Community Corner

Organization Brings Consolidation Talk to South Jersey

Courage to Connect New Jersey, a nonprofit grassroots group, will give a presentation in Cinnaminson Wednesday.

A grassroots organization aimed at spreading the word of consolidation is giving its second presentation in Cinnaminson Wednesday.

Courage to Connect New Jersey, a nonpartisan, nonprofit group, will talk to people at the Wednesday about the need for municipalities to maintain their own identities while finding ways to share administrative structures.

“With the 2 percent cap, small towns are struggling to meet their budgets,” said Gina Genovese, executive director for Courage to Connect New Jersey. “We’re just all about involving people to have the power through the petition process.”

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The 2 percent cap was suggested last year by Gov. Chris Christie and his administration. The property tax cap for municipalities decreased from 4 percent to 2 this year.

The group visited Cinnaminson last year and Genovese said the response was so great, they are coming back. The presentation isn’t focused primarily on Cinnaminson, however; all people are invited to learn about what they can do in their own towns.

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“The people have to be involved,” Genovese said. “If New Jersey is going to become sustainable and come together by merging or connecting, the people have to be involved. We are educating the public and getting them excited about projects.”

Courage to Connect New Jersey is not connected directly to local governments. Genovese, a former mayor of Long Hill Township in Morris County, founded the group in 2009. She gives presentations with Wendy McCahill, president of the group.

Genovese talks about a 2007 law called the Municipal Consolidation Study Commission. It’s a six-step process for consolidating towns, including creating informal “working groups,” drafting applications and getting approval. Courage to Connect New Jersey provides starter kits on how to get involved.

In their presentation, Genovese and McCahill also discuss why New Jersey is teetering on bankruptcy. The presentation also gets specific when the two talk about individual towns that have distinctive identities but are not tied to a central government.

“We’re doing this with the people, to bring them along,” Genovese said, “get on an even playing field and talk about our future.”

The Courage to Connect New Jersey will be held at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 9, at the Cinnaminson Branch Library on Riverton Road.

All are invited.


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