March 13, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 3 Mahwah Budget review reveals concerns by Frank J. McMahon The Mahwah Council recently held a five-hour budget review meeting concerning various township department budgets and spent time discussing the origin of police overtime, the police department’s inability to communicate with the school district’s new radio system, and the budget for the municipal pool. At that budget work session, the cost of police overtime was reported to have increased by $505,000 last year, $347,611 of which has been attributed to the overtime cost of police officers attending municipal court for hearings on summonses they have issued, and for security reasons. At a previous review of the department’s budget, Police Chief James Batelli told the council he has no control over the overtime cost for officers attending municipal court because the municipal prosecutor orders police officers to attend municipal court hearings. At the governing body’s most recent budget review, however, Mahwah Township Prosecutor Dennis Harraka told the council that was not the case, and said he was working under the assumption that the police chief authorized the overtime. Harraka said he does not need police officers in court for the initial hearing of summonses because he has the authority to dismiss many of those summonses after pleading them down with the defendants. He said if a police officer is needed and is not present, he carries the matter to the next court hearing, or, if a defendant does not agree to a plea agreement and contests the matter, the matter is held for trial when a police officer is needed in the courtroom. Harraka explained to the council that, until 2009, police officers were required to appear in court in order to agree to any plea agreement a prosecutor made with a defendant. In 2009, he said, the rule was changed by the New Jersey Administrative Office of the Court to eliminate that requirement and to permit prosecutors to make plea agreements with defendants as they see fit. He pointed out that many municipalities then decided to reduce the time police officers spend in court on overtime in order to reduce those costs. Harraka said the vast majority of summonses are dismissed and do not require a police officer’s presence. However, he told the council that his experience as a prosecutor since 1984 has shown him that, when police overtime for court appearances is reduced, officers tend to write fewer summonses. “That’s a fact of life,” he told the council. The council then engaged in a lengthy discussion about (continued on page 12) Xiong is finalist Mahwah High School is proud to announce that Peter Xiong, a member of the Class of 2013, has been designated a National Merit Scholarship Finalist. He has been named as a member of the top 15,000 students from the original pool of more 8,300 students who took the PSAT in October 2011. Finalists are determined on the basis of a professional evaluation of their abilities, accomplishments, and personal attributes considered important for success in rigorous college studies. From this group of 15,000 students, 8,200 will receive scholarship money. Pictured above are Mr. Dominick Gliatta, counselor; Peter Xiong; and Mr. John Pascale, principal of Mahwah High School.