A $1.1 Million Mystery

Sitting in for City Administrator Eric Berry Monday, Finance Director Al Restaino found himself in the hot seat on some money questions.

The agenda contained a resolution for a $600,000 emergency appropriation for repair of streets and public property, coupled with another to authorize special emergency notes in the same amount The council agreed to move both to the agenda for action at the regular meeting on Dec. 10. So how did that money relate to a $1.1 million grant reported in the newspapers for post-storm repair? Restaino said he was able to look it up online during the meeting and it was for homeowners. The $600,000 was the estimated cost for overtime, debris removal and commodities including generators and blankets, he said.

That led to Councilwoman Rebecca Williams' question on who was responsible for inventorying items such as generators and where and how emergency items were being stored for the next time.

"The process is somewhat fluid," Restaino said, but assured the council all items were fully accounted for and the serial of the generators were on file. The commodities were stored at the City Yard, he said.

The council also considered two 2009 grants, one for two new police vehicles at $61,298 and one for related equipment at $13,246.78. The grants follow two grants appproved last month, one from 2010 and one from 2011. In public comment, Dr. Harold Yood suggested that all grants should be tracked for timely action. Yood also asked about the newspaper story on $1.1. million for street repairs and whether a correction should be sought.

This writer noted some large grants that had to be used at the last minute before expiring, including the Tepper's grant that resulted in spending over $400,000 quickly to finish a basement designated for city use. Former City Administrator Marc Dashield called the basement "a plain vanilla box" and to this day no use has been found for it.

This led Council President Adrian Mapp to ask Restaino about a promised council tour of the site. Restaino first said he didn't have the key, but vowed to arrange a tour.

Restaino is one of three department heads who report to Berry. The department includes finance as well as social services. See its description here.

Plaintalker later looked up the newspaper articles in question and found they were based on an announcement from Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez. Click here to read the press release, which does indeed designate the funds for local government use in storm cleanup and repair. So the questions about who sought the money, how it relates to the $600,000 and how it is being managed remain.

--Bernice