ARTICLE: Let's Address Mrs. Salmon's Flawed and Illogical Debate Arguments
By Jen Blumenstock | October 26, 2022
I was honored to have been a part of the 10th Annual Forum at The Pointe this past Tuesday and I once again want to thank The Pointe, Mr. Connolly and Mr. Nolan for hosting. As I reflect back on the night I am really flabbergasted by how flawed and illogical the arguments presented by Mrs. Salmon were, and how I fear they may cost the Borough of Garwood dearly should she win election as our next Mayor.
To begin with, Mrs. Salmon intends to cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars and raise debt substantially by ending the Fanwood shared service and purchasing all of the shared equipment all at once because… she just doesn’t like it? I remain unclear why Mrs. Salmon demands to end this service when even our Borough Administrator, who has done a thorough 10 year cost analysis, concluded that this service does and will continue to save us money. Her solution for the needed State-mandated Superintendent position is to force our Borough Administrator to perform the role, when he has already publicly declared he does not want to nor does he have the time to take it on. Even more galling was the insinuation during the debate that if she’s the new Mayor, she is “certain” he will do it if she wants. The statement sounded more like a threat, as if she intended to hold his current job over his head if he does not comply. I was extremely put-off by this. This is not the way we should do business in Garwood and she is creating a serious liability situation should she follow through.
As for the increase of the debt that will certainly occur if the Borough needs to immediately purchase the equipment we currently borrow through the Fanwood agreement, Mrs. Salmon was silent. As she was when she was reminded that a new DPW building, something she immediately approved of even before soil testing was done and final costs are known, would certainly raise the debt even more substantially. Yet she had no problem during the debate decrying how high Garwood’s debt is (it isn’t -- it’s at .9%, far below the 3.5% state limit). When confronted with this flawed argument - how can you say debt is too high, yet advocate for projects and equipment that will increase it – Mrs. Salmon offered no rebuttal. Instead she offered even more significant spending, suggesting a new traffic study for South Avenue that was already completed a few years ago.
Mrs. Salmon’s other idea is to replace employees with volunteers. While I love our volunteer groups and think they do an amazing job for Garwood, not all of the Borough’s functions should be relegated to volunteers. A volunteer Recreation Manager? A volunteer resident doing social media for the Police Department? What happens if that volunteer’s schedule gets too busy? Residents working full-time jobs, with kids or family members to take care of, aren’t likely to want to take on these major responsibilities for no pay. Or what happens if the volunteer posts something he or she shouldn’t, even by accident? There would be no accountability, and it could even pose yet another huge liability risk. We are a small town, and yes, we should always be looking for cost-cutting measures. But to simply rely on volunteers to do part-time or even full-time jobs is doing a great disservice to the residents. It’s a good sound bite, but the reality of this would soon come crashing down.
In fact, most of what Mrs. Salmon had to say at the Forum comes down to that – a good sound bite with no reality backing it up. This speaks to Mrs. Salmon’s lack of experience and training. She has not taken the training on municipal finances that every other current Council person elected to take, worked on the Finance Committee yet, or even been a part of the workings of the Borough for more than 10 months. But Garwood deserves a Mayor who isn’t learning on the job. It’s obvious we can’t afford that.
Jen Blumenstock
Garwood Council President
Garwood Mayoral Candidate