Where is the Edison Tower fund money?

Edison Mayor George A. Spadoro’s memory seems to be slipping.

He says he has “no idea” how much money is left in the Edison Tower Trust Fund, a campaign he spearheaded in the late 1990s.

Well, he should.

He should have some speedy answers for residents who want to know what happened to the trust fund and what, if anything, is left in it. The mayor is quick to dismiss those asking for information as political opportunists. Whether they are or not is for the public to decide. And that is not the point.

It was Spadoro’s name that was prominently displayed on a brochure distributed to residents back in the 1990s.

“Buy a Brick, Save the Tower.” “George A. Spadoro, Mayor” is printed underneath the fund-raising slogan.

Residents and businesses could purchase engraved brick pavers to help restore the tower. Fifty bucks would buy a paver in the shape of a lightbulb. The price tags for the 8-inch-square pavers and corporate pavers were higher.

“By purchasing a brick paver, you will help restore the Edison Tower and keep alive the memory of Thomas Edison,” the brochure stated.

Fast-forward to 2005. The tower is still dilapidated. And nobody seems to know what happened to the Tower Trust Fund.

The mayor said recently he can’t be expected to memorize the contents of every bank account in the township.

That may be true. But he should be able to come up with the answers with a quick call to the township chief financial officer or township administrator.

That’s not happening. Instead, residents are told to file requests for public records with the township clerk. When they do, like resident Anthony Russomanno, they are told the requests are too “vague.”

Russomanno was told he needed to supply the date the fund was created and what account it was in.

“If I knew all that, I wouldn’t have to be filing a request for them to open the records so I could look for it,” he said last week.

Resident Joseph Petrocelli, a certified public accountant, has been asking questions about the way Edison officials do business for some time. Providing answers about the trust fund is a simple matter, says Petrocelli.

He’s right.

And the mayor and Edison officials are making it as difficult as possible for residents to get some answers.

Edison officials had no problem putting a question on the ballot last November asking voters if they wanted 25 percent of the 1-cent open space tax to go toward renovating the tower. Voters were wise to turn the question down.

It should be a simple matter to provide residents with the answers. Even if there’s only a nickel left in the account, they deserve to know.

Try some ginko biloba, Mr. Mayor.