More Money for the City Attorneys!


Team Santiago was predictable at the last commission meeting. The work session lasted only 2 minutes and 17 seconds. How can there be no business that the commissioners need to discuss?  Of course at the last meeting, when Ms. Udalovas asked Mayor Santiago a question he requested that questions be asked prior to the meeting. It seems Mayor Santiago wants the public to be in the dark. So much for the transparency promised during the election. Mr. Pepitone missed another meeting and Mr. Parent once again reminded the taxpayers that 2019 budget would be a tough one.

It was déjà vu all over again as Team Santiago gave more money to the partisan politicians who financed their negative campaign. Step one was to transfer $170,000 in funds from several accounts to have enough money to give away.  All the commissioners voted for the money transfer. When it was time to vote on giving the money to Long and Schroeder, Ms. Udalovas voted no. Once again, this was too little too late. She really doesn’t understand how it works. The time to vote no was when Long and Schroeder were appointed. They were not the lowest or best proposals for Millville’s taxpayers. Obviously that wasn’t the test for Team Santiago. It had a debt to repay and favors to return. The only problem is the payback is made on the back of Millville’s taxpayers. That is when the no vote mattered.  Either Ms. Udalavos doesn’t understand municipal government or she is playing both ends against the middle looking forward to the next time her name is on a ballot. A no vote now is meaningless.  At this meeting, Team Santiago raised the amount of money to Doug Long’s law firm by $60,000. And Schroeder’s by  an additional 40,000. Mr. Schroeder’s initial proposal was for $55,000. The bill is now up to $242,000. Hopefully the commissioners are done paying back their cronies and in 2019 can act in the best interest of Millville’s taxpayers.

However, the preliminary signs are not good. The proposals for professionals for 2019 are already being discussed and Mr. Schroeder, the well-paid city solicitor suggested hiring even more attorneys for the city so that the commissions would have a pool of attorneys to use. Where will those funds come from? Ms. Udalovas would like to hire 6 additional consultants for the planning department. Why?  What for? And at what cost?

Comments

Dennis Romanik said…
Team Santiago. They are going to "acquire" absolutely all the money that they can for themselves and their political Buddies.
November 16, 2018 at 5:37 AM
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