Eatontown Council Disagrees on Appointments, Rate Increases

It didn't take long for council members to show their political colors at .

Following the swearing-in of council members, the meeting took a partisan tone around item number two -- on an agenda with 54 items to get through -- with the appointment of the borough's attorney for the upcoming year.

All three Republican council members voted against the reappointment of Gene Anthony as Eatontown's borough attorney, while the three Democratic members were in support of his return. The split required the mayor -- a Democrat -- to cast the deciding vote in Anthony's favor.

According to Councilman Kevin Gonzalez on Monday, his "no" vote was motivated purely by politics. "The borough attorney is a politically appointed position," he said. "If you're in power, you put in your attorney."

Council President Anthony Talerico questioned Gonzalez's opposition to Anthony's appointment in an e-mail on Monday, noting the attorney's billable rate dropped for 2012. His fee dropped from $150 an hour to $125 an hour but his retainer remained the same as 2011 at $15,000.

"It's a political thing," said Gonzalez of his opposition to Anthony.

Fellow Republican council member Dennis Connelly told Patch in an e-mail that he didn't support Anthony's appointment as the attorney had "publicly campaigned" agains Connelly and his runningmate in November by displaying their opponents' lawn signs at his law office in town.

"I do not believe that one of our professional appointees should be involved in that type of political activity," said Connelly. 

Gonzalez went on to oppose three other appointments at the Jan. 1 meeting for professional service providers who had raised their fees for 2012. They are:

• T&M Associates (Borough Engineer): 9 percent across the board
• Kevin Settembrino (Borough Architect): 14.7 percent increase
• Birdsall Services (Borough Special Projects Engineer): 2.9 percent increase

"In this economic climate, I don't think a raise is warranted," said Gonzalez. "Don't get me wrong: I think they do great work."

He said that in those instances and in an effort to remain consistent, he voted against anyone on the agenda who had increased fees for the upcoming year, regardless of their political leanings.

Gonzalez pointed out that he voted against the appointment of -- a Republican on the Middletown Township Committee -- as borough architect. Gonzalez also opposed appointing as special projects engineer, which he dubbed a "Republican-friendly organization."

"It's not against them personally," he said. "I just wanted to be consistent."

In an e-mail, Talerico wrote: "The Republicans brought (Birdsall) in as borough engineer. When I was in the minority, I voted for them and was happy to approve them for Special Projects Engineer this year and last."

Both Connelly and Talerico pointed out that the borough's architect and special projects engineer weren't really hired, as the appointments allow the borough to avoid having to go out to bid but they still have that option if they wish to look for a lower-priced provider.

"We are elected to make the best decision considering all factors, not just blindly selecting less expensive as a proxy for quality," said Talerico.