Scharfenberger's Green Initiative: Buy 5 New Trucks With SnowPlows While Laying Off 40 Employees

Gerry Scharfenberger likes to think of himself as the father of the Middletown Green Initiative, after all it was his idea even though there isn't much to show for it except for the promise to turn off some lights and eventually install a few solar panels on the top of the Arts Center.

That was until now.

The Township has just taken possession of 5 brand new,beautiful Chevy Sliverado pick up trucks equipped with snowplows at a cost of $33K each.

Can someone tell me what he and the Township Administrator must be thinking when they purchase over $160K worth of trucks when the Township started the year with a $5M budget deficit? Do they think that the road to fiscal responsibliity must be driven down in trucks that cost the taxpayer $33K each?


How is a purchase like this justified when the Township has plans to layoff about 40 employees? Who is going to be driving these trucks? Maybe the Township will have the laid off employees use them to drive to the unemployment office. I am sure that the Police Department is glad that they agreed to a salary freeze for this year. We need to save every penny possible so that purchases like this can be afforded. At $33K each this totals well over $160K, which is the equivalent of salaries for 4-5 average employees on the Township payroll.

The Mayors' Green Initiative should be about saving the green not spending it, especially since the Township does not have it to spend.

Cha-Ching!


Instead of parking these new vehicles in the Public Works Yard they are located in the school parking lot at Croydon Hall. They have not been registered yet, either.