10/26/04 - Posted from the Daily Record newsroom
Police merger in Mendhams a 'dead issue'
By Rob Jennings, Daily Record
MENDHAM -- Opposition from the Mendham Police Department helped convince the borough -- for the second time this year-- to abandon consideration of a potential police merger with neighboring Mendham Township.
"The police department was very upset about it. You need to keep that police department working as a group," Mendham Mayor Richard Kraft said Monday, announcing that the borough will no longer explore the possibility of a merger.
The township, which had hoped to further examine the issue, will proceed under the assumption that a police partnership "is a dead issue," township Mayor Robert Pierson said Monday.
"We're disappointed. We thought there were opportunities there," Pierson said.
In February, the borough formed an "ad hoc shared services committee" to examine the issue after council members decided not to proceed with a joint study into a police merger that they previously commissioned with Mendham Township.
The 15-member ad hoc committee, which included Kraft, examined three possible police arrangements -- a merger, a shared services arrangement or renting part of the Mendham police building to the township's department.
The committee's chairwoman, Alexa Lewandowski, said the choices came down to "cohabitation, contract for services or consolidation" and ultimately were discarded for a variety of factors beyond objections from Mendham police.
The borough didn't want to function as a landlord, Lewandowski said. She said neither mayor wanted to fold his police department and sign a contract for police services with the other municipality.
"It wasn't a specific reason. It was a combination of reasons," said Lewandowski, who chairs the Mendham planning board.
Kraft said that, while any of the three scenarios likely would have saved money in both municipalities -- the ad hoc committee never prepared an estimate -- the Mendham Police Department's objections outweighed the possible benefits.
Some borough police officers spoke out publicly against a merger in January, shortly before the council, in a 4-3 vote, decided not to proceed with the second stage of a three-part study that was being prepared by former Randolph town manager J. Peter Braun.
The council's vote quickly sparked controversy because the wife of Councilman John Andrus, who voted against continuing the study, worked as a secretary in the Mendham Police Department.
Though the council's lawyer subsequently declared that Andrus should not have voted, the decision to quash the joint study was not overturned. The council took a second vote and unanimously endorsed creating the ad hoc committee to examine a variety of potential partnerships, including the merger.
Borough police chief Pat Cameron did not return a phone call.
Pierson said the township police department was supportive of the merger, but avoided getting drawn into the public debate.
"Our police force thought it was a good opportunity. They stayed out of it. Their feelings were hurt, certainly, about some of the things said about Mendham Township police," Pierson said.
Kraft said last winter that some borough residents had criticized the township police for being too quick to hand out tickets, instead of warnings, for traffic violations.
Others in the borough pointed out that the township, whose police building is outdated and will likely require a replacement, had much more than the borough to gain from a merger.
"We never discerned any clear public support for it," Kraft said.
Pierson said that, under a merger, no officers would have been laid off. Savings would have resulted in both municipalities when some officers retired and were not replaced, he added.
There are 13 officers in the township, including Chief Thomas Costanza, with two more expected to be hired by year's end, Pierson said.
The borough has 10 officers, Kraft said.
"We never got clearly to bottom-line, dollars-and-cents savings," Kraft said. "Would they be of a magnitude to make it worth the trouble?"
Pierson said there now would be no way to answer the question.
"We don't know because the study was never done," Pierson said.
Pierson added that the township "was not going away mad" and will continue working with the borough on an upcoming library merger and explore other opportunities to combine services.
Kraft said the ad hoc committee will continue exploring various partnerships with the township. |
By Reto-Shared on Saturday, September 04, 2004 - 03:04 am: