EDISON, NJ — A seemingly routine resolution launched a debate among Councilmembers during the last meeting.
Council voted on a resolution to pay Graphic Image $53,024 for printing Edison’s quarterly newsletter, “Illuminator,” for 2023.
Some Councilmembers spoke of finding cost-effective ways as they thought the current price tag was high.
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“I will vote for this but it’s with a caveat to look into possible other ways of making this more cost-effective,” Councilwoman Margot Harris said. She also asked if Council could look at making the newsletter more accessible to seniors by making it available at the library or senior center.
Councilman Nishith Patel concurred with Harris saying they should look at ways to curtail costs. “We could do a digital version and maybe opt-in for anyone who wants a printed version,” Patel suggested.
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Meanwhile, Councilwoman Joyce Ship-Freeman wondered why no council members were featured regularly in the “Illuminator” since they were out in the community often.
Harris agreed with Ship-Freeman saying one of the feedbacks she received was to dedicate pages to different municipal departments, so they could put in information for the residents.
“This should be expanded to not just include what the mayor is doing, but what we the council are doing and possibly other bodies like the Board of Education,” Harris said.
Councilman Ajay Patil said content was key in the newsletter, and suggested including information from the BOE, the library, the recreation department and the council, especially details on ordinances.
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“This could be more of a collective, collaborative effort at the taxpayer’s dollar,” Patil said.
But Patel rejected the idea of including the Board of Education in the newsletter, saying they were a separate board that could pay for their own newsletter.
Councilman Joe Coyle said the “Illuminator” gave residents the opportunity to know what’s happening in town. He also called for a comprehensive cost analysis in the future. But he did not agree with including the Board of Education.
“Won’t mind seeing cross-collaborative marketing between departments and organizations, but I don’t agree with the Board of Ed,” Coyle said.
Council president John Poyner told council members that last year, the cost of printing the newsletter was over $14,000 per quarter, but this year the cost was over $12,000.
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