As reported by app.com, State Senate President Stephen Sweeney said he will push for a law aimed at moving the State’s 566 municipalities into shared-service agreements. Sweeney said he would introduce the legislation this week.

The bill is expected to revive the Local Unit Alignment, Reorganization and Consolidation Commission (“LUARC”), created some four years ago, but which lost its funding in the current state budget. Under the current proposal, municipalities would be encouraged to come up with shared-services plans. If towns fail to make arrangements to share services, the commission could go into those towns and recommend plans that would be put to voters for approval. Voters would have to approve the measure in order for the municipality to avoid a reduction in state aid corresponding to the amount of money that would have been saved through the shared services agreement.  

Although numerous government entities across the state have begun to share services, Sweeney’s plan, if enacted, would represent the first effort by state government to push municipalities to do such things as combine police forces or fire departments, merge garbage pickup, or purchase items in bulk together. 

Sweeney, at a meeting with the Editorial Board of the Asbury Park Press, said he also wants to encourage counties to share services. “If you don’t want more cost-effective government, that’s fine, but (the state) shouldn’t be subsidizing it,” Sweeney said. He also said that local voters are often reluctant to approve or support plans that result in the layoffs or demotions of familiar faces in municipal governments.

Sweeney, a former Gloucester County freeholder, noted that he combined that county’s vocational-technical and special services schools to save $1.3 million a year, and instituted a countywide police dispatch system in order to save money. He acknowledged, though, that the police dispatch initiative took eight years to implement and more work needs to be done. He also said he though it would be too soon for the shared-services proposals to be put to local voters this year.  

Kevin Roberts, a spokesman for Governor Chris Christie, said the Republican would consider Sweeney’s plan and judge it on the details, but also wanted the Democrat-controlled Legislature to pass more of Christie’s so-called tool kit bills also aimed at reducing property taxes.

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DONALD C. BARBATI, JR.

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues…

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues litigated before the courts and administrative tribunals throughout the State of New Jersey. In addition, Mr. Barbati also routinely represents individuals in various types of public pension appeals, real estate transactions, and general litigation matters. He is a frequent contributor to the New Jersey Public Safety Officers Law Blog, a free legal publication designed to keep New Jersey public safety officers up-to-date and informed about legal issues pertinent to their profession. During his years of practice, Mr. Barbati has established a reputation for achieving favorable results for his clients in a cost-efficient manner.

Mr. Barbati has also handled numerous novel legal issues while representing New Jersey Public Safety Officers. Most notably, he served as lead counsel for the Appellants in the published case In re Rodriguez, 423 N.J. Super. 440 (App. Div. 2011). In that case, Mr. Barbati successfully argued on behalf of the Appellants, thereby overturning the Attorney General’s denial of counsel to two prison guards in a civil rights suit arising from an inmate assault.  In the process, the Court clarified the standard to be utilized by the Attorney General in assessing whether a public employee is entitled to legal representation and mandated that reliance must be placed on up-to-date information.

Prior to becoming a practicing attorney, Mr. Barbati served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Linda R. Feinberg, Assignment Judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Mercer Vicinage. During his clerkship Mr. Barbati handled numerous complex and novel substantive and procedural issues arising from complaints in lieu of prerogative writs, orders to show cause, and motion practice. These include appeals from decisions by planning and zoning boards and local government bodies, bidding challenges under the Local Public Contract Law, Open Public Records Act requests, the taking of private property under the eminent domain statute, and election law disputes. In addition, Mr. Barbati, as a certified mediator, mediated many small claims disputes in the Special Civil Part.

Mr. Barbati received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, magna cum laude, from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Upon graduating, Mr. Barbati attended Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware. In 2007, he received his juris doctorate, magna cum laude, graduating in the top five percent of his class. During law school, Mr. Barbati interned for the Honorable Joseph E. Irenas, Senior United States District Court Judge for the District of New Jersey in Camden, New Jersey, assisting on various constitutional, employment, and Third Circuit Court of Appeals litigation, including numerous civil rights, social security, and immigration cases.