Subject: Zoning Office: Larry - I read your website all the time - find it very interesting, informing and among other things funny. This is the first time I write since it seems to me that a lot of people write in order for u to get as accurate information as possible on several subjects. Well let me tell u my story and maybe u can get some info. I have been trying to get info from the zoning office since last Thursday(?). I asked the ladies in another office where was the lady normally works there they told me that the lady was sick and did not know her exact return date and that the zoning officer was not in and that he should be in later in the day. Later he was not there, I was told he should be on Monday 8am, at around 10 am no zoning officer. Tuesday he was to be in. Again they said that he was out but that maybe the building officer could help me. The man sat there eating and told me that he could not answer my questions since he was not the zoning officer he only answered building questions which was his department. Today is Friday and I have yet to meet or talk to him. First let me say that the lady that is normally there (I don't know her name) has been very helpful to me on several occasions. Last night we were talking about our problem with some friends - Among the stories my friends told me was that his friend had lost a deal to sell his house because she was told by one lady that she could not build any additional sheds but that she should speak to the zoning officer as he would make the final call. When the friend went back to speak to him he told she could build basically anything she wanted. To make a long story short she could not build. They also said that they went in one day and came out almost an hour later with no answers because the officer had to do research but new half the officers life including that his father drove a milk truck in Philly(?). Needless to say my friends also read your site. So we continued to talk about the hours and raise that this man is getting. I now also understand why Mr. Kennedy voted no on the contract the only smart one in the bunch while the other "Corrupt Mullica 4 aka IDIOTS R US, voted yes the zoning officer is also a republican. What I want to know is why are they giving a 4 year contract and from what I heard almost $20 p/h to a man that still does not know after 3 years the set backs/lot coverage etc to a particular lot because he obviously gave wrong info to not only my friends friend but from what I hear to a lot of people. How could two people in the same office give two different answers to the same question? My second question u have not mentioned on your site (and since I do not attend all meetings) what does the building officer make and is the lady getting a raise too. My wife and I have a bet my wife says that the lady is probably the lowest paid person in that office as she is not a man and will not be getting a raise. Signed Concerned Residents Paying Taxes to Pay MORANS!!

RESPONSE: It seems reasonable to assume that the lady who works in the zoning office (Zoe) was pissed about the raise and expressed her frustration that she was not getting a raise like Mr. Sandman. However, she has a contract and those negotiations are on going at this time. Being female and Hispanic in an administration with a long record of bigotry does not bode well for her being treated equally. She will likely get the same contractual raise as other Town employees did ...around 4%. That by the way is as is the norm sadly in government well above the Cost of Living Increase (CPI) or inflation rate. Mr. Sandman was given a 16.66% raise this year and next year he gets a 7% raise and the following year a 6.66% raise. One has to wonder who he is sleeping with...as this is simply obscene and a brutalization of Mullica taxpayers..

If you are asking me to justify the 4 year contract and raise for Mr. Sandman ... I cannot. It seems a reward for being a loyal sycophant to the Mullica Republican Party again ...on the backs of Mullica Tax payers. The four year contract which goes till the end of December 2010 with raises each year well above the likely inflation rate is simply, a payoff to an unqualified Republican henchman...sort of copying the pattern of the national GOP under Bush. Further, given the disdain of idiot Republicans for any kind of bench marks, Mr. Sandman’s contract does not require him to be certified in the job until the end of 2010 when the contract ends and places no criteria for working toward that certification in terms of benchmark yearly classes required for said certification. Mullica Republicans once again have sold out the people who elected them both financially and in terms of professionalism. Sandman in the 3 years he has been on the job, has taken no classes toward certification and competence in the job he performs as Mullica’s Code Enforcement Officer.

The fact that Sandman has been on the job now for over three years and taken no courses and as a result repeatedly made costly bad judgements for the taxpayers of Mullica in a number of cases like the Dibabbo fiasco that cost the taxpayers over $20,000 in lost fine income to the Township and the Waszen case where literally tens of thousands of dollars in fines have been forgiven despite on going contempt of Mullica Municipal Court Orders ...represent additional property tax charges that will now be placed on all Mullica land owners.

As you note the sole Democrat on Committee, bill THE GARRULOUS kennedy voted against the contract and deserves credit for standing up for the taxpayers of Mullica while the other four who are Republicans once again sold the community out and showed loyalty to Party over their oaths of office to treat all equally in Mullica.

The lack of training in the job has repeatedly resulted in mistaken calls regarding zoning by this office under Mr. Sandman. The Waszen fence permit and re-forestry issue are in many ways emblematic of the lack of professionalism and the poorly way this office is run today. Mr. Sandman attends Town meetings on a regular basis and often when actions by THE CORRUPT MULLICA 5 AKA IDIOTS R US are criticized by the public he is allowed to speak last during public discussion and acts as an apologist for mistakes and seeks to intimidate those who comment on the failings of his elected friends in the Mullica Republican Club...obviously, that has paid off handsomely for him, given the large 16%+ raise this year and in years to come...and again the Mullica tax payers are the losers.