I live here and yes, they are bullies of the highest order.
The property maintenance people go around looking for anything remotely out of order. Then they issue a ticket--no warnings--A SUMMONS. The property owner, already being fleeced by property taxes that are among the highest in the nation, goes in to answer the summons and they gang up on the person in a little room, trying to extract as much money as they can from them. Believe me, I have seen this in action. A person with a piece of pipe on their property had $700 extracted from them so fast their head was spinning. Oh, and she was a friend of the judge's. That's what they do for their "friends."
A guy who owned a mall put out a "for rent" sign. He, too, was fined $700.
These people in West Orange municipal government make Tony Soprano look like Mother Theresa.
Oh and don't even try the municipal court judges. They're in on it, too, and hand out fines so incredibly high it would take your breath away. Mayor Bloomberg has a similar scam going in NY. See this:
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/gonzalez-secret-quota-system-heaps-fines-businesses-article-1.1374396
So that's what government has come to here--nothing more than a vehicle to ply money from its citizens.
Oh and the part about the town's web site costing 35k plus 5k a years maintenance is another sad truth. There's all kinds of web talent in this town but this idiot town council saw fit to farm out the job to some outfit in Indiana or someplace like that. Couldn't even award a New Jerseyan the job.
Cher
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