Message From The Mayor: The Storm Is Coming But We Have A Lifeboat

Editor, The Ocean Star:

Former Mayor Konkus, Sue Rogers and their team have created a financial crisis in Point Pleasant. In their last year in office, instead of balancing the budget and cutting spending, they raided our schools and borrowed $560,000 from the school fund.

Now, Rogers and Konkus are gone, but they have left us with approximately $1.2 million in debt and budget shortfall.

Where did all this money go? We don’t even know, because the Rogers and Konkus team failed to keep adequate records, as legally required. Last month, the Boro was forced spend $50,000 on an auditor to reconstruct the books so we can trace the money trail. We are contacting the prosecutor’s office, and requested an investigation into the possible misuse of funds.

We do know how some of our money was wasted. Millions of dollars of purchases and contracts went to friends and campaign contributors. Just one example was the unnecessary purchase of a $150,000 computer system that has been virtually unused.

Who will pay for their waste and mismanagement? We all will. Police and other public workers may be furloughed despite the fact that they did not create this mess. The taxpayers are on the hook for the $560,000 loan from the schools and the $600,000 budget shortfall from 2010.

What is our team’s plan to fix this mess?

1. We reduced the Boro payroll $650,000 by incentivizing early retirement of public workers.

2. We expect to generate $250,000 or more in new revenue by putting an on-site liquor consumption license up for bid.

3. We have identified a potential cost savings of $400,000 by exploring alternatives to current trash and recycling contracts.

4. We will continue to look for ways to cut spending and expand revenues in order to balance the budget.

The combination of debt and budget shortfall left to us by our predecessors has created a fiscal crisis. We may not have created this crisis, but we are willing to make the tough choices that it will take to fix it — and that means putting everything on the table.

We commit to keeping you fully informed throughout the coming months as the situation continues to unfold, and we look forward to hearing your ideas and suggestions. We encourage you to attend the next council meeting, or call us at 732-892-3434.

WILLIAM SCHROEDER MAYOR OF POINT PLEASANT