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Update as of July 27, 2006
At the Board of Trustees Meeting on July 24, an
alternate plan was presented which would move Tau to Meadowlands Park
instead of Sloan Street.
However, the taxpayers are still expected to pay
$170,000 for this project.
More updates in the next few weeks.
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Welcome
If you found your way to this website chances are you've spoken to the
various people gathering signatures on petitions around town, read one of the
recent articles in The Star Ledger, The News Record; or The
New York Times. Or maybe it was one of the recent blurbs in South Orange's Newsletter The Gaslight. Perhaps
one of the letters in The News Record about the Tony Smith Sculpture Tau
being installed on Sloan Street, caught your
eye. Then, there's always the possibility you've watched in amazement what's
taken place at the last few Board of Trustees Meetings. If you haven't been
following the sculpture mess on www.maplewoodonline.com chances are you don't have a clue what
is really going on.
Why the Opposition?
One of the things about this project that has upset many South Orange
residents is none of us had a chance to ask questions, until it was too late.
Up until the past few months there was NO PUBLIC
DISCUSSION about what was going to happen. A spokesperson for this
project insists there was plenty of information out there for people who
wanted to know. We respectfully disagree. At one point there was a 'blurb' in
the Gaslight, and a paid lecture at the library, but we can find nothing
in our local newspaper informing the residents of a meeting of any kind where
our voices could be heard about our tax money paying for a piece of art.
In this day and age, if an organization really wanted to get their
information out there, they'd create a website. Right? When this was
suggested to a spokesperson for the project at a recent BOT meeting she came
up with all kinds of excuses!
Earlier this year, when someone uncovered the truth about the sculpture's
funding, people immediately started to express their opposition, not
necessarily to the sculpture, but to more then a quarter miillion dollars of
taxpayer money paying for it. Despite the outcry and objections our elected
officials decided to turn a deaf ear to the steady stream of people who to
this day continue to speak out and object to tax money being spent on a
sculpture. The BOT could have stopped this; but have instead chosen to sign a
contract DESPITE being asked to allow the taxpayers to vote on the project.
We are not against ART. We are against
the fiscal irresponsibility of our Board of Trustees who is faced with a
crumbling Village Hall, a Library with a leaking roof and roads with enormous
potholes, yet they are spending an enormous amount of YOUR money on a
sculpture. Think about it. If you
lived in a house with a roof that leaked and your child needed new shoes,
would you buy a piece of art you liked or buy your child shoes and repair the
roof to your home?
This site has been created not to trash Tony Smith, but to attempt to make
more people aware of what is really going on! It is by no means a
professionally created site; but at least it will give those who visit
something to chew on. The information on this site has come from newspapers,
Board of Trustee Meetings, information put out by The Tony Smith Foundation,
MaplewoodOnline, web blogs, and other public documents.
History
Until recently, the very few articles on Tau coming to South Orange have been very positive. From what was
written in these articles one would come to the conclusion Tau
was a generous gift to the Village
of South Orange from
Tony Smith's family. We've also been told we all should feel honored and
lucky to have such a special gift. So, what's the problem? One doesn't pay
for a gift, do they? That's what we thought. But, no the TSSP once again,
along with the Board of Trustees misled the taxpayers! Who in their right
mind would accept a gift from someone that came with all kind of conditions
and demands made by the gift giver? We can't believe our BOT didn't cut the
strings that came with this so called gift and said "Thanks; but no
thanks!" Take a look at what our BOT agreed to in March 2005.
Thanks to the diligent work of several South Orange
residents it had been discovered the Village was not given the gift of a Tau
sculpture. Nope! What we were given is the privilege to have a
replica of Tau fabricated. And guess what else? This was going
to cost the taxpayers of South Orange in the
ballpark of at least $250,000! None of the articles informed the public of
this. But, we don't think the blame falls on the newspapers. No. It belongs
on the shoulders of those interviewed! Those interviewed failed to disclose
valuable - HONEST information! Up until recently, the community was told the
sculpture would be a 'gift' from Tony Smith's family to the Village of South Orange.
But wait, there's more! A private Foundation, the same foundation it
was later learned, approached Tony Smith's family and convinced
them into giving us a sculpture, told the BOT's they would raise the money to
cover any expense related to the sculpture. Yes, you read right! A group of
people went to Tony Smith's family and talked them into 'giving' South Orange this 'gift.' Funny how up until recently,
the articles in the New York Times, The Newark Star Ledger and The
News Record it appeared as if Tony Smith's family reached out to someone
in the Village.
Well, guess what? There are plenty of people who, now that the truth is know,
are not at all happy about the situation. The past few Board of Trustee
Meetings have been lots of fun -NOT!!! The Trustees as well as the members of
the Tony Smith Foundation are finding themselves being forced to answer
questions they thought nobody would ask. They are now being faced with
opposition and angry taxpayers that this project was snuck in under the radar
with NO PUBLIC DISCUSSION!!!
Geez, there was more discussion about the silly orange a few years back the
Trustees wanted to put on a pole in the middle of South Orange Ave by
Ridgewood Road.
The BOT and members of the Tony Smith Sculpture Project Foundation have told
members of the community we should be "grateful and honored to be given
something so valuable." Hmmm, but I'm guessing it's only as valuable as
how much we could sell the thing for. That would seem like the solution! Sell
Tau to the highest bidder. Not so quick, the problem is that it
is stated explicitly in the contract
with the Smith family the Village
of South Orange can not
sell it.
Just to give you an idea
of what's happened over the past few years take a look at this timeline of events somebody put together.
Why won't the Board of Trustees listen
to the residents?
On July 10, 2006, a petition with the signatures of approximately 1,000
residents of South Orange was presented to
the Board of Trustees. Yet – they
refused to budge. Watch for yourself.
On July 24, 2006, the
petition contained approximately 1,700 signatures and the Board of Trustees
finally agreed to relocate the sculpture from Sloan Street to Meadowlands Park. HOWEVER, the taxpayers are still expected
to pay $170,000! Watch for yourself.
These photos showing how some of Mr. Smith's other creations have
been displayed in other areas around the country
will show you what an injustice squeezing Tau in the Sloan Street
location would have been to his art.
Why isn’t this project being funded 100% privately?
The proponents of this project
claim to have already raised $100,000.
Why aren’t they scheduling other fundraisers and using ALL of that
money to reimburse the Village taxpayers?
What would Tau have done to Sloan Street?
Look at the two photos below. The one of the left is how the area currently
looks.
The picture on the right is what the area will look like if the Tony Smith
Sculpture Project and the BOT were successful with their plan to rip out the
gazebo (which by the way our taxes are still paying for) and replacing it
with Tau.
To give you a better idea of the size of this sculpture, here is a picture of a 6 foot man standing next to the Tau
at Hunter College
in New York.
This is the same size as the sculpture that was supposed to over shadow the
area by the train station.
Which do you prefer? The gazebo on the left? Or Tau on your
right?
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You
Might be wondering what you can do about this? How can YOUR voices be
heard?
Here are
some suggestions!
Comments on
this website?: theunofficaltonysmithproject@yahoo.com
Have something
to say? We're pretty sure the BOT and TSSP members visit this site!
Feel free to speak your mind by signing our guestbook. We are working on
adding a message board as well.
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