Exorbitant Cost of Out of Town Lawyers
Team Santiago hired an Atlantic County attorney to be our
city solicitor, James Schroeder. Mr. Schroeder submitted his bid of $55, 000.00
for the year to be the city solicitor. But that was basically to come to the
Commission meetings and he reserved the right to charge extra for almost
anything else at the rate of $150.00 per hour. For years the established hourly
rate was $130.00.Well the bills for the first 3 months are in and Mr. Schroeder
has been paid $68,132.49!!! At this rate he is on track to make close to
$300,000.00 this year.
Team Santiago also hired Doug Long’s firm. He has been paid $53,791.71 in the first three months and is on
track to take home $215,166.00 this year. Doug Long’s firm was hired for
$150.00 per hour with the maximum at $100,000.00. They are half way there in 3
months. Change orders will be coming in shortly.
This is a brief glimpse into what partisan politics is going
to cost the city of Millville. Commissioner Parent is in charge of Revenue and
Finance. Parent has stated over and over that partisanship and politics is not
involved and he has the best interests of Millville at heart. I think he
protests too much because he has a guilty conscience. These two appointments
were direct election paybacks. Team Santiago’s campaign was run out of the
Democratic headquarters and Doug Long was the democratic chair. One of Stands
Tall for South Jersey’s listed phone numbers is James Schroeder’s cell phone.
Maybe Commissioner Parent should stop protesting and spend his time looking into what his
partisanship is costing this city.
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