August 19, 2013 Middletown Township Committee Meeting

Here is the video of the latest meeting of the Middletown Township Committee that took place last week on Monday night August 19th.  It was a long meeting, a lot took place most notability was the comments made by Gerry Scharfenberger pertaining to the Township cutting back the hours of part-time employees to avoid having to comply with the terms of the Affordable Care Act. Scharfenberger's comments can be found at the 1:18:15.

Here are the points of interest from the meeting:

• The Township swore in 8 new police officers, declared September 28 Middletown Day and the beginning of the 350 year celebration of the founding of Middletown.
• An award was presented for the Middletown 350 logo contest conducted last Spring.
• September was declared Paint the town teal for ovarian cancer awareness.
• The Pt. Monmouth Fire Company presented the Middletown Disaster Relief Fund with a check and gift cards that will be used for a family in Oklahoma affected by the tornado, that the fund adopted.
• An ordinance was passed that authorizes the township to outsource payroll services.
• An ordinance was introduced that redefines the fees that are levied to use sports facilities in town.
• Another ordinance was introduced to regulate the type of signs businesses can use to advertise.
• Resolutions were adopted to increase the cost of the artificial turf field and to purchase equipment to convert the Conference Room into an emergency command center, among others.
• The mayor announced that part time employees' hours will be cut to avoid providing them with health insurance.
• Residents brought concerns regarding conditions on Beacon Hill Rd., Pine St., Texas Ave., events surrounding the recent library closings and how the Library Board operates, requirements surrounding woman police officers' working conditions and dedicated police impound yards.

As always, you can download a copy of the meeting agenda that contains the discussion items and the proposed resolutions and ordinances that were voted on or presented during the meeting. A box around an item is a link, bringing you further into the document to that resolution or ordinance. At the end of the resolution there will be a link bringing you back to the agenda. Attached to this agenda is also the monthly bill list, so that everyone can see how the Township is spending our tax dollars.

Place Blame On Middletown For $31,000 Per Employee Cost Of Township's Self-Insured Health Care Plan, Not Obamacare

Middletown's former mayor and current Township Committeeman Tony Fiore, never let's his ego get in the way of the truth, he has a  hedonistic desire that he can't often control. He needs to let people know exactly how much they don't know by showing them exactly how much he doesn't. Whether it is from the dais, rolling his eyes, sighing with contempt and talking down to people when confronted with facts or a difference of opinion other than his own or using social media to disparage others who he disagrees with, the arrogant, ignorant bulldog in his personality always seems to come out.

Case in point. Last week when the Asbury Park Press announced that Middletown  reduced the hours of 25 part-time employees in an attempt to avoid having to provide health coverage for them under the terms of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) when the employer mandate kicks in sometime in 2015, Fiore felt compelled to leave a comment on the APP's website. In defending the reduction in hours and the extremely high $31,000 per employee cost of the Township's self-insured health care plan, Fiore has placed blame on President Obama for the Township's own mismanagement of its health care plan.

After reading Tony Fiore's comment left on the APP, Township Committee candidate Linda Baum sent me a note wanting to refute his statement and asked me to post:

Fiore's statement is totally inaccurate. Per research, Middletown's cost for medical benefits has risen 50% in the last decade, and its cost for prescription benefits has risen 100% in that time. Rising costs long pre-date the Affordable Care Act and have risen steadily during Fiore's term in office. Failure to address this issue falls squarely on the shoulders' of our local government. Our current mayor, Gerry Scharfenberger has been in office since Jan. 2005 and has had ample time to address this issue. Former Committeeman Sean Byrnes (D) had suggested forming a task force of medical and insurance professionals to review the Township's rising health care costs, but the administration's majority would have none of it. On top of that, they aren't telling us who is enrolled for coverage, one of the many things that needs review to get costs under control.

Oh and BTW, Middletown doesn't pay premiums, as Fiore says in his comment. The Township is self insured for health coverage -- it pays claims, not premiums. If Fiore doesn't understand the difference, how great a handle can he have on any of this?