I spent about 3 hours culling through gathered Open Public Records Act requests at the county last Tuesday. Here are some little tidbits I’d like you to know about.

The county paid $2,037.77 to the vendor “Christmas Spectacular” for a 3 ft sign for the courthouse that read “Seasons Greetings”.

An employee lawsuit was filed on January 29, 2010 Union County Corrections Officer Alvin White vs Union County Department of Corrections and John Doe(s)

Union County Alliance 2010 proposal for a $332,125 contract

Aruspex proposal for 9.1.09 through 6.30.10

Employee position control changes 2.1.10 through 3.1.10

Handouts pertaining to the 2010 budget hearings were not available in electronic format as requested, instead I was presented with binders containing the electronic documents which were printed. OPRA complaint? Stay tuned.

Too much to scan, you’ll have to take my word for it, or OPRA it yourself:

50 staff and volunteers were fed $900.00 worth of sandwiches from Dara’s Caters @ $300.00 per nights of October 22, 23 & 24th Hayrides.

George Devanney was reimbursed for the following items of interest:

$109.24 for what was labeled Lunch meeting re: Freeholder meeting held in Chili’s in Clark on May 14, 2009 (date not a typo) hmmm It cost taxpayers $1,767 for catering of the freeholder meetings held in March 2010 – I never thought to OPRA catering/food bills for staff meetings regarding freeholder meetings.. … also $137.20 for a staff meeting regarding freeholder meeting $137.20 at Delicious Heights in Berkeley Heights, NJ where Devanney lives. Why is staff traveling to George’s hometown – approximately 30 minutes out of Elizabeth for meetings? Does George have one of those stay at home and work from the dining room table jobs too?

$30.16 for Lunch Meeting regarding events and sponsors – Dolce Broad Street Elizabeth - that’s refreshing.

$926.91 for work related travel labeled Winning Strategies – Lobbying meeting.. $724.00 was for rail fare for 2 business class seats.

$65.71 for Lunch meeting regarding Open Space Association at the Garden Restaurant in Union – no date available.

$292.77 reimbursement for NACO county forum on energy independence, including $135.00 for 3 meals @ $45 each.

$365.27 for reimbursements for the League of Municipalities including $54.75 for in room dining.

More hidden MusicFest expenses, $3,000 Reimbursement for Food for September 12 & 13 Music Fest Volunteers – Tony’s Italian Sausage.

Union County is now on track to waste about $3.9 million on setting up a banquet facility at Galloping Hill golf course.  Why?  I can guess but I hope I’m wrong since it would be a sad commentary on representative democracy if I’m not.

Last summer KemperSports took over running Union County’s two remaining golf courses.  Their fee is a relatively modest $7,020 per month for five years.  But it appears there are extras.

At the December 17, 2009 freeholder meeting a presentation on the feasibility of catering weddings was made and, about twenty minutes later, resolution 2009-1181:

authorizing the County Manager to award a contract KemperSport, North Brook, Illinois pursuant to an RFP process for Galloping Hill Clubhouse Construction Management Services, in the amount not exceed 10% of the costs associated with the development, design and construction of the clubhouse in an amount of not to exceed $1,000,000.

was passed.  Here, thanks to my newly acquired video editing skills, is how it went down.

Armando Sanchez from Mareth Advisors, LLC was paid $17,400^ to prepare a feasibility study.  Among his findings:
1) There is not a lot of organic growth in the market (i.e. this new facility won’t create more weddings in the region).
2) In looking for similar public golf courses with banquet facilities he “searched long and hard for other daily fee or municipal clubs but there are none.”  (i.e. no other public golf course is in the wedding catering business*)
3) It would take three to five years to get this running.
4) 185 events is break-even.

With those points being made it would be obvious to any objective witness (there were two of us there) that this was insanity.  Another monumental waste of money that could be far better spent elsewhere.  No freeholders questioned the study and the resolution passed 9-0.
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^ Mareth Advisors, LLC was paid $17,400 on 12/2/09 for this study.  I believe $17,500 is the limit for requiring these types of contracts to go out for bid.  Though Mr. Sanchez did as thorough a job as possible under the circumstances he did not reach the obvious conclusion (i.e. this is a daffy idea) since he was paid, in part, not to.

* Though maybe the freeholders are thinking of moving their own catered meetings to this new venue as a step up from “pizza or a sandwich.”

A concerned citizen emailed info@unioncountywatchdog.com and requested that we report this: What is this I’m reading? December 24 2009 local source.com Union County freezes salaries for workers. “Freeholders usually receive small pay increases that are in line with those received by other employees, (freeholder chairman) Mirabella said. These have been withheld for the last four or five years.” Are you kidding me!

Union County freeholders are the third highest paid in the state. They last voted themselves a raise in December 2005. At the last freeholder meeting of the year the freeholders voted themselves a 5.3 percent pay hike which went into effect in January 2006. Freeholder salaries increased from 28,000 to 29,500. In addition the Freeholder Chairman’s salary increased from 30,000 to 31,500, and in 2006 a new pay tier was added to the Freeholder Vice Chairman increasing this salary from 28,000 to 30,500.

There were 35 freeholder meetings held in 2009. That would mean that freeholders paid 29,500 annually were paid 842.85 per meeting; the freeholder chairman was paid $900 per meeting and the freeholder vice-chairman was paid $871.42. Meetings generally last between 1 and 2 hours.

I’m sure freeholders spend some time outside of meetings. As an observer, I doubt that it’s much time. I know the ones up for re-election have to make themselves available for photo ops leading up to Election Day.

The freeholders were set to give themselves another raise in December 2007 which would have gone into effect in January 2008 but they were foiled when there was a jail break where inmates literally dropped out of the county jail making Union County the laughing stock of the world media.

In addition to their salaries, freeholders cater their meetings. In 2006 the tabs were added up and bills were obtained for 27 freeholder meetings and totaled $10,510. That averages out to $389.29 per meeting, $43.25 per freeholder. These numbers don’t include desert, which on average comes to $30.00 per meeting. The 2006 check registry also showed $9,978 was paid to local supermarkets for meeting refreshments; $13,640 for bottles water. The freeholders also purchased a $1,692 coffee machine which dispenses 16 flavors of coffee.

The freeholders didn’t vote on pay raises at the last meeting of the year held on December 21, 2009. They did however present Freeholder Chester Holmes with a $140.00 silver watch upon his retirement from the board.

If they had chipped in to present their colleague with this watch, instead of being classless and making the taxpayers foot the bill, it would have come to $17.50 per freeholder. On their part-time salaries, and the money they save on meals, I think they could have afforded to send Holes off with a much better present.

Their press release regarding Holmes’ retirement prepared by the taxpayer funded million dollar “Public Information” Department doesn’t mention the taxpayer funded gift of the $140.00 silver watch.

There are things that the Union County Watchdog Association checks regularly by placing Open Public Records Act requests. I then pick up and/or review the records at the County Administration Building about once a month. The following are items of interest that probably wouldn’t make it into a separate blog piece, but are worth mentioning:

It’s a slice of pizza/It’s a sandwich
On April 16, 2009 the freeholders passed the budget. They will be spending $23,000 more per day than last year. They catered their meeting from Costa’s total bill was $315.00. On the menu was 1 tray Chicken Parm; 1 Tray Sausage & peppers; 1/2 Train Linguini Carbanata; 1/2 tray eggplant Rolantini; 1/2 Tray Penne Vodka; 1/2 Tray undecipherable; 1 Tray Salad; 1 Tray Bread.

For desert they ordered from Berntein Bakery $24.45 - 1 large cherry pie; 1 Chocolate cake.

For their mobile meeting held in New Providence, where presumably the New Providence town council attended the dinner meeting, the freeholders ordered sandwiches from Coppola’s $250.75. No bakery bill.
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A Tort Claim against Union County was filed on March 24. 2009 stemming from an accident that occurred on 2/12/09. A death occurred when a vehicle was struck by a tree.
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Another bill was unearthed for 2008 Music Fest. The county paid $2,500 for the production and video recording for the 2 day extravaganza. Another OPRA request is pending for the actual video recording. Gee I hope there is footage of what goes on in the freeholder VIP tent, which has been stuffed way back in the woods out of public view the past two years after we were able to shoot this video footage. There was no charge to the taxpayers for our video produciton.

The catering of freeholder meetings have been reported on this blog many times and recently the Union County Watchdog Association produced a Youtube depicting scene’s from a debate where incumbent freeholders lied about only “snacking” on “Pizza or a Sandwich” when having the taxpayers’ pick-up their catering bills.

Not only did they leave out the penne pasta, grilled chickens and ribs, burritos, chicken francese, etc., they also left out the cake their eating too.

This watchdog is constantly learning new tricks. I discovered this cute one recently when I OPRA’d “bills for freeholder meeting refreshments” instead of the usual OPRA for the restaurant bill I’d see in the check registry. I was given the restaurant bill and an accompanying bakery bill. It was an ahh moment and it explained the need for the 16-flavor coffee machine installed in freeholder’s private meeting room.

One bakery bill lists that on the meeting night of November 6, 2008 freeholders had a 7-inch cheese cake, 7-inch layer cake & a 10-inch apple pie. That comes to 2.66 inches of cake for each freeholder and a $38.40 tab for the taxpayers.

You might be comforted to know that they did only have “pizza” that night. The bill included: Nine round pies, 1 Sicilian, 1 salad, 3 undecipherable items, 2 spinach something or other, and 1 mozzarella sticks with sauce. That comes to $25.22 per freeholder for a “slice of pizza” and a $227.00 tab for the taxpayers.

I’ll try and think of everything in the next OPRA request I place for freeholder meeting party bills. I’ll ask for “bills for party hats & favors” and “tips” for the delivery people.

I doubt they’re going into their own pockets for even a tip, unless it’s free advice. I can see a freeholder opening the door of their private meeting room to accept the delivery and saying “get involved with the Union County Democratic Committee kid”.

The UCWA’s new YouTube depicts a typical freeholder debate, just in time for the 2008 debate scheduled for October 15th. In this YouTube you will see incumbent democrat freeholders lie (excuse me, I know that’s redundant) about their tax-payer funded dinners.

You can also judge from the laughter in the room, how many county employees are involved with prepping the freeholders for debates. The format of the debate is for people present to submit questions on q-cards and the debate moderator then chooses the questions. The freeholders have been seen with matching q-cards to answer the questions. There are about one to two-dozen county employees in the room stuffing the question box.

It’s a total set-up, and in my strong opinion, a waste of time as it isn’t a fair and accurate vetting of the candidates. The incumbents lie and cheat their way through it, excuse me, there I go being redundant again.