Friday, August 6, 2010

Letter to the Editor, Twin-Boro News

Dear Editor,

I read Council President Harry Stylianou's letter to the editor on August 5th with interest as I have been to most of the committee meetings and have the video recordings online for anyone interested in viewing them.


In the letter, he appeared to congratulate himself and the three council members who voted with him for approving ordinance 1411, the so-called Public Contracting Ordinance.  On the same day, a Record article "Dumont Mayor Vetoes Most of Pay-to-Play Ordinance" reported our mayor vetoed portions of that ordinance, rendering it lame.


Why did Mr. Stylianou appear so eager to declare "mission accomplished"?  Did he and the others who voted for it anticipate the mayor to exercise his powers as granted by law?


In the same Record article, he said "I'm looking to protect the taxpayers of Dumont".  If so, what was he thinking when he and four other council members voted to approve ordinance 1415, which, if it passes second reading on August 17, allows pay increases of up to 50% for elected officials like himself and up to 20% for top managers in borough hall?  Curiously, only council member Freeman voted to abstain ordinance 1415, which I refer to affectionately as the "pay me" ordinance.


The public contracting ordinance is now broken.  I hope Mr. Stylianou makes it his first priority to fix it.  I hope our elected officials take care of the taxpayers first, before taking care of themselves.  He needs to set aside the pay raises for himself and other top officials until next year, at the very least.


Sincerely,


Kai Chen
Dumont