At the end of Monday nights Town Council meeting Manager Kathy Hoffman surprised everyone by submitting her resignation.
Township Manager Kathy Hoffman is resigning from her position effective March 1. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘Kathy Hoffman’
Township Manager resigns
Wednesday, February 22nd, 20128 Police Officers to be laid off
Tuesday, May 10th, 2011Thank Mayor Gibson and Council for mismanaging township funds and putting the public at risk.
At Monday nights Town Council meeting Township Manager Kathy Hoffman and Mayor Gibson confirmed that 8 police officers will be laid off in June.
An internal memo obtained shows that police staffing will be cut to (2) cops per shift from the current staffing of (3). This will significantly impact the response time of officers in town. The memo from Chief Martin also stated officers will no longer respond to several types of incidents that they regularly answer now such as motor vehicle lock-outs, minor motor vehicle accidents, repeat burglar alarms and escorts for belongings.
Other incidents police will no longer respond to (if officer call volume dictates) are: criminal mischief, petty thefts, harassment, etc.
Talks of police merger begin
Friday, May 6th, 2011An official meeting took place tonight between Mt. Holly and Lumberton officials to discuss police services in both towns and a possible merger. Two of the more reasonable council members (Donnelly and Dow) attended the meeting and thankfully not Belton who wants to eliminate the entire MHPD and contract Lumberton PD to provide services. Mr. Belton was seen at Lumberton’s Township meeting this week and has been seen secretly meeting with Lumberton officials. Apparently he is Lumberton’s inside guy and supports an all-out takeover of our police dept. I could have sworn he was elected to serve the best interests of Mount Holly’s residents not Lumberton.
BCT story May 5, 2011
By MARK ZIMMARO and ROSE KREBS Staff Writers
Two towns with shrinking police departments are discussing a merger.
Officials from Lumberton and Mount Holly confirmed that both towns are pursuing further discussion into whether combining police departments would be a feasible solution for both depleted departments.
Belton’s secret plan
Wednesday, May 4th, 2011Eliminate Mt. Holly Police Dept.
It may come as a surprise but it has been confirmed by multiple sources that Councilman Dwynne Belton has been secretly meeting with Lumberton Township officials regarding police services. Belton’s plan is to completely eliminate MHPD and contract Lumberton Township to provide police services for our township. Belton is chums with Councilman Mike Mansdoerfer of Lumberton and talks have been ongoing since the referendum failed on 4/27/11. Mansdoerfer who attended Belton’s “inauguration” last July when he was sworn in has been aggressively pursuing the proposal that would layoff Mt. Holly’s entire 22 member department.
There was already a growing number of people that feel they “wasted their vote” on Belton and his message of change. Until now he has voted in lock-step with Mayor Gibson and not changed a thing about the way business is done in our struggling town. This will be the first time he has actually tried to change anything but its not for the better. Lets hope the other members of council won’t fall for this dirty tactic that would put 22 men and women on the unemployment line and make our community less safe.
This is nothing more than a hostile takeover of our police services and a “union busting” tactic. It’s disgusting that anyone would put so many highly trained and experienced officers out of work.
Police Union blames Twp Manager and Council
Saturday, April 30th, 2011Layoffs likely in Mount Holly
BCT story by Rose Krebs
MOUNT HOLLY – Officials already are dealing with the ramifications of Wednesday’s failed referendum.
Because voters rejected the township’s request to go $750,000 over the state’s 2 percent cap on tax levy increases, officials must close that budget gap. Layoffs are the likely first course of action.
Township Manager Kathy Hoffman said she is preparing layoff notices to be sent by next week to individual employees. General notices were sent out earlier this week when the state approved the township’s layoff plan, Hoffman said. (more…)
Municipal tax referendum fails
Thursday, April 28th, 2011Our Township failed us
Mount Holly’s municipal tax referendum question was defeated last night. Voted down by 90 votes, the question was the closest in Burlington County. Other towns referendums were defeated by huge margins. With this defeat Mt. Holly’s budget woes just got a whole lot more complicated.
Regardless of your stance on the referendum the failed leadership of Mayor Gibson and the fiscally irresponsible Township caused these problems that will plague our community for years to come. The failed redevelopment, previous election year budget gimmicks and wasteful spending has destroyed our local government. Mayor Gibson and the Township held no informational sessions, meetings or anything of that nature to educate the public about the referendum. And to top off their lack of diligence they cancel a regularly scheduled Town Council meeting two days before the vote.
The police officers association www.MHPDPA.com should be commended for their efforts. They went out of their way to educate the public about the referendum and its impact on our municipal services should it be defeated.
press coverage:
Tonights Council Meeting cancelled???
Monday, April 25th, 2011Mayor Gibson is scared to face the public two days before important budget referendum.
With the Municipal Tax Levy Referendum only two days away why on earth would you cancel a public meeting that gives you an opportunity for public outreach?
The township has done a horrible job in educating the public about the referendum and tonight they proved that they do not deserve our confidence in governing. At least a dozen people showed up for the regularly scheduled 8pm meeting only to find a note taped to the door stating it had been canceled.
Other townships with special referendums have held public “informational sessions” created power-points and even web sites to keep the taxpayers informed. In Mount Holly its been nothing but secrecy and the usual political games we have been subjected to for years.
If it was not for the efforts of the MHPD and two of the school board candidates the public would be completely in the dark.
Mt. Holly struggles with plan
Wednesday, April 20th, 2011Tax payers get squeezed while township attorneys and engineers get rich!
MOUNT HOLLY – The lack of progress on the Mount Holly Gardens redevelopment has put the township in a financial bind.
Officials are acknowledging just how much of a strain is being caused by the decade-long effort to redevelop the 25-acre neighborhood at Levis Drive and the Route 541 Bypass. (more…)
Township uses UEZ funds to offset budget deficit
Sunday, April 10th, 2011Referendum still set for Wednesday Apil 27 to avoid police layoffs.
BCT Story from 4/10/11
Mount Holly looks to voters to exceed state tax levy
MOUNT HOLLY – The Township Council has approved a special question for voters to consider April 27 that permits the municipality to exceed the state tax levy cap by $750,000.
The cap allows local governments to increase the tax levy by only 2 percent from last year. Mount Holly is proposing an increase of 8.7 percent over the allowable amount.
The impact of Police layoffs in Mt. Holly
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011In the last two weeks alone MHPD has had to deal with a bomb threat, an officer getting hurt while chasing a dangerous suspect and another officer being attacked by a knife wielding gang member high on drugs. The suspect with the knife was shot by MHPD during the incident. BCT story
Mount Holly already has one of the highest crime rates in Burlington County and one of the largest concentrations of gang members as well. Staffing levels for the MHPD are already twenty percent lower than they were 10 years ago and MHPD is one of the busiest police departments in the entire county. With the lose of 10 officers (almost half the dept) our safety will be in jeopardy.
Please attend the Mount Holly Town Council budget meeting Thursday at 7pm. Tell Mayor Gibson not to jeopardize our safety! The meeting will be held in the 2nd floor court/meeting room at the Township Building, 23 Washington Street.