Here is what Mr. Gabrielan had to say last night before the current library board approved the transfer of funds:
After seeing the proposed new budget, I was shocked, but not surprised. After the township committee raided library surplus for about $500,000 last year, the smart money asked “how will they get the rest?” The hopeful thought perhaps the township committee had a modicum of decency, but this proposal shows there is no hope and no decency. After I declared that the committee’s taking of funds through the bullying of the trustees was tantamount to the committee’s declaring war on the library, the only question should have been when and how would the next attack come.
The township charges to the library range from the unjustified, to the exaggerated to the ridiculous, the latter the characterization of the casualty insurance charges, a subject of my expertise. The 14% figure was either pulled out of the air or based on an irrelevant statistic that has no relationship to the library’s risk to the township’s overall risk of loss. It is not merely a puffed-up figure to permit a small reduction, since the measure of risk for the library, depending on how workers compensation is treated, is closer to 1.4%. Figures do not lie, but liars figure, so justification was either a small or likely no part of the equation. The proposed budget is nothing less than an evil money grab, an example of the township using the state- mandated separately financed library as a profit center. They chose a deceptive way to accomplish this raid. They will seek the surplus now, then take these unjustified charges from future appropriations, thereby cutting into library operational funds and ending library service as we have known and enjoyed for decades.
The committee’s expanding and packing the library board was simply an effort to gain control, a battle in their war was to end the practice of an independent library board of library advocates. This township committee does not tolerate dissent. But how will you, the board, defend or even rationalize these numbers?
Everything comes to an end including all terms of public service. As my position ended and I looked back on my service, I took pride in being a major force that built this library. How will you look back on your service? As being political tools who turned over governance of the library to the township committee? Political tool is a gentle term compared with what others might say, but I do not have a grip with the library board. Indeed, I sympathize with your position. But what will you do?
Quoting a remark attributed to Edmund Burke, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men – and good women – to do nothing. I urge you to defeat this proposal and tell the mayor that the future of the library and the independence of its board are not up for grabs and do not exist for his budgetary convenience. If not, you may wish to consider resigning. Think of how you will look back on your service.
With respect to good people doing nothing, I find it incomprehensible how anyone who supports the library can tolerate a township committee in continuous control for a generation that does not have at least one member who will serve as a voice of dissent and as eyes on the fiscal irregularities that have been visited upon the people of Middletown.
Regarding that unbroken reign of the existing forces, I’ll repeat Lord Acton’s dictum that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The budget proposal is evil and corrupt. I urge you to turn it down.
31 comments:
The people of Middletown would best be served if Middletown's library became part of the Monmouth County Library system.
Then the Carton-Nelson robots could not ride rough shod,thug like,over our ethical (what's left of those who are ethical) library trustees.
Wake up residents of this town, it's (the library) one of the only decent things left in this community.
The political thugs are ruining every thing desirable in Middletown.
It's no longer funny,it's disgusting and when do the people in this township wake up ?
THE REPUBLICANS ARE RUINING MIDDLETOWN !!!! Our schools and now our library !!!!!!!
Get rid of this bunch of self serving,integrity challenged bunch of political operatives... completely void of ethical behavior.
If this "owed" figure which only recently came to light was due to an error on the CFO of Middletown, why the hell isn't anyone checking to see if this new figure is correct as Mr. Gabrielan suggests? What will be the excuse for next year's money grab? And where will they take from next once they've decimated the library? How about looking more deeply into the Sewerage Authority or is that off limits because it is run by Republicans for their party? I feel badly for the few board members that are actually decent people-not all are- as they are between a rock and a hard place. Political pawns is all they are, having to do as they're told. Now to see how it will affect the library and all of us patrons.
This TC is amoral at best and does not know the difference between right and wrong.
When will the law look at this situation or are there no laws in this town ? Look what we have for legal help..... politicians . Serve themselves not the people in Middletown.
"If this "owed" figure which only recently came to light was due to an "error" on the CFO of Middletown, why the hell isn't anyone (double) checking" his figures?
Errors, typos..........hmmm!
Perhaps the qualifications of those continuing to make the same mistakes need to be reviewed.
Didn't one of the members of the Save Our Pool Club Group who happenens to be an accountant find a problem with those numbers as well?
The error was that for years the Library was not paying it's contribution for the pension and insurance benefits to its employees. If anything, Gabriellan should be prosecuted for letting this go on as President without properly accounting for it. Kudos to the TC.
Anonymous 4:06....
As usual the only weapon the Middletown Republicans resort to is character assassination.
Here's something to think about...the residents of this township are sick to death of the divisive,vicious attacks on good people. Randall Gabrielan is a civic minded,respectable person who has served this community admirably.
Bet you can't say that about yourself without reservation. Just another vicious BS artist with diarrhea of the mouth defending this TC's antics.....that's you.
The money grab is what this is all about...no matter where or who is attacked.
Who next ?
What next ??
Where next ???
Patronage costs money........
Money grab... Pays the bills... Deal with it
Patronage escalates the bills and make no mistake that is involved in the bills in this town.
If the Township had a finance committee, then there would be an independent (hopefully) body to look at the numbers the the CFO (who came to us from ethically and legally challenged Hoboken) presents to the public. Time for someone or a group to sue the Township Committee?
Time to vote out Republican Steve Massell this fall. He is a man who rarely says anything about ordinances or resolutions but votes for everyone of them. The only critical comment he made related to serious township business was: 'We should have known', which was a reference to the methadone clinic opening in the neighborhood that his brother lives in. Steve Massell is an empty suit occupying space at meetings. People like him and Stephanie Murray are there just to do the biding of Carton, Nelson, Scharfenberger and Fiore. Sentembrino's specialty is politely doing Township Committee dirty work with a smile. In less than two years they have managed to put the library into financial crisis.
Enough of the BS being posted here!
The CFO's numbers were easy to understand and the math was correct. As has been pointed out before, the "error" was that the Library has not been paying it's share since no one really knows when.
Why shouldn't the Library pay for the pension and insurance costs for it's employees?
I understand that there is a question about how much should be paid towards worker's compensation insurance (this is what the resigned former board member is trying to say), and that question is somewhat legitimate, but the town is self insured for worker's compensation, so that calculating the Library's share of what is budgeted for WC based on their portion of salries is as accurate as anybody could guess unless they were an actuary.
I guarantee you that if the Library were to try to get it's own WC insurance, the number would be much larger than what they are paying the town. One employee falling and breaking their ankle would cost more than what they are paying.
I think the Library Board knows that and so they have not questioned it.
Now a threat to sue the town to get a Finance Committee? Please.
Win the next two elections and you can have a Finance Committee...
Legion,
What makes you so sure that the CFO's numbers were correct? Just because his numbers add up doesn't mean they are correct.
I can make up numbers and have them add up also.
Here's a suggestion for the arrogant individual.Legion....since the library tax is separately stated on tax bills,include the WC and pension costs of library employees in township expenses ( they are Middletown employees) and comply with the legal requirements for funding libraries in this state (accord to population) and compute the library tax in Middletown accordingly. Stop raiding our library funds each year to balance your TC budget. It's not an accurate picture of the distribution of finances or expenses.
Figures don't lie..LIARS FIGURE !!!!
A FINANCE COMMITTEE of astute individuals is desperately needed in this community.
POLITICS BE DAMNED,the politicians in this town are not to be trusted. You especially ,LEGION.
Ever hear the expression "useless as teets on a boar hog" ?
Middletown has it's share of politicians that surely can be viewed in that context !!!
Legion,
A legal suit against the Township Committee could be for a variety of reasons -- not just a specific suit for a failure to have a finance committee. A few years back there was an audit that severely criticized financial practices. How about a legal challenge to the 'policy' regarding the failure to broadcast township committee meetings on public access channels -- the MAC spends township money for live broadcasts of children events. How about a legal probe into the funds taken from the Sewerage Authority?
State Senator Joe is running for a U.S. Senate position I wonder if the press would like to get his opinion on how the Township has been operating, or not operating, since Ray O'Grady left office?
A suit, or suits, might force certain documentation to go public.
A good municipal lawyer would know where to look. I can think of one attorney who invested his own time and energy suing the Township back when Reilly had Nelson's job. I wonder if he is available for an initial consultation?
Legion,
If the "library has not been paying its share since no one really knows when", then what has prevented the township administrator, the elected officials and especially the CFO from noticing this until now? How long has this oversight this failure to discover been going on? What has prevented the CFO from discovering this financial information until now; after all he has had plenty of time (3-4 years?) to adjust to his new position since leaving his job in Hoboken? What has prevented this information from being picked up in audits all of these "since when" years?
Who has failed at doing their job? Was it Gerry 'Learn Finance By Osmosis' Scharfenberger? Maybe legal action on the part of the Middletown community would shed some much needed sunshine on the murky finance practices of the appointed and elected officials?
It is interesting that it wasn't until the 2% tax cap came into play that the Township Committee started finding problems with the library budget, along with finding it a great new source of revenue. Did the Township Committee all of a sudden get better at doing their job, or was there a policy change in how the Township Committee was going to treat -- tap into and raid -- the library budget? After all without a Democrat or two or three on the Committee to challenge this new practice, who is going to object? Maybe Steve Massell will step up and speak out against this practice to look good in the eyes of the voters for his up coming attempt at re-election? The rest of his Republican buddies would still be able to do as they please with a four to one majority.
It would be interesting if the library equivalent of SONIC or save the swim club started showing up at township committee meetings. Do you think someone should organize that kind of effort?
Massell is a waste of time and space. Scharfenberger serves only himself,first,last and always... Murray should stick to writing racy novels if that's her real talent...Settembrino's is in it for himself and his own agenda... and since actions speak louder than words , Fiore's character seems also to be lacking.
There was a time those who served could be respected....not anymore !!
Anonymous 1:39,the answer to your final question is a resounding YES !!!
The truth is that the last Democratic member of the TC wanted to look into Library finances as well - you should probably ask him why and how he feels about the Library paying their share.
It comes down to basic fairness. Why should all taxpayers in Middletown pay for the Library, expecially given the way that the Gabrielan board was spending money?
I again invite y'all to OPRA the Library spending during that time and see if you think it was a good use of taxpayer dollars.
I think it would be fun if someone filed a lawsuit, but it should be against the voters for not voting the way you wanted - LOL!
The TC is exercising it's power as voted by the citizens.
Mike - look at the budgeted amounts and multiply by the percentages... Pretty simple.
I agree with the first post here - the town would be better off if the Library became part of the County system - it would save us millions of dollars per year!
http://ia601209.us.archive.org/25/items/MiddletownTownshipChargebackLetter6712/DOC062112.pdf
Above is a link to the Township's 6/7/12 chargeback letter so you can all review it for yourselves. Seeing the analysis (page 2) will help to put some comments here in context.
As I’ve said before, there is a great deal wrong with these numbers that the library board should be questioning. I don’t have time to get into detail here – nor is this the forum – but am putting together a written assessment that will be directed to the appropriate bodies. I commented at the July 18 library board meeting after Mr. Gabrielan did, so you can listen to my comments when the video is posted if you want to know some of what I think is wrong with the numbers. My comments resonated with one board member at least, though not the board president, Larry Nelsen, who just said “a chargeback is a chargeback” and left it at that. It seems to me his role as a library trustee demands something more.
One thing I can do now is clarify a few things based on what I’ve learned in the last month. This is the first time the library has received a breakdown of costs by category. In the past, they received only a bill with a single number, which was used as a basis for the chargeback amount in the library budget for the next year. I think I said previously that the town provided an estimate each year for use by the library in preparing its budget, but that is not the case. Only a bill was provided, if I understand correctly.
The library asked many times for a breakdown of costs and supporting calculations, but received nothing. Just a single number. Thus it is a poor argument now to say that the library didn’t pay its fair share of this cost or that cost – we don’t know that since a breakdown of costs by category was never provided. The issue, then, is whether or not the library paid its fair share of costs in the aggregate, for all costs combined.
http://www.joekyrillos.com/contact
Contact him
-
please.
Tell him Middletown's CFO is out of control with his ineffectiveness (to say the least)
and retribution is due-
tenfold!!
Legion,
The funding for libraries is set by state statute. Stop the BS because it's only a smoke screen. Truth is not one of your strong points.
It won't save you anything (whoever you are) because the library money would go to the County if our library became part of it's system. With the money goes all the obligations and the currency. NO MORE MONEY GRABBING. Better for the people on Middletown that's for sure. That's for damn sure !
BTW,seems Sean Byrnes wanted to combine the Middletown Arts Center with the library for many reasons....maybe one of which was the MAC doesn't pay it's way and is an albatross that needs to be propped up because it operates in the red and duplicates programs of the library.
NO MORE HANKY PANKY by integrity challenged republican politicians who can't be trusted.
Whose pocket will you pick then ???
Legion,
Based on your thinking: "why should all taxpayers pay for public education; why should taxpayers support Christie's policy regarding vouchers for public, and private schools? this is not one of your best moments. The problem with Legion is that the baton gets passed from Hinckley to Nelson to Settibrino to Reilley and occasionally Peters.
Sorry you didn't understand.
The Library has a set amount in revenue from the taxpayer as mandated by state law.
When the Library doesn't pay it's fair share of the costs for it's employees, the taxpayer has to foot an additional bill beyond the mandated amount.
Everyone pretty much agrees that the Library should get the mandated funds, but why should the taxpayers who are not using the Library have to pay AGAIN for Library expenses?
Every additional dollar the Township has to spend to support the Library is an additional dollar that must be raised by taxes.
Pretty simple, right?
I don't know why this has been going on, doesn't make it right. The Library should pay for it's employees, period.
And currently they ALL LEAVE PLENTY TO BE DESIRED IN A FREE AND DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY....
They are all,except perhaps Reilly, dictatorial characters serving their own agendas not the people's.
Regardless of party affiliation, there are seventy some thousand people in this community that deserve representation and they are not getting it. Middletown is like another planet where the petty,little dictators rule.
Schools and libraries are not or not supposedly political entities.
Understand perfectly and do not agree with you,Legion.
You are part of the problem in this town,not a solution !!
For a few years, Library employees have been charged 2% of their salaries for health benefits. I don't see that amount credited by the Township. Is there a reason for that?
Why has it taken so long for Fiore and Scharfenberger to figure out that the library, in Township Committee's opinion, has not been paying its fair share. For that matter what has taken Merchantante and Trisante so long to unravel the incorrect charge backs. Looks like someone hasn't been doing the job the taxpayers are paying them to do. Should their salaries be adjusted as well?
Does the same situation exist for Parkinson and the Sewerage Authority?
Is there anyone serving or employed in this community qualified in the capacities or positions they hold ??
Doesn't seem to be with this
ridiculous fiasco called government in Middletown Township.
The state needs to investigate this circus of buffoons ....and soon !1
Notify the Attorney General of New Jersey about the aberration passing for administration in this community. Much that transpires often borders on illegal. It is despicable.
When does Middletown sell or lease the Middletown Arts Center ? It does not support itself and like the Swim Club, it should be sold ! It was a failed financial effort from the start and has cost the taxpayers in this town millions.
That won't please Rose Marie but so what ! Doesn't she have much more to take care of as Monmouth County's Surrogate ?
A few years ago Scharfenberger and others indicated that the MAC would be self-supporting by 2012 -- time for them to comment on the MAC's progress toward being self sufficient?
Also time for them to explain why and how the MAC, which is heavily subsidized by municipal taxpayer dollars, can afford to record and broadcast live programming for children when they say it is too expensive to do the same for Township Committee meetings?
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