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Guest Commentary By Scott Rensberger
Dear Commissioners, the Town Office and the Residents of Oxford,
I have to admit the Town of Oxford is wearing me down. A little over a year ago I asked Cheryl Lewis how often is the Mill Street drain cleaned out? The Mill Street drain is the only drain in my area of town that’s supposed to protect around 30 homes from flooding. Lewis and the Town of Oxford never answered my question. So I started researching and reporting “facts” about the Town. My only goal has been to educate the taxpayers of Oxford.
But as time goes on I have to admit the personal attacks on me, without giving any facts about anything that I’ve ever gotten wrong, is becoming an old adolescent playlist. People are shooting the messenger as they continue to avoid the truth.
At our last Town meeting, OCC President Brian Wells said some pretty harsh words about me. Which on the surface is completely OK. I strongly encourage opinions and debate — I believe it makes all of us smarter. But what Brian Wells did — had nothing to do with making anyone smarter.
In 2024 our small town of 590 residents went into a financial hole of around 280-thousand dollars. We simply spent more money than we brought in. A couple of weeks ago I learned that the Town of Oxford doesn’t have any funds left to tackle our massive infrastructure problems. Of course, Oxford’s not alone. Every town probably needs money for something. But I thought it might be a good idea for the Town of Oxford to pause it's 2025 donations of tens of thousands of dollars — until we can get our financial house in order. So, I wrote the Town a letter.
I looked into the bank accounts of the OCC and the Oxford Museum and I learned that both organizations have a ton of cash. The OCC and Museum like to call these large funds endowments. But, I was raised in the middle of a cornfield in Indiana and I'm a simple guy -- I call any type of money —cash.
Both of these nonprofit organizations have healthy endowments, which is super great, and I reported this news to the Town of Oxford. To give away 62-thousand dollars of taxpayer money this year didn’t seem prudent or fiscally responsible when our infrastructure fund is around zero.
If a hurricane hits Oxford or another pipe breaks — how do we pay for it? Will the OCC or Museum come to our rescue? Or should we be proactive as a community and try to take care of ourselves by putting money away like St. Michaels does?
According to Cause IQ, a service who specializes in gathering non-profit information, the total assets for the Oxford Museum is $952,292.00 and the OCC’s assets total to $3,299,623.00. Do I trust these numbers? After looking at other information they appear to be in the ballpark. But after being a journalist for more than four decades it's a bit hard to trust anything. I personally think it’s wise for everyone to do their own research.
After telling the taxpayers and Commissioners about these large funds — AKA endowments, Brian Wells came into our Town Hall and called my research numbers, “pretty terrible misstatements.”
When I heard Wells say this I thought — OK, let’s see the numbers you brought? No one in town is better situated to educate all of us on the financial numbers of these two organizations. Wells serves on the board of the Museum and he’s the President of the OCC. I was eager to have Wells educate all of us.
Brian Wells then said, “I want to make it clear and on the record, I don’t want the wonderful people behind me who have been donating to the OCC and the Museum for decades to think we’ve got a lot of money.”
Once again, I thought to myself — OK, Mr. Wells, it's time for you to “clear” up this whole thing. Please tell the residents of Oxford what I got wrong? Please share the banking information regarding the OCC and the Oxford Museum with the "wonderful"taxpayers behind you.
But here’s the problem, like a lot of people who have attacked my reporting, the last thing Brian Wells wanted to do was to make anything “clear.” When asked how much money both of these organizations currently have in the bank Brian Wells was unable or unwilling to provide one number. Not one. And he’s the President of the OCC.
Brian Wells didn’t come to our Town Hall to educate anyone. He came to our wonderful Town to divide us. He wants all of us to think that one side of Town loves the OCC and the other side doesn't — which is a bunch of nonsense. Brian Wells, the perfect person to tell us everything, refused to do so. By simply attacking me, the messenger, without giving one iota of facts is like telling the taxpayers they’re as stupid as the corn that I grew up next to. He insulted all of us by giving us no information.
I have absolutely nothing against any organization in town. I have given money to the OCC and I’ve volunteered tons of my time at the Museum. But as a resident and as a taxpayer of Oxford who cares about our future — I just wanted the Town of Oxford to have a complete picture of these two organizations.
Through the years the taxpayers of Oxford have donated generously. We've handed out hundreds of thousands of dollars to various groups. I find it sad that in our hour of need to build up our infrastructure fund, like other communities, that someone like Brian Wells wants us to keep the taxpayer spigot turned on -- even when his two organizations don't need the money.
Our Town Office is currently trying to keep us all above water without raising our property taxes and Wells doesn't seem to care. He just wants more free cash from the taxpayers.
At the meeting, Norm Bell even mentioned that the OCC has, “A lot of money.” And Bell probably knows because his wife serves on the board of the OCC. When Brian Wells, the President of the OCC, was asked how much money does the OCC have he said, “I don’t have the exact number.” Actually, Wells didn’t offer any numbers. So at this point who are we going to believe — the IRS tax forms or Wells?
The residents of Oxford will never let the OCC fail. It’s our Community Center. Like I said, we’ve been extremely generous in the past. But Wells might not care about everyone’s property taxes going up because he lives in Easton. But, if you're keeping score, by the end of the meeting, I lost my argument about being more fiscally responsible this year. Even though we currently have zero funds for any type of infrastructure, Tom Costigan and Norm Bell both voted to continue to donate thousands of dollars to the OCC and to the Museum. And, according to online information, these two organizations have a total of $4,251,915.00. That's around four million more than our infrastructure fund.
Two of our three Commissioners allowed Brian Wells to come into our Town Hall and trash my name and my numbers without providing one iota of facts. I strongly believe that Brian Wells didn’t come to educate us. He came to divide us. But I personally think we should give Mr. Wells the final word on this matter. Ask him to show exactly what each organization has in endowments, the bank or some other financial institution. When someone says, "I don’t want the wonderful people behind me who have been donating to the OCC and the Museum for decades to think we’ve got a lot of money.” Don't believe them. Have them show proof.
For more information please visit http://www.causeiq.com — There are also several federal tax forms online.
My best to everyone.
EASTON GAZETTE POLICY ON GUEST COMMENTARY: The Easton Gazette encourages commentary from readers. We reserve the right to screen these commentaries for publication to assure fairness and accuracy however, we are not responsible for any opinions, mistakes, or incorrect information presented by the writer. We retain the right to determine publication.
