MILLSTONE – The deputy mayor and a fellow committeeman argued over the accuracy of the Oct. 17 Township Committee meeting minutes when it came time to vote on them last week.
At the Oct. 17 meeting, Committeeman Elias Abilheira had alleged that the township would deplete its $1 million surplus this year based on the amount of debt it has issued. He also alleged that the township’s 9-cent tax rate could more than triple to 30 cents by 2010. Deputy Mayor Robert Kinsey challenged Abilheira at that meeting and asked him for the analysis that he based his allegations on.
When it came time at the Nov. 7 meeting to vote on the minutes from the October meeting, Kinsey said that Abilheira had promised to provide the analysis he based his allegations on by Oct. 19, but had not done so.
“Anyone watching [the meeting on] the PEG Channel can see that we were just asking for documentation,” Kinsey said.
In response to Kinsey, Abilheira said that he has asked for the minutes from the township’s Economic Development Council (EDC) meetings for the past year. Abilheira asked to have the Township Committee meeting minutes from Oct. 17 reflect his inquiry about EDC meeting minutes.
Kinsey, who is the Township Committee’s liaison to the EDC, said Abilheira did not make a request for the EDC meeting minutes at the Oct. 17 meeting, so the minutes from that meeting should not reflect that request.
The Township Committee decided to postpone a vote on adopting the Oct. 17 meeting minutes and asked Township Clerk Maria Dellasala to transcribe the entire meeting for the governing body to review and vote on at its Dec. 5 meeting.
Kinsey won re-election in the Nov. 6 election and will serve another three-year term on the committee. He bested Democrat William Nurko, a former committeeman and mayor, by earning 59 percent of the votes cast.
During election season at millstonetownship. com, an unofficial township Web site with a community forum where participants can post comments about township topics anonymously, Abilheira, a Republican who supported Kinsey in his first campaign for office, was often accused of posting pro-Nurko and anti-Kinsey comments.
When asked if he made such postings, Abilheira said, “I certainly don’t respond to anonymous accusations.”
He also said that talking about issues beyond those that impact the taxpayers detracts from the real issues, which he considers to be property tax and health and safety concerns.
When asked if he supports Kinsey’s reelection, Abilheira said he has a “real problem” with “Kinsey’s continued refusal to sit down and address the budget issues and to have a five-year tax projection prepared to identify the impact of his spending and borrowing increases.”
Abilheira also wants Kinsey to release minutes or reports from recent EDC meetings and to reopen those meetings to the public.
“If [Kinsey] also refuses to implement the use of the open and fair process for all appointments this January, the process used by many towns that myself and [former Township Committeeman] Cory Wingerter have been pushing for several years, I guess I have real concerns, especially considering his behavior tonight,” Abilheira said.
Abilheira also said that he did not agree with Kinsey and Mayor Nancy Grbelja, with whom he ran for election, when they both supported a proposed car wash plan that the township’s Environmental Commission members deemed to be in clear violation of the master plan. The Zoning Board defeated the plan in August.
Abilheira said he also disagrees with the mayor and the deputy mayor, who both have said the surplus will decrease less than $500,000 this year. Abilheira said figures from the township’s chief financial officer and auditor seem to contradict their estimate.
“The numbers presented to the entire Township Committee have always indicated and still indicate that the surplus will decrease likely more than $1 million,” he said, “far more than it has anytime that I have been in office, and not less.”
Abilheira continued, “I have repeatedly asked if there is a large shift in any surplus numbers that would make this not true, but continue to receive no response.”
Abilheira said his voting record is fairly clear. He did not support this year’s budget or borrowing plan, because he felt both were excessive.
“Both the budget and borrowing plan could each easily have been cut by hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Abilheira said.
He continued, “Clearly, the mayor and deputy mayor do not seem pleased on the rare times I express a differing opinion or do not vote the way they do, but I cannot explain the reasons for the way they react to those who disagree with them occasionally.”
Abilheira noted that Committeeman Ray Dilfanian does not get upset with him if the two vote differently.
“We get along fine,” Abilheira said. “He respects the fact that elected officials can differ on issues and that differing viewpoints along with open public debate are what make democracy great.”