The Cisco Kid and Pancho

At the May 17 meeting, an item on the Middletown Township Board of Supervisors consent agenda provided for the purchase of a tractor with mowers for $96,841. Supervisor Robert McMonagle asked that item be removed. When it came up for discussion, Mr. McMonagle suggested that the equipment should be put out for bid. He felt that in these economic times, the Township should not rely on the state bid list. If the equipment were put out to bid, he said, the Township could perhaps save $10,000 or more.

Mr. McMonagle’s motion carried. The approved bid on this past Monday’s agenda was $86,969. Since both Supervisors Chairman Tom Gallagher and Supervisor George Leonhauser had voted against the motion to bid the tractor, Mr. McMonagle decided to reinforce the notion that bidding an item would always save money by reminding them of the discussion in May.

Rather than acknowledging the validity of the cost-saving measure, Mr. Gallagher turned the fiery red we have all come to love and went into defense mode. I think it was only (only?) a $5,000 savings, he said. After being corrected by Acting Township Manager Debbie Lamanna that it was indeed almost a $10,000 savings, he then went on to say he only wanted to get it approved so it would be ready for grass cutting season, forgetting that the representative of the company that was going to supply the tractor said it probably wouldn’t be delivered until after the summer anyway.

How much overtime did we have to pay because we didn’t have that equipment, Mr. Gallagher huffed. When someone said none, he followed up with How was I to know that we would have a summer so hot that the grass wouldn’t grow much. Are you kidding me?

But wait, as the TV commercials often say, there’s more. Now it is time for the ethics-challenged Mr. Leonhauser to jump in and say, with that evil chuckle of his, well after all it was (former) Township Manager Ray Stepnoski who put the item on the agenda.

Perhaps someone should explain to Mr. Leonhauser – very slowly now – that items on the agenda must either be approved or denied by the Board. It is the responsibility of each and every member of the Board to review agenda items before the meetings and then decide if they have merit or should be questioned.

These two are a better comedy act than the Cisco Kid and his jovial sidekick Pancho. (Google the TV series if you are too young to remember.)

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