Jordan Orlins, a member of the Mendham Township town council, proposed a plan to privatize the DPW. The DPW’s purpose is to, provide a variety of public works services including the maintenance of municipal roadways and drainage systems, the issuance of road opening permits, snow removal, brush collection, buildings, and grounds maintenance, and the maintenance of recreational facilities.” Orlins wants to hire a private contractor and reduce the DPW staff to 11 employees, which he also believes wouldn’t negatively affect the DPW’s ability to provide emergency services. However, his plan has been met with a lot of backlash from multiple people in the community. 

During the discussion on Orlin’s plan, Jack Curtis spoke up against it. The Observer Tribune reports that he specifically took issue with Orlin’s characterization of DPW employees as only cutting grass. Curtis stated that the number of employees in the DPW shouldn’t be reduced as there was plenty of work for them to do. He also stated that he had been informed by an unnamed finance committee member who told him that four employees would be cut. This information was not released to the public before Jack Curtis spoke up, this caused Curtis to question the transparency of the finance committee. Councilwoman, Amelia Duarte agreed with Curtis, however, both former Mayor Brown and Mayor Niebart disagreed. They stated that the committee had been fully transparent with the public. Micheal Broderick also criticized the plan, stating that privatizing the DPW would cost more instead of less. More citizens criticized Orlin’s plan, and these individuals wrote letters to the Observer Tribune. These individuals are Michael Merritt, Pratip Chattopadhyay, David Bailin, Jack Curtis, and Judy Horzepa. They echo similar concerns as Curtis and Broderick, which is Orlin’s characterization of DPW employees as bodies rather than people, which shows a lack of respect for them. Along with that, it’s dangerous for the residents to have reduced employees in the DPW. In fact, during a recent town meeting on the subject, Orlins blew out listeners’ ears as he spoke about his plan with the microphone mere millimeters from his mouth. Many people criticized the plan, one person stating how he was trying to, “reinvent the wheel.” However, Orlin continues to push for his plan to become reality. He writes a letter to the Observer Tribune asking citizens to read a study that defends his plan. Though individuals that wrote letters against him, commented on the letter, pointing out flaws and disagreements. The DPW controversy rages on as Orlins continues to push and others push back harder.