Township Supervisor Richard Reaume Has Some 'Splainin To Do

First, the disclaimer: The opinions I express here are my own. I have never met, nor do I know any of the incumbents or candidates in the local political races, nor am I a member of any of the citizens groups in Plymouth Township. 

A couple of weeks ago, Plymouth Township Supervisor Richard Reaume sent a scathing letter about Township Clerk Joe Bridgman to township voters. In this letter, he endorses Nancy Conzelman for clerk over incumbent Bridgman. The amazing thing is that he also felt the need to level some pretty serious accusations against Mr. Bridgeman. 

In this attack ad, which was paid for by Citizens for Nancy Conzelman, as well as the Committee to Elect Arthur Butler, who is running for Trustee, Mr. Reaume also endorsed Mr. Butler for Trustee, and thought it important to point out, in very bold print that "current Trustee Steve Mann is not seeking reelection, which is why I am supporting Art Butler for Township Trustee for the open seat." 

I'm guessing the bold print is to tell me that the only reason he is endorsing Mr. Butler is that Steve Mann is not seeking reelection. Hmmm. We'll get back to Mr. Mann and Mr. Butler later, but suffice it to say that Mr. Reaume's words seem to imply that he would not have made an endorsement if the incumbent, Mr. Mann was going to seek reelection. 

So, getting back to Mr. Reaume's accusations about Mr. Bridgman, I know one thing: Attack ads should be taken with a grain of salt. Mr. Reaume made his claims, and in a recent letter to township voters, Mr. Bridgman rebutted them. Who do we trust to tell the truth? Is the truth somewhere in the middle? 

President Ronald Wilson Reagan once said: "Trust, but verify." Call me a skeptic, but I never trust, and I always try to verify. With that in mind, I looked through the bullet-pointed accusations, and searched for the ones that could not be spun in any way. I found two that I could verify quickly through the Plymouth Township website, which is a really nice site as far as local government websites go, but I digress. 

One of the accusations leveled against Mr. Bridgman was that he voted against the "right-sizing" of the fire department. First let me say that I am sick and tired of political code phrases like "right-sizing." Right-sizing is apparently the new downsizing. Why do these politicians continue to insult our intelligence with their catchy phrases? I'd respect them more if they just said it like it was, and told us they were laying off firefighters. 

Note to Mr. Reaume: Pay attention to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. He doesn't pull punches, he tells it like it is whether it is good news or bad, and folks, whether they agree with him or not, at least respect him for his candor. 

I can just imagine the poor guy having to come home and tell his wife he got "right-sized." I'm sure she felt better about the whole thing knowing that at least her husband didn't get "wrong-sized." He got laid off, for cripes sake! 

Mr. Bridgman voted no to the layoffs. Simple truth. He had his reasons, and I am sure he has communicated them to the public, and will continue to do so. 

The other accusation that Mr. Reaume has listed as a fact is that Mr. Bridgman "missed more meetings over the last 4 years than any other elected official." 

Well, Richard Reaume? You got some splainin to do! (Spoken in my very best Ricky Ricardo voice.) 

Mr. Reaume does indeed need to explain his accusation here. Right off the top of my head, I can tell you that Mr. Bridgman has not been in office four years. He will mark his fourth year on Nov. 25 as near as I can tell. I know that fact because I looked it up on Plymouth Township's excellent website. They have the agendas and minutes archived back through 2001. I'll bet that cost a pretty penny to have done, but their money was well-spent, at least from my perspective. 

The money was well-spent because it allowed me to go back and check Mr. Reaume's facts. Having checked the archives, the name Pinnochio comes to mind. 

I went through each regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Trustees, and in the minutes it lists who attended, and who was absent. The hilarious thing I found was that, under absences, it always said "excused" after the name of the member who was absent. Who excuses you? What happens if it is "unexcused"? Detention? 

I did find out that Mr. Reaume is the only member with a perfect attendance record for the last election cycle. Notice I didn't say the last four years, because that would be inaccurate. Gold Star for you, Mr. Reaume! 

I also found out that it was not Mr. Bridgman who had missed the most meetings.

Huh?

Turns out it was Mr. Mann that missed the most meetings. The same Mr. Mann who Richard implied in bold letters that he is only endorsing another candidate because Steve Mann is not seeking reelection. I told you we would get back to Mr. Mann, and Mr. Butler, who is now probably wishing he would have fact-checked this letter paid for by his campaign. 

So Mr. Mann missed the most regular meetings, not Mr. Bridgman as Mr. Reaume has claimed — but wait. Maybe I should have included "Special Meetings," as well. Maybe that is what Mr. Reaume meant. Maybe he meant Regular AND Special meetings of the Board of Trustees. 

I went back, and with pen in hand, and I tallied up everything again. The final numbers indicate to me that Mr. Reaume, our Plymouth Township Supervisor sent the voters incorrect information about Mr. Bridgman in an attack ad sent to Plymouth Township voters.

By my count, when you include regular and special meetings, Mr. Mann missed 17 meetings, and Mr. Bridgman missed 13 meetings, with Mr. Doroshewitz coming in third. I would add that I received in the mail, a campaign ad from Mr. Bridgman sent out to Plymouth Township voters indicating that he missed some of his meetings because he was caring for his ailing father who has throat and bladder cancer. For obvious reasons, I do not think it is appropriate to fact-check that, but rather wish him and his family all the best in what must be an extraordinarily difficult time. 

I have no idea why Mr. Mann missed his meetings, and I don't really care, as he is not the one who chose to make reckless statements that were clearly untrue. 

Mr. Reaume wrote about Mr. Bridgman in his letter, and I quote: "This behavior by an elected official can not be tolerated, which is why I am supporting Nancy Conzelman for Township Clerk." 

To Mr. Reaume, I would say that politics is one thing, and you can choose your own level of honor in that game, as I know it can get dirty, but to make a clearly untrue statement, and to do so knowing the family situation is, to me, behavior that can not be tolerated by an elected official, to borrow Mr. Reaume's own words.

As a proud Republican, I reject Mr. Reaume's type of politics...

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