Despite an outcry from residents who want a full-time animal control officer (ACO) — and specifically Bettina Roed, who lost her job last spring — West Windsor Council voted, 4-1, in favor of a shared services agreement with East Windsor for a cost of $20,000 at its January 17 meeting. The agreement runs through 2012, an extension of the original agreement that eliminated Roed’s position when it was adopted last March. George Borek cast the negative vote.
Knowing there was public demand for more dialogue on the matter, Councilwoman Linda Geevers asked that the contract be pulled for a separate vote from the other recommendations on the agenda. She then asked Police Chief Joe Pica to comment on the record and answer any questions that councilmembers had.
Speaking before council as well as 15 residents who all appeared to be supporters of Roed, Pica called the departed animal control officer “a wonderful person” and said he hated to see a person lose her job, but he feels the shared services agreement has worked well.
“We are very pleased with the way things are going with East Windsor. It is convenient that they are next to us. My personal belief is that we don’t need a full-time animal control officer, but we do need someone who knows what they’re doing and is available to us. I know that police officers are qualified to handle most of the issues that have come about, but we do need something in place because we don’t have anybody officially,” Pica said.
He added that the agreement was a good example of shared services, saying it was cost effective and represented “a job well-done.”
Councilman Bryan Maher asked Pica if the department had received complaints from residents about the lesser extent of animal control services in the township.
“I will admit that the services that we provide now are not to the extent that Bettina provided because she was a full-time person who could spend a lot of time following up,” said Pica. “But as far as basic calls for service and responding to every call about animals, it’s getting done.”
Maher said over the course of the last 10 months, as he campaigned for a seat on council, never once has a West Windsor resident approached him, called, or sent an E-mail to complain about the level of animal control service in the township. He compared the opinion voiced by residents to hotels, saying that West Windsor residents are “used to the Ritz-Carlton, but only want to pay Hampton Inn prices” because most people in town list lowering taxes as their top priority.
Maher said finding a decent compromise was the key for him, and the shared services agreement seemed to fit that. He suggested that residents who still want a full-time ACO for West Windsor compile data and make a case at the end of the year in front of council.
The chief reported that during the nine-month period the ACO shared services agreement was in effect, West Windsor Police received 515 calls, of which 107 were handled by the police dispatcher only, and another 55 required responding officers to call for East Windsor’s ACO to come to the scene.
West Windsor Business Administrator Robert Hary proposed the same agreement to council on December 19 (at the final council meeting for Diane Ciccone and Charles Morgan) but council rejected the agreement by a vote of 3-2.
While some have cited an individual conflict with Roed as the real reason her position was eliminated last year, Hary was clear that cost-saving stood as the main objective. Several West Windsor residents who have spoken at recent council meetings criticized the amount of money the township has actually saved, comparing Roed’s previous salary with the cost of new playground equipment and municipal spending.
Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh has stated that the move saved West Windsor approximately $45,000 last year. Hary says in addition to a yearly salary of close to $42,000, the township no longer pays healthcare and worker’s compensation costs. “We also eliminate the need to provide transportation for an ACO. We were able to eliminate all of those labor costs and instead pay for someone else’s labor,” Hary said.
Plainsboro, meanwhile, has taken a different course, and saved slightly more money in the process. One year ago Plainsboro made the decision to discontinue its shared services agreement with West Windsor for animal control, months ahead of Roed’s position being eliminated. For 2011 Plainsboro opted for a shared services agreement with Helmetta Borough, which, according to Plainsboro Business Administrator Robert O. Sheehan, saved the township around $50,000 over the year.
The township committee approved a three-year renewal of the agreement with Helmetta Borough with annual cost increases of two percent. A resolution was passed at Plainsboro’s Township Committee meeting on January 11.
Sheehan says several factors came into consideration, including Plainsboro’s population of roughly 23,000. “One, the demands of this town do not suggest that we have a full-time person. Two, we’ve always ask the question ‘can this service be provided in a different and more efficient way.’
“Certainly years ago, when the agreement was first struck with West Windsor, the answer was yes. Certainly the trend for our municipality and others is to very aggressively pursue shared services agreements. We do have a broad brush of shared services,” Sheehan said.
Hary said ACO services moved this way because Plainsboro left its partnership with West Windsor.
“This is not something we did; we reacted to how Plainsboro pulled the plug on our agreement. They moved on for budgetary reasons and as a result we were left with a void.
“This was a situation where had Plainsboro been replaceable with another town, it would be an entirely different discussion. If there was another town with us to spend $20,000 or $30,000 then we could spend for a full-time person. But you have to put yourselves in our situation, representing 27,000 residents,” Maher said.
Like Police Chief Pica and most members of council, Hary says it all came down to finances. “Some of the assertions made at the podium about this being a personality issue or anything else that was brought up is really not correct. This was strictly a decision we had to make because we were saddled with the reality of losing $20,000 in revenue and no longer had the need for a full-time employee once we lost Plainsboro,” Hary said.
