Council Should
Reinstate Roed
As did so many others, we left the West Windsor Council meeting on March 7 in a state of dismay and disbelief. By a vote of 3 to 2, a resolution was approved to award an animal control services contract to East Windsor, thereby relieving the township’s worthy Animal Control Officer, Bettina Roed, of the position she has held for 17 years.
For the last 20 years, Plainsboro Township has had a contract with West Windsor for animal control services, so Roed also served the township in which we live. But in December the Plainsboro Township Committee voted to authorize a shared services agreement with the Borough of Helmetta instead. According to Mayor Pete Cantu and the committee, Plainsboro terminated its contract with West Windsor because of cost. Frustrated by West Windsor’s failure to respond to repeated requests to discuss the high cost of the contract, Plainsboro looked elsewhere.
West Windsor insisted that Plainsboro use the same facilities that they had always used — Princeton Animal Hospital and Weber Kennel. Princeton Animal Hospital’s high fees for veterinary and holding services for stray dogs and cats were the objectionable part of the contract. Roed had been pushing for years to seek more economical facilities for boarding and euthanasia to save money for both townships, and had found some — but to no avail. West Windsor did not want to make a change.
At that December meeting, Plainsboro and other local residents spoke on behalf of Bettina Roed’s sterling record of service and beseeched the township to explore other alternatives. But projected savings swayed the committee to approve the new contract with Helmetta, despite the public’s objections and concerns about response time, quality of service, location of kennel facilities, and the true cost of the new animal control services — all of the same issues raised at the March 7 meeting in West Windsor.
Plainsboro is now paying Helmetta an annual fee of $18,000 for animal control service from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Calls to the Helmetta ACO after 3:30 p.m. are charged at $55 an hour. West Windsor’s new contract with East Windsor will feature billing at an hourly rate of $65 ($90 for overtime). With an average call duration of three hours, this will surely result in a costlier operation, reduced service, or both.
Plainsboro’s mayor is almost always at committee meetings. We were therefore surprised that West Windsor’s mayor left immediately after his speech on March 7 and that a councilman was permitted to attend the meeting — and vote — by phone. At the meeting on March 14, again, the public sang Roed’s praises. They asked specific questions of the Council and of the business administrator — most of which went unanswered — and Mayor Hsueh was again absent.
Though West Windsor Council members claim to have studied in detail the proposed change, our impression was that the “defense” had prepared its case much more thoroughly, and with far more data. We can only hope that West Windsor will reconsider its ill-advised decision, one that is unfair to Roed and to the taxpayers of West Windsor, who have received excellent value from their ACO. We believe the new contract will end up costing much more, but with a degradation in the quality of animal control services. If West Windsor does not change its decision, it will join Plainsboro in the loss of a diligent and loyal animal control officer.
Tari Pantaleo and Doug Miller
Plainsboro Road, Plainsboro
Roed: Valuable Asset
West Windsor has been very happy with its animal control officer for 17 years. She is widely respected and popular among her coworkers in police and fire departments and citizens who have lost pets or have had to deal with wildlife such as skunks and raccoons. She has been honored by her colleagues (NJ’s Animal Control Officer of the Year 2010, e.g.) for her hard work, kindness, knowledge, and effectiveness, and for making herself available whenever problems arose.
She put in special effort and excelled at returning lost pets to their families because of her special knowledge of the area and animal behavior. She was kind and efficient whenever there was a messy car-animal encounter. The current economic situation has provoked many changes. Sometimes they have been needed for efficiency, and some have the effect of quick savings in pressed current funds at the price of long-term problems or loss of money or service.
Some changes are simply foolish. Council voted 3-2 to contract the work to East Windsor after it had been made clear that West Windsor would spend extra money for inferior service.
I attended that council meeting. There were well over 150 people at that council meeting: pet owners, Audubon members, people who had been in auto accidents with an animal, fellow animal control officers from around the state, parents whose children had been educated on animal issues.
Roed’s salary was amazingly modest, only $43,000. The replacement service is priced at $65/hour (or part thereof) during business hours, including travel time. The overtime rate is $90/hour. And then there are the issues of vacation, holidays, and special overtime. East Windsor, as provider, has first priority during times of heavy use followed by Hightstown and then West Windsor.
Most auto-animal accidents happen during dusk and dawn hours, with some at night and even fewer during daytime. But the animal remains need to be removed from the roadway as soon as possible to avoid further accidents.
It is estimated that Roed handles at least 300 calls per year, spending an average of 2-3 hours on each. This would cost (conservatively) somewhere between $39,000 and $86,000 at the contract rates. Not much of a saving, unless service is reduced significantly.
At the meeting after six people spoke for retaining Roed, Council President Khanna asked if there were anyone in the audience willing to speak up in favor of hiring the work out. All of us were there in favor of retaining Roed. At this time he closed the floor and held the vote.
I strongly urge Mayor Hsueh and council to reverse their course and vote to reinstate Bettina Roed as West Windsor animal control officer.
Mary Ann Pedee-Siegel
West Windsor
