On February 16, 2005, Councilman McQuade was quoted in the Bergen Record "We went with a lawyer who understands the political machine".
McQuade sure wasn't kidding!!!! With that statement as their start, the Dumont Democrats have turned Dumont into the county wheel of Democratic pay to play politics. Their political contributors have been rewarded with jobs, astronomical pay increases, and extremely lucrative contracts. Pushing their shameless and arrogant pay to play to no end, their players are the biggest reason why Dumont's budget has exploded from $13 million in 2004 to well over $18 million in 2007 during which time our taxes have skyrocketed almost 50% in just 3 years of their control.
The Bergen Record has performed some in-depth analyses of political contributors and their share of government contracts. Guess what? Each and every one of the top contributors have been appointed in Dumont.
Take a look! if the names look familiar, they are the top Democratic contributors that are always reported in the media:
NEWLY APPOINTED FUNCTION DEMOCRAT CAMPAIGN BY DUMONT DEMOCRATS CONTRIBUTION
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Middletown based T&M Engineering $ 599,545.00
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Lerch, Vinci and Higgins Accountants $ 64,750.00
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Greg Paster Borough Attorney $ 12,750.00
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Ferraioli, Weilkotz, Former Auditor $ 104,281.00
The Democrats also created new positions in Borough Hall:
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Mayor McHale hired a "personal secretary" - coincidentally he hired his assistant from his Bergen County job (No other Mayor in Dumont's history has had a personal secretary. One could only guess that someone has to be there while he is absent!)
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Mayor McHale also hired the wife of his friend who is a Democratic Council member in Demarest to a very prominent position within Borough Hall.
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Mayor McHale replaced the ALL VOLUNTEER Dumont Day Committee, which ran successfully for over 10 years with NO COST to the taxpayers, with a paid Event Planner for thousands of dollars. Oh, by the way, this Event Planner just so happens to be a friend of a current Council Member. Guess who is paying the bill? Yep, you, the taxpayer.
What happened to all of our State Aid Money? A big if, but if, our town had unpaid bills of $1.4 million, the $1.6 million received in state aid clearly covered it. Why then has our budget exploded from $13 million in 2004 to a whopping $18 million in 2007? Why have over taxes gone up an outrageous 50% in the last 3 years alone?
THE ANSWER SHOULD BE QUITE CLEAR !!!
