Intro to How Our Municipal Corporation Works, Part VI

WEEKLY REPORT BY MAYOR JOHN L. MADDEN

AN INTRODUCTION TO HOW OUR MUNCIPAL CORPORATION WORKS, PART VI 

This is the fifth report on a series of reports on how our local form of government works and some of our key municipal employees. 

To recap, our borough is an incorporated municipality which operates similarly to any large, public corporation.  You, the residents, are our shareholders.  The Council is the Board of Directors who meet from time to time to vote on various topics that involve policy, budget, and revenue.  As Mayor, I act as Chairman of the Board, run the meetings and am the figurehead of the Board.  Our Municipal Clerk, Linda Chismar, by state statute, serves as Secretary to the Corporation.  As Clerk, she is also the Chief Administrative Officer of all elections held in the Borough, the Chief Registrar of Voters in the Borough, Secretary to the Governing Body, and is also the Administrative Officer.  Middlesex Borough’s Chief Executive/Chief Operating Officer is the Borough Business Administrator.  Our CEO/COO is Marcia Karrow who is responsible, by State law and municipal ordinance, for the day-to-day operations of our local government.  She oversees personnel, the budget and all operations.  The Administrator reports directly to the Mayor.  Every major corporation has a Chief Fiscal Officer.  Our CFO is Caroline Benson, who, prior to becoming our Acting CFO late last year, was our Treasurer.  As CFO, Ms. Benson oversees all things financial in the borough including Custodian of all Public Funds, Assist in Preparation of the Annual Budgets – Operating & Capital, Maintain & Monitor Financial, Develop Fiscal Policy, File Continuing Financial Disclosures, Certify Availability of Funds, Manage Pensions & Benefits, Oversee Payroll, Salary Ordinances, Quarterly Tax Filing, Annual Financial Reporting, Maintain Fixed Asset List, Monitor Adherence to Collective Bargaining Agreements, and Ensure Compliance to all State Purchasing Guidelines.  There is also a “physical plant” to our corporate municipality which includes buildings, parks, roads, a sewer system, recycling facility and sanitation operation.  The physical plant is operated by our Superintendent of the Department of Public Works.

Our municipality, like a large corporation, has a security force – the Middlesex Borough Police Department.  The head of “security” is Chief Mathew Geist.  Chief Geist is the department head for police operations which include patrols, enforcement and investigations among others.  The Police Department’s duties and responsibilities include preserving the peace, protecting life and property, public safety, detecting, arresting and prosecuting offenders of the laws of New Jersey and the ordinances of the Borough, directing and controlling traffic, and providing attendance and protection during emergencies.  Our police go thru extensive and continuous training and education.  Chief Geist has fostered a strong public relationship thru public outreach and a major Community Policing effort is in our neighborhoods and on the streets.

Next week, in Part VII of the series, I will be covering the job of the head of the major revenue source of our corporation – property taxes and the roles of the Tax Assessor and Tax Collectors security.

Keep Safe and Be Well,

Mayor John L. Madden