Taxpayers' group keeps up PAYT fight
The following is a statement from Bob Miller, chairman of Malden Taxpayers for Accountability:
The Malden Taxpayers for Accountability (MTFA) notifies their membership and the community about the Malden Trash Bag Tax (TBT) employees who will be speaking at a convention in Boston. It will be held on August 15 from 3:30-5 p.m.
The taxpayers group questions the business relationship of an out of state company that works with the city and makes a profit from the bag. This same company calls the TBT/PAYT a “Malden Success Story” even though there is lack of initial participation of citizen input before the program was mandated on only a certain portion of the community. This violates the guidelines of the State.
The MTFA also discovered the City and its Malden employees received a Merit Award from the Federal Environmental Protection Agency this past April for the Trash Bag Tax. The taxpayer group questions why this information was not made public, along with a $71,132 grant for mailers from the State Department of Environmental Protection. The group gives this website to make their claims and encourages the community to review it.
In its recent newsletter, the MTFA asks, “When will the blatant acts of deception and lack of transparency by the Mayor and his cohorts end?” They also allude to the Mayor’s recent deals with public lands and how he deems them good for the city. The MTFA states, “The Salemwood deal, only in our opinion, continues the policies of insider and closed door politics.” They continue, “Not to mention the good old boy network, as public parks are now up for lease for 20 years, not to the highest bidder, instead to the people with the most connections.”
The newsletter also identifies and questions the relevancy of Mark Dancy, CEO, WasteZero, a South Carolina company. The MTFA wants to know who he is and why the Mayor has never disclosed his company to the taxpayers. On his website, Dancy takes credit for the past “Malden Success Story” locally called by the taxpayers' watchdog group as the Trash Bag Tax.
The following employees of the city that attend this conference are: Charlie Toomajian, Special Assistant to the Mayor, the MTFA questions - how many cities and towns has he visited to promote this “Success Story?” Debbie Burke, Project Manager – does she coordinate the $47,000 in outreach spending from the city? Jeff Manship, Director of Public Works - under his leadership it appears to be easier to tax the citizens, instead of going greener sooner. Bob Knox, Compliance Supervisor — the group questions why he is in attendance as he is now in the Highway Supervisor. The MTFA stresses that these are only just some of the people that contributed to the citizens not having their voices be heard.
There is also a statement in the convention advertisement and it is taken from a quote from Mayor Richard C. Howard, “That without the PAYT, essential jobs would have absolutely been cut.” Bob Miller, the chairperson of the Malden Taxpayers for Accountability, responds, “This year we still lost essential public safety personnel, even with the TBT! The Mayor and his employees have said in public that they may still need more money from us next year for an override of property taxes!”
Miller adds, “Enough is enough. Show us the books from the past four years with the check registers and bank account statements. If they add up and refute our beliefs that monies have been hidden in accounts, then we will gladly come up with solutions to center on reform of our services.”
The taxpayers' group advocates for planning now for the possible loss of additional State aid in next year’s budget.
To back up the claims of hidden monies in the accounts, the taxpayers group points to the school department’s $2.5 million current budget surplus. They also have a blog about it.
The group also encourages the citizens to contact their elected officials as to why the Malden employees at the conference misrepresent the truth to the attendees.
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