Dear Editor:
Mayor Elwell and his administration have increasingly lost sight of the numerous issues facing our community. Apparently the mayor’s chief priority is the betterment of himself and his financial supporters at the unfortunate expense of taxpayers. Mayor Elwell’s abject failure to do what is best for the town and its residents has become evident. There are a number of important issues I would like to highlight below:
This administration has willfully failed to provide ALL its Councilmen with timely information on important issues. The residents of Secaucus should demand the return of transparency and an end to juvenile political games.
Mayor Elwell is employing the deliberate stall tactic of not presenting this year’s town budget to taxpayers before the June Primary Election. What are they hiding? Why is this year’s budget not forthcoming? Is it the budget deficit facing our community, or can it be the declining revenues? Where did the town’s surplus go? Secaucus had a $5 million dollar surplus a few years ago. At the presentation of the 2008 budget, this number dwindled to a mere $14 thousand dollars. A return to fiscal responsibility is far overdue.
The reckless and exorbitant spending on professional services contracts must be immediately curbed.
While it is the mayor’s responsibility to place the needs of the town at the forefront of every decision, it is the citizens’ responsibility to hold our public officials accountable for their actions. At this critical juncture, we have the opportunity to evaluate those currently in office. I urge the residents of this town to be introspective. Have Mayor Elwell and his supporting members of the town council shaped Secaucus for the better? Are the projects they have supported and completed fiscally responsible with your tax dollars? Have they conducted themselves in an ethical and moral manner? I have asked myself these questions many times over the course of the last several years. My conscience has responded with a resounding no.
This is a community of hard working, honest people and we must demand these practices cease. Transparency, honesty, and trust must be restored to the government of Secaucus.
“When the people fear the Government, there’s tyranny. When the Government fears the people, there is liberty.” – Thomas Jefferson
Susan Pirro