chaos at Borough hall

Chaos at Borough Hall April 9, 2008
Gennaro A. Marino P.E.
409 W. Main St.
Kutztown, Pa 19530
Kutztown Mayor Sandy Green &
Kutztown Borough Council
Dear Elected Officials,
Besides the Borough debt being about $29.3 million, Hometown Utilicom loses about $1 million a year and you raised our utility rates, taxes and fees Councilman Dr. Brendan Strasser and Borough Manager\Treasurer Vettraino have resigned.
Dr. Strasser stated that he is tired of putting money into HU because it is a losing business venture. It does no marketing and has no Business Plan. Mayor Green agrees with him and threatened to but did not have the courage to veto the $1.3 million loan and settled for a proposed Business Plan. Not one of you has addressed Doctor Strasser’s derogatory remarks about HU because they true. You have decided to give the Business Plan to an outside firm because you have no faith in the ability of our Borough Employees to develop one. I know the Borough has employees capable of developing a Business Plan.
According to the Reading Eagle you have appointed an interim Borough Manager. Again you do not have faith in the ability of our Borough Employees. This is great for the morale of our dedicated Borough Employees. I know our Borough Employees can fill the temporary position. I also hope you tell Mr. David L. Woglom the interim Borough Manager, who was a Borough Manager for 22 years and I am positive he is more than qualified for the position, that the Borough has special rules and laws that vary from the norm such as:
1) The Borough does not have a Budget available to the public and hasn’t had one for over a year and that the 2006 and 2007 have not been published at this time.
2) The Borough falsifies the Budget and publishes fraudulent reports.
3) The Borough has not published any statistics or finances on Hometown Utilicom for more than a year.
4) Our electric rate is 80% higher than the surrounding area and that our Real Estate Tax more than doubled in the last 2 years from 1.2 mils to 2.6 mils.
5) Borough Solicitors Mooney and Dietrich and independent Auditor Long & Barrell Ltd. Are aware of the above.
6) The Borough has not had an internal audit for at least 14 years and does not employ an accountant or a CPA.
You have also voted to have an outside firm search for a new Borough Manager because you do not have the ability or courage to do it yourselves.
Why do we have to have outside firms come in and dictate who our future employees should be and the direction the Borough should take? You were elected by the residents to conduct Borough Business.
At one time or another over the past 6 years, in my letters to you, I have documented the above 6 statements and more and you have never answered any of my charges. Our finances are a disaster.

Sincerely,

Gennaro A. Marino P.E.
Website www.marinoreport.com
e-mail kmayor@ptd.net
610-683-7977