You have to wonder if all people that hold any public office are infected with the same strain of stupid!
Why in the world would anyone, especially someone with a law degree, allow this type of insanity go this far? I guess that when you become a politician, you have to check your common sense at the door!
Bridgewater spends $17K to defend $5 fee it charged resident
Published: Wednesday, December 22, 2010, 6:35 AM The Associated Press By The Associated Press
BRIDGEWATER — A Somerset County town spent more than $17,000 defending a $5 fee it charged a resident for a compact disc of a council meeting.
Tom Coulter filed a complaint with the New Jersey Government Record Council in October 2008, saying he should pay the actual cost of the CD to get the recording.
The state council this year sided with Coulter and found he should have paid about 96 cents.
Bridgewater paid more than $14,000 in legal fees defending the case. It had to pay $3,500 to Coulter for his legal fees and give him a $4.04 refund.
Coulter says the case shows a lack of common sense.
Township Attorney Alan Grant tells The Courier News of Bridgewater the legal fees would have been substantially lower had Coulter settled, as the township had offered.
What scares me the most about this whole thing is that this township doesn't seem to think they have done anything crazy! Of course, that's because they are not spending their own money! That's the main problem with nearly all government. It's easy to spend like an idiot when it isn't your own money your spending!
Maybe if they had to pay all expenses from this kind of stupidity out of their own pocket...things wouldn't go this far! Instead, as usual, the tax payer has to carry the expense! That's the way it usually turns out!
What else can you say?
Now, let's get some fresh coffee and sit on the patio. No charge, trust me!
