We Get the Picture
I find it interesting that Ms. Phyllis Pfeifer has made a 180 degree change in her opinion about me, the sitting mayor, and the three councilmen, who align themselves with the mayor 100 percent of the time. She supported me in my run for the first elected mayoral position in 2011. She signed the petition that opposed the mayor’s raise. She lambasted the mayor concerning his firing of two, long time, civil service employees of Vernon by writing a letter to the editor questioning transparency and the mayor’s spending of taxpayer’s hard earned money. In fact, she came to several town council meetings questioning the mayor’s actions. That was then and this is now. What has changed for Ms. Pfeifer?
In my opinion, Ms. Pfeifer is one of those people who gravitate to the pasture that seems greener. Now she actively shills for the mayor. She publicly announced that she supports his raise and those rewards have come rolling in. On March 3, 2012, I, a life time member of the Historical Society, resigned from my secretarial position because I disagreed with the actions of its’ President, whereby she was accepting “gifts” directly from the mayor for the new Society headquarters, the B.O.E. building on Route 94, leased to the town for $1. Those “gifts” were township property, such as; furniture and a computer. The proper disposition of taxpayer’s property is either by a sale, auction, or a vote by the council to donate the items.
The mayor added a line item in our municipal budget for the Historical Society; a non-profit. They were given $5,000, $5,000 and $3,000 respectively for the last three years. How disappointing and inappropriate for the President and several members of the Historical Society to be attacking other members and spreading false information about them. Ms. Pfeifer is now a trustee of the Society. Ms. Pfeifer also likes to sell her jewelry and had set up a display in the Society headquarters. As a Dec. 27, 2013 news article stated, “The entire back room of the Historical Society headquarters was dedicated to her jewelry.” The Historical Society’s website had a full page devoted to displaying her “for profit” jewelry, complete with prices of $10 to $2,000 and no mention of fundraising purposes. The ads for her two jewelry sales in the building, one in December of 2013 and the other in February of 2014, had no mention of fundraising for the Society. Anyone else in Vernon who operates a retail sales business must obtain a zoning permit and have a store front leased or owned.
On Feb. 20, 2014, Ms. Pfeifer appeared before Vernon’s Municipal Utility Authority requesting the commission to reconsider the EDU assessment (sewer fee) for the Historical Society’s headquarters. The commissioners said they would reassess the property. I was present when the Veterans of Foreign Wars came before the commissioners with the same request. They were told to put it in writing and were sent away. The B.O.E. is now planning to deed their building the Society is now using to Vernon Township. The mayor has already included money in our budget to pay for the sewer hook-up of that building. So, if the truth be told, all taxpayers are paying for the sewers!
On Feb. 4, 2014, Ms. Pfeifer wrote a letter to the editor stating she now supports the mayor’s raise. On June 9, 2014, Ms. Pfeifer was appointed by the mayor to the Vernon’s Municipal Utility Authority. We get the picture, Ms. Pfeifer.
Sally Rinker
Vernon