A Snow Job Most people would be happy that their DPWs had things in hand during the recent snow. Chatham Patch reader Todd Goodman took the chance to offer praise for the response to the snow by Chatham DPWs. He writes: I've used this space to criticize local government in the past, but in this case I would like to take the opportunity to offer my sincere thanks and appreciation for the incredible job done by our town leaders, emergency services, police and fire departments and especially our public works department for consistently providing the very best response to snow storms and other …
Chatham Patch performed an informal poll of residents asking if they agreed with their school board's controversial November vote to approve a new three-year contract for Superintendent Jim O'Neill. The poll found the 50 Chatham residents we approached roughly split on the issue. Reader softrain told us how he (she? we're not sure with that username) felt: I would have voted against giving Mr.O'Neill a raise. Times are getting tougher and maybe Christie's approach is a little harsh,but something needs to be done to control these ever raising costs. It is a start in the right direction. Your…
As Chatham Patch celebrated its one-year anniversary this week, some readers shared their views on the site's first year: K.F. Rogers was surprised how fast the year went by and wished editor Laura Salvius, who was vacationing in California, good luck in Year 2: It's hard to believe that ChathamPatch is only a year old! Enjoy your vacation, you certainly deserve it. Happy New and Year 2! Karen Swartz thanked founding editor Zach Subar for establishing the site in the community. The year has certainly gone by quickly! Thanks to Zach for kicking off a great news sight and thanks to Laura for…
The debate rages in the Chathams over whether Superintendent of Schools Jim O'Neill should have to take the effective $45,000 pay cut Gov. Chris Christie's cap on superintendent salaries would impose. More than a dozen people have commented on our story about O'Neil saying the governor's gone too far. For instance, reader Sally took issue with O'Neill's insistence on holding onto his current pay: Honestly I cannot understand how an extra $45,000 is going to make Jim O'Neill do amazing things for Chatham. If he really loved his job and doing right by the children of Chatham, his salary …
The Chatham Township Committee may have already approved the removal of some trees at the Colony Pool, but our readers seemed to feel the discussion should go on. Most of those leaving comments, like Mariel Kolker, thought the loss of shade was a loss of distinction for the pool: "I believe they took trees down last year as well, I'm sorry to see more coming down. I'm very dismayed about this," she wrote. But frequent commenter Rt124Guy answered back (with a little sarcasm): "It's a pool, people. It's supposed to be sunny. It's actually one of the things that has always turned me off …
When Chatham resident Laura Ali Nonnenmacher told readers in a letter to the editor that even as a former Chris Christie campaigner, she can't support the governor's stance on public education funding, she stirred up a bit of debate. She said that in particular, Chatham schools Superintendent Jim O'Neil doesn't deserve to become the target of Christie's aggressive cost-cutting (among Christie's initiatives is a cap on school superintendent salaries). Laura told readers: "... I find myself so completely disgusted every time I read or watch what comes out of our governor's mouth when it …
It's no secret that some of the towns in Morris, Sussex and Somerset Counties lean a bit to the right—sometimes very much so. So when we asked readers of Patch sites throughout New Jersey what they thought of President Barack Obama and Sen. Robert Menendez (both Democrats), perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise that we didn't get a single positive response from anyone in that area. According to the most recent statewide poll by Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind, 31 percent of voters in Menendez's New Jersey constituency have a favorable opinion of him, and 25 percent have an …
Lisa Cappabianca tells us the Chatham Lasers U12 travel team was undefeated this year. The Chatham United Lasers U12 travel team wrapped up an undefeated season on November 14 at Cougar Field against the North Warren Comets. The 1-0 victory ensured a spot at the top of Flight 5 of the Morris County Youth Soccer Association for the Fall 2010 season. Lisa gave us a full report, so for more details on the season, see her complete post. Plenty of other comments were left in good health on Morris County-area Patch sites this week as well. You know what's always great? When readers …
They're not quite comments, but Chatham Patch is seeing lots of great photo submissions for its Fall Foliage Photo Competition. Check out some of what readers have sent in, and share your own shots of the season! E-mail your photos with your name, your age, the photo's title and where you took the photo to Chatham Patch Editor Laura Silvius at laura.silvius@patch.com before 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 15, then come back to vote on your favorite photo. The photo with the most votes will be Chatham Patch's Photo of the Week! Some of the other comments from Patch readers in the Morris County area …
In Chatham, the vote over whether to fix up the borough pool was a contentious one. You didn't have to look farther than our comments section to see that. Reader barbara heimrich summed up the pro side of the argument succinctly: The vote was a clear message to the Council that a majority of people in the Boro want to save the pool. ... I think that most people can afford $15.00 per year on their tax bill, especially to pay for something besides athletic fields and legal fees. Pool fees have indeed risen to help defray costs and, by the way, as of 2010 Township residents are able to join …
Several Chatham residents were none too happy to learn their Madison neighbors' safety concerns led PSE&G to pull the license for an expanded community garden. The intra-Morris County rivalry heated up with comments like this from GarageRock: ...writing letters to the editor of all local and regional papers, and boycotting Madison businesses, is the only way to get anyone to pay attention. This is complete arrogance by the people of Madison, and complete cowardice by PSE&G. Too bad we can't change our utilitysuppliers too. Our loan commenter on the Madison version of the same story, Mark …
Oversold parking spots in the train station continued to be a top subject this week as bubs82 was just one of many Patch readers miffed by the idea: Wow, look at this way: Imagine you go to a cemetary and buy a lot. Now imagine the cemetary sells the same lot 3 times. What happens at your funeral - the hearse drives around the cemetary until they can find a open lot to bury you in? And when there are none, you get bumped to the cheap cemetary up the street? Also, I think we are missing the story here. We have the town administrator looking out the window to find revenue - look a spot I can …
At Patch, we love the users who post comments on our stories—the people who not only come to Patch for news and entertainment (though we love people who just do that, too!), but who add even more to the discussion. The aptly named chatham_patcher thought we made a little too much of parking problems at the Chatham Railway Station: Have you been to other commuter towns? At least we have parking. If they cut down on the number of permits sold, you have less $ coming in, and a much longer waiting list. My solutions: 1. Walk a bit, its about 1/8 of a mile and stop complaining. 2. Go to work …
