To the Victor Go the Spoils

Fans of this blog are familiar with Vic Scudiery. As owner of Airport Plaza, he is landlord to Aberdeen Township’s former attorney (Norman Kauff), public defender (Marc Schram), auditor (Tom Fallon), and Councilman Joe Raymond’s employer, the MVC. As head of the Monmouth County Democratic Party, he is also kingmaker. Beginning today, for the first time in 23 years, Democrats have control of Monmouth County. For those among the longtime party faithful, payday has arrived.

For years, council members have been rumored to be dreaming of state/county jobs. Why? Aside from the cushy job and benefits, there’s the pension. Here’s how the math works.

Let’s take Mayor David Sobel as an example. At the completion of his mayoral term, he’ll have served this township as a government employee for 12 years. Let’s say he then works 3 years as a state or county employee in a management position for an average of $90,000 a year. Here’s the math –

Annual Pension = (Years of Service)/55 X Avg. Salary of 3 highest years
Annual Pension = (12 + 3)/55 X $90,000
Annual Pension = $24,454 a year for life

Let’s say Mayor Sobel doesn’t get that job and only has the pension based upon his mayoral salary.
Annual Pension = (Years of Service)/55 X Avg. Salary of 3 highest years
Annual Pension = (12)/55 X $7,830
Annual Pension = $1,708 a year for life

So, three years of work in a cushy state/county job will net the mayor over $22,500 a year, plus cost-of-living adjustments, for the rest of his life.

It’s all perfectly legal and emblematic of New Jersey politics.

Of course, this is purely speculative and no jobs have been offered, yet. Will Scudiery deliver? Only time will tell. >>> Read more!

Republicans Not Welcome

On May 15th, 2007, the Township of Aberdeen passed Ordinance 10-2007, cryptically entitled the Ordinance Amending the Revised General Ordinances of the Township of Aberdeen to Implement a Public Contracting Reform Ordinance. A more apt name would have been the Ordinance Amending All Welcome Signs to Include the Following Statement – Republicans Keep Out!

The ordinance is our town’s version of a pay-to-play statute. You won’t find the ordinance included on our state’s list of local pay-to-play statutes because, in truth, it’s not. The ordinance was specifically drawn to exclude one businessman from even thinking about doing business in Aberdeen. His name is Jack Morris, the developer our neighbor, Matawan, chose for the transit village project.

The new law specifically states the Township of Aberdeen “shall not enter into any agreement or otherwise contract with any private party for the planning, re-planning, construction or undertaking of any project or redevelopment work . . . if that redeveloper has solicited or made any contribution of money or pledge of a contribution” to any political group within the township or county.

That’s right. The ordinance is only against developers seeking to do business with the township. Unsurprisingly, not one of the Aberdeen Democrat’s large contributors happens to be a developer. So, CME Associates, their largest contributor, is still welcome to collect $1.2 million a year and oversee over 20% of the township’s annual budget through the road improvement program. Coppola & Coppola, another big contributor, is welcome to receive over $100,000 in fees. And nearly every professional contract can still go to financial contributors or those with political connections.

Meanwhile, Jack Morris, the head of the Columbia Group, a consortium selected by Matawan to be its lead developer for the transit village project, is effectively blocked from doing business with Aberdeen and Matawan. As detailed by Jackie Corley, a reporter for the Courier, Jack Morris is a major contributor to local Republicans, including Matawan’s former mayor, Freeholder Rob Clifton. It’s inconceivable that Morris will be able to develop 40 acres straddling Aberdeen’s border in conjunction with Aberdeen’s developer on a joint transit village project without making some “agreement” with the township.

This in no way suggests that Matawan and Morris are free of any taint of pay-to-play but it’s extraordinary that the Aberdeen Town Council would craft an ordinance that blocks Matawan’s developer but allows the Democrats to continue handing contracts to their contributors.

Nor is the timing any coincidence. Aberdeen’s developer, Silver Oaks (who seemingly made an indirect contribution in 2001), launched a baseless lawsuit against Matawan after they selected the Columbia Group. The borough, already in financial dire straits, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees defending their selection. At the end of January, 2007, Matawan won the case. Three months later, Aberdeen passed Ordinance 10-2007, effectively barring Matawan’s developer from the project.

The ordinance was also passed just prior to the election season. The Aberdeen Democrats had effectively positioned themselves to defend against any claim of pay-to-play while simultaneously attacking both the Aberdeen and Matawan Republicans with the same charge. (Some have speculated that Silver Oaks appealed the case simply to keep the issue alive through the elections; the owner's son, Bill Bocra, graduated at the top of his class from Columbia Law School so legal costs were minimal.)

How interesting that our town council has finally found a political contributor with whom they won’t do business – a developer who gives money to local republicans. Makes you wonder if Vic Scudiery had his hand in this. Tellingly, and contrary to the documented ordinance, Councilman Perry voted against the statute.

As an aside, I’d like to thank the town council for selecting my birthday as Aberdeen Day. The honor is flattering, unwarranted, and wholly unintended, I'm sure. >>> Read more!

Aberdeen's Budget Turns a Loophole into a Noose

Click Here for the 2007 Budget
Click Here for the 2008 Budget

Last year, sensing they may finally lose power after a dozen years of control, the Aberdeen Democratic Executive Committee devised a simple yet effective strategy. I call it the “Spend, Don’t Tax” plan. First, they forced the school district to cut its proposed tax increase from 5% to 2.3% but allowed the district to retain all of the proposed spending increases. The township then used all its financial wizardry to postpone any tax increases until the following year.

Aberdeen's town council quickly publicized they were not raising taxes. They sent mailings to all residents, issued press releases, and adopted fiscal restraint as one of their election platforms (despite Aberdeen having the third highest tax rate in Monmouth County). The councilmen even garnered high praise from the local Independent. In an editorial titled “Aberdeen taxpayers get a break in 2007”, the paper said “the township’s leaders deserve recognition for keeping the tax rate in check . . .”

The gambit succeeded but barely. All four democratic candidates were elected but not one of them by a majority vote. And the taxpayers? We’re now getting hit simultaneously with the largest municipal tax levy increase and the largest asset depletion in Aberdeen’s 150-year history – An $871,487 tax increase (Sheet 3B) and a $1,259,316 loss of assets (Sheet 39), including a $600,000 withdrawal from the General Capital Fund (Sheet 10A).

The municipal tax levy is jumping 12% to $7.8 million in a $15.3 million overall budget. This translates into a 9.9 cent property tax increase for every $100 of assessed real property, or about $140 for the average homeowner on top of every other tax increase and a nearly 17% reduction in municipal assets.

This fiscal catastrophe was not caused by the state’s withdrawal of municipal aid. Following Aberdeen’s $210,000 loss in municipal aid, Mayor Sobel cut $179,000 from the budget. He insisted that taxes not go higher than 9.9 cents for the same reason that stores prefer to charge 99 cents rather than raise prices to the next dollar.

Joe taxpayer may be wondering how taxes could increase by 12% when the state imposed a 4% cap. Well, much of the budget is excluded from caps, such as the Capital Improvement Fund’s rise from $300,000 last year to $550,000 this year. (In fairness, the fund was cut during the 2007 election year.)

The budget was reviewed and certified as “CAP compliant” by the town’s “independent” auditor, Tom Fallon, whose office is located at Airport Plaza, the strip mall owned by Vic Scudiery, Chairman of the Monmouth County Democratic Party. His father is Charles Fallon, the former Treasurer of the Monmouth County Democratic Party who pleaded guilty to bribing then Hudson County Executive Janiszewski in exchange for government contracts. Fallon's family has also contributed thousands of dollars to the local Democratic party.

Since this year’s budget derives from last year’s fiscal bait and switch, let’s look at some of the increases over the past two years. Since 2006, pension payments have increased 147% for the Police & Fireman’s fund and 155% for the Public Employees' fund (Sheet 20). During the same period, Library maintenance has risen 22% (Sheet 20).

While the grant portion of the Safe & Secure Communities Program declined by 10%, the township’s matching portion rose to $201,457 from last year's $15,000 (Sheet 24A).

Debt service payments have increased 15% percent since 2006 and now account for 11% of the total budget (Sheet 27).

Deferred charges have exploded from $21,600 in 2006 to $248,600 today.

Meanwhile, those developers who are enrolled in the PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) program have been spared the council's wrath (Sheet 10).

I’m sure our elected representatives will be telling us how they exercise fiscal restraint but the truth is that taxes and corruption are choking the lifeblood from our community. I look forward to next year’s election when Mayor Sobel and his cohorts will be the ones left twisting in the wind. >>> Read more!