How is it that Mr. Fiore knows who is responsible for these rob calls when so many (myself included) do not? It seems to me that these robo-calls have struck a nerve and seem to be factual based on his response.

And I believe the point of how much debt the town can borrow itself into is a silly one; who cares what a persons credit card limit is when it is already difficult to meet the minimum payments on the balance!

Also, Middletown hasn't had it debt rating updated in several years, It has been shown recently that credit rating agencies like Moody's and Standard & Poor aren't worth much. After the financial meltdown of the past few years, many of the investments that caused the near collapse of the economy were rated A, AA, or AAA from both of these institutions.

Mr. Morris if your robo calls struck a nerve I would have answered them a long time ago. You can continue to play coy with respect to who is behind these calls but we both know the answer to that. I believe you are the President of the Middletown Democratic Club are you not? However, that is not the point of this article. The point of this article is to present factual information. It's obvious to me that you can't refute the facts that I have presented. As stated before, the Middletown 2011 budget will be adopted in compliance with the Governor's 2% cap law, has been reduced by millions of dollars and almost 7% in total, and the Township remains in tremendous financial shape with it's credit rating.

Just who is being coy here?
Funny no one on the Township Committee cared about citizens having their sleep disturbed with THEIR robo-calls -sounds like they are only perturbed on the citizen's behalf when the message is critical of THEM. As a side note, the lion's share of political propaganda received in my mailbox over the years has come from Township Republicans- but it has not been in vain- the ones that show the Township members groveling at the governor's feet have actually inspired me to purchase my first paper shredder. And that has been helpful in implementing the stricter recycling rules that the sole Democrat on the Committee brought about.

Mr. M orris I would be happy to supply a variety of documents from the NJ Election Law enforcement Commission for the Middletown Democratic Club that are signed in your name and address as President.

Mr. Fiore,
It appears that you make a distinction between debt and debt service. You acknowledge that the Middletown Township debt service is about $72,000,000, which is about $10,000,000 more than the annual township budget. How much of this money that the taxpayer owes to lenders is principal and how much is interestinterest? As Mayor and member of the elected five person Finance Committee, I hope this number is committed to memory.
Several other questions: what is the townships overall debt liability -- how much is owed in sick time and vaction time not taken; has the township accumulated more or less than an additional $70,000,000 in deferred school taxes -- money borrowed from the Middletown Board of Education; what is the present cost of borrowing money in our current financial climate; what is the difference between a bond and a note and why has the township only recently started using notes versus bonds?
I have other questions and some comments regarding your "Municipal Debt Service 101" post, which will be part of a follow-up comment.

If I'm not mistaken, Mr. Grenafege is a disgruntled resident who ran for office numerous times, quite unsuccessfully I might add and is a local representative of the far left socialist Democrats who worship at the feet of the unions, and a Supreme Court that has set out to destroy the taxpayers of New Jersey.

How dare Mr. Grenafege run for office! What is this, a democracy? Perhaps he is taking a page from Ronald Reagan's book - you know, keep running over and over- till you win? PS - you would be hard pressed to find any successful Democratic candidate who wasn't accused by the John Birch peanut gallery of being a "far left socialist"- it's what they do when they run out of ideas and the ability to stay on topic. Speaking of those who have run out of ideas- who needs the Supreme Court to destroy Middletown taxpayers when we have our very own all Republican township committee?

Hey "Tom" - what do you think of your Supreme Court's incredible decision to steal half a billion tax dollars and whiz it away in failing urban school districts? Brilliant! Don't address the sociological problems, throw more money at it! As for the Republican town council, they are the reason that Middletown is one of the top places to live in the country. Contrast that with what Democrat leadership has done in Newark, Trenton, Camden, Paterson, Elizabeth, Asbury Park, etc. Must be hard having to be on the outside looking in, right "Tom"? Btw, are you going to the union rally with your leader Jesse Jackson? Sure to be a Democratic love-in - you know, raise taxes, pay the unions, hate America.....

Mr. Fiore,
Your criticism of these robo calls is rather hypocritical considering your predecessor used them to alert the public about recycling passed 10 pm. At least the information is something the public is completely ignorant of due to your desire to keep the public at large in the dark about so many issues.
The lies and misleading information displayed by you and the rest the TC especially Scharffenberger have made this life long Republican vote for 2 Dems for the first time in my life.
You can spin and sugar coat all you want, but many of us just don't believe a word you say.

Wow Elaine, you really have brought the beaten down Democrats out of hiding. I guess losing so regularly has them searching for an outlet for their sorry ramblings. First, Kathy. I am just pointing out a fact about Middletown, which keeps getting rated one of the top places to live by Money Magazine - hardly a partisan interest. Also, look at the M-town website - the town gets awards for everything from their park programs, to their Green Initiative to their planning projects. Finally, wasn't Sharfenberger named public official of the year recently?The problem that you have with those facts is that they blow all of the Democrat propoganda out of the water. AND comparing Democrat towns IS relevant - it shows the end results of successful Republican leadership versus the disastrous liberal-leaning Democrat "leadership." Now for you Allen - first of all, it's "past" not "passed." Second, you are drinking the Democrat kool aid where you don't back up your claims with any facts. And to educate you (again) - as the mayor rightly said, M-town's debt is remarkably low and its finances, according to numerous respected organizations like S&P, Moody's, the League of Municipalities and every auditor for over a dozen years, are sound. Sorry to burst your bubble, but "thems is the facts."

Why doesn't Fiore mention the millions of tax payer money spent on legal fees and poor planning due to the incompetence of the leaders in this town? The Town Center, Art Center, Bamm Hollow, turf fields to name a few. We bond for everything and who do you think profits from that? Peter Carton, the bond counsel and Repulican party Chair. Our bond debt has increased by $10 mil since last year.
Of course all you are ever going to see is propaganda on the township web site and Middletown Matters. Why would they post anything else? They can and will say anything to promote their message.
Liberal and conservative views have no revelence in local polititics. Save that for the national debate.
Locally, it's all about how wisely you spend and invest the tax payer's money and maintain a good quality of life.
You can also save your arrogant partisan views for Fox news.