Margate has no need for another engineer

Written by Opinion Wednesday, March 06, 2013 01:00 am

To the editor:

Margate, in the midst of a severe economic recession with homeowners facing the real risk of losing their homes due to new federal flood insurance premiums that may well exceed $20,000 per annum, has decided to expand its bloated payroll with yet another six-figure salary.

Keep in mind that the city just signed another multiyear contract with its engineer. Now Margate wants to create a position for yet another engineer. Margate is barely a mile-square patch of sand with no substantial year-round population, and even that drastically shrinks each census. Perhaps the city administrator might realize the ludicrousness of needing yet more people "to manage the vast public building facilities owned by the city." Economic reality cries out for consolidation.

Worse yet, this position of project manager is not even listed as an official civil service position, nor is it included on the city's salary ordinance. Most importantly, all salaried titles must first be approved by the New Jersey State Civil Service Commission. The mayor is flaunting and ignoring these laws.

Right-thinking folks might see the genesis and sense of a recall referendum. Do we really need a scofflaw mayor who has brutally raised taxes each and every year he has been in office? While other towns are handing out pink slips left and right and earnestly seeking ways to create cost-efficient shared service arrangements, Margate can't refrain from its spendthrift practices. This approach drives more and more residents out of Margate. People want, need and demand smaller, not larger, government.

John Sewell

Margate