Meeting To Address 55+ Low Tax Homes, Buyers Losing Out

By Bob Vosseller

PLUMSTED – There will be special meeting dedicated to the PILOT program of Venue at Longview where residents can discuss benefits that they are now no longer eligible for through arrangement between the township and Lennar homes.

The meeting will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on March 20 at Town Hall on Evergreen Road. Lennar residents will be able to voice their concerns and ask questions.

The session will be a workshop meeting and no official action will be taken by the Plumsted Township Committee. Several key people that were involved in the development of the PILOT program are expected to attend to provide answers for the residents.

Earlier in the month, during a Township Committee meeting, resident Dominick Griffo of Temple Road spoke about the Lennar

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Continued From Page 1 at the all-new Adventure Crossing located at 515 Monmouth Road in the township.

Rabbi Shmuel Naparstek of Chabad of Jackson said, “participants took part in a golf tournament, virtual reality, axe throwing and many other activities.”

A festive Purim meal was also a highlight of the event along with a Megillah reading. There were four Mitzvot of Purim items noted during the event held earlier this month. Listening to the Megillah being read on Purim eve and again during the day, sending gifts of food (two food items to at least one Jewish person, giving money to the poor through charity to at least two Jewish people or organizations in need, and enjoying a festive meal with family and friends.)

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Continued From Page 1 years, will have lost $23 million in state aid. Pormilli said, “we have fought through a state aid crisis for the past five years, which was just made exponentially worse. We have rising expenses in the millions due to state-mandated services we must provide to all resident students.

“We have exhausted our surplus and like you, just about everything we need to purchase to run this district has gone up in price. This crisis is not the result of any one specific budgetary item. It has been accumulating over the past several years with enormous and unexplainable

“The festive dinner menu of kosher Chinese food and Rita’s Ices was enjoyed by all. The Megillah was read with the traditional gragger drowning out the name of Haman,” Rabbi Naparstek said. The Megillah is the tenth Tractate of Mishnah in the Order Moed that deals with the laws of Purim and its understandings to the Book of Esther.

He explained that “Purim celebrates the miracle of Jewish survival in the ancient Persian Empire. The wicked Haman convinced King Ahasuerus to allow him to annihilate all the Jews of his kingdom in one day.”

“Unbeknownst to the king, his own queen Esther was a hidden Jew. When Esther pleaded for the life of her people, the tables turned and Haman was executed,” Rabbi Naparstek added.

The rabbi added, “the holiday is celebrated every year with reading the Megillah, a festive cuts to our state aid,” she added.

In a letter to the public, Pormilli said she wanted to alert residents “to the severity of the situation and to continue our commitment to providing factual, candid and comprehensive information about our situation and plans as they develop. We are still in the midst of analyzing every single element in order to make hard decisions and find creative solutions to maintain the integrity of our educational program. We are still very much in the thick of that process and we strongly encourage you to not view rumors or speculation as fact,” she added.

“As always, we will present thorough and detailed plans and proposals in public and will share them with the school community. To lose meal, gifts of food and charity to the poor. It is also customary to dress up in costume as a reminder that G-D works in mysterious ways.”

The Purim holiday can often feel like one big party or festival with a crowded calendar of carnivals, singing, dancing and events packed with food and drink. That is even before the Purim costumes come out which range from traditional to all-out whimsical, on display in parades and pageants at schools and other organizations.

It is traditional to distribute gifts of food and drink to loved ones. Part of the story of Purim, as Rabbi Naparstek noted was that Queen Esther, the wife of the Persian King Ahasuerus, was Jewish, although she concealed her Judaism.

Esther’s cousin and sometimes referenced as uncle, Mordecai learned of a plot to kill the king and loyally reported it but he did not bow to Haman, the king’s most powerful advisor who wanted to destroy all the Jewish people

$6.2 million - on top of the $16 million we have already lost in state aid cuts over the past five years is - utterly devastating,” she added. “We will be forced to make some very hard decisions and come up with some very creative solutions over the next few weeks. We are in the midst of that process now, and we are committed to keeping the public informed at every turn about our plans to try to maintain the integrity of our educational programs,” she added.

Board President Giuseppe Palmeri said, “our first priority is the students and any decision that the Board of Education makes is made with the best intentions of our students in mind. I encourage anyone with questions or concerns to please attend our meetings.” in the Persian Empire.

Mordechai appealed to Esther to save her people and she came up with a courageous strategy to foil Haman’s plan. She invited the king and Haman to two banquets, the second of which revealed two shocking facts: that Haman wanted to kill the Jewish people and that she herself was Jewish.

Through these revelations, the queen was able to prevent Haman’s plot from taking form and through her bravery she saved the Jewish people.

The king punished Haman with death and appointed Mordechai, who had raised Esther after the death of her parents, as his new advisor.

It is said that Esther and Mordechai teach people about two different kinds of courage. Mordechai sets an example of fighting for ourselves while Esther teaches people to stand up and not be a bystander to evil and injustice.

“If you don’t want to participate publicly during a meeting, come talk to us afterwards or reach out to us. We will be more than happy to hear you out and answer any questions or concerns,” he added.

Pormilli said, “we are still in the midst of analyzing every single element in order to make hard decisions and find creative solutions to maintain the integrity of our educational program. We strongly encourage you to not view rumors or speculation as fact. As always, we will present thorough and detailed plans and proposals in public and will share them with the school community.”

A public hearing on the proposed budget will be held at 6:30 p.m. April 26 in the Fine Arts Center of Jackson Memorial High School.