Wednesday, July
30, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: 609-677-0707
Aponte Pledges to
Seek Voters Consent on Future Debt
Manny
Aponte, Republican candidate for an at-large position on
the Atlantic County Board of Freeholders, said today
that future proposals for the county to assume bonded
indebtedness to finance capital construction projects be
submitted to the voters in a public referendum.
“As a
member of the Board, I will make it a top priority to
urge passage of an ordinance requiring the consent of
the voters and taxpayers of the county before debt is
incurred,” Aponte said.
Aponte’s
pledge came on the heels of the Board approval of a $40
million bond ordinance to expand facilities at the
Atlantic County Institute of Technology. Aponte was a
strong supporter of the project, but advocated it be
submitted to a referendum.
“When we
deal with long term millions of dollars of bonded debt
and hold the taxpayers responsible for its repayment, it
should be our duty and responsibility to seek public
approval first,” Aponte said. “If the proposed project
is a worthy and desirable one, it should be the
responsibility of the Board to make its case to the
people and explain the need to go into debt to finance
it. It is, in my view, a fundamental basis of our
democracy and will increase elected officials
responsiveness to the people they represent. ”
Aponte has
been critical of one of his Democrat opponents,
Freeholder Alisa Cooper, for changing her position on
the ACIT project, first supporting a referendum and
later opposing it.
“Political
considerations were uppermost in her mind and her vote
reflected that,” Aponte said.
“Requiring
a voter referendum on future projects will eliminate the
kind of unseemly political maneuvering Cooper engaged in
and establish the merits of the proposal as the
determining factor,” Aponte said.
He said his
referendum proposal would exempt emergency situations in
which rapid action is needed to protect public safety.
“Obviously
if a bridge or roadway is crumbling and poses a threat
to the people, our immediate responsibility is to
undertake whatever spending is necessary to remove that
threat,” he said.
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Paid for by Aponte for Freeholder, Marc Nehmad,
Treasurer