JOHN DEVLIN TO TAXPAYERS “DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO

In response to a recent request by Atlantic City School Board member John Devlin for greater budget transparency, Keith Davis, Atlantic County Republican Party Leader, issued a challenge of his own to Devlin: don’t issue bold statements when you have a record of inaction and playing politics on your own school board.

“The most important job for any elected official is their vote - either a Yes or a No. But when it was time to vote for the most recent Atlantic City school budget which increases tuition by 25% on downbeach residents, John Devlin was too cowardly to take a stand,” said Davis. “As reported by the Press of Atlantic City, ‘Member John Devlin abstained from the vote in protest of the increase, but his abstention preserved the six-vote majority for approval.’ Devlin didn’t do his job for the taxpayers.”

“Atlantic County government has been a model of efficiency under the leadership of Freeholders Frank Giordano and Jim Curcio,” said Davis. “How does their record on the Freeholder Board compare with Devlin’s on the Atlantic City School Board? The cost per pupil in Atlantic City is now a whopping $18,700 --- a 20% increase over the past three years that Devlin has served on the Board.”

“Apparently, Devlin couldn’t comprehend his own budget and the impact it will have on the taxpayers he now wants to represent as a freeholder,” Davis said. “If he stood up for his future constituents in Atlantic City, Ventnor, Margate and Longport who will get walloped by the tax increase in his budget by voting ‘no’ he could have stopped it. But instead he played politics and tried to have it both ways by abstaining.”

Davis also took note of Devlin’s recent comments made during his campaign announcement. Devlin said: “I am committed to working on behalf of Atlantic County's hard-working families, who deserve representatives who put forth real solutions for community problems, not just sound bytes to win political points."

“Talk about double-talk,“ Davis said. “Devlin’s so-called ‘protest vote’ in abstaining on his own school budget is just the type of sound byte he claims he’s against. If he was really protesting his own budget, he should have had the guts to vote ‘no’.”

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Paid for by the Atlantic County Republican Committee; Michael Goloff, CPA, Treasurer