This letter is written with regard to Marlboro Mayor Robert Kleinberg’s decision to commandeer a new township-owned 2006 Dodge Durango for his personal use this past winter.
Whether or not Mayor Kleinberg violated the law with such action or his decision to fuel the vehicle on the taxpayers’ dime will be left up to the state Depart-ment of Community Affairs and the township’s Ethical Standards Board to determine. We will all need to await their respective investigations and final decisions before passing final judgment on the mayor’s actions. At best this was obviously very poor judgment on the mayor’s behalf.
An issue that we can, and should, discuss in an open forum is the issue raised recently in an editorial in a local newspaper questioning why the township, through the Public Works Department, purchased a new $21,155 SUV for use at a time when Marlboro is facing a budget crisis.
In 2005, Marlboro’s budget (school and municipal) forced the highest single year tax increase in Marlboro’s recent history. This year Marlboro residents will no doubt face a further tax increase based on the recently passed school budget and as of yet, an unknown municipal budget.
As Marlboro residents are forced to make tough choices regarding purchases for their families in order to accommodate what seems like endless tax increases, it is imperative for the mayor and all elected officials to do the same with public funds. The mere fact that the new car was available for the mayor’s use indicates that the township’s need for the vehicle was not a “necessity.”
If Marlboro’s Public Works Depart-ment continued to operate for the period of time that the mayor “tooled” around Marlboro in what is being called the “Kleinberg Mobile,” then couldn’t the township have put off the purchase (or purchase a less expensive vehicle) and give the township residents a needed break?
As pointed out in that editorial, Robert Kleinberg’s “weak” excuse justifying his alleged violation of the law should have never occurred, since given Marlboro’s current budget crisis, and the tax burden levied on all residents, luxury items such as a 2006 Durango should not be purchased in the first place. In the interest of full disclosure, I am a member of the Reformed Democratic Club of Marlboro.
Jonathan L. Hornik
Marlboro