Varano goes after Block in Ocean County Clerk Race

by: Jason Springer

Tue Sep 30, 2008 at 11:23:54 AM EDT

The office of Ocean County Clerk Carl Block has a dedicated trust fund and his opponent, Democrat Jason Varano came to the Asbury Park Press Editorial meeting saying that someone needs to take another look at the books:

That account is supported by service fees collected when mortgages, deeds and passport applications are filed with the office. The money is apart from and in addition to the clerk's annual budget, which is funded by county taxpayers through the Board of Freeholders. Unlike budgeted items, the money in the dedicated trust fund is carried from one fiscal year to the next.
"This is an account I think that needs to be audited. I think it needs to be addressed. This is an account that is hard to find within the freeholders' budget," Varano said. "To me, it was very hidden. It's a fee-based account that is for an additional filing fee for when mortgages are filed, deeds are recorded . . . which goes into a dedicated trust account."

Block defended some of the charges from Varano, who himself was already focusing on what he saw as another problem in the Clerk's office:

"There were also over 3,000 hours of overtime last year in this office," Varano said at the meeting.
One employee alone had 800 hours of overtime, and another had 700 hours of overtime, he said.
Block did not deny that the cost of doing business has increased since he was first elected county clerk in 2003. Nevertheless, he said, he was taking steps to rein in overtime costs, which he said were the result of a busy election calendar this year, including the first stand alone February presidential primary.

From the tenor of the article, it looks like Block wasn't really prepared for the charges to come his way and was caught flatfooted. Block did respond following the meeting, but was left playing catch up defending the actions of his office.

Jason Springer :: Varano goes after Block in Ocean County Clerk Race

Tags: Jason Varano, Carl Block, Ocean County, Clerk, Ocean County Clerk, (All Tags)

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Varano goes after Block in Ocean County Clerk Race | 1 comments

Varano's a Keeper (0.00 / 0)

If one looks at all the eastern municipalities in NJ-03, there aren't too many that have a Democratic mayor, from what I gather. Berkeley's mayor, Varano, has been a prominent supporter for Adler since the beginning, and he seems to be the de facto Ocean County Dem leader instead of the somewhat lacksadaisical leadership in that organization.

700 and 800 hours worth of overtime in any office is suspect, and this trust fund should be audited for this and other reasons (Basic governmental accountability is one prominent one).

by: Martin @ Tue Sep 30, 2008 at 17:30:50 PM UTC