Taxpayers Deserve Answers on Mobile Command Center Location, Resident Says

The following is a letter to the editor provided by a Westfield resident.

Dear Editor,
  I find it troubling that when I, as a tax paying resident, asked Mayor Skibitsky at a town council meeting last night where our Mobile Command Center was, he refused to answer.
  I find it equally troubling, that when I asked Westfield Fire Chief Dan Kelly, our OEM coordinator, if he knew where the mobile command center was, he responded, "No I do not."  At least he was honest.
  What if Westfield had an emergency and the mobile command center was needed?
  Wasn't that the reason for the purchase of the mobile command center to be able to respond immediately to an emergency in Westfield?
  Mayor Skibitsky did mumble a response to me after I asked the same question a second time while at the microphone last night during public comment of the Westfield Town Council meeting. He said, "I'm sure you know where it is Mr. Kasko?"
  If I knew for sure, I wouldn't have asked the question. Maybe I should have asked, "Why is the MSOC in Philadelphia?"
    The purpose of my question was to confirm the Philadelphia rumor.  I couldn't even get a straight answer from the "horse's mouth."
  Regardless, when a resident asks a question, he/she should not be met with silence or Mayor Skibitsky's usual response to a question that might embarrass him, which is "Please continue."
   If it is true that the mobile command center is in Philadelphia, at the International Association of Police Chiefs convention, who is paying for the transport of the MSOC to Philadelphia?
Who is paying for the manpower needed to showcase the MSOC in Philadelphia?
Is the showcase of the MSOC, out of state, part of the Town's "back room" wheeling and dealing with the mobile command center's manufacturer to get a better price as Councilman Sam Della Fera has stated?
Wouldn't that be a violation of New Jersey state bidding/contract laws?
    Westfield residents deserve answers and not silence from a Mayor and Town Council that preaches transparency.

Greg Kasko