Bridgewater spends $17K to defend $5 fee it charged resident

Bridgewater spends $17K to defend $5 fee it charged resident

BRIDGEWATER — A Somerset County town spent more than $17,000 defending a $5 fee it charged a resident for a compact disc of a council meeting.

Tom Coulter filed a complaint with the New Jersey Government Record Council in October 2008, saying he should pay the actual cost of the CD to get the recording.

The state council this year sided with Coulter and found he should have paid about 96 cents.

Bridgewater paid more than $14,000 in legal fees defending the case. It had to pay $3,500 to Coulter for his legal fees and give him a $4.04 refund.

Coulter says the case shows a lack of common sense.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/12/bridgewater_spends_17k_to_defe.html

avoid a brain-freeze.

Isn't it amazing how one person can condemn a name for the entire country?

Note - I actually do have a neighbor whose given name is Adolph. But he does not go by that.

But one hell of a resolve.

I spotted this comment on NJ.com:

I am a Republican. More than six years ago the all republican council,led by Patricia Flannery as Council President, voted not to accept a free municipal building in exchange for the land the current municipal building occupies.The deal which was offered by a local developer was brokered by then Mayor Dowden. Remember him? He was a Democrat who unlike this mayor and council managed to avoid annual tax increases. The mayor and council members have said that voted the free building down because of an outcry from the residents to save Kids' Street and to prevent more tall buildings being built in Bridgewater. They site a meeting where 250 residents attended. Some to voice their opposition to the proposal. Some to support the proposal. I do not believe that forcing the 44,000 residents of Bridgewater to pay for a $25,000,000.00 municipal building just to appease the concerns of less than 250 is responsible governance. Now the new municipal building is half done and there is no money left. On top of that Kids' Street is made with pressure treated wood which has been determined to be harmful. It will ultimately have to be replaced. And we lost the rateable a new multistory building would have brought. I guess this Republican council really showed the Democratic mayor huh? Unfortunately we will be paying for their small town politics with years of tax increases. To add insult to injury the mayor and council are spending $100,000.00 plus tax dollars to erect a monument in front of the new municipal building. It will depict the history of Bridgewater. That is real necessary don't you think? More wasted tax dollars. Lastly this council is looking for ways to spend over $3,000,000.00 of open space money to create more lighted sports fields. They refuse to recognize that these fields are used predominately by nonresidents. They also will require maintenance which creates a need to expand the recreation department. More tax dollars used. In this economy responsible elected officials should be looking at ways to save tax dollars by making difficult but necessary decisions to identify and eliminate nonessential programs or departments not to expand them. Perhaps recreation would be a place to start. It is unreasonable to make all Bridgewater residents pay for a service that only a very few use. Bridgewater residents cannot afford to continue the type of fiscal mismanagement they have endured under Flannery and this council. They have failed miserably. They are nice people who have convinced themselves that they sincerely are trying to do a good job. Unfortunately they are not competent at managing a municipality the size of Bridgewater. I will vote to bring new people into Bridgewater government. I urge all Bridgewater residents to join me. Vote your conscience but vote for someone new.

Yeah, they really fucked up on that one.