I have been thinking about this all night and I'm really curious, who or what gave Mayor Gerry the authority to declare a local emergency in Middletown yesterday and what type of "Power" did this give him?What penalties could residents have expected if they were found to be in violation of Gerry's "State of Emergency"?
I understand that this was just another grandstanding incident by Gerry Scharfenberger attempting to make it seem that he was in charge. But I am serious, what could have happened under this circumstance? Is there anything in the Town Charter that allows the acting mayor to declare a local state of emergency and if so what powers are provided at the time of declaration?
Further more, was it really nessasary to declare a local state of emergency when an actual State of Emergency was already declared by acting Governor Stephen Sweeney?
Obviously, Gerry's declaration was nothing more than grandstanding and purely symbolic and had no real teeth, otherwise many of those driving around town Monday and Tuesday would have been stopped by the police and either issued summonses or had their vehicles confiscated
If someone has time to find out answers to the above, I would be interested in hearing them.
8 comments:
Not a "state of emergency" at Tilton Place, not a single freakin' plow. 60 hours after snow stops. I will be taking 2 days of lost wages off of my property tax bill.
This mayor has serious ego problems ..........maybe it's even more than that. He needs to consult some kind of professional help.
All roads around us plowed, but not ours. Three plows at the HS clearing the parking lot and won't come clear our road. We were on the 2:30am list of "in progress" ... not
What is it with this man....he's no more important than the other TC members....only in his own mind.
Time for him to read the statutes that government in Middletown is founded upon. Really read it....all he is responsible for is presiding over meetings.
What ails him ? Self designated dictator ?
I have not checked the town ordinances yet, but I looked in the statutes and saw nothing giving a Mayor this type of power; only the Governor. However, the inherent police power of local government gives them the ability to engage in conduct rationally related to the protection of citizens. But a state of emergency suggests something specific emanating from some statutory mandate.
This guy has a problem.
If Mayor Gerry Scharfenberger, PhD. had made sure that this kind of weather event was anticipated and planned for -- as in all snow plowing resources being contracted for, available and deployed -- then the need to parrot the New Jersey state of emergency would not have been necessary. Middletown Township had plenty of advanced warning and failed to come through for Middletown homeowners, businesses and residents. Could they have been trying to save money for the summer concerts and other non-essential recreation services?
Snow removal should be first priority in any community. It's a safety issue. We still have blocks in Belford that were not plowed 6 days later. Never saw any sand or salt trucks either. During a storm- trucks should be out keeping up with it. We never had any out there. I feel it's budget cuts and disgruntled employees at the root of this. In a Sate of Emergency- it's essential that everyone do their job to keep the roads open. If they refuse they should be fired. Holding their community hostage for overtime and raises is disgusting. Plenty of people who are out of work would love to have a township job.
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