Dear Editor:
I can’t tell you how happy I am that my hard earned tax money is going to pay for a slew of high priced lawyers to defend the Town of North Bergen and its Public Works Department that is now the subject of an investigation by the attorney general’s office. (North Bergen hires slew of lawyers in state probe of township DPW, March 29).
I am even more thankful that Mayor Sacco and the commissioners gave these high priced criminal attorneys a blank check to ring up as many hours as they need to get in the way of a criminal investigation. I’m sure glad the mayor and commissioners are concerned about the way they spend my tax money.
I’d like to know what other town operates this way? What other town’s governing body hires a slew of attorneys at taxpayer’s expense to protect town workers who are part of criminal probe? What other town approves hiring resolutions for criminal attorneys with no limit on the amount they can spend before coming back to the town to ask for more money?
The remark by the town spokesman about the lack of financial control of the lawyers is laughable. He said, “The resolution does not include a maximum amount because it is difficult to anticipate the amount of work that will be necessary.” Really, is that the best answer he can come up with?
Fiscally responsible government officials would tell the lawyers how much they can spend up front and then demand they come back and justify what they spent, before giving them more money.
I wonder if this same open ended payment practice that the North Bergen mayor and commissioners are applying with the lawyers applies to other spending. When the town needs a truck fixed, do they just drop it off at the mechanic and say, “Spend whatever it takes, send us a bill?” When the town needs a road paved, do the commissioners just give the paving contractor and open ended contract? “Here, you got the job; bill us when the work is over.”
The more I read about how North Bergen is governed, the less I like it.
Sincerely,
Ruth Ivette Baez