Apparently, ethics in Matawan have gone the way of the economy....in the DUMPER! This is not to say all the members of the Matawan Borough Council are in the same boat. Here are the facts...
KEY AUTO BODY - Councilman Kevin Mendes' family owned business
From 1/2000 to 4/21/2009
Total fees $11,455.19
From 1/2008 to 4/21/09
Fees $5,307.17
This is approximately 46% of the $11,455.19 (in 16 months)
THESE FIGURES DO NOT INCLUDE TOWING FEES.
MULLANEY TIRE - Councilman Joseph "Buddy" Mullaney's business
1/2000 To 4/21/2009
Total fees $7,806.17
From 1/2006 to 4/21/2009
Fees $3,159.56
This is approximately 40% of the $7,806.17
THESE FIGURES DO NOT INCLUDE FIRST AID WORK.
Not bad for a Councilman who said back in March 2008, he would stop doing work for the Borough even though it would hurt his pocketbook.
Who's kidding who Councilmen?
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8 comments:
No wonder why this town is such a mess! These guys are shady. They're more concerned with their businesses then they are about a downtown that looks like a slum and a transit village that hasn't had one ounce of progress since it was announced. What a joke.
Speaking of ethics - we are in the middle of a tax appeal and just a few days prior to our court date, the Matawan tax assessor's office called to negotiate a property value/tax reduction in lieu of going to court. We have all been up in arms over our taxes and now they're trying to work out "behind the scenes" deals to avoid everyone going to court. I wonder who's best interest this is in. Seems unethical to me.
Just sent a comment regarding the ethics of the tax assessor and believe it or not, it is legal. I verified with the Monmouth Tax Assessors office. Still can't believe it's legal because it seems sneaky but then again, we live in NJ.
Question to Anonymous who received the phone call from the tax assessor's office to negotiate a property value/tax reduction in lieu of going to court... was this a Matawan tax assessor or a Monmouth County tax assesor? Would just like clarifcation for my own information. Thank you.
Bill Sutphin - I would have commented directly on your blog but it wasn't easy to publish comments and since you posted here, I figured I'd address your comment about the mayor here... I too think that Councilmen should not be providing any service to the town. It is a conflict of interest and therefore I feel that is unethical and not in the best interest of the town. You can do one or the other but not both. It leaves too much room for bribery and corruption and Matawan just doesn't need it. The mayor does not have an easy job - taxes are rising, he is trying to cut the budget without cutting services. It's a balancing act. No one wants to pay higher taxes, no one wants service cuts, people don't want to give up parades and town events and you can't just print money to cover rising costs. No matter what you do, you just cannot win or make everyone happy. At least he's trying to make some positive changes and cuts and he's making the effort. I have spoken to him numerous times and he is a stand up guy. Would you rather have a fiscally irresponsible mayor that didn't care about ethics? Spend, spend, spend and worry about it later?
Regarding the tax assessor thing - many of my neighbors that appealed got the same call - it was from the Matawan Tax Assessor and not the Monmouth County tax assessor as well as someone named Mr. Dudek (sp?) from the company that did the revaluation a few years back. He is able to act on behalf of Matwan's tax assessor. He accompanied the tax assessor to the appeal hearings as well.
We were compelled to remove a comment from a blogger, signing as Bill Sutphin,upon reading the blog it had erroneous, possibly liable statements. Suggest Bill gets documentation prior to commenting info as fact. We wouldn't want to mislead people Bill!
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