The It's Your Town - Video Newsletter which documents the Tuesday night February 21st, 20112 meeting of the Middletown Township Committee has been posted online for your viewing pleasure.A few highlights from the meeting worth noting would include the members of the Middletown Swim and Tennis Club, who came in and showed the Committee how the Club could be profitable. The members pointed out that the club was mismanaged, which the Committee agreed with and when the members questioned the Committee about missing funds, the Committee stated the numbers members were using were flawed. The members counter this argument by pointed out that the numbers were from the Township.
Another highlight of the evening was when questions were raised about the purchase of iPads for the Committee during this tight budget time. It was confirmed that there were 6 iPads purchased for members of the township's governing body along with a wireless Internet access plan for each. I covered this information in my previous post "Some Answers To My iPad Questions Received, Some Remain" that contain audio of Mr. Robert Superti asking the questions, now you can see him ask them and watch how the Township Committee reacts to them. The exchange begins 1 hour and 33 minutes into the video.
Also of interest, an ordinance was passed to re-organize the Parks & Recreation and Public Works departments. Ordinances were introduced to sell the Swim & Tennis Club, refinance $19.6M in debt, allow stop signs to be installed at intersecting streets on 7th Ave in the Hillside section of town and suspending a restriction on subdividing a property located in the Navesink section of town. These ordinances will be voted on at the 3-19 meeting, after a public hearing is held for each.
As a companion to the video, you can download a copy of the meeting agenda that contains the proposed resolutions and ordinances that were voted on or presented during the meeting. A box around an item is a link, bringing you further into the document to that resolution or ordinance. At the end of the resolution there will be a link bringing you back to the agenda. Attached to this agenda is also the monthly bill list, so that everyone can see how the Township is spending our tax dollars.
5 comments:
Mike,
There is a an even bigger issue than cost when it comes to these government issued Ipads. According to the information in the posted video, TC members are being allowed to use these Ipads for personal use- downloading photos etc.
This opens the township and all of us taxpayers to enormous potential liability. What if one of these committee members downloads porn, child porn or other illegal or inappropriate material. What if a committee member uses the Ipad for writing something not authorized by the township (i.e. blog, editorial) which results in litigation. Does this not open up
Middletown's taxpayers to enormous liability for, at a minimum, legal costs- and potentially worse?
There is more than enough potential for abuse even when employees are strictly banned from using government property for personal use- but here we have a situation where it is being done with the township's blessing! I am just incredulous at the stupidity here.
Mike, I think the questions Bob Superti asked were certainly warranted, but I think there is a much larger issue here that is being missed.
http://jshinn.wordpress.com/2010/03/15/employer-liability-for-employees-internet-misconduct-or-when-surfing-the-web-can-wipe-out-your-business/
Thank you, I agree
2:50PM makes a good point. Imagine if Ray O'Grady had an Ipad at his disposable which he could use for personal and township use!
What they do on their taxpayer funded iPads are subject to the Open Public Records Act.
Now that town hall meetings are getting some attendees, it's interesting to see that the members of the town committee are actually paying attention to the proceedings instead of playing on their ipads.
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