From Northfield Center Trustee Paul Buescher: “Your Hpocrisy Stuns Even Me!”

To Russ Mazzola & Rich Reville;

This is to advise both of you that as a result of the July 13th work session and subsequent emails, I am quite disillusioned and perturbed over your proposed cell phone policy.  As you know, I’ve had a Township cell phone since 2006, which has allowed me to keep in contact with the many residents who call me for assistance.  This provided me the opportunity to immediately respond to residents’ needs.  This phone has always been an essential part of my role as Trustee and without it, you are denying me the opportunity to carry out my duties.  Your proposal will, in fact, take this from me just to save approximately $64 per month ($840 per year)!  Be mindful that I am under no legal or moral obligation to use any personal voice and/or digital communications equipment or devices to conduct Township business.

For every action, there is a reaction.  Therefore, since YOU initiated this action and have chosen to project the false illusion of saving taxpayer dollars, I followed up with my own research, which clearly shows that both of you have cost the taxpayers TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS for your own benefit, whereas I HAVE SAVED many thousands of dollars!

First of all, I have NOT taken a Township laptop computer.  Also, I have never taken Township health care because I’ve always had my own and am currently on Medicare and supplemental coverage, which I paid for myself.  I simply receive a minimal Medicare premium reimbursement.  By doing this, I WILL HAVE SAVED THE TOWNSHIP TAXPAYERS a MINIMUM of  $200,000+ by the end of my current term (16-years total)!

RUSS MAZZOLA, YOU have a Township laptop and during your first years in office, YOU received $9,153.84  in health care premium reimbursements!  You then received an additional  $4,560.00 in 2020 and will receive another $4,560 for 2021. How much will that add up to after your current four-year term?  $18,273.84!

RICH REVILLE,  For just the past TWO years (2019 & 2020), the Township paid a whopping  $60,798.88 for Health care coverage for both YOU and your WIFE!  How much will that add up to after your current term? Given the fact that you have been taking available full health care coverage for just under 20-years in office,  how much money did the taxpayers spend for this nice perk?  My best estimate is over $400,000.00+!  Of course, this can be narrowed down with a little more research.  And why are the taxpayers paying for health care coverage for you and your wife when both of you are 66 years old and were eligible and possibly even mandated to enroll in Medicare when you turned 65?

To put this in perspective, the  taxpayers of Northfield Center paid $74,512.72 for your insurance coverage for just the past two years.  In comparison, the entire tax revenue that we received from the JEDD for the first  two quarters of this year (2020), totaled $68,752.32.  You cost $5,760.40 more than the entire JEDD revenue produced! Remember, that $68,752.32 was supposed to offset part of the cost of the Sheriff’s contract!  To put it even another way, that $74,512.72 represents the combined yearly property tax payments of 18 Northfield Center homeowners!  That’s nearly every home on Dorwick or Fairhaven or Honeydale or Bayberry, ETC.!

And you want to deny my continued use of a Township phone to ‘save’ $64 a month??  Since you supposedly want to ‘save’ taxpayer dollars, why don’t we introduce a resolution to stop taxpayer funded health insurance coverage for all Northfield Center Township elected officials?  Just think how many roads could be improved or how some of the flooding issues could be minimized or how we could continue funding the Sheriff’s contract!  The possibilities are quite numerous!