May 5, 2008 - Subject: Middletown GOP committeeman says budget comments are not welcome

    According to a recent letter by Mike Vitkansas, a GOP committeeman, if the public has comments on the township budget they’d do best to keep them to themselves. The committee can’t be bothered with hearing comments from the average Middletown resident, because that would be abdicating their duty.

    Don’t bother to tell them that a 7% budget increase is too much. Don’t try to let them know that excessive spending can’t be tolerated. Don’t bother to let them know you can’t afford salary increases that range up to 35%. Since your only qualification to comment is that you are a resident who pays taxes, that is simply not good enough.

    I, on the other hand believe that our committee members should be receptive to comments from the public, especially when it comes to the spending of our tax dollars. I am happy to hear that there are committeemen willing to listen to any idea that would save money whether it comes from a professional or just the average homeowner struggling to make ends meet. I believe that municipal government should be open and transparent especially when it is dealing with how our hard-earned tax dollars are spent.

    Mr. Vitkansas reveals his character by repeating the complete falsehood regarding Committeemen Sean Byrnes’ and Pat Short’s efforts to cut the budget. I have not heard any specific recommendations for cuts from other members of the committee. Yet I know that the proposal to restrict overtime came from Pat Short and the idea to save money on PR expenses came from Sean Brynes. I also know every month these two committeemen propose ways to limit Township spending because they understand the concerns of Middletown residents.

    I agree with Mr. Vitkansas that the municipal budget is a very serious and complex issue.
That doesn’t mean the door should be closed on residents comments, but that apparently is what this GOP committeeman supports. If the 7% tax increase is what the GOP committee members who “do all of the work” support, then I know what my vote will be on Election Day.

Don Watson
New Monmouth, NJ

The referenced letter follows. We are only too happy to print it as we feel its faulty logic and factual errors speak for themselves.

In a recent article, Middletown Councilman Patrick Short was quoted as saying, “by allowing everyone to look at the budget, we can get suggestions from all types of people in our town.” As a taxpayer, I am outraged that Mr. Short would abdicate his responsibility and with a straight face, ask for suggestions from the public for help with the budget. I would like to remind Mr. Short that the municipal budget is a very serious, complex issue that should not be treated as if it were a contest to name a school mascot.

Moreover, Middletown has a series of professionals on staff whose job it is to know the complexities of the township’s finances, operations and the intricacies of state guidelines in formulating the budget. These individuals include the CFO, township administrator, purchasing agent, department heads and the elected officials of the township committee. As the mayor stated in the article, he and the Deputy Mayor had been working on the budget since the beginning, yet Mr. Short and Mr. Byrnes chose not to participate, instead, presenting a number of proposals that appear to have been put together at the last minute and which one official described as “ludicrous.”

Anyone who has read about Mr. Short’s antics during his time on the council should not be surprised. However, to allow the other members of the township council to do all of the work on the budget and not even offer one idea to the staff involved in the budgetary process is not only peculiar, but unproductive and shamelessly political. Judging from the outrageous claims made during the last two Democratic campaigns, both Mr. Short and Mr. Byrnes owe the residents more than just a half-hearted plea for help to do the job that they themselves were elected to do.

Michael Vitkansas
Middletown NJ