Council lodges complaint over missing budget details Administration calls complaints to DCA, attorney general a political spectacle BY CHRIS GAETANO Staff Writer The Edison Township Council voted to send a complaint to the state Department of Community Affairs and the state attorney general over Mayor Jun Choi's intransigence in giving them the lineitem budget details. The budget, described by Business Administrator Anthony Cancro as "not a perfect budget," stands at $116,171,555. According to calculations from the Finance Committee, this represents a potential 9.51 percent increase in appropriations from last year's spending plan, weighed against a 0.47 percent increase in revenues. The amount to be supported by taxes in this budget represents $78,234,669, a 14.93 percent increase from last year's. It includes seven new positions: one junior field assessor in the finance department, one assistant recreation specialist in the recreation department, one insurance clerk in human resources and four EMTs. The vote to contact the DCA and attorney general came amid an attempt by the council to hold a budget hearing during a special meeting on Nov. 1. The hearing could not happen because the council lacked a detailed budget document by the time the council members convened. Also missing were the heads of the various departments in the administration, including the township attorney normally seated at the dais. Members of the council were enraged at what they felt was the administration's stonewalling and said, in no uncertain terms, that they felt the mayor was playing political games. "If you want to see bad politics, this is it," said Councilman Robert Karabinchak, who then compared the current state of affairs in Edison to Soviet Russia. "I don't know where the ceiling is for lies and deception, … and that's just pathetic," he said later. In response, Councilman Sal Pizzi said that the lack of a budget document and department heads broke a local finance board regulation that mandates public access to the line items in the budget. The regulation states that after the introduction of a budget, but no later than seven days prior to a public hearing on the budget, each "local unit" shall make available to the public appropriate detailed covering of the makeup of any revenue or appropriations at the office of municipal clerk or CFO. "Since this is clearly a violation of that regulation, I'm going to request the clerk file a complaint with the Department of Community Affairs and the attorney general of the state of New Jersey," Pizzi said. The administration had previously said that the reason the budget details are not being released to the public is that it is not yet in a form that the mayor is comfortable with, and that more time is needed to further refine the spending plan. Township spokesman Jerry Barca had previously said that the only reason the budget was introduced to the council was to make the extraordinary aid application deadline. He said that the council's decision to complain to the DCA and attorney general amounts to nothing more than pre-election game playing. "It's nothing more than political grandstanding by a council the public rejected, and it comes days before the election," said Barca Monday. Council President Charles Tomaro and others on the council have stated that they feel the real reason the budget details have not been delivered to them is that the administration is trying to run out the clock. Having lost the three-way Democratic primary race this year, council members Tomaro, Pizzi and Joan Kapitan will end their terms Dec. 31, along with Karabinchak, who had been brought in to replace an outgoing Peter Barnes III. Tomaro said that if the administration can hold out until next year, the new council would be more pliable than the current one. Councilwoman Antonia Ricigliano said that regardless of whether the council is due for a lineup change within the next few months, it does not mean that the current council cannot or should not examine the current budget. "As far as I'm concerned, whether our term expires December 2007 or 2009, we have a legal, moral and constitutional duty to the township of Edison to fulfill our duties to the last day," said Ricigliano. Not everyone agreed with this assessment. Four protesters held signs that said, "Lame duck council, let new team decide" and "Sore losers, STOP cheap political stunts." During the meeting's public portion, resident Mary Jo Elder accused the council of playing political games and defended the mayor. "I feel that we voted for a new council and the people have spoken, and I feel that the new council should approve what the new budget should be. … Everything [Choi] has ever attempted to do, it's like the council has been an anchor on him," Elder said. While members of the council praised Elder for coming in to comment, they disagreed with her assessment in every way, with Tomaro saying that she had been "brainwashed" by Choi. Among members of the public present at that meeting, Elder was in the minority. Meeting regulars expressed their dismay at the lack of budget information, with resident Irene Wall saying that she had filed an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request for the budget, only to be rebuffed. "I'm sick and tired of seeing this kind of garbage in Edison," said Joe Petrucelli, who is also a member of the Finance Committee. "You cannot not give people information on their budget," he said later. He also questioned how full-color fliers from the new Democratic council slate could be afforded when records show only about $1,000 left in campaign funds. The Republican candidates for council were present at the meeting and, in a show of interparty solidarity, agreed with the Democratic council that the administration needed to release the budget details as soon as possible. They urged the council to act as soon as possible. "Why are you wasting your time? ... There's only one way to handle a bully, and that's to push back," said Thomas Hughes. Aimee Szilagyi, also a candidate, said there might be good reason to increase the budget by the amount it has, but that doesn't change people's need to see it. "Maybe it's legitimate, but that's [millions of dollars] of our money; tell us where it's going," said Szilagyi. On top of the vote to send a complaint to the DCA and attorney general, it was suggested by various members of the council that if budget details will not be forthcoming, then they should just pass last year's $106 million budget, making adjustments only for mandated increases such as pensions, health care and contracts. "Without the document, I would say let's leave it at the level it is, keep the budget at $106 million," said Ricigliano. "Does it mean layoffs? I hope not. Does it mean roads won't be paved? Probably, but they really haven't been except for selected areas. ... How about the services we're entitled to. Are they going to be cut? I hope not. But I don't know, because that doesn't fall under our jurisdiction." Resident James Kukor, another Republican candidate for council, said this would be a fine idea and urged the council to do so. "I guarantee you, sending the mayor back the old $106 million budget will get their attention and get them over here," said Kukor. In a statement released the next morning, Mayor Choi dismissed the uproar over the budget as elaborate political theater, saying that the council members, upset at their defeat in the primaries to the mayor's favored candidates, is seeking to damage the budget on their way out in order to discredit the current administration. "This lame-duck council has abused its power and served its own interests while overburdening residents with taxes for more than a decade. … Rather than be an accessory to political chicanery or be subjected to the continuance of pre-meditated baseless personal attacks, we have chosen to put the interests of the people above the politics. By people, we mean all people, not a small group of politically connected individuals who veil themselves in the role of activists," Choi said in the statement. The administration made its own historical comparison, saying that the council is acting like the late President Herbert Hoover, who, according to the statement, did damage during his own lame duck period. "Removed from the spectacle this lame-duck council wants to hold, this administration is committed to spending ample time and discussion on crafting a difficult budget that will best serve all of Edison," said Choi.