I am a forty year old lifelong resident of Mt. Ephraim and I am very displeased in the state of our town. In recent days I have heard of tax increases, employee layoffs and unnecessary money spending being conducted by our leaders. There are a few issues that concern me and I feel need to be addressed and have not. I feel that thru this forum bringing these issues to light, maybe the people in charge will be able to provide the answers that I ( along with the rest of the residents) want and deserve.
The first issue that I would like to address is an issue that was first brought to the town\’s attention in the December 2007 borough meeting. At that meeting, borough commissioners stood in front of the residents who were in attendance and stated that due to the retirement of two borough police officers that two new officers were going to be hired to replace them. Not only were they going to hire two officers, but due to the rising workload and the overall need for more officers, that a third officer was going to be hired to help supplement the police departments\’ workload. It was brought to my attention that this third officer did not have what it takes to be a police officer and quit after one day. Also to my knowledge, that officer was never replaced, why is that? If the need for a third officer was so great in December, what has happened in the past three months to make that not true? Crime has not been eradicated as far as I know. If that position was so needed in December then why wasn\’t it filled when the person hired to fill that spot quit? Was that third position really needed or was it just a position for the family member of a political supporter? If the latter was true, then why tell the residents that the position is to help assist in preventing crime. I hope that half truths and lies are not the way the commissioners do business in our town.
Another issue that has come to light from Gov. Corzine\’s budget proposal is that the town is in dire straits financially. The money crunch is so dire that one police officer has been laid off and from what I hear one court clerk, one borough clerk and at least one public works employee will also be laid off. The one police officer that was laid off being one of the two hired to replace the retiring officers. Now to my count the police department is down two officers to combat all that crime that was portrayed to us in the December meeting! Town safety doesn\’t seem to be a forefront concern of these commissioners.
To add to the problem, not only is the borough laying off four people who depend on these jobs as their main source of income and benefits, but they are floating a three million dollar bond so the fire department came build a new station. A three million dollar loan for a volunteer fire department that will only be occupied fifty percent of the time! The reason for the building: Because the fire department can\’t fit all three of their fire trucks in the same building. I don\’t feel that a town that has to lay off four borough employees to save money should be loaning a volunteer fire department three million dollars for a new building. Here is a better solution, sell one of the fire trucks and the spare building to offset the financial burden that the taxpayers have to assume. Seriously, when was the last time you saw all three fire trucks on the scene at the same time anyway? If the building was to encompass the fire department, the police department and the ambulance squad, then I can see the town spending the money. This way the town would receive a state of the art building to house all of its emergency services. If anyone has been to the police department lately, they would know the out dated conditions that the police work in everyday. I went there to pick up a police report recently and found that they don\’t even have any exterior windows for fresh air. My cell phone didn\’t even work because the police station is located in the basement of the borough hall.
I have lived in this town for over forty years, and I have to say that I am very disappointed in the state affairs that have transpired and the priority use of funds by our commissioners. I hope this letter receives serious discussion and consideration for change, and hopefully opens the eyes of people who don\’t know what\’s going on here.
To the commissioners I say please don\’t tell us residents what you think we want to hear and tell us the truth. The residents and employees of Mt. Ephraim deserve the truth and deserve responsible spending of our money!
Sincerely,
One Concerned Resident
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