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Mattox Helped Taxpayers Save $800, 000.00

Ted Mattox, together with a group of organized residents, saved Montclair taxpayers over $800,000.00 by challenging the ill-conceived signage program known as "Wayfinder"—a project with all the earmarks of wasteful spending, including the absence of public bidding. The taxpayers and Ted Mattox also challenged over $350,000 in other no-bid contracts over the past two years. Your current town councilors now running for re-election—Joyce Michaelson, Gerry Tobin, Robin Schlager, Sandra Lang and Jerry Freier—have been using taxpayer funds for legal fees to defend their poor judgment, including filing a counterclaim which a superior court judge set aside for not being relevant to the core issues of the legal complaint. The township's legal fees are a small fraction of the money saved by Ted's actions. Mattox said "NO" to spending on such pet projects, believing that there are more important priorities. Go to www.thrivemontclair.com/lawsuit and read about the "Taxpayers' Lawsuit" for yourself.

The Facts

Three years ago: A resolution was passed by the Council authorizing the Wayfinder project that was to be paid for through grants and private funding, not by Montclair taxpayers.

August 2006: A resolution was passed by Council that set the stage for the "Wayfinder" sign program to be paid by Montclair taxpayer funds, not grants or private funding. Councilman Mattox voted "No."

August 2006: Many residents, including Mattox, objected to the "bait and switch" funding tactic. Over three hundred residents who supported Mattox's "No" vote petitioned the Council to cancel the resolution. The Council, with the exception of Mattox, ignored the petition.

September 2006: Over three hundred Montclair residents and Mattox lobbied the Town Council to reverse the proposed $800,000.00 expenditure. The Council rebuffed these efforts, leading to the lawsuit.

Four days after the lawsuit was filed in September 2006, the Wayfinder program was abandoned. Still, over Mattox's objection, the Council continues to spend taxpayer funds on legal fees to justify other no-bid contracts and has rejected every settlement offer made by the taxpayers during the past year.