“Government is a trust, and the officers of the government are trustees; and both the trust and the trustees are created for the benefit of the people.”
The words of the esteemed 19th Century lawyer, orator, and politician, Henry Clay, came to mind as I spoke with a representative of Edison Township’s (New Jersey) municipal government. He had come to one of my business’ offices expecting to find the owner present so that he might collect an outstanding municipal fee.
He was surprised at the owner’s absence, as he (or rather someone else in his office) had made an appointment. Of course, the person booking the appointment never identified herself as a representative of Edison Township’s government nor provided any indication of the purpose of the appointment. Rather, she postured as a prospective client and happily booked the appointment.
We receive many such calls in the course of our business day. But, having taken this call myself, I knew that there was something strange about it. Every question that I posed the caller evoked a hesitation on her part in answering. Nonetheless, we speak with many people, and a small minority are hesitant to provide information in advance of meeting with us. I would not have guessed at that time that the call was part of a covert operation on the part of the Township of Edison.
Why the contrivance? The municipal official in question could have gotten the same result by walking into the office on any day.
The behavior of the Township of Edison in this matter is shameful. It displays an arrogance that should not be tolerated by citizens in a free society. As an aside, the fee that the Township deemed worthy of such extraordinary measures to collect is for a biannual fire inspection ($45.00). This is a pure moneymaker for the Township in that it takes a fire official all of 15 seconds to inspect my small suite of offices. Calculate the hourly rate to get a sense for the enormity of the Township’s haul via this fee.
Below is the text of a letter that I am sending along with my payment:
After our telephone conversation, I thought about the way in which officials from the Township of Edison behaved in this matter.
On Tuesday, my associate who operates our office in Edison took the day off, and I was taking the calls for that office as well as my own. I received a call from someone identifying herself as Donna who asked if the business was still at that address. Assuming that she was a prospective client and not wanting her to make a trip to find that the office was closed, I informed her of same and asked if she wanted to make an appointment. She said “yes,” and we established an appointment for 11:30 AM today (Wednesday, November 16). While on the phone with her, I queried if she had had work done by us in the past. She said “no.” I proceeded to inform her of our exact location within the shopping center. When I requested her last name, she replied “Brown.” I then asked for a telephone number, and she responded “(732) XXX-XXXX (number removed to protect the innocent).” I read it back to her, and she affirmed it.
When my associate arrived this morning, she routinely placed confirmation calls to those with appointments today. She got a voicemail identifying the number as belonging to Chester and Bebe.
My point in relating this story is to express my alarm that the Township of Edison employs such subterfuge in communicating with firms doing business within its borders. To pose as a prospective client (a presumption that the caller should have made given the questions I asked her) in order to setup an appointment for a local official to collect a minor municipal fee is a violation of any governmental ethics of which I am aware. In addition, if the number she provided is indeed not hers or a township number, the individual identifying herself as Donna Brown (if that is her actual name) has inconvenienced another person as well.
I am attempting to identify the individual at the number that was provided. In addition, I am considering transmitting a copy of this correspondence to the office of the Edison Mayor, the Governor, and the NJ State Attorney General.
For those interested, I will keep you updated on any news on this matter via the comments below. Feel free to add comments about your own stories of dealings with municipal governments.
At a time when government at every level has failed its citizens, we should all be ever more vigilant in bringing to light its abuses of power. And so, I say to the Township of Edison, New Jersey – Shame on You!
I understand that the State government has reduced funding to the townships; I do understand this. However, when was the last time that you heard of a municipal employee voluntarily leaving their job? These people die in office or retire. Their jobs are cushy, compared to the rest of us who have to bust our buns for a paycheck in a rotten economy, or bust our buns to even secure gainful employment.
And when was the last time that you saw your property taxes reduced here in NJ? I am talking of a REDUCTION, not a rebate given by the State, which deems, “Yeah, okay, we’ll throw the natives a bone as they’re getting restless.” I’ll say we are!
So here’s your answer: no municipal employee leaves a well paid, cushy position willingly. No municipality reduces our taxes; they only crank ‘em up ever damned year, without increasing services. So the municipal scuts and the teachers who teach kids who are not our kids (some of us don’t have kids in school) get raises & benefits while the rest of us struggle and get the ever present shaft up the whazoo.
Into the bargain, the municipalities and their impotent little watchdog minions then use subterfuge (outright lies) to secure a measley $45 fee that was outstanding?!? Shame on them is right!
In Greek, we have a saying, “The fish rots from the head first.” And so it goes with government. Washington, DC sets the tone to rot and it trickles down to the demigods in the local towns, who stink like week old fish left in the sun. I applaud you for having the guts to print this article.
Go on, send it to the Mayor, who’ll give a rat’s ass (my son lives in Edison, so he knows) and the Governor, who has balls; I like him. But he’ll give a rat’s ass too as he’s got bigger fish to fry. If I were you, I’d blow the horn to Eyewitness News’ “Shame on You” segment. They’ll send their reporter right to this township official’s door.
If I happen to be visiting my son & see the Eyewitness News truck pull up to the muni complex, I’ll cheer them on. But don’t bet on getting the sumbitches you’re talking about on camera. They’ll be high tailing it out the back door, the dirty cowards. History teaches us nada, zip, squat.
Good for you for writing that article! Screw ‘em right into the ground, the dirty bastards!!!
It’s no wonder that Author. Peter Schweizer a research fellow at the Hoover Institution,Stanford University. From 2008-9 he served as a consultant to the White House http://www.amazon.com/Throw-Them-All-Peter-Schweizer wrote a book exposing our government in action. How our representatives legally use inside information to attain financial wealth. It’s sickening as we the people hear information without recourse. We are geting screwed with our pants on daily. Maybe it’s time for the end of the world.
This story exposes the truly disgusting manner in which a municipal employee misrepresented his or her office to the very people they are paid to serve. Is there not an ordinace against this type of behavior?
Wow! What a joke! Typical Government, dirty, disgusting, and totally not for the people! My vote is also for calling Eye Witness News!