Independent Candidates For Lacey Committee Offer Detailed Contract With Residents

The independent candidates running for the two available seats on the Lacey Township Committee have proposed a contract with Lacey residents and outlined their plans if elected. Here is their Letter to the Editor.

We believe that our platform is more than a promise to you. We believe that it is a contract. We are asking for your vote and in exchange you should know what offer you are accepting. So a simple contract is an offer and an acceptance. Here is our contract with you the citizens of Lacey Township.

We realize we are in the minority and cannot change the direction of the town overnight. But what we can do is promise that there will be transparency in government and no more back door deals. To that end we promise TRANSPARENCY by:

Only issues of litigation and personnel which can ONLY be discussed in executive session will occur. All other issues will be discussed in open forum and if the members of the committee out vote us, we will disclose the information during our comment periods. You have a right to know what is going on in your town.

All contracts, including service contracts will be requested for bid. WE will prepare resolutions and ordinances, whichever is appropriate, to have an open vote, in public, so all can see how the business of the town is being conducted and which firms are benefiting from your hard earned tax dollars.

We will submit a resolution at the first regular meeting to have the bills available, in hard copy, for review by citizens in attendance and placed on the web site for review within 24 hours of the meeting’s completion.

A monthly meet the committeeman meeting for citizens to come and express their concerns to us. No promises that we can solve you particular problem, only that we will listen and attempt to resolve your issue. If we are not able to assist, we will tell you that too.

PUBLIC SAFETY is our number one priority.

Police Force has been reduced to unacceptable levels and we believe government’s first responsibility is protecting the citizens. Crime in Lacey in rising (according to UCR/State Police Figures) and our police force does not have sufficient resources to combat this crime. All expenditures, including hiring will be viewed through the prism of public safety.

Fire/EMS equipment is outdated and growing worse with no end in sight. It is not leadership to put referenda in front of taxpayers when taxes are increasing and citizens can barely make ends meet. We pledge to work with the local volunteer fire and EMS Groups to work out a plan of replacement and modernization which is cost effective and provides the citizens of Lacey with the protection and services needed. Possibly combining services and equipment (intra-municipal shared services) is one distinct possibility. But we will listen to all reasonable alternatives and lead our community, not use them as scapegoats.

Our Underwater Rescue volunteers also need our help. It is unconscionable that a waterfront community is so ill prepared due to poor municipal funding. We can and will do better.

Control Drug Abuse/Use effects the youth of this township and our quality of life. We will, on our first day in office begin to establish a committee to address this issue. The committee will be comprised of members from the Municipal Alliance, Lacey Schools, the Lacey Police department, the Elks, and citizens who have experience in combating this growing problem in our town. Spending for this task force will be paid partially through the municipal alliance, police, and school funds. We need to do this and parochialism will not be acceptable. We will draft a resolution and request the school board to do the same. No more excuses, this coalition needs to be done.

Emergency Plan needs to be in place for the next disaster which strikes our town. If there is a plan, we will ensure it is placed on the town web site for everyone to download and have available. We will also make hard copies available to those without computers. We will propose a resolution to have businesses post the plan in a public area to inform the citizens as well. This strategy is more than an evacuation plan! This plan needs to be comprehensive and not rely on the United Methodist Church to take the lead. Protecting citizens is the township’s responsibility. Within the first 45 days of taking office, we will propose a resolution to the Township Committee establishing an emergency plan committee comprised of municipal agencies, religious organizations, social service agencies in town, the police and school officials. The plan is to be comprehensive and include summer and winter storm issues, power plant issues, town evacuation issues and other concerns an emergency plan needs to address.

STABILIZE SPENDING: Cut the Glut!

We will propose at the first municipal meeting a minimum 3 percent reduction in salary for all administrative staff. They received a 4 percent raise this last year and no working man or women in this community can say they receive the same level of compensation. Our managers need to live in the real world and generous raises when taxes are increasing and citizens are finding making ends meet difficult is not leadership. It is disrespectful. This does not apply to rank and file workers.

End nepotism by introducing an ordinance at the first meeting to end hiring of relatives within the township. WE specifically aim at stopping hires of relatives of members of the township committee and administration. Cut the public welfare out.

One person, one job. Period. Introduce and ordinance to limit to one paid position for each person.

Shared Services should be critically explored and should include both inter-municipal services as well as intra-municipal services. Are there ways we can work with sister communities to reduce costs through shared services, as well as between agencies in town. One possibility is to combine ground maintenance between the town and school district. We need to have an open and honest discussion about shared services. We will place a resolution on the agenda within 30 days of being sworn in as committeemen and report to the public on our progress monthly. We can share services and reduce spending and we should seriously explore it honestly and earnestly. WE want citizen input on this as well.

Immediately impose a hiring freeze. Hiring should address public safety and only public safety. All hiring should be measured and compared to its need versus public safety needs.

We will request from the Director of Public Works on our first day in office a comprehensive assessment of the town’s infrastructure. All capital projects will be examined through the information received by the director. We will also ask the director to put together a 5, 10, 15 year plan to restore the infrastructure and how it can be funded by outside sources. We will formulate a citizens’ committee to review this report and make additional recommendations to the body. Once the report is completed we will initiate a spending plan for the committee’s consideration. This will include preservation of out beachfront communities and the erosion of the beach on Beach Boulevard, the township’s most expensive purchase ever!

Our town is at a critical point in its development. We are losing our primary funding source and no matter what the state promises, sooner or later that source of revenue will dry up. The current political parties have done little to alleviate our fears and concerns and instead have raised our taxes, unfairly and with impunity.

Lacey is our town, and we want it back! We will no longer allow the political parties to use it as their personal playground (not a misspell). We promise that every decision we consider and make will be what we believe to be in the best interest of the citizens of Lacey Township. Stop following, and help us lead. It is time. This election is not about personalities it is about policies which have hurt our friends and neighbors. We pledge to be your voice, to be your ears and eyes, to be your benefactors. We will lead the way.
Together We Can Do Better!

Gregory Pancza

Barry Bendar