O’DONNELL TEAM CALLS ON BAYONNE COUNCIL TO REMOVE ANIMAL CONTROL VENDOR AND COMPLETELY ELIMINATE DRIVEWAY TAX
O’DONNELL TEAM CALLS ON BAYONNE COUNCIL TO REMOVE ANIMAL CONTROL VENDOR AND COMPLETELY ELIMINATE DRIVEWAY TAX
BAYONNE – The O’Donnell Team for Bayonne today released the following statement calling on the Bayonne Council to remove the City’s animal control vendor and immediately eliminate the $50 Driveway Tax along with any corresponding “six month review.” The Davis Council Team meets Wednesday night.
Last month the Jimmy Davis Council Team voted to institute a $50 tax on residents parking in front of their own driveways and also voted to extend the contract of Geoff Santini’s animal control company until Wednesday’s meeting. Santini’s original contract expired last year but he is continuing to receive payment after the Council added an emergency resolution to the agenda in their last council meeting. New Jersey Animal Control and Rescue has faced repeated criticism in Bayonne since first receiving their contract in December 2015 and they have come under fire in other Hudson County towns in recent weeks, leading to the termination of their contract in Garfield.
“When New Jersey Animal Control and Rescue was first selected there were reports of horrific abuses of animals and widespread concern over the lack of resources possessed by this company. Their bid was not the lowest and they appeared to be the least qualified and, yet, they were still hired by the Council. Since then taxpayers have paid tens of thousands of dollars amid multiple press reports accusing the owner of New Jersey Animal Control and Rescue of abusing taxpayer dollars.
While some cities have terminated and others are undertaking reviews to see the legality of termination, our Council added an emergency resolution to make sure this company continued receiving taxpayer money even after the expiration of their contract. This is yet another disturbing instance of Mayor Davis and his Council abusing Bayonne taxpayers.
The Council also needs to finally put an end to their ridiculous $50 Driveway Tax. Last month, they voted to hit residents with another oppressive tax and then tried to backpedal when they realized how angry they had made residents just weeks before Election Day. Yet, instead of just admitting it was a horrible idea to tax residents further, they announced they would be doing a six month review of the tax idea, pushing the issue off until after Election Day.
The Davis team needs to use this last chance to begin to reverse course on their consistent abuse of Bayonne taxpayers by firing Geoff Santini and the New Jersey Animal Control and Rescue and also finally putting an end to the $50 Driveway tax.”
The O’Donnell Team for Bayonne is Jason O’Donnell for Mayor, Dan Ward for Council At Large, Melissa Enriquez-Rada for Council At Large, Sharma Montgomery for First Ward Council, Kevin Kuhl for Second Ward Council and Matt Klimansky for Third Ward Council.
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