As a concerned taxpayer in Verona, and an attendant at the council meeting on November 2, 2015, what a pleasure to see the new majority council–specifically Mayor Kevin Ryan, Deputy Mayor Michael Nochimson, and new Councilman Alex Roman–at work, sifting through years of financial messes. The recent disgrace of overtime, the paying of over-scale to employees, and recent contracts that were supposed to benefit our town, have instead cost the town money.
One wonders who was minding the house and the old majority council for years, who seem to have looked the other way. This past election broke the dominance of that inept council, and rightly so. However, now as the new majority council takes on the task of fixing this bad behavior and poor leadership practices, along with our new Town Manager, it looks like we may have turned the corner for the good of the taxpayer and the fiscal health of our town.
An old saying is that you can find a diamond in the rough. Thankfully for the good of our town, we have found that diamond in Councilman Alex Roman. It was a damned shame he was not elected in 2013. Our ship would have been sailing to new heights by now. His dedication towards fiscal responsibility is second to none, and just what the taxpayers of Verona need. Like most of us, along with the new majority council, we didn’t need the smelling salts to know that a $24 million municipality budget relative to our neighbors like Cedar Grove–a town twice the size of Verona which operates on a budget of $13.6 million–is just outrageous. With the revelation of abysmal spending practices, it is clear now why our municipality budget has been out of control.
I have no doubt the wrongs of our town will be made right by this majority council, but we must be patient. Ten years of fiscal disaster won’t be fixed overnight. I think of the senior citizens on fixed incomes, and the one in four citizens who struggle to afford basic necessities as reported in the Verona-Cedar Grove Times last November 2014. I shudder to think if last May’s election had not brought fundamental change in the dynamics of our town council, the status quo would persist, public sector greed would continue to thrive in Verona, and further deepen our town’s expenditures.
But unfortunately, this bad public sector behavior is all around us. The State of New Jersey is the highest paying property tax state in the country and we still can’t pay our bills. To think that the pension and benefit system is close to $100 billion in debt is frightening; all because of greed. Regrettably, it starts in our own backyard.
As far as overtime in Verona, why should there be any overtime with a town that is staffed to capacity? As a concerned taxpayer, I believe overtime should be cut–at a minimum–in half, and more done with less.
I want to wish the council of Mayor Ryan, Deputy Mayor Nochimson, and Councilman Roman to keep up the good work and leave no stone unturned as to why this overspending happened in the first place.
Camillus Mitchell
Verona
