Resident not pleased with new council president

Just when you thought the separation of duties couldn't get any worse among Edison's all-Democratic government, it just did.

At the Jan. 8, 2007, reorganization meeting, Council President Robert "See No Conflict" Diehl was replaced by Councilman Charles "I Abstain" Tomaro. And it was by unanimous vote, too!

Now, that's a change that will ensure that "checks and balances" remain a myth in Edison for the year. Here's a councilman who will parrot anything a sitting Democratic mayor says. Funny, if that was the council's intent, then they should have just made Mayor Choi the council president and saved the residents the $6,500 stipend that goes along with the job. That's about all you're going to get from Tomaro anyway - Choi's rhetoric.

In all fairness to Council President Tomaro, if you ask him, he'll tell you that he does more than any other council member. And he's right - he does do something more than any other council member. He abstains from voting more. Why, you ask? He abstains because he usually has a conflict of interest.

Now, if you ask him why he has a conflict, he'll answer you this way. He'll tell you that under the law, he's required to give the reason for abstaining, which is a conflict of interest. And he's correct. However, what he doesn't tell you, and hopes you don't know, is that either the law he cites or any other law prevents him from disclosing those conflicts. He doesn't want to tell you the conflicts - he just doesn't want you to know. I asked him numerous times over the years to disclose the nature of his conflicts of interest. He won't. Gee, I wonder why? Though, it does kind of nicely sum up what we can expect from him as council president on open and transparent government.

But hey, who could ask for a better local Democratic Party soldier at the helm than Tomaro. Who else up on the council would openly admit to holding up a budget vote with an 11-cent tax increase until after November 2005's highly contested election, where three council spots and the mayor's spot were up for grabs. Guess he forgot that you're not supposed to tell the residents that the council engages in such an arguably unethical practice at election time. But, come on, he's exactly what you want to see in a council president, don't you think? Someone who's going to make the residents of Edison his top priority - just as soon as he takes care of the local Democratic Party interests.

To his credit, though, he does bring creative thinking to the role of council president. He did come up with "present not voting" to replace "I abstain." That's got to be worth something.

Ralph Bucci

Edison