Public Comment Dominates Township Committee Meeting

Members of the public staged a marathon public comment session at the West Deptford committee meeting Thursday night, spending an hour and a half arguing myriad topics with members of the committee.

With just four resolutions on the agenda, the meeting had the earmarks of a quick one–and the agenda session ended up lasting about seven minutes–but turned into a heated debate over debt, township spending and more.

Sam Cianfarini, one of several residents who help run the website wdtruth.org, immediately took the committee to task over the township’s total debt–which, with the addition of water and sewer, runs to $142 million–raising concerns about a potential increase in the debt service the township pays.

“These increases are scary,” Cianfarini said, pointing out that a 2009 audit report showed a jump of $5.6 million in debt service payments this year to $9 million in 2012. He referred to “the total debt burden” several times, which township solicitor Michael Angelini jumped on.

“You want to say it’s a burden–is it a burden to have the library? Is it a burden to have Riverwinds?” Angelini said, arguing that improvements like those add to the quality of life in the township.

Cianfarini continued to press on the debt, noting the debt service payments in other municipalities, including Washington Township and Deptford, were, in some cases, half or less than half as compared to West Deptford’s.

Mayor Anna Docimo took issue with that assertion, and said that those other townships–Washington Township in particular–contribute money to the county municipal utilities authority and have fire district costs that aren’t represented in their budgets, and, as result, don’t show up in their debt service.

“You’re not comparing apples and apples,” she said.

Cianfarini also asked the committee if they had a plan to reduce the long-term debt, to which Campo pointed out that the bonds that finance that debt have a amortization schedule, and are paid off according to that schedule.

Township treasurer Richard Giuliani added that the township generally reviews every six months opportunities to refinance those bonds at a lower interest rate, reducing the debt that way.

Ray Chintall urged the committee to be pragmatic.

“If I ran my house the way that the government is running (West Deptford), I would be out on the street,” Chintall said.

Docimo, in response, said the township is cutting as much as possible, including slashing jobs last year.

And in some cases, the township has cut as far as it can. Committeeman Sean Kilpatrick, who chairs the township utility department, pointed out that his department is at the legal minimum, in terms of employees on the street and in the office, to be able to still operate.

Deputy mayor Len Daws asked Chintall–and by extension, everyone at the meeting and in the public in general–to come with specific suggestions or recommendations for the committee, rather than talking in abstract terms.

Joann Priga, the Republican chair for West Deptford, after a lengthy back-and-forth with the committee, suggested that the committee members cut their salaries back to $5,000 or $6,000, and said Docimo, a public employee who heads the county division of senior services, should drop her health benefits from the township.

"People are struggling," Priga said, in urging the committee to cut even further.