Jim Cann, of Georgetown Road, Bordentown Township
I would like to respond to the July 29 letter to the editor by Committeeman Mike Dauber.
William Faulkner once said, “Facts and truth really don’t have much to do with each other.” Mr. Dauber quoted a lot of facts, but because of the many half-truths and omissions in his letter, he does a great disservice to the residents by depriving them of a clear picture of how our Township Committee is doing business and managing our tax dollars.
I stand by my statement that the Township Committee is funneling taxpayer money to special interests, such as our township engineer, and that they are overpaying for engineering costs, especially those associated with the Joseph Lawrence Park bike path.
While it is true as Mr. Dauber stated that in 2010 the committee approved Alaimo Associates to do this work for $25, 500, Mr. Dauber did not clarify that this figure does not include all of the work, such as construction supervision and inspections that will cost the taxpayers, according to the Alaimo proposal an additional $28,000, making it by far the highest bid.
Once again, we are paying much more for these services than we have to.
If Mr. Dauber has persuaded Alaimo to waive these fees, he has not shared that information with other members of the committee or the public.
To illustrate that this is not an isolated incident; let me give you yet another example of special interests being allowed to overbill our taxpayers.
In 2009, the township received a grant for improvements to the Senior Center and East Drive. ABR submitted a bid of $10,980 for total engineering costs.
In 2010, without seeking any other competitive bids and over the objections of the other committee members, the voting majority of Mr. Dauber, Mr. Hill, & Ms. DiMattia, awarded the job instead to Alaimo for $33,900.
Mr. Dauber continues to insist that our code enforcement official was working two days, but getting paid for three.
In early February 2009, we anticipated a reduction in his responsibility and reduced his hours from 3 days to 2.5 days, and adjusted his compensation accordingly.
What Mr. Dauber failed to point out is that when this official works, he is generating income for the township.
In fact, the Uniform Construction Code Office is not funded by tax dollars, and in 2009 produced revenue in excess of $40,000 of their budgeted amount.
Mr. Dauber states that the Township Committee is considering “every legitimate cost savings,” but does not mention that they failed to even consider health care savings first proposed by Chief Frank Nucera.
By offering a stipend to township employees to drop out of our health care plan if they already have coverage under a spouse’s plan, the township could have seen estimated savings of nearly $80,000.
Mr. Dauber misrepresented my statements on the budget planning. Furthermore, immediately after the November election Mr. Dauber sat in on both open and closed session committee meetings and never once raised the issue of starting budget process.
Mr. Dauber also criticized me for resigning my position on the Township Committee before my term expired.
He neglected to mention that I resigned just one week before my term ended to serve the township by filling a vacant seat on the Planning Board, on which I presently serve.
Sometimes the worst untruths are half-truths.

