"Dear Edgewater Park Reporter,
I am responding to the Anonymous Letter sent to Mayor Hall and Council Members, dated 3/14/08.
A copy of the letter was supposedly sent to the following; The Burlington County Republican Party, The State of New Jersey Republican Party, The Burlington County Times, The Edgewater Park Sewer Department and Members of the local Republican Party.
The Sewer Authority, The Mayor and Council and The Diamond Family are the only ones that have received copies of this letter as far as I know.
I have checked with the County and State Republican Parties, the Edgewater Park Republican County Committee Members, as well as the BCT, and except for the copy sent to the Diamond Family, no one else has received a copy of this letter.
The letter was referred to by the Sewer Authority Chairman; David Levay at the Authority's April Meeting, April 9th during correspondence, but Dave was advised not to read the letter because it was not signed with the name of the author.
As to the comments made about me, I will not dignify the personal attacks made against me but do want to correct comments made as facts in this letter.
The first correction, "We all know he is causing a lot of wasted time in the township offices requesting copies of everything from ordinances to receipts for toilet paper."
I have made two OPRA request, and both requests were rejected by the Township Clerk. The first was for copies of emails and letters between the members of township committee and the Sewer Authority Members. It was rejected because the request was too vague. The second was for the 2007 budget showing the line item budgeted amounts, and what was spent each month and what was left to be spent. I have received this budget information in past years with no problem. I don't believe my request required a lot of time on the part of township officials to fulfill, all they needed to do is copy the spreadsheet budget report that is done each month by the CFO, to a CD disk. The Email request was rejected without any work being done.
The second correction, "This is because he wants her job (Administrator) if the republicans take control of the township government." I do not want, nor have I asked to be considered for the Administrator's position in Edgewater Park so you can put this rumor to bed. I was asked by committee members of two towns in Burlington County , to apply for the Administrator positions in those towns, when they had an opening. I turned them down. I am not qualified to hold that position. This rumor was used in Democratic campaign literature during past elections.
The third correction, "Mr. Dovey is most upset because the sewer office is now going to be open five days a week. This means his wife now has to work five days instead of three." I am upset because it will cost the sewer tax payer additional money to keep the office open, an additional two days a week. With the additional cost of the Willingboro MUA, now contracted as the Authority Operator and maintenance contractor, the large increase in legal cost for the Authority Solicitor, our sewer rates will be increased this year. If you doubt this, check the Auditors ESPA 2007 Audit Report and Recommendations. The Authority Members have also entered into a contract for new office space and $20,000 for the renovation of that space. The Township will now lose the $12,000 dollars in rent they received from the Sewer Authority (Aprox. 1/2 cent on the tax rate) and the Authority will be paying double for the new office rent along with the cost for unities and insurance. Does this make sense? Now you know what I am upset about..
The fourth correction, There is no one who has lived in Edgewater Park for nearly seventy years, who is a member of the Republican County Committee or Republican Club.
The fifth correction, "Mr. Dovey placed the name of Mr. Daly's young son on the "blog"." I never placed the name of Mr. Daly's son on the blog. Check out the all of the comments (3) made by me to this blog. None concern Mr. Daly's son.
The sixth correction, "Mr. Dovey blasted the mayor's husband for receiving two pay checks". I have never blasted Mr. Hall about receiving two pay checks. I have never ridiculed Mr. Hall for anything he has done. I did sit quietly, as Mr. Hall interrogated my wife about her salary, during an Authority Meeting for 45 min. Mr. Hall who was appointed by his wife to the Sewer Board voted to approve my wife's salary every year he has been on the Authority Bd. Mr. Hall has also recently removed from the Authority's Office her time sheets, and Contract to examine. Mr. Hall also questioned her hours, sick time, acuminated sick time and vacation time that are part of her contract and vouched for in the Audit. I have to say Mr. Hall's petty performance during the past three Authority Meetings is pretty remarkable for a man with a life threatening illness. I know what it is like for a family member to battle cancer. Both my Mother and Mother-In-Law, battled breast cancer twice. They suffered tough times while receiving the treatments to battle their cancer. I wouldn't wish this on anyone.
The seventh correction, "Mr. Dovey has informed all of us that Chuck Ryder and Dawn Diamond will be running for town council in the upcoming election." Chuck Ryder and Joseph Galgoci are the Republican Candidates for Edgewater Park Committee.
The eighth correction, "Please know that there will be a new group of republicans in charge very soon and we will NOT conduct business the " Dovey Way "." I am the current Republican Chairman, and I am not aware of any changes to our County Committee .. I have never been approached by a member of our party to complain about my chairmanship. I have received critical comments about not responding to our opposition when they have resorted to personal attacks against our candidates. In the past I have resisted any efforts to return the favor. It will now be very difficult for me to stop this tactic in light of the letter.
I do not believe this letter came from any Edgewater Park Republican.. I believe it was created and sent by some members of the Township Committee and their friends. This was to try and embarrass me, my family and to send a message to the Edgewater Park Reporter and those of you that dare to question, criticize or make suggestions about the way they are governing our town. They want you to know that they will do the same to you with their intimidation tactics. This method distracts from the real truth of how they have mismanaged our town, so they do not have to answer for the tax increases, selective ordinance enforcement and the closed way they conduct our township business.
Mayor Hall has been making phone calls to residents about this letter and reading it to them. It doesn't surprise me Judy is doing this; she is very good about spreading gossip when she wants to get her way or get even.
The personal information spread about me and others in this letter will probably be seen again this fall in the Democratic campaign literature.
I hope that this letter and the tactics used will wake up the residents of Edgewater Park . Please pay attention to what is happening to our town, the tax increases, and the causes and how you are treated when you dare to question, and not to the smear gossip that is meant to distract you.
This is not about who is a Democrat or Republican. It is about good government, management and leadership for our town. We need people who care about you the taxpayer, and not the solicitors, engineers or developers and how much they contribute or how many sports tickets they give out to committee. We should care how they responsibly deal with controlling the property tax in our town. This committee has shown they have done a bad job for all of us taxpayers, Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike. This committee has run and managed our town for the past eight of nine years, and the record speaks for itself.
Thank you for allowing me to respond,
Robert Dovey"
Thank you Mr. Dovey,
The Edgewater Park Reporter
Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.
0 comments:
Post a Comment