Oh Aubrey: There You Go Again Part IV

By Burlco08

Chris Brown, Democratic Candidate for Burlington County Freeholder, stated today that incumbent Republican Freeholder Director Aubrey Fenton's latest public blunder personifies his lack of basic knowledge, understanding and ability to run county government. "Freeholder Fenton just can't seem to get his facts straight," said Brown. "His latest blunder shows that he is either very bad at math or he does not know how to read an asset report. Either way, his public comments indicate a woeful lack of understanding given he is the highest ranking elected official in Burlington County government." Last week, in a prepared written statement, Fenton either lied or misstated the number of municipal vehicles maintained by Evesham Township. Brown, who is the Deputy Mayor of Burlington County's largest municipality, released figures that show Fenton's number was off by nearly 50%. "Evesham Township has, at the most, 130 vehicles including police cars, public works trucks and maintenance vehicles," said Brown. "The only way to get to Fenton's number of 225 is to either add incorrectly or to count all gas operated devices such as weed whackers, tractors and lawnmowers. So Fenton is either intellectually dishonest or he is unable to properly read a capital assets report." Brown said neither alternative would surprise him. "I certainly think it is possible for Fenton's math skills to be the problem. Since 2000, spending in Burlington County has increased by $63 million and taxes have increased by $41 million and continue to rise. Fenton, however, still sticks to his scripts that have been so carefully worded by his high paid GOP Spin Machine in order to try and fool the public." "Though Freeholder Fenton's statement is incorrect and untrue I do welcome the opportunity to debate the issues of this campaign. If Mr. Fenton wants to compare his record of listening to the bosses of the Republican party to my service to the residents of Evesham Township I am available at anytime. However, I would warn Mr. Fenton that based on his Friday release he should get his facts straight before he slings his mud this way." Fenton's judgment has come under fire recently for his decision to give embattled Bridge Commission Chairman John Comegno a vote of confidence following Comegno's recent DUI conviction and for directly overseeing the Board of Social Services. The Board, as recently documented in the Burlington County Times, has been paying Republican donor and insider Chris Baxter hundreds of thousands of dollars for a questionable work product that caused multiple commissioners to raise red flags. Earlier this year, Fenton led the fight to cut critical transportation services for Burlington County's seniors while managing to provide funding for Chris Baxter and 5 other GOP insider attorneys. Fenton also failed to understand that a $48 million dollar transportation project taking place in Evesham involved a county road under Fenton's jurisdiction and refused to discuss the impact the project would have with Evesham Mayor Randy Brown or Deputy Mayor Chris Brown. "It is now abundantly clear that Fenton lacks a fundamental grasp of the issues facing Burlington County residents. He is incapable of exercising the type of judgment and leadership required to move the county away from its history of fraud, waste and mismanagement," said Rick Perr, Democratic County Chair. "Fenton is merely a conduit for GOP bosses to carry out their carefully orchestrated plans to enrich themselves and their friends at the taxpayers' expense."