Letter to the Editor 7/17/2009 (The Leader & South Bergenite)
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More Rash Decisions…
As President of the Council, I understand the responsibility to balance municipal services against managing expenses. And, I continue to believe that government on the local level is all about "efficient and effective" municipal services. However, when you aggressively reduce municipal services with broad sweeping objectives, only to satisfy a psychological target - that adversely affect specific areas of our community - then there is a major inefficiency going on in terms of resident tax dollars. This is the case with Mayor Hipp's reduced "trash & recycling" collection schedule.
Rash decisions, like the one to eliminate trash and recycling collection on Fridays, only affect "some" of our taxpaying residents. This decision is the result of an incomplete and incoherent process with no forethought by the mayor or his partisan-majority Council – only in a rush to fix the budget without the proper consideration, review, and due diligence as to the implications of implementing furloughs on Fridays for DPW workers. As for the elimination of garbage collection on Fridays, the mayor is obligated in his fiduciary duty to provide fair and equal treatment to all taxpaying residents. It would be deceiving to suggest otherwise, and is a disservice to the residents of Rutherford in its current form.
As an example, during the weekend of July 10th, the mayor's elimination of DPW collection on Fridays left various sections of Rutherford littered with garbage and recyclables that were put out by residents - unaware - of the "Friday Furloughs" that had been implemented by the mayor. My question is simple and obvious: Why should some areas of Rutherford receive "full" DPW trash & recycling services over other areas? Is there a better way to coordinate the reduced DPW collection ambition without disadvantaging some of our residents? And, importantly, don’t all of the residents of Rutherford deserve the same municipal services for the same tax dollars?
I am, and have been, a proponent of working with the entire governing body to do what I believe is right for the good people of Rutherford. And, I understand the continued need to optimize costs, but in this case, establishing targets that ultimately disadvantage specific neighborhoods and residents of our community with no regard to its effects on the health and safety or the fact that every resident pays for, and therefore deserves, the same access to DPW collection and services, contradicts the fiduciary responsibility that the mayor is obligated to uphold.
Respectfully,
Maura Keyes
President - Rutherford Borough Council
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