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Vol. 2 – No. 42
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June 16, 2018 – June 22, 2018
Tabernacle OKs Reduced Aid with 'Reserve' for Rescue Squad, 3-2
By Mark Hatoff For the Pine Barrens Tribune
TABERNACLE—A budget amendment allocating $12,000—with an extra $10,000 to be held in reserve—as Tabernacle Township’s contribution to the Tabernacle Rescue Squad (TRS) was narrowly approved at a special meeting of the Tabernacle Township Committee last week. The nar row approval came after an initial budget amendment motion made by Committeewomen Kimberly Brown to give the TRS $22,000 in aid was rejected by a 3-2 vote. Mayor Joseph Barton, Deputy Mayor Stephen Lee IV and Committeeman Joseph Yates IV, who cast the dissenting votes, instead proposed and passed the latter budget amendment to provide $12,000 in aid to the TRS, with $10,000 to be placed in reserve fund for use at a later date, if needed. Committeeman Richard Franzen joined Brown in opposing the latter amendment and supporting the initial one. The $12,000 contribution is being made to prevent the need for the TRS to balance bill residents for emergency medical services. Brown and Franzen believe $12,000 is not a large enough contribution to prevent the need for balance billing. The approved budget figure is $15,522 less than what Tabernacle contributed to the TRS in 2017. After an April 23 committee discussion of ways to avoid a 2018 municipal tax increase, it was suggested that the rescue squad contribution be cut from $35,000 to $30,000. However, at a May 21 committee meeting, a proposed TRS contribution of $12,000 appeared on the committee’s agenda, resulting in further discussion. “We had a number here ($12,000) on the last agenda that was not discussed (at the April 23 meeting),” said Brown before the latter amendment was voted on. “If there is a (TRS) shortfall, (the township) would have to make it up.” Yates, who made a motion that ultimately led to the passage of the latter amendment, said that when the TRS was given $30,000 in a prior year, the organization came back to the committee and said they didn’t need it. “It was a couple years ago, when we gave the squad $30,000 and they said they didn’t need
Photo By Douglas D. Melegari
Woodland Township Committeeman Matthew Henrich (left) becomes animated as he tears into his colleagues, Mayor William DeGroff (center) and Deputy Mayor Mark Herndon (right), on the township committee.
Fier y Defense Committeeman Rips into Adversaries, Colleagues over their Insinuations of Wrongdoing By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer
WOODLAND—Matthew Henrich, an 11-year member of the Woodland Township Committee and for mer six-year mayor, held nothing back at the latest committee meeting as he tore into his political adversaries and colleagues for insinuating recently that he has behaved illicitly throughout his tenure and attracted the attention of the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office. In a fiery speech lasting almost ten minutes, Henrich became louder and redder in the face as the clock ticked, slamming his fist on the dais several times and calling out some of his adversaries by name. Hen r ich lef t no doubt among
onlookers about what and who set him off: resident Louis Cantafio and a question he asked during an April 25 committee meeting—the one prior to the latest one. “With respect to Mr. Henrich’s conduct in office, I am a little curious if any of the other committee members or staff have been questioned by the county prosecutor’s office?” asked Cantafio, who lost to Henrich in 2016, as write-in candidate, by 259 votes. Township officials and Henrich’s colleagues attending the April meeting, in response, neither confirmed nor denied that they had been questioned by the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office, leaving a cloud over the committeeman. “I don’t know the answer to that question, but I would advise the
committee not to comment one way or the other,” said Township Solicitor William Burns. “I think the answer would be, ‘We can’t comment on, confirm, nor deny that that happened or that an investigation is going on.’” Henrich, at the time, stayed silent, agitated that he couldn’t respond on the advice of the solicitor. But, after almost a month passed, his fury was unleashed. “Mr. Cantafio asked (Mayor William) DeGroff and (Deputy Mayor Mark) Herndon if they had been questioned by the prosecutor about my conduct in office,” he said. “He was trying to make people think that I did something wrong, and the prosecutor was coming after me. “Let me say this directly to you Mr. See DEFENSE/ Page 10
See RESERVE/ Page 13
INDEX Automotive.................... 23
Gardening Column........ 16
Marketplace................... 21
Business Directory........ 18
Health............................ 14
Opinion...........................11
Community.................... 12
Hobbyist........................ 17
Worship Directory.......... 12
Dental Column............... 15
Local News...................... 2
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