Biagini said.

Whether the business owners will be charged the full $400 assessment fee again in 2011 has yet to be determined.

The SPMC 2010 budget allocates 58 percent of its funds toward programs and marketing, which will likely include a Spring Fling retail promotion ($3,000); a Fall Festival ($10,000); Fall Festival/Spring Fling ad pages in local media ($6,000); a Holiday Gift Guide direct mail magazine to all 7,000 Scotch Plains households ($8,000); SPMC gift certificate prizes ($3,000); recruitment and retention ($5,000); the SPMC cable television show ($2,000); and inclusion in a business directory put out by Biagini's Community and Commerce Enhancement Foundation at no cost to the SPMC.

That means the Memorial Day Music Festival is now off the table entirely, Biagini told Patch.

The management and office costs are 30 percent of the budget and include the payment to Biagini and his staff at FirsTEAManagement and use of their resources. Operational costs are 12 percent and include supplies, postage, a 2009 audit and IRS 990 Tax Return, General Liability Insurance and Directors & Officers Liability Insurance.

"With 58 percent of it going toward programming, it's where it needs to be," Malool said. "That 58 percent is going right back to benefit the people paying the fee."

The final SPMC budget will be presented on April 6, and a public hearing will be held a month following that.


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