PERTH AMBOY — Residents David Caba and Alan Silber spoke during the public portion of the May 8 City Council Meeting.
David Caba
Businessman Caba said, “We need more people involved and this room should be packed. We have politicians from both parties being arrested because of political deals being made. I love this country, but we are losing this country. It should make you better (referring to the Council) when you see what happened before. I’m not leaving Perth Amboy because I love Perth Amboy.”
Alan Silber
Alan Silber, who is a constant presence at most of the Caucus and Council Meetings told the Council, “They should be honored to be challenged by the residents. People who never attended a meeting are now running for Freeholder. When I went to challenge my taxes, there was another resident there who simply said that their taxes were too high. They had no paperwork but they got a huge reduction in their assessment. About 40%-60% of were thrown out because they didn’t have the proper paperwork or the paperwork they had was not filled out correctly.”
Looking at the agenda, Silber also questioned huge discrepancies in the figures that contractors put up for bids. The item Silber questioned had to do with parks and public properties maintenance. “The bid amounts listed ranged from a low of $42,840 up to a high bid of $379,236. With a big discrepancy in the bid amounts, will there be a lot of change orders with the low bidders getting the contracts?”
B.A. Greg Fehrenbach said, “Sometimes bidders will throw up large numbers hoping there is a possibility that they will get the contract. The person who we recommended will do maintenance on the parks on a weekly or biweekly basis. This is a responsibility that they will have to provide these services on schedule.”
Ricky Aviles
Resident Ricky Aviles told the Council that when the Mayor comes up to speak during the public portion the clock should tick for her also. “You, the Council are on call 24/7. We want to see more interaction and I like seeing the dialogue between you and the public.”
Former Mayoral Candidate Sharon Hubberman has been a frequent attendee at the Council Meetings and has challenged the Council to do Due Diligence before voting on agenda items. She was concerned about developers. She felt that they should be putting more of their own money into projects when they enter into a contract with the City instead of taxpayers money being utilized. Hubberman said, “I research everything before I go to the Council with a question and I also like to share my knowledge with you.”
Sharon Hubberman
Hubberman has questioned the Council on several budget items. One of the resolutions she brought up was R-198 that authorized an additional payment to the firm of Hoagland, Longo, Moran, Dunst & Doukas, LLP for services rendered in connection with 2012 tax appeals before the tax court of the State of New Jersey in an amount not to exceed $50,000.
She asked if this will fall under the category of other expenses on the City Budget.
Business Administrator Greg Fehrenbach said that the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) has to be able to make sure sufficient funds are available for costs that may come up such as adoption of a bond (such as awarding contracts for maintenance and professional services).
Fehrenbach also said, “The tax levy will rise 1.67 cents at a home valued around $250,000. That would be $42 to $45 a year. Some people will see a reduction in their tax bill.” This was a response to a resident’s question.
