Fanwood Mayor Clarifies Shared Services Comment in Star-Ledger Story

Fanwood Mayor Colleen Mahr has reached out to Patch to set the record straight regarding comments made in a Star-Ledger story about Wednesday's public meeting with the police chief.

In today's newspaper story, "Fanwood chief wants cops to connect with community," the reporter writes that Mahr said she is not interested in the possibility of combining the Fanwood and Scotch Plains police departments to cut costs. The comment was referencing one of the recommendations made in the shared services study, which is currently being reviewed by both town councils. Mahr said the study recommends the two towns create a joint police department, but not an all-out merger.

"I did not say Fanwood is not interested in that," Mahr told Patch. "At the end of the day, it's all about smaller government. This report is a road map for the two communities, and with the police department being the biggest line item in the budget, it'd be irresponsible for me to discount the report."

Mahr said that the shared services report includes several recommendations for the towns, and that the two councils have yet to decide which, if any, of those suggestions they'd like to pursue. The portion regarding the police departments was discussed during an April 21 meeting with Chief Richard Trigo, sponsored by the Fanwood Democratic Club.

"I'm sure there's going to be areas we agree and disagree, and areas where we may want to go a different route or have a different outcome," Mahr said. "The ultimate goal is cost savings and smaller government."

The mayor said the report will become available to the public in the coming weeks and that portions of it will be posted online. Public forums on the report are expected to be held in early June.