July 30th, 2009, Subject: Finance Committee is needed in Middletown Government

    Apparently, Tricia Nelsen has no clue in running a business. She is also one that does not pay attention if she ever attends a Township Committee meeting. If she had a clue as to what Mr. Byrnes has been proposing for the past year she would understand that this makes the most logical sense. The more oversight that is given to the town budget will make it that much better. Mr. Byrnes is making suggestions, which is more than what Ms. Nelsen’s GOP majority has been doing for over 25 years. They would rather keep the public in the shadows regarding the workings of our government.
    As President of the Poricy Park Conservancy, where a reported $10k was stolen by the former Executive Director to keep her home out of foreclosure, Ms. Nelsen could not even step up to provide a statement to the press regarding the reaction of the Conservancy. This is a group that is supposed to be in control of the funds that were taken. Instead, she passed off her responsibilities to the Township Administrator to comment for her. Maybe there should be a finance committee providing oversight for this group.
    What Tricia Nelsen is supporting is what the GOP majority insists upon, which are 5 separate finance committees each consisting of a Committee person. She feels that it is every Committee member's responsibility to work on the budget. She is correct in stating this, but if there was more oversight to point out areas that are obviously missed the Committee, as a whole would be more effective.
    The fears of Ms. Nelsen are misdirected. She should be more fearful of those she supports who year after year are supporting tax increases on the homeowners of our town. They have been satisfying the demands of the budget with one-time sources of revenue instead of trying to find a means to generate revenue besides property taxes.

Dora Crisafulli
Middletown