I saw this in the Jersey Journal. It appears that Christie is saying no to uncontrolled spending by local authorities, etc. so the petition may have more weight than one would think based on past experience. The ordinance and the tax increase does go through a local/regional finance board.

So please sign or volunteer to get signatures.

http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page ... _nj_authorities_hold.html

They used to be New Jersey?s dirty little secrets, but not anymore. For three weeks, Gov. Chris Christie, the voter-appointed fiscal sniper, has been firing shots at free-spending regional boards and authorities.
Bam! The Delaware River and Bay Authority?s 3 percent budget increase is rejected by Christie because it outpaces inflation.
Bam! Christie blocks the School Development Authority from spending another $1.2 million on the construction of Burlington City High School, already $18 million over budget.
Bam! Christie blocks $415,608 in Urban Entreprise Zone Authority spending because $399,608 would pay salaries and benefits for only four employees of the Hillside Clean Team VIII project to keep the downtown area neat.
Christie has taken aim at "the hidden economy," he calls it ? largely unregulated agencies that are patronage pits of nepotism, outrageous salaries and excessive spending, often protected by well-connected politicians and well-paid lobbyists. These boards spend tens of millions of dollars without having to answer to voters. Now Christie wants them answerable to him.
The governor has control over some, but not all, of these agencies. That?s why Christie is asking the Legislature to pass a bill, proposed by State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen), that would give him power over the others, like the fiscally reckless Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission. Christie wants the power to veto those agencies? minutes to block specific spending.
The PVSC has become the whipping boy of waste because it has an executive director making $313,000 a year, 82 employees earning more than $100,000 and spends rate-payer money on Trenton lobbyists. The payroll looks like a family tree of the politically connected.
But that?s peanuts. Weinberg says she uncovered $13 million in legal fees and $3 million spent on public relations over a six-year period. One lobbyist was paid $100,000 to create a coloring book, she said.
Assemblyman Gordon Johnson once described the PVSC?s budget, now $164 million, as "an awful lot of money to push poopy through a pipe."
"We?re going to rein in these authorities and let them know they are answerable to the people who are elected," Christie said.
These boards need a watchdog, so why not the governor ? the dog with the biggest bite?