Apparently the all-Republican Middletown Township Committee is no longer satisfied with completely controlling the agenda of their meetings, but they now also want to control the comments from the public.
At the workshop meeting on Tuesday night, committee members were talking two or three at the same time during the first of the public comments, eating into the five minute maximum allotted to the speaker. When one of the committee members, Mr. Fiore, was responding to questions from the speaker, the Deputy Mayor was making comments such as, "This is ridiculous," at the same time. When I appealed for order during the public comments, Mr. Fiore responded that comments should be limited to township business. This is clearly not a requirement and a gross violation of the constitutional rights of the public.
I appeal to the mayor to restore order to these meetings and enforce Robert's Rules of Order, as required by Township Resolution 13-47 adopted on 01-06-2013.
The video of the meeting of September 3, 2013 is on YouTube at: http://youtu.be/EuuJHHW2O8Y
Public Comments are at the end of the meeting.
John Schwebel
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Note: I'll post the actual video of the meeting with comments later, however the exchange that Mr. Schwebel is referring to in his letter is rather astonishing. You'll see what I mean if you watch the video and fast forward to the Public Comments portion of the meeting @ the 24:20 mark - MM
6 comments:
The time is long over due that this current group of officials be referred to whatever legal authority that can command these individuals to show the residents of this town the respect the people deserve.
That has not happened in a very long time....and this attorney's priority is political and not what's always in the best interest of the people he is paid to represent.
Time to plead our case to the next level of authority or the ACLU .
Fiore and the rest of the thugs need to be challenged !!
Election time is the time the people in Middletown could get RID of two of them quite quickly. Please dear God, let that happen !
It is surprising that the Twp attorney Brian Nelson didn’t speak up to advise the committee members that they were violating the law. Isn’t that part of his job at public meetings?
Mr. Nelson should be familiar with the case of Besler v. West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District. In that case, both the Appellate Division and NJ Supreme Court (2010 Supreme Court decision) affirmed the finding that Besler's First Amendment right of free speech was violated when he was gaveled down and silenced at a Board meeting for no other reason other than the unpopular viewpoint he expressed. The decision has serious freedom of speech implications for all public boards throughout New Jersey.
Further, there was an award of damages in that case. The initial jury award was $100,000. The award amount was disallowed by the Supreme Court, and I don’t know the final negotiated amount. Regardless, this should give Middletown officials reason to be much more conscientious about their conduct at meetings.
The law aside, the disrespectful treatment of public at this meeting and many others is far beneath what we have a right to expect from those in office.
Thanks John and Linda for the enlightening comments about the rude, arrogant actions of the committee. The deputy mayor was especially rude, calling out over and over,"ridiculous " while both the audience member and her colleague were talking. The committee was so rude, and the purported meeting leader, Mr. Scharfenberger did nothing to establish order. Let's goto the videotape!
Scharfenberger DOESN"T KNOW ANY BETTER. Thinks the law doesn't apply to him or is just ignorant.
He has no respect for anyone and serves himself....first,last and always !!!
Bunch of good for nothing clowns.
We NEED NEW OFFICIALS IN OFFICE..these clowns have been ruling Middletown like a revolving door year after year..they have their heads up their butts
This has been going on for years. I remember attending a meeting for class while in high school and Mrs. Peters having a conversation with another committee member and then getting up and walking out while a member of the public was speaking .
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