Dear Editor:
In Secaucus it is probably easier to find a needle in a haystack than it is to find a politician who will talk straight.
Just two months ago (September 19) our illustrious leader sent a letter to Secaucus residents advising that the town had canceled the contract with the firm that was building the library. According to the letter, this action was taken because of the negligent work by the contractor and his failure to complete on time.
In their letter the guardians of our tax dollars assured us that their arbitrary action would not cost the town any money. They wrote, "We want to make it clear to you that the action should not cost the town any additional money." In fact they implied that the contractor would be liable for "a $500 a day penalty for failure to complete the work on time." They also assured us that the bonding company for the contractor would be responsible for insuring that the library would be completed.
In response to their self serving letter I wrote in this column ( September 24) that "hopefully the bonding company would acknowledge the ‘details’ of the contractor and meet all financial obligations for completion."
In less than two months from the date of their letter we find that this action will be costing the town additional money. According to a recent newspaper story, (November 17, Jersey Journal), the contractor hired and then fired, is suing the town. Guess who will be paying the legal fees just to defend this law suit? You got it, us, the taxpayers of Secaucus. Nice going, Mr. Mayor. Are we going to be faced with another SMUA fiasco?
To add insult to injury, Anthony Iacono, town administrator, in commenting on the law suit said, "suits of this kind are common whenever a firm is removed from a project." If that be so Mr. Iacono, why didn’t you tell the mayor to put this little fact in the letter sent to the residents just two months ago. Also, Mr. Iacono, I wish to remind you that the same thing was said when Joe Lynch sued the SMUA and the town and recovered hundreds of thousands of dollars after we paid lawyers hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend the suit.
Mr. Iacono, maybe in the future you can keep your arrogant, senseless remarks to yourself.
Tom Troyer