As West New York Commissioner Cosmo Cirillo thanked everyone who helped operate the town’s day camp this year, Town Business Administrator Matthew Watkins revealed that the program ran with “almost 40 percent less staff” than last year.
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After thanking the town and police department’s efforts during National Night Out earlier this month, Cirillo was complimentary of everyone involved with the day camp.
“I’d like to commend and applaud individuals who took part in our West New York Recreation Summer Camp,” Cirillo said shortly before the conclusion of yesterday’s board of commissioners meeting.
“It was very large, we had over 1,100 children in the summer camp program and I want to publicly commend our Recreation Director Jorge Gomez – our Recreation Leader, Nicole DeFino, the supervisors and all the counselors who took part in it. I can’t tell you how proud I am of the work they did.”
Last month, a parent with a child in the day camp, as well as a camp counselor, alleged that the program was in complete disarray, operating in an inefficient, unprofessional manner across the board.
Neither individual returned to the court chambers for yesterday’s board of commissioners meeting.
Watkins also contributed to the positive vibe in the room.
“On top of that, this was all done, with almost 40 percent less staff than last year. So, I think that … I think the public needs to understand, please understand … we really had them at the bare minimum.”
Additionally, Mayor Felix Roque commended his entire board for efficiently operating with leaner departments.
“Every commissioner: parks, DPW, finance … they’re doing more with less. So I thank you all, I’m very proud of you.”
The board approved a $76 million budget with a 3.8 percent tax increase at a special meeting last month, the first budget of Roque’s administration to come with a tax hike.