Udalovas Says NO to Transparency


The best new TV show in town is the Millville City commission meeting. If you haven’t watched it yet, tune in on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month at 7pm. You can access the meeting on Comcast Channel 9 or through the city website at the You Tube link.

The meeting on October 15th centered around the redevelopment of the Wheaton property by an out of town redeveloper. The redeveloper gave a presentation that promised over 300 jobs and the revitalization of Millville. This is the same redeveloper that all 5 commissioners voted against a few weeks ago.

Pepitone and Cooper stated they are suddenly for the project because they finally spoke to the redeveloper and understood the project. Mr. Pepitone confessed that for him to understand anything, it must be explained at an elementary level. How reassuring that these two commissioners are voting without knowing what they are voting on!

Ms. Udalovas was upset that other commissioners spoke to the redeveloper when, according to her, projects like this should only be discussed in the confines of her department with her employees. Why? Every commissioner has the right to speak to whomever they wish in order to understand the issues. Even though Pepitone and Cooper conducted their research after the fact, at least they did. Every commissioner is free to, if not obligated to, research every issue they vote on. If Team Santiago conducted themselves with the transparency they promised then the redeveloper would have discussed the project at the public work sessions. Ms. Udalovas was upset that the redeveloper was being open with all the commissioners and the public.

Ms. Udalovas says  she relies on the professionals. The voters did not elect the professionals they elected her. She should be researching the facts and making the decisions. The professionals she relies heavily on do not live in Millville. The chief financial officer, the city administrator, the chief of police, the clerk and the planner all do not live in Millville. Do they care if taxes are raised or what is happening to Millville?

Ms. Udalovas tried to escape responsibility by saying she is “just one citizen”. She is not “just one citizen”, she is a commissioner and 28,000 are expecting her to make informed decisions to better their everyday lives and to keep them safe.

The final scenes of the commission meeting were citizen’s comments. At the last meeting Mr. Parent stated emphatically that High Street was safe and if anyone did not believe him they should OPRA the information. Well one citizen did. She was given the police reports that stated that while Team Santiago has been in office there have been over 2400 police calls to High Street area between Main and Broad Streets.  Yes, that is correct, over 2400 calls, proof that Mr. Parent lied to the citizens of Millville. What other lies has he told over his years in politics?

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