The City has been in a dispute with the Y since its soft opening in 2008. You have to appreciate the efforts that Former Business Administrator Greg Fehrenbach and Former Law Director Mark Blunda put in when they first were hired in 2008. They both had a lot on their plate to help get the City back into financial shape. The YMCA contract was one of many.
The YMCA has been sledgehammered constantly, even up to the present. You would think after all this time and all of the changes with Council Members that any issues would have been resolved.
The YMCA CEO and Presidnet Steve Jobin and 3 of the Board Directors invited the Amboy Guardian to discuss some of these issues (see page 6).
Some of the concerns brought up by some past and present Council Members had to deal with is a $24,000/month cost that the City is incurring with the Y.
There is an old saying there are 3 sides to every story: his side, her side, and the truth.
Since the Y has opened in 2008 until the present, a lot has changed. This has not been taken into account when mentioned at some of the Meetings.
We’ve had many law firms represent the City since Blunda left. One of those firms had at least 30 lawyers listed. The City could have one of those lawyers dedicated to the Y until all parties came to an agreement.
Now, there is a resolution for an auditor to look at the Y’s books. At the last Meeting, the auditor had not met with the Y. The Y and Board of Directors want nothing more than to get this problem resolved so that everyone can move on.
Why the holdup? The City seems to be stuck in a time warp when it comes to resolving the Y’s issues.
We could basically take articles of Council Meetings from 8 years ago and run them again. Even further back!
This is an embarrassment. Trust us, this is difficult for us to say, but someone has to. One thing – people have to stop comparing the Y’s of other towns to Perth Amboy. Stop even comparing the rates of some fees that people charge from other towns.
Remember Woodbridge Township is composed of 10 towns Avenel, Colonia, Fords, Hopelawn, Iselin, Keasbey, Menlo Park Terrace, Port Reading, Sewaren and Woodbridge Proper.
Remember, we had a print out given to us where it shows the average annual income of Perth Amboy Residents compared to the communities around us. It shows that Perth Amboy’s numbers to be much lower.
I’m sure the students, parents, and lower income residents appreciate that the Y is able to offer them reduced membership fees to those who qualify.
Certain individuals call for the City to run the YMCA. The fact is that the same people who want the City to take over the Y criticize the City’s practices and how it is run. It’s an oxymoron.
Please have someone look at the books, look at the contracts and work it out. Look at the calculations and what needs to be done.
The Y is a positive asset to the City of Perth Amboy. There’s a place for everything and everything has it’s place. The Y offers services from ages 1 to 101 years old. The Y is probably the only place in town where three generations can go to at the same time and there is something for each to enjoy.
Children of all ages play and learn in a safe environment. Sometimes such activities as movie nights, health fairs are open to the public.
We were born and raised here. Anytime you have a facility that can help people of all ages get out to exercise their minds and bodies to keep them healthier and be independent, it’s a good thing.
The Y is open 7 days a week except for major holidays. Just look at the faces of people who go there to work, play, exercise, and learn. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. C.M. & K,M.
