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Post by admin on Apr 28, 2009 5:07:42 GMT -5
www.app.com/article/20090428/NEWS01/904280316FREEHOLD: The Borough Council has approved the purchase of a vehicle for the police chief. Council members on April 6 authorized the use of up to $19,154 to buy a Jeep Cherokee through a state contract from Warnock Automotive Inc. of East Hanover. The vehicle will be used by Police Chief Mitch Roth, Councilman Jaye Sims said. Roth's current vehicle will be given to the Police Department's detective bureau, Sims said. Kim Predham
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adefonzo
Junior Member
If I can see further than some, it's because I have stood on the shoulders of giants
Posts: 308
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Post by adefonzo on Apr 28, 2009 5:34:40 GMT -5
While I realize that this is not a significant amount of money (at least not in the grand scheme of the overall budget for the Boro), this is the type of story that you don't really want to hear when the Boro is talking about raising taxes while eliminating positions. Let's be honest...not filling positions that were vacated when people either retired or left for greener pastures is essentially eliminating those positions. And while $19,000 will not be enough to fill one of those positions, any form of extra spending during a time when the economy is in such a condition, comes off as just sounding wrong.
And let me be clear...I am not asserting that Chief Roth hasn't earned such a benefit, but when his current vehicle is apparently still in good condition (after all, they're not scrapping it, they're giving it to the detective's bureau), I just feel he can use it for at least another year and then see where the economy stands before we rush out to buy a new SUV.
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Post by admin on Apr 28, 2009 5:44:40 GMT -5
While I realize that this is not a significant amount of money (at least not in the grand scheme of the overall budget for the Boro), this is the type of story that you don't really want to hear when the Boro is talking about raising taxes while eliminating positions. Let's be honest...not filling positions that were vacated when people either retired or left for greener pastures is essentially eliminating those positions. And while $19,000 will not be enough to fill one of those positions, any form of extra spending during a time when the economy is in such a condition, comes off as just sounding wrong. And let me be clear...I am not asserting that Chief Roth hasn't earned such a benefit, but when his current vehicle is apparently still in good condition (after all, they're not scrapping it, they're giving it to the detective's bureau), I just feel he can use it for at least another year and then see where the economy stands before we rush out to buy a new SUV. I think you got the picture pretty good. the Chief getting something like this is not a big deal and that is actually a nice price for that vehicle. From a PR perspective, the timing is off. It could look a little funny to some people. The practice of sending his current vehicle to another place in the department is a common practice. In my agency, the top dogs get the new vehicles and send their used ones into the ranks. Often that is replacing something that has high mileage and needs to go. The Jeep the Chief will be getting will probably get passed on to, maybe becoming the new DARE vehicle or something like that. |
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adefonzo
Junior Member
If I can see further than some, it's because I have stood on the shoulders of giants
Posts: 308
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Post by adefonzo on Apr 30, 2009 6:08:40 GMT -5
I'm curious, Andrew, since you've thrown your hat in the council seat ring this year -- which must be tremendously exciting (!), how would you have voted on this up there at The Long Table? Yes or No? If I were on the Town Council (and don't believe everything you see in print just yet) I would have voted against this measure. It's similar to my voting against the school budget this year. While I don't argue the fact that we still need more money for the schools, I did not agree that in these times we needed to collect more from the people in town, especially when we received money from the state that we were already preparing to do without - and which would have more than covered what we are collecting in additional taxes. Of course, the school budget (for me) is a much longer story because I realize just how far behind we are financially, but I don't want to get into the whole story here. In the case of the new SUV, as I stated earlier...since his current vehicle does not seem to be headed for the scrap heap, could we not have squeezed at least one more year out of it and not thrown additional spending onto the tax burden of the folks in town? Simply put, I feel it is extra spending at a time when the Boro should be tightening it's belt - and is tightening it's belt in other areas. One other side note...I realize the vehicle is supposedly only going to cost the town $19,154...but does that price include all of the extra work that has to be done to the vehicle to properly outfit it as a Police Chief's car? Look...I'm not saying this is going to suddenly cost us $80,000...but I just find it hard to believe that the $19,154 figure encompasses all of the costs for the vehicle. Again, unnecessary spending at this particular point in time...in my opinion |
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bergsteiger
Full Member
War is simple, direct, and ruthless
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Post by bergsteiger on Apr 30, 2009 7:52:30 GMT -5
Thank you very much! I see you definitely want to "conserve" so to speak. I'm in a similar situation -- I only have 2 more payments on my car. I still don't know if I want to hold onto it for another year (be payment free) -- or trade it in. The idea of a major breakdown is repulsive to me because I don't have the time or the ability to deal with that. So, trading in is attractive to me; plus I save myself from major depreciation value. Part of me is very fiscally conservative too, about not wanting to continue a monthly payment. In short, as is typical of me, I can't seem to make up my mind. Life for the chronically undecisive is a constant challenge. I should start a support group, but I can't decide. Lisa, don’t bother trying to get help for that issue. You’re a women. It’s in your DNA. |
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