Manchester Services Criticism Unfounded, Mayor Says

Submitted by Mayor Michael Fressola:

Every once in a while I will get a letter from a Manchester resident complaining that he or she gets no service for the tax money he or she pays to the township.

As luck would have it, within minutes of that complaint, I received the regular monthly “Workload Analysis” from our police department. The following information describes just some of the police department’s activity for the first eleven months of 2013.

• Responded to 59,909 calls for service
• 886 adult criminal arrests
• 15,467 motor vehicle stops or contacts
• 987 vehicle accidents
• 6,470 first aid calls
• 451 fire calls

In 2012, total municipal taxes collected totaled $20,552,118.  Operating a police department in the township of Manchester in 2012 cost a total of $7,485,000. This cost represented 36.4% of the total taxes collected.

I believe we operate one of the finest and busiest Senior Outreach Departments in the State, and a fantastic Recreation Department, providing activities for all residents regardless of age on a year-round basis.

We maintain our roads and parks in excellent condition; our internal staff provides excellent service on a day to day basis to all our residents.

Not a week goes by without a resident taking the time by either writing to me or calling, or stopping me somewhere in town, complimenting one of our departments for providing them with excellent service.

I no sooner completed this letter when a hand-delivered letter dropped off at Town Hall was handed to me by my secretary. The letter was dated November 15, 2013 and was dropped off on December 27, 2013. The letter referred to our “Manchester Citizen” newsletter as “junk mail” and to further quote him ”only contributes to the waste stream and robs people like me of their valuable time.”

To the author of these quotes I say, we furnished over 20,000 residents with copies of the “Manchester Citizen” and yours was one of only two complaints we received.

I sincerely hope the above information answers the question referred above.