If I were elected mayor of Edison, the following steps would be taken by my administration immediately:
1. Eliminate all consultancies to the township that are not state mandated.
2. Freeze all wages at 2008 levels without retroactive raises once the freeze is lifted.
3. Remove all private vehicles from use by township employees except those that are necessary, i.e., chief of police and Fire Department, and other perks such as E-ZPass, cell phones and credit cards.
4. All individual business expenses to be reviewed and paid in accordance with business policy, not with township credit cards.
5. All contracts to be reopened and renegotiated in the interest of the taxpayers, whereby employees, union and non-union members, will be charged for a percentage of health insurance, pension and other now-free programs.
6. Freeze the taxes at 2008 levels and seek alternatives to raising taxes.
7. Create a fully open and transparent government for all to rely on.
8. Provide all essential services to maximize savings and promote cooperation with the home/business owner.
9. Pensions would be prorated by the number of years in service against the maximum retirement length of service, i.e., 30 years.
10. Eliminate all free health care for elected officials.
Jun Choi is not a good mayor and never will be. He may have eliminated jobs but has increased expenses by hiring high-priced consultants who use our cars, gas and toll passes, all at township expense.
Our township residents are under an extraordinary amount of financial distress due to our national financial crisis, and it is incumbent upon our local, state and national governments to aid us in this time of need. Our rate of inflation in December 2008 was .09 percent and projected by the Financial Forecast Center LLC to be -2.6 percent by May 2009; our taxes should not go up by 5 percent; they should be going down. As many elected officials have said, including our new president, Barack Obama, we need to tighten our belts like the citizens of the country. Gov. David Paterson of New York is looking for billions to cut from the state budget to help reduce expenses to the taxpayers. Our local government must now do the same, as should our state government by lowering our taxes.
Bruce Papkin
Edison