Howard Rubenstein’s Letter to the Editor


Prior to voting on the new Oakland Public Events Committee Ordinance Councilwoman Coira asked if it were possible to start a second trust fund which would be dedicated solely to the wishes of the committee members rather than having them adhere to the strict limitations of the present PEC Trust Fund. This new fund would give the committee the flexibility they desire such as allowing them to make a donation to the Ramapough Conservancy, helping the Sports Association of Oakland build their “walking path” or constructing a “children’s sprinkler park”. Borough Attorney Brian Chewcaskie acknowledged that such a trust fund could be established but only by moving forward, you can’t use existing funds to start it. I agree that establishing a second fund would be a good idea but only if the committee was to sponsor an entirely new event that produces revenue to support it. Currently, the only event that does such is our annual carnival. If you allow carnival revenue to be siphoned away from the original Trust Fund, eventually it would become unstable to support any event, present or future. I believe it would also be in violation of Section 7 of our new PEC Ordinance. One possible suggestion for a new event would be the PEC along with the newly formed Oakland Business Association (OBA) to co-sponsor an “Oakland Day” featuring local services, restaurants, merchants and contractors. A second revenue producing event is the only logical way to continually maintain one healthy trust fund while attempting to start another.

Thank you.

Howard Rubenstein
7 West Court
Oakland, NJ 07436