Union County, N.J. - Cranford resident Tina Renna has sued the Union County government over its recent policy change that requires citizens to submit any and all public records requests on the county's official request form.
A copy of the lawsuit, recently filed in Superior Court by Renna lawyer Richard Gutman, Esq., is at http://www.unioncountywatchdog.org/docs/LawSuitOPRA.2.RennavUnion%20County.pdf
"I prefer to request records by e-mail," said Renna. "It's faster, easier to keep a record of, and it has worked well until the county's recent policy change."
The County's policy change came on the heels of a Feb. 17 Advisory Opinion issued by the Government Records Council (GRC). The GRC is the agency created by law in 2002 to enforce the Open Public Records Act (OPRA). The GRC's advisory opinion is at http://www.state.nj.us/grc/pdf/AdvisoryOpinionNo2006-01.pdf
Renna, who is also a board member of the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government, said that she is challenging this new procedure on behalf of records requesters throughout the state.
"The whole idea behind OPRA is to make public records access quick and easy to get," she said. "Under the new policy, a person seeking a public record must now get a copy of a government agency's official records request form before even being able to submit a request." This causes a significant delay, she noted, because most agencies, Union County included, do not post a copy of its official record request form on their official Web sites.
Along with not honoring OPRA requests not submitted on the standard form the clerk maintains that any attachments must also be submitted on the county's official form. The Clerk won’t accept an e-mail request yet in her email correspondence to routine records seekers regarding the new policy she states: “Although it is not required, in the interest of efficiency, I appreciate having an e-mail address where I can send the county's standard OPRA request correspondence.
“Why is it that the clerk can use email for efficiency yet records requestors are being forced to tediously obtain an official form and then fax or mail it to the clerk’s office?
“The fact that freeholders and county management are given electronic tools such as Blackberries and cell phones at taxpayer’s expense yet a taxpayer can't use electronic media to place an OPRA request through e-mail is outrageous and just an attempt to discourage and hinder the public from seeking and accessing information," she said.
Tina Renna is also the founder and president of the Union County Watchdog Association. The UCWA routinely acquires public records and posts them on their website for free public access. http://www.unioncountywatchdog.org/
March 30, 2006
March 27, 2006
Ledger's Fluff Piece on the Machine Mamma Misses Details
In a Sunday Star-Ledger story on March 23, Joe Ryan reported on Union County Democrat Chairwoman Charlotte DeFilippo, writing that nearly every campaign began at her dining room table. The article features a picture of DeFilippo and county employee Sean Faughnan and others leading the charge against the Union County GOP with sunlight streaming through her dining room windows.
Renna comments: Were they posing for Star-Ledger photos while working on campaigns during working hours? Was it a Saturday or a Sunday? Where they out to lunch or taking a vacation day?
Ryan reports: DeFilippo began her reign in 1995. Donations to the Democratic committee from firms working for the Union County Improvement Authority jumped 40 percent during her first three years as executive director.
Renna comments: 1995 is also when our taxes started to climb. While taxes remained relatively flat until 2000 few people take into account that in 1995 the State took over the operations of the Union County Courts and $17.2 million dollars was absorbed by the state and left in the county coffers. Ironically the last of the Republican freeholders where thrown out of office in 1997 by the Democrats campaign, led by DeFilippo at her dining room table no doubt, complaining that the Republicans wouldn’t give back a surplus to the taxpayers.
The Democrat’s took control and not only didn’t they give any surplus dollars back, but as of last year our annual debt service payment had risen to almost 10 percent of the county’s operating budget. Along with the debt, Democrats have been raising our taxes on average 10 percent a year, the Open Space Slush Fund included.
Left out of the Ledger article was the fact that Hillside's taxes went through the roof when DeFilippo was Town clerk. It took former Hillside Mayor Barbara Rowen's Hillside Citizens Action Committee to kick her out. Then Assemblyman Cohen tried to move Charlotte over to Roselle and was rumored to be mad as hell when The Concerned Citizens, via calls to the council members, said they would picket. Cohen stormed out of a closed meeting where his Worrior Queen's appointment to the Roselle taxpayers backs was shot down.
Then there was the defamatory campaign she led against her own town's Board of Education last year which resulted in the district losing badly-deserved Schools Construction Funding.
Pay-to-play is such a polite term for a crime which inflates our property tax bills and drives seniors from their homes and young people out of the state and away from their families. It’s obvious that the voters in New Jersey don’t know what this pay-to-play really means.
The media needs to use a more simplistic term – extortion. Where do the voters think the $650,000 in campaign donations to Union County Democrat coffers came from? It comes from millions of taxpayer dollars being dolled out to political contributors who in turn pad their bills for government contracts to cover their donations. That’s extortion, which is highly illegal in the business world. It’s a fact that Democrat legislators, who are the majority in New Jersey, won’t make “extortion” illegal. Hence the voters' ignorance for keeping them in power.
Ryan reports: DeFelippo stated “The Union County Democratic Committee doesn’t hold a patronage job next to the machinations of Richard J. Daley’s Chicago or Tammany Hall’s New York City.”
Renna responds laughing: DeFilippo, cunningly perhaps, left Frank Hague out of her analogy; this is whom I would more closely align the Union County Dems with. Consider Hague “I am the law” anointed his nephew as mayor of Jersey City and that Senator Lesniak anointed his nephew as county manager.
A lot was left out of the Ledger article about the lack of Democrat dissent. I suppose the Ledger can’t find anyone to corroborate the well circulated rumors. A government job with its pension rewards akin to hitting the lottery could keep a lot of people quiet. To name a few recent dissenters: Freeholder Louis Mingo's $65,000 county job was quietly “converted” for him after he “stepped down” and was allowed to keep his county vehicle up until last year; Freeholder Mary Routolo, now employed by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority; and former County Manager Michael LaPolla, also at the Turnpike.
Patronage is also a crime which inflates our property tax bills and drives seniors from their homes and young people out of the state and away from their families. Consider that on the Union County payroll alone there are 876 county employees with the same surnames as elected democrat officials. Click here to view list. (Note black denotes Dem. committee chairs; green denotes county employees; red denotes elected Dem. officials. This doesn’t include the cousins, in-laws, friends, lovers, etc. that would have different surnames.)
Then there are the municipalities and school boards and state jobs. County Manager George Devanney’s mother and ex-wife can be found on the state-run Kean University payroll; his current wife is on the Berkeley Heights payroll; one brother works for the Turnpike authority and another works for the City of Elizabeth. No wonder Lesniak wants to sell the Turnpike to keep his family's pension gravy train rolling.
The dirty campaigning by the Democrats wasn’t reported in the Ledger. Again I’m sure there could be no corroboration for the outrageous slanderous flyers claiming to be from factious organizations that are distributed by children who are given cash on the street with no names exchanged; there are also anonymous phone calls made by the county Dems with more lies and slander. What cowards they are.
I know my home town of Cranford was rife with out of town campaign workers during the last campaign. One was seen urinating on a tree on a busy Cranford street in broad daylight. Just as a good friend of mine was going to pull over to do some campaigning for decency, a Corzine for Governor van picked the vagrant campaign worker up. It’s a sad statement for voter ignorance that Corzine won the election in the family oriented, wholesome (except for the mayor at the time) town of Cranford.
What could have been corroborated by the Ledger and should be reported on every year is the upwards of $367,000 of county tax dollars being spent on mailers and a cable TV commercial at election time and the county employees who show up on ELEC reports as paid campaign workers. There’s also the campaigning by the supposedly non-political Union County Alliance.
What also wasn’t reported, is the tax-payer funded county office of public information that churns out press releases for local papers ad nausea. This million dollar department also produces the cable broadcast show “The Freeholder Forum,” which mostly feature freeholders who are up for re-election. It’s so obvious that these employees work on freeholder campaigns. You can see them everywhere on the campaign trail during working hours. I once inquired of a reporter if he asked the head of the Public Information department if he is on a lunch break when he’s discussing campaign issues. Not being a part of the brotherly sacred journalist pact myself, I couldn’t get any corroboration from the reporter.
I have personal campaign stories that never saw newsprint and I’ll corroborate a few right here. When my husband Joe was running for freeholder he was escorted off of the grounds of Merck and Co. by security guards where Democrat freeholders where also campaigning. Another day on the mean streets of the Union County camapaign trail he was told by a county employee that he wasn’t allowed to campaign at the county summer concerts held in Echo Lake Park. Which is kind of funny considering the taxpayer funded concerts are nothing but one big showcase and campaign rally for incumbent freeholders.
Then there’s the sheer numbers that ensure Democrat victory in Union County that haven’t been mentioned in the Ledger to date. It’s not just Republicans that can’t wrestle a seat from the well financed powerbroker-controlled county Democrats. In recent years, Democrats not connected to the county machine, as well as two independents and a Green Party candidate, have lost in primaries to the machine.
The numbers in Union County freeholder races don't change much from year to year. The machine Democrat freeholder candidates win by the same margins. The only thing that causes a fluctuation in freeholder race numbers is the top of the ticket; presidential and gubernatorial elections bring out more voters who more than likely will vote straight down their party line.
The Democrats don't win because of "their services"; they surely don't win because of their charming personalities, or good looks for that matter. They win because all nine freeholder seats are at-large and Union County is overwhelmingly Democratic. The Republican freeholder candidates win the race in most of the towns but the large population of just a few cities outdoes the efforts of the rest of the county.
Using 2003 numbers:
Towns in which Republican freeholder candidates won the election were:
Berkeley Heights, Clark, Cranford, Fanwood, Garwood, Kenilworth, Mountainside, New Providence, Roselle Park, Scotch Plains, Springfield, Summit and Westfield.
A breakdown of registered voters of the above towns by party affiliation is: 54 percent unaffiliated and independent; 22 percent Democrat; 24 percent Republican. With a combined total of 106,306 registered voters.
Towns in which Democrat freeholder candidates won the election were:
Elizabeth, Hillside, Linden, Plainfield, Rahway, Roselle, Union and Winfield.
A breakdown of registered voters of the above towns by party affiliation is: 49 percent unaffiliated and independent; 41 percent Democrat and a paltry 10 percent are Republican. With a combined total of 142,600 registered voters.
So when’s the revolution?
Renna comments: Were they posing for Star-Ledger photos while working on campaigns during working hours? Was it a Saturday or a Sunday? Where they out to lunch or taking a vacation day?
Ryan reports: DeFilippo began her reign in 1995. Donations to the Democratic committee from firms working for the Union County Improvement Authority jumped 40 percent during her first three years as executive director.
Renna comments: 1995 is also when our taxes started to climb. While taxes remained relatively flat until 2000 few people take into account that in 1995 the State took over the operations of the Union County Courts and $17.2 million dollars was absorbed by the state and left in the county coffers. Ironically the last of the Republican freeholders where thrown out of office in 1997 by the Democrats campaign, led by DeFilippo at her dining room table no doubt, complaining that the Republicans wouldn’t give back a surplus to the taxpayers.
The Democrat’s took control and not only didn’t they give any surplus dollars back, but as of last year our annual debt service payment had risen to almost 10 percent of the county’s operating budget. Along with the debt, Democrats have been raising our taxes on average 10 percent a year, the Open Space Slush Fund included.
Left out of the Ledger article was the fact that Hillside's taxes went through the roof when DeFilippo was Town clerk. It took former Hillside Mayor Barbara Rowen's Hillside Citizens Action Committee to kick her out. Then Assemblyman Cohen tried to move Charlotte over to Roselle and was rumored to be mad as hell when The Concerned Citizens, via calls to the council members, said they would picket. Cohen stormed out of a closed meeting where his Worrior Queen's appointment to the Roselle taxpayers backs was shot down.
Then there was the defamatory campaign she led against her own town's Board of Education last year which resulted in the district losing badly-deserved Schools Construction Funding.
Pay-to-play is such a polite term for a crime which inflates our property tax bills and drives seniors from their homes and young people out of the state and away from their families. It’s obvious that the voters in New Jersey don’t know what this pay-to-play really means.
The media needs to use a more simplistic term – extortion. Where do the voters think the $650,000 in campaign donations to Union County Democrat coffers came from? It comes from millions of taxpayer dollars being dolled out to political contributors who in turn pad their bills for government contracts to cover their donations. That’s extortion, which is highly illegal in the business world. It’s a fact that Democrat legislators, who are the majority in New Jersey, won’t make “extortion” illegal. Hence the voters' ignorance for keeping them in power.
Ryan reports: DeFelippo stated “The Union County Democratic Committee doesn’t hold a patronage job next to the machinations of Richard J. Daley’s Chicago or Tammany Hall’s New York City.”
Renna responds laughing: DeFilippo, cunningly perhaps, left Frank Hague out of her analogy; this is whom I would more closely align the Union County Dems with. Consider Hague “I am the law” anointed his nephew as mayor of Jersey City and that Senator Lesniak anointed his nephew as county manager.
A lot was left out of the Ledger article about the lack of Democrat dissent. I suppose the Ledger can’t find anyone to corroborate the well circulated rumors. A government job with its pension rewards akin to hitting the lottery could keep a lot of people quiet. To name a few recent dissenters: Freeholder Louis Mingo's $65,000 county job was quietly “converted” for him after he “stepped down” and was allowed to keep his county vehicle up until last year; Freeholder Mary Routolo, now employed by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority; and former County Manager Michael LaPolla, also at the Turnpike.
Patronage is also a crime which inflates our property tax bills and drives seniors from their homes and young people out of the state and away from their families. Consider that on the Union County payroll alone there are 876 county employees with the same surnames as elected democrat officials. Click here to view list. (Note black denotes Dem. committee chairs; green denotes county employees; red denotes elected Dem. officials. This doesn’t include the cousins, in-laws, friends, lovers, etc. that would have different surnames.)
Then there are the municipalities and school boards and state jobs. County Manager George Devanney’s mother and ex-wife can be found on the state-run Kean University payroll; his current wife is on the Berkeley Heights payroll; one brother works for the Turnpike authority and another works for the City of Elizabeth. No wonder Lesniak wants to sell the Turnpike to keep his family's pension gravy train rolling.
The dirty campaigning by the Democrats wasn’t reported in the Ledger. Again I’m sure there could be no corroboration for the outrageous slanderous flyers claiming to be from factious organizations that are distributed by children who are given cash on the street with no names exchanged; there are also anonymous phone calls made by the county Dems with more lies and slander. What cowards they are.
I know my home town of Cranford was rife with out of town campaign workers during the last campaign. One was seen urinating on a tree on a busy Cranford street in broad daylight. Just as a good friend of mine was going to pull over to do some campaigning for decency, a Corzine for Governor van picked the vagrant campaign worker up. It’s a sad statement for voter ignorance that Corzine won the election in the family oriented, wholesome (except for the mayor at the time) town of Cranford.
What could have been corroborated by the Ledger and should be reported on every year is the upwards of $367,000 of county tax dollars being spent on mailers and a cable TV commercial at election time and the county employees who show up on ELEC reports as paid campaign workers. There’s also the campaigning by the supposedly non-political Union County Alliance.
What also wasn’t reported, is the tax-payer funded county office of public information that churns out press releases for local papers ad nausea. This million dollar department also produces the cable broadcast show “The Freeholder Forum,” which mostly feature freeholders who are up for re-election. It’s so obvious that these employees work on freeholder campaigns. You can see them everywhere on the campaign trail during working hours. I once inquired of a reporter if he asked the head of the Public Information department if he is on a lunch break when he’s discussing campaign issues. Not being a part of the brotherly sacred journalist pact myself, I couldn’t get any corroboration from the reporter.
I have personal campaign stories that never saw newsprint and I’ll corroborate a few right here. When my husband Joe was running for freeholder he was escorted off of the grounds of Merck and Co. by security guards where Democrat freeholders where also campaigning. Another day on the mean streets of the Union County camapaign trail he was told by a county employee that he wasn’t allowed to campaign at the county summer concerts held in Echo Lake Park. Which is kind of funny considering the taxpayer funded concerts are nothing but one big showcase and campaign rally for incumbent freeholders.
Then there’s the sheer numbers that ensure Democrat victory in Union County that haven’t been mentioned in the Ledger to date. It’s not just Republicans that can’t wrestle a seat from the well financed powerbroker-controlled county Democrats. In recent years, Democrats not connected to the county machine, as well as two independents and a Green Party candidate, have lost in primaries to the machine.
The numbers in Union County freeholder races don't change much from year to year. The machine Democrat freeholder candidates win by the same margins. The only thing that causes a fluctuation in freeholder race numbers is the top of the ticket; presidential and gubernatorial elections bring out more voters who more than likely will vote straight down their party line.
The Democrats don't win because of "their services"; they surely don't win because of their charming personalities, or good looks for that matter. They win because all nine freeholder seats are at-large and Union County is overwhelmingly Democratic. The Republican freeholder candidates win the race in most of the towns but the large population of just a few cities outdoes the efforts of the rest of the county.
Using 2003 numbers:
Towns in which Republican freeholder candidates won the election were:
Berkeley Heights, Clark, Cranford, Fanwood, Garwood, Kenilworth, Mountainside, New Providence, Roselle Park, Scotch Plains, Springfield, Summit and Westfield.
A breakdown of registered voters of the above towns by party affiliation is: 54 percent unaffiliated and independent; 22 percent Democrat; 24 percent Republican. With a combined total of 106,306 registered voters.
Towns in which Democrat freeholder candidates won the election were:
Elizabeth, Hillside, Linden, Plainfield, Rahway, Roselle, Union and Winfield.
A breakdown of registered voters of the above towns by party affiliation is: 49 percent unaffiliated and independent; 41 percent Democrat and a paltry 10 percent are Republican. With a combined total of 142,600 registered voters.
So when’s the revolution?
March 23, 2006
Union County Democrat Chairwoman and family are doing very well
Union County Democrat Chairwoman Charlotte DeFilippo, who is also a Union County employee, was given a $13,000 raise recently.
In an executive session held on Dec. 21, 2005 Union County Improvement Authority Vice Chairman Anthony Scutari, who is state Sen. Nicholas Scutari’s uncle, discussed the contract of Charlotte DeFilippo, who serves as party chair and as the executive director of the Union County Improvement Authority.
The vote boosted DeFilippo's pay by 5.3 percent, which brought her salary to $132,910 - up from $119,923.96 (which according to my math is way more than 5.3 percent).
There are two other DeFilippos on the county payroll; both are sergeants in the Sheriff’s department - Melissa and Michael, with salaries of $75,595 and $77,960, respectively. Melissa will be awarded the Union County Women of Excellence award this year. She follows the County Manager’s wife who won the award last year.
The DeFilippo’s salaries in 2000
De Filippo Charlotte Monitor / Exec Dir Improv Auth 104,000
De Filippo Melissa Sheriffs Officer 37,213
De Filippo Michael Sheriffs Officer Det. 58,648
The DeFilippo’s salaries in 2006
De Filippo Charlotte Mgmt Spec / Exec Dir Improv Auth 132,910
De Filippo Melissa Sheriffs Officer Sgt 75,595
De Filippo Michael Sheriffs Officer Sgt 77,960
I attended the Improvement Authority’s reorganization meeting last month. It was over in all about ten minutes. Not a bad paycheck for a ten minute work day.
Where it all began:
"Dem chair Appointed Executive Director" by Mark Hrywna 12/07/2000
Worrall Community Newspapers
The Union County Improvement Authority has a new executive director: Charlotte DeFilippo, chairwoman of the Union County Democratic Committee. The UCIA Board of Commissioners approved the appointment by an 8-0 vote Nov. 29 at an annual salary of $104,000, effective last Friday. She replaces Doug Placa, who resigned to join Woodbridge Mayor James McGreevy’s 2001 gubernatorial campaign.
Placa, who serves as secretary to the county Democratic Committee, worked for McGreevey on his 1997 gubernatorial effort as a scheduler and during his days as a state senator. His duties will again be as a scheduler for McGreevey but with a broader reach, said a spokesman. He was the UCIA s first executive director, appointed in February 1999 at an annual salary of $40,000.
"There's no way that job warrants $104,000 a year," said Wayne Smith, the lone Republican on the nine-member UCIA board. He also serves as GOP chairman in Plainfield. Smith, whose UCIA term ends in February, was absent at last week's vote and was not aware who was appointed until contacted by this newspaper. They've got the control so there's no need to keep me posted.
He called it a blatant patronage job that does not even warrant $40,000 a year. The UCIA is doing a lot for the county but this is typical patronage and the UCIA really plays patronage to the fullest extent. He was the lone dissenter in a 7-1 vote to replace the part-time financial administrator with a full-time executive director last year.
Freeholder Alexander Mirabella, the board's liaison to the UCIA, said DeFilippo's experience in government made her a qualified candidate to spearhead the more than $120 million in projects on the drawing board. Her salary, he said, is commensurate with her experience and is comparable to executive directors throughout the state, and is the same as Union County Utilities Authority Executive Director Joseph Spatola.
Formerly the township clerk in Hillside, where she also is Democratic chairwoman, DeFilippo has worked for the county since Democrats took control of the freeholder board in 1998. She was a management specialist in welfare, a civil service position, with an annual salary of approximately $75,000.
The UCIA, an autonomous agency whose commissioners are appointed by the freeholder board, is the economic development agency for the county, assisting in financing public projects. This week its offices moved from the county’s annex in Westfield to 10 Cherry St. in Elizabeth.
Union County Republican Chairman Ron Frigerio had little comment about the appointment, except to say, "I wish them well."
In an executive session held on Dec. 21, 2005 Union County Improvement Authority Vice Chairman Anthony Scutari, who is state Sen. Nicholas Scutari’s uncle, discussed the contract of Charlotte DeFilippo, who serves as party chair and as the executive director of the Union County Improvement Authority.
The vote boosted DeFilippo's pay by 5.3 percent, which brought her salary to $132,910 - up from $119,923.96 (which according to my math is way more than 5.3 percent).
There are two other DeFilippos on the county payroll; both are sergeants in the Sheriff’s department - Melissa and Michael, with salaries of $75,595 and $77,960, respectively. Melissa will be awarded the Union County Women of Excellence award this year. She follows the County Manager’s wife who won the award last year.
The DeFilippo’s salaries in 2000
De Filippo Charlotte Monitor / Exec Dir Improv Auth 104,000
De Filippo Melissa Sheriffs Officer 37,213
De Filippo Michael Sheriffs Officer Det. 58,648
The DeFilippo’s salaries in 2006
De Filippo Charlotte Mgmt Spec / Exec Dir Improv Auth 132,910
De Filippo Melissa Sheriffs Officer Sgt 75,595
De Filippo Michael Sheriffs Officer Sgt 77,960
I attended the Improvement Authority’s reorganization meeting last month. It was over in all about ten minutes. Not a bad paycheck for a ten minute work day.
Where it all began:
"Dem chair Appointed Executive Director" by Mark Hrywna 12/07/2000
Worrall Community Newspapers
The Union County Improvement Authority has a new executive director: Charlotte DeFilippo, chairwoman of the Union County Democratic Committee. The UCIA Board of Commissioners approved the appointment by an 8-0 vote Nov. 29 at an annual salary of $104,000, effective last Friday. She replaces Doug Placa, who resigned to join Woodbridge Mayor James McGreevy’s 2001 gubernatorial campaign.
Placa, who serves as secretary to the county Democratic Committee, worked for McGreevey on his 1997 gubernatorial effort as a scheduler and during his days as a state senator. His duties will again be as a scheduler for McGreevey but with a broader reach, said a spokesman. He was the UCIA s first executive director, appointed in February 1999 at an annual salary of $40,000.
"There's no way that job warrants $104,000 a year," said Wayne Smith, the lone Republican on the nine-member UCIA board. He also serves as GOP chairman in Plainfield. Smith, whose UCIA term ends in February, was absent at last week's vote and was not aware who was appointed until contacted by this newspaper. They've got the control so there's no need to keep me posted.
He called it a blatant patronage job that does not even warrant $40,000 a year. The UCIA is doing a lot for the county but this is typical patronage and the UCIA really plays patronage to the fullest extent. He was the lone dissenter in a 7-1 vote to replace the part-time financial administrator with a full-time executive director last year.
Freeholder Alexander Mirabella, the board's liaison to the UCIA, said DeFilippo's experience in government made her a qualified candidate to spearhead the more than $120 million in projects on the drawing board. Her salary, he said, is commensurate with her experience and is comparable to executive directors throughout the state, and is the same as Union County Utilities Authority Executive Director Joseph Spatola.
Formerly the township clerk in Hillside, where she also is Democratic chairwoman, DeFilippo has worked for the county since Democrats took control of the freeholder board in 1998. She was a management specialist in welfare, a civil service position, with an annual salary of approximately $75,000.
The UCIA, an autonomous agency whose commissioners are appointed by the freeholder board, is the economic development agency for the county, assisting in financing public projects. This week its offices moved from the county’s annex in Westfield to 10 Cherry St. in Elizabeth.
Union County Republican Chairman Ron Frigerio had little comment about the appointment, except to say, "I wish them well."
March 20, 2006
Blackberrys, Sure. But no Meeting Minutes
What could be the excuse for not putting meeting minutes on the county Web site when they spent $28,102 on Blackberryss in the past three years? [2004: $17,172.05; 2005: 9,227.29; 2006 to date $1,702.66]
During his swearing-in ceremony, Freeholder Chairman Al Mirabella announced in his address titled “Community connections” that the county had received a state grant which would enable them to dramatically re-design the county Web site.
“We will create a new Web site that will be more exciting and interactive, paving the way for a truly modern portal for residents wishing to be connected to their county government," he said.
During the recent Budget Committee hearings, while the department head in charge of the web-design was describing his goal to inform citizens of county services, I was distracted by the county manager bouncing in his chair and playing on his Blackberry.
I wondered why the taxpayers had to shell out $28,102 in the past three years for county employees to have these latest technological toys, yet the county can’t even post meeting minutes on the Web or take an Open Public Records Request by e-mail?
I also wondered who was Devanney conducting business with on his Blackberry that Saturday morning while he was ignoring a room full of freeholders and department heads? His uncle the state senator perhaps? Or maybe he was keeping the Union County Democrat Chairwoman, Charlotte DeFalippo, in the loop as she didn’t attend the hearing.
Maybe he was just being told to pick up milk and bread on his way back home.
The county has no plans to inform its citizens of the real business of county government. Nowhere has it been mentioned that the county would begin to post public records on their Web site to give a citizen easy access to information which would shine a light on county government business dealings. A truly modern portal for residents would be for the county to Web cast meetings in order to connect them to their county government.
The county website currently hosts extensive press releases featuring freeholders at public events. They also have a page which lists the municipal cable broadcast schedule for their Freeholder forum program, which is a half-hour program featuring a freeholder, who more than likely is up for re-election, touting county services.
But nowhere on their site do they list the schedule of freeholder meetings to be broadcast in municipalities.
The county currently lists meeting agendas on their site. However, these agendas are never listed before a meeting takes place.
The county puts a lot of taxpayer money and county-employee effort into informing residents about their services, because folks, that’s what helps them get re-elected. If their goal was truly to inform and engage the public, at the bare minimum, they would post meeting agendas prior to a meeting and meeting minutes in a timely manner on their Web site.
A better and bolder Union County Web site that is truly educational can be found at www.unioncountywatchdog.org. The Union County Watchdog Association has been tediously obtaining public records from the county which gives insight into county business and posting them on our volunteer-supported site. We challenge the county to let the sun shine in and do the same with our taxpayer-funded Web site.
We'd also like to challenge the county to not play with the toys we bought them while attending to the business of spending our tax dollars.
During his swearing-in ceremony, Freeholder Chairman Al Mirabella announced in his address titled “Community connections” that the county had received a state grant which would enable them to dramatically re-design the county Web site.
“We will create a new Web site that will be more exciting and interactive, paving the way for a truly modern portal for residents wishing to be connected to their county government," he said.
During the recent Budget Committee hearings, while the department head in charge of the web-design was describing his goal to inform citizens of county services, I was distracted by the county manager bouncing in his chair and playing on his Blackberry.
I wondered why the taxpayers had to shell out $28,102 in the past three years for county employees to have these latest technological toys, yet the county can’t even post meeting minutes on the Web or take an Open Public Records Request by e-mail?
I also wondered who was Devanney conducting business with on his Blackberry that Saturday morning while he was ignoring a room full of freeholders and department heads? His uncle the state senator perhaps? Or maybe he was keeping the Union County Democrat Chairwoman, Charlotte DeFalippo, in the loop as she didn’t attend the hearing.
Maybe he was just being told to pick up milk and bread on his way back home.
The county has no plans to inform its citizens of the real business of county government. Nowhere has it been mentioned that the county would begin to post public records on their Web site to give a citizen easy access to information which would shine a light on county government business dealings. A truly modern portal for residents would be for the county to Web cast meetings in order to connect them to their county government.
The county website currently hosts extensive press releases featuring freeholders at public events. They also have a page which lists the municipal cable broadcast schedule for their Freeholder forum program, which is a half-hour program featuring a freeholder, who more than likely is up for re-election, touting county services.
But nowhere on their site do they list the schedule of freeholder meetings to be broadcast in municipalities.
The county currently lists meeting agendas on their site. However, these agendas are never listed before a meeting takes place.
The county puts a lot of taxpayer money and county-employee effort into informing residents about their services, because folks, that’s what helps them get re-elected. If their goal was truly to inform and engage the public, at the bare minimum, they would post meeting agendas prior to a meeting and meeting minutes in a timely manner on their Web site.
A better and bolder Union County Web site that is truly educational can be found at www.unioncountywatchdog.org. The Union County Watchdog Association has been tediously obtaining public records from the county which gives insight into county business and posting them on our volunteer-supported site. We challenge the county to let the sun shine in and do the same with our taxpayer-funded Web site.
We'd also like to challenge the county to not play with the toys we bought them while attending to the business of spending our tax dollars.
March 15, 2006
Friend's don't let friend's drink and stay in jail for D.W.I. convictions
A judge has ruled that a county employee, who was serving time in the Union County Jail for a third D.W.I. conviction, was let out of jail improperly by the warden who reports directly to the freeholders. Thomas MacDermant was allowed to leave jail on a wristlet without the permission of his sentencing judge. The New Jersey Law Journal reported this on Monday, March 13 2006.
MacDermant was sentenced to a mandatory 180 days in the Union County jail by Judge Jones out of the Roselle Municipal Court. The Judge received an anonymous letter informing her of MacDermant’s freedom. She then had him rearrested, sent back to jail and, as usual, the taxpayers are now picking up the legal fees stemming from the county’s mismanagement and corruption.
When Senator Raymond Lesniak’s nephew, George Devanney, was appointed County Manager by the all-Democrat freeholder board in 2002, Thomas MacDermant was employed by the county as a carpenter. MacDermants salary was $40,779. Presently MacDermant has a salary of $73,108 that's up $5,515 since his last conviction. He had use of a county vehicle.
In Union County, by statute, it is the freeholders who hire and appoint the county manager. They also hire the warden to run the county jail. The freeholders have chosen to not have the elected Sheriff run the jail as is the case in most counties.
Delaney Hall is an alcohol and drug treatment program. It’s a form of incarceration at a different location from the jail. A Worrall Community News article about Delaney Hall dated March 25, 2003 'county to renew deal for inmates' reporter Joshua Jaitz wrote: Once the county decides which inmates would be good candidates to go to Delaney Hall, permission must be granted by the courts before the inmate is assigned to the alternate facility.
According to a court transcript obtained by the Union County Watchdog Association, www.unioncountywatchdog.org/docs/macdermant.pdf Judge Walter Barisonek ruled that MacDermant had a right to go to Delaney Hall. That’s the warden’s decision. However, the warden does not have the authority nor anybody in Delaney Hall, to release him to an outpatient program or any program without judicial approval. The sentence has to be served in the institution. Delaney Hall is part of the institution. They can’t even allow a work release where you’re still considered confined unless it’s approved by the court. The judge also noted that you’re not supposed to be released into a monitoring program until you’re in Delaney Hall for 30 days. MacDermant was released after spending 5 days at Delaney hall.
The county argued that the warden of the Union County Jail has the power to determine if a prisoner is eligible for the satellite monitoring (wristlet) program. After all, while the prisoner is physically on the street it’s the county jail officials that monitor the program, run the program and anyone who’s on it. It’s a global position satellite system. Any deviation from the parameters that are set for each unique particular prisoner sets off the alarm or monitor.
In the transcript Judge Barisonek states that he “saw MacDermant around”. So he knew it wasn’t a home confinement total situation. MacDermant was doing some community service work based on his skills as a contractor.
Poor Tommy MacDermant’s attorney Mr. Palumbo argued that in addition to having his freedom curtailed by being on the wristlet program that he was “held on the medical floor the entire time, not even released to the population. Can’t even walk around.”
Gee this reminds me of the two twenty-something Union County jail prisoners who died in their cells in the past two years. They weren’t incarcerated for being convicted three times for DWI, they were both incarcerated for petty theft charges. One stole a t-shirt. One didn’t have the $300 to get out on bail.
Aaron Pittman and Donald Davis both died in their cells from very preventable, painful deaths; Pittman from Crohn’s disease and Davis from a stomach infection. According to family members, both were left untreated and their screams of pain were ignored.
Another young prisoner had a preventable cancer which went untreated. By the time he was allowed medical attention, he had to have his voice box removed.
Yet poor Tommy was held on the medical floor the entire time of his incarceration at the Union County jail. Away from the general prison population where apparently all the sick prisioners are held.
Mr. Pulumbo: Judge, I briefly stated it. Out of the time when he was within the control of the warden of the Union County Jail, he was told by that warden that in addition to going to Delaney Hall we find you to be a suitable candidate for going to the electronic monitoring program and they told him what his restrictions were. You have to have curfew at a certain time; can’t leave the area outside; can’t go past your home; can’t leave your home at night. There were many times I’m sure he would like to have gone out at eleven o’clock at night to do something he couldn’t do and he did that because he was led to believe by the warden he had to do that in order to satisfy the 180 day sentence.
The sentence called for a mandatory 90 and 90 at a minimum-security prison. 90 days inpatient and 90 days then in the county jail.
MacDermant was put in a 90 day inpatient program. After 22 days he left or was terminated from that program. Judge Jones issued a warrant, and brought him back and resentenced him to 180 days in county jail, less the 22 days he was in the inpatient program; the judge sentenced him to a mandatory 180 days on the second sentencing. First DWI conviction was 90/90; second one was mandatory 180 county jail sentence.
County Counsel Steven Kaflowitz with a salary of $125,005 chimes in defending poor Thomas: Judge, I agree with Mr. Palumbo’s arguments and I just want to put on the record, although I doubt many people will get a hold of the records, I agree with him because it’s a drunk driving case, a motor vehicle violation, it’s not a defendant convicted of an indictable offense. He was let out of jail improperly by jail authorities, as your Honor has just ruled,
Judge: Agrees with Palumbo this is not Mr. MacDermant’s fault that this happened. Rules he is entitled to appropriate credit for 42 days because his liberty to a large extent, although not the equivalent of incarceration on a day to day basis was not his doing.
County Counsel Donegan with a salary of $75,339.16 represented the Warden: They do not have the authority on a mandatory sentence to release someone to an outpatient program, particularly when the state as in the D.W.I. says inpatient, without court approval.
Did MacDermant who is allegedly a close friend of the Union County Manager get special treatment? What needs to be determined is how many three time D.W.I. offenders were allowed out of the Union County jail on the wristlet program to attend A.A. meetings of their own free will. Since the county doesn’t offer up these numbers in defending their handling of MacDermant’s release, I’d hazard a guess that it’s slim to none that the average drunken Tom doesn’t get to draw the get of jail on a bracelet card.
To summarize, Thomas Macdermant spent 100 days in confinement; five days in Delaney Hall; 22 days in rehabilitation, 32 days in jail and 42 days on the monitoring program. In the end Judge Barisonek found that McDermott was to be given 42 days credit against his jail sentence due to the 42 days he was improperly released under the wristlet, because it wasn’t MacDermant’s fault he was released. Even though the Judge conceded that this does "frustrate" the purpose of the DWI statute.
A published appellate division decision, released on March 6, 2006, of State v. Luthe, directly pertains to the MacDermant issue.
See http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/opinions/a3695-04.pdf
Quote: "Simply put, N.J.S.A. 39:4-50(a)(3) does not authorize noncustodial alternatives to the mandatory 180 days confinement, whether that confinement be served entirely in jail or partially in an inpatient facility. There is no statutory authority for work release programs, out-patient treatment, or the like as an alternative."
In other words, Union County's wristlet release was wrong, wrong, wrong.
MacDermant was sentenced to a mandatory 180 days in the Union County jail by Judge Jones out of the Roselle Municipal Court. The Judge received an anonymous letter informing her of MacDermant’s freedom. She then had him rearrested, sent back to jail and, as usual, the taxpayers are now picking up the legal fees stemming from the county’s mismanagement and corruption.
When Senator Raymond Lesniak’s nephew, George Devanney, was appointed County Manager by the all-Democrat freeholder board in 2002, Thomas MacDermant was employed by the county as a carpenter. MacDermants salary was $40,779. Presently MacDermant has a salary of $73,108 that's up $5,515 since his last conviction. He had use of a county vehicle.
In Union County, by statute, it is the freeholders who hire and appoint the county manager. They also hire the warden to run the county jail. The freeholders have chosen to not have the elected Sheriff run the jail as is the case in most counties.
Delaney Hall is an alcohol and drug treatment program. It’s a form of incarceration at a different location from the jail. A Worrall Community News article about Delaney Hall dated March 25, 2003 'county to renew deal for inmates' reporter Joshua Jaitz wrote: Once the county decides which inmates would be good candidates to go to Delaney Hall, permission must be granted by the courts before the inmate is assigned to the alternate facility.
According to a court transcript obtained by the Union County Watchdog Association, www.unioncountywatchdog.org/docs/macdermant.pdf Judge Walter Barisonek ruled that MacDermant had a right to go to Delaney Hall. That’s the warden’s decision. However, the warden does not have the authority nor anybody in Delaney Hall, to release him to an outpatient program or any program without judicial approval. The sentence has to be served in the institution. Delaney Hall is part of the institution. They can’t even allow a work release where you’re still considered confined unless it’s approved by the court. The judge also noted that you’re not supposed to be released into a monitoring program until you’re in Delaney Hall for 30 days. MacDermant was released after spending 5 days at Delaney hall.
The county argued that the warden of the Union County Jail has the power to determine if a prisoner is eligible for the satellite monitoring (wristlet) program. After all, while the prisoner is physically on the street it’s the county jail officials that monitor the program, run the program and anyone who’s on it. It’s a global position satellite system. Any deviation from the parameters that are set for each unique particular prisoner sets off the alarm or monitor.
In the transcript Judge Barisonek states that he “saw MacDermant around”. So he knew it wasn’t a home confinement total situation. MacDermant was doing some community service work based on his skills as a contractor.
Poor Tommy MacDermant’s attorney Mr. Palumbo argued that in addition to having his freedom curtailed by being on the wristlet program that he was “held on the medical floor the entire time, not even released to the population. Can’t even walk around.”
Gee this reminds me of the two twenty-something Union County jail prisoners who died in their cells in the past two years. They weren’t incarcerated for being convicted three times for DWI, they were both incarcerated for petty theft charges. One stole a t-shirt. One didn’t have the $300 to get out on bail.
Aaron Pittman and Donald Davis both died in their cells from very preventable, painful deaths; Pittman from Crohn’s disease and Davis from a stomach infection. According to family members, both were left untreated and their screams of pain were ignored.
Another young prisoner had a preventable cancer which went untreated. By the time he was allowed medical attention, he had to have his voice box removed.
Yet poor Tommy was held on the medical floor the entire time of his incarceration at the Union County jail. Away from the general prison population where apparently all the sick prisioners are held.
Mr. Pulumbo: Judge, I briefly stated it. Out of the time when he was within the control of the warden of the Union County Jail, he was told by that warden that in addition to going to Delaney Hall we find you to be a suitable candidate for going to the electronic monitoring program and they told him what his restrictions were. You have to have curfew at a certain time; can’t leave the area outside; can’t go past your home; can’t leave your home at night. There were many times I’m sure he would like to have gone out at eleven o’clock at night to do something he couldn’t do and he did that because he was led to believe by the warden he had to do that in order to satisfy the 180 day sentence.
The sentence called for a mandatory 90 and 90 at a minimum-security prison. 90 days inpatient and 90 days then in the county jail.
MacDermant was put in a 90 day inpatient program. After 22 days he left or was terminated from that program. Judge Jones issued a warrant, and brought him back and resentenced him to 180 days in county jail, less the 22 days he was in the inpatient program; the judge sentenced him to a mandatory 180 days on the second sentencing. First DWI conviction was 90/90; second one was mandatory 180 county jail sentence.
County Counsel Steven Kaflowitz with a salary of $125,005 chimes in defending poor Thomas: Judge, I agree with Mr. Palumbo’s arguments and I just want to put on the record, although I doubt many people will get a hold of the records, I agree with him because it’s a drunk driving case, a motor vehicle violation, it’s not a defendant convicted of an indictable offense. He was let out of jail improperly by jail authorities, as your Honor has just ruled,
Judge: Agrees with Palumbo this is not Mr. MacDermant’s fault that this happened. Rules he is entitled to appropriate credit for 42 days because his liberty to a large extent, although not the equivalent of incarceration on a day to day basis was not his doing.
County Counsel Donegan with a salary of $75,339.16 represented the Warden: They do not have the authority on a mandatory sentence to release someone to an outpatient program, particularly when the state as in the D.W.I. says inpatient, without court approval.
Did MacDermant who is allegedly a close friend of the Union County Manager get special treatment? What needs to be determined is how many three time D.W.I. offenders were allowed out of the Union County jail on the wristlet program to attend A.A. meetings of their own free will. Since the county doesn’t offer up these numbers in defending their handling of MacDermant’s release, I’d hazard a guess that it’s slim to none that the average drunken Tom doesn’t get to draw the get of jail on a bracelet card.
To summarize, Thomas Macdermant spent 100 days in confinement; five days in Delaney Hall; 22 days in rehabilitation, 32 days in jail and 42 days on the monitoring program. In the end Judge Barisonek found that McDermott was to be given 42 days credit against his jail sentence due to the 42 days he was improperly released under the wristlet, because it wasn’t MacDermant’s fault he was released. Even though the Judge conceded that this does "frustrate" the purpose of the DWI statute.
A published appellate division decision, released on March 6, 2006, of State v. Luthe, directly pertains to the MacDermant issue.
See http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/opinions/a3695-04.pdf
Quote: "Simply put, N.J.S.A. 39:4-50(a)(3) does not authorize noncustodial alternatives to the mandatory 180 days confinement, whether that confinement be served entirely in jail or partially in an inpatient facility. There is no statutory authority for work release programs, out-patient treatment, or the like as an alternative."
In other words, Union County's wristlet release was wrong, wrong, wrong.
March 02, 2006
So Many Questions - So Few Answers
Recently I heard of a Union County resident who made a request of the freeholders for some 2005 financial reports and the 2006 county budget. He received back instructions to file an OPRA form and a 2 page dissertation, obviously prepared by the county information department, blaming everyone and his cousin, except the freeholders, for escalating county taxes. There was also a glowing, but wordy report, of what they were doing to address the budget including a hiring freeze, program cuts, installing vending machines and increasing fees to use certain county facilities.
However, many questions remain unanswered such as:
Why is the budget $413 million dollars?
Why do they expect to spend $1.13 million dollars a day?
Why has the county tax levee increased an average of 10% per year for the last 5 years?
Why did they vote themselves a 5.3% raise but are suggesting lay offs of non-political appointee workers?
Why did the county manager get a vehicle which has higher gas consumption than the one he had?
Why do so many county employees still have use of county vehicles 24 hrs a day along with free gas?
Why is the Union County debt service $38 million this year?
Why is there over $10 million in the proposed budget for overtime costs?
How are they going to control operating costs at Runnells Hospital which is again running in the red?
Why won’t they oppose additional taxpayer funding of the freight line running through the county?
Why have only 8 out of 19 state recommendations for repairs at the Juvenile Detention Center been completed after a year?
Why have three of Union County’s young adults died of medical neglect in two and half years at our county correctional facilities?
Why has the county faced so many lawsuits by employees?
Why have numerous suits been settled with taxpayer dollars and why didn’t insurance cover these settlements?
Why does it seem that we have to build something on all Open Space acquisitions?
Why is Open Space dollars used for questionable brick and mortar projects?
Why is it that taxpayer funded mass mailings containing updates of county government activities always come out just prior to the primary and general elections?
Why do these mailings,paid for with tax dollars,feature the incumbents who are running for reelection?
Why is it that during the public comment section of freeholder meetings it is frowned upon to ask questions?
Why does the county counsel’s office say that OPRA requests are not intended to get answers to questions?
Why is it so hard to get a question answered?
Why is it that the agendas for freeholder meetings are not available to the public until minutes or seconds before the meeting starts?
Why is it that if a resident asks to view the county check register, they are only shown one when two actually exist?
Why does the county pay a monthly retainer to a marketing firm and not have a marketing plan available for public inspection?
Why do 3 state legislators appear on the county payroll as full time county employees?
And when are the freeholders going to take a serious position on Pay to Play in Union County?
So many questions and too few answers forth coming from a board that holds no one responsible or accountable for their actions least of all themselves.
However, many questions remain unanswered such as:
Why is the budget $413 million dollars?
Why do they expect to spend $1.13 million dollars a day?
Why has the county tax levee increased an average of 10% per year for the last 5 years?
Why did they vote themselves a 5.3% raise but are suggesting lay offs of non-political appointee workers?
Why did the county manager get a vehicle which has higher gas consumption than the one he had?
Why do so many county employees still have use of county vehicles 24 hrs a day along with free gas?
Why is the Union County debt service $38 million this year?
Why is there over $10 million in the proposed budget for overtime costs?
How are they going to control operating costs at Runnells Hospital which is again running in the red?
Why won’t they oppose additional taxpayer funding of the freight line running through the county?
Why have only 8 out of 19 state recommendations for repairs at the Juvenile Detention Center been completed after a year?
Why have three of Union County’s young adults died of medical neglect in two and half years at our county correctional facilities?
Why has the county faced so many lawsuits by employees?
Why have numerous suits been settled with taxpayer dollars and why didn’t insurance cover these settlements?
Why does it seem that we have to build something on all Open Space acquisitions?
Why is Open Space dollars used for questionable brick and mortar projects?
Why is it that taxpayer funded mass mailings containing updates of county government activities always come out just prior to the primary and general elections?
Why do these mailings,paid for with tax dollars,feature the incumbents who are running for reelection?
Why is it that during the public comment section of freeholder meetings it is frowned upon to ask questions?
Why does the county counsel’s office say that OPRA requests are not intended to get answers to questions?
Why is it so hard to get a question answered?
Why is it that the agendas for freeholder meetings are not available to the public until minutes or seconds before the meeting starts?
Why is it that if a resident asks to view the county check register, they are only shown one when two actually exist?
Why does the county pay a monthly retainer to a marketing firm and not have a marketing plan available for public inspection?
Why do 3 state legislators appear on the county payroll as full time county employees?
And when are the freeholders going to take a serious position on Pay to Play in Union County?
So many questions and too few answers forth coming from a board that holds no one responsible or accountable for their actions least of all themselves.
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