TO THE EDITOR:
Re: “Township Funds $10K to Probe Finances,” April 15.
I want to set the record straight regarding issues that came up in the April 4 [Township of Washington] council meeting.
In closed session, which took place after public session, I reminded the council—as the minutes of the meeting of Sept. 4, 2018 show—they were informed about the pay raise in question back in the Sept. 4, 2018 meeting.
This was done before the raise was acted on and for many other positions last year to bring our employees’ salaries to market value. The minutes from that meeting show all councilpersons were present and none disagreed.
Additionally, there was money in both the budget and salary ordinance for 2018 to cover the raise. This employee gets paid from multiple line items (as many town employees are). In this case, a simple clerical error resulted in the entire salary being charged to only one line item and therefore the line was exceeded.
As the year-end review was being done by the CFO it was found and corrected/reconciled by a simple journal entry. The money was always there!
I would like to further point out that public employees are entitled to certain legal protections. There are times when personnel matters cannot be spoken about in public sessions. As mayor, unlike others, I will not participate in such actions and open the town to legal/civil liability. Therefore, I have chosen to not discuss certain personnel matters in public sessions.
One function of the mayor is spending money the council authorizes in the budget. There are checks and balances that ensure the administration can not spend more money than the council allocates. That is one reason why the town auditor is chosen by and reports directly to the council.
I regret that the council voted to spend additional taxpayer dollars on a forensic accounting. This is essentially a duplication of the auditor’s function and amounts to double-taxing the residents for the same service. I think the auditor would call for a forensic accounting if they saw anything improper, not councilmembers who may let politics cloud their judgement.
We are at a point where we must spend significant money on previously ignored capital projects that can no longer be postponed. Therefore, every dollar spent should have a solid purpose behind it.
However, if the council chooses to move forward with the accounting, I welcome the additional financial analysis as myself and this administration have been fully transparent in all dealings and functions since I became mayor. There is nothing to hide!
Mayor Peter Calamari
Township of Washington