Debate Continues Over RiverWinds Summer Concert Series

West Deptford township committee members renewed in a flurry of emails directed to the media Monday, as Republicans Sam Cianfarini and Ray Chintall backed up their vote against the concert series and raised more concerns about its costs.

“The concerts are good for the community, but let’s make sure they are not a burden on an already burdened taxpayer,” Cianfarini said in a release. “Let’s face it, $18,750 here and $20,000 there adds up after a while.”

Chintall, likewise, said it's important to consider what other needs have to met in the township's annual spending plan.

“I’m not against these , but we have to look at the big picture when it comes to the overall township budget,” he said.

Chintall went on to detail a number of possible expenses not mentioned during the debate over the concerts Thursday night—from an aging fire truck fleet to sewage pump stations in need of work to air handlers that have to be replaced at the pool—that, along with the , he said were more immediate.

“When did essential services and pressing legal matters take the back burner to summer concerts?” Chintall said.

He and Cianfarini also criticized recreation director Greg Ley for not providing either a detailed accounting breakdown or an analysis of the costs and benefits of the series.

Their viewpoint was not shared by fellow Republican Sean Kilpatrick, who voiced his support of both Ley and the concert series.

“The reality is that our township is built on a strong sense of community, and it is important to keep this intact,” he said in a statement issued Monday night. “The summer concert series is a very successful and very popular program and I am extremely pleased in how it has been administered.”

Chintall and Cianfarini also claimed the indirect costs—including insurance, legal fees and time spent by both administrator Eric Campo and the committee on the concerts—would balloon the final cost for the concerts into the six digits. They said the bulk of Ley's salary and benefits go to the concerts and the summer recreation program—a figure that either oversimplifies or ignores much of Ley's duties, which extend to supervising 14 full-time staff and 37 seasonal workers, as well as covering 502 acres of parks and 52 special events throughout the year.

Democrat Denice DiCarlo said the two Republicans' claim was exaggerated, at best.

“To associate 50 percent of (Ley's) salary and benefits to the concert series is not only inaccurate, but just another example of how these two have consistently stretched the truth to get a shock factor out of our taxpayers,” she said.

DiCarlo pointed out that nixing the concert series wouldn't have resulted in $100,000 in savings.

“If we voted down the concert series last Thursday, our insurance would not have decreased, nor would the township committee's, administrator's and recreation director’s salary have been decreased,” she said. “So again, to classify those costs as costs associated with the concert series just shows a fundamental lack of financial knowledge.”

DiCarlo said she shared the concern of keeping the concerts from becoming a drag on the budget, and said the committee should give Ley the help he needs to completely defray the costs of the series.

“As I said at Thursday night’s meeting, I challenged all of the committee to take a vested interest in helping securing sponsorships for the concert series,” she said. “If we all work together on this, I’m sure we will be successful, and exemplify what teamwork and leadership really is.”