Letter: Televised meetings shouldn’t be complicated

The letter below was written by Mr. Don Watson and appears online and in print in  last weeks edition of the Independent.

I had been waiting to post this letter until I was able to post the video of the May 7, 2012 meeting of the Middletown Township Committee which is located in the previous post, so that readers could relate to the video and what is written in the letter more coherently. 

Until this past February, Mr Watson had been writing the "It's Your Town" e-newsletter, which chronicled the happenings at Middletown Township Committee meetings and was sent to over 500 resident email boxes and posted on this blog.

Now however, instead of writing the newsletter, he has been video taping these meetings and posting them online for residents to watch, seeing how the Township Committee has came up with every excuse in the book over the past few years, not to record them themselves and post the recordings online at the Township's website or broadcast them over the township's municipal public access cable channels.

A recent article discussed that televising the Middletown Township Committee meetings (“Televising meetings becomes partisan issue in Mid’town,” April 26) has come to be a political issue this election year; however, it was the Township Committee members that first politicized this otherwise nonpartisan issue. Making government business available to the public should not be a political issue, but a right citizens have to see their elected representatives debate and decide on issues that directly impact their quality of life.

Over the last few years, many residents from across Middletown have appeared before the committee to request that its meetings be televised on the township-controlled cable access channels. Yet each time a request was made, the committee came up with a different reason why the township could not — or rather, would not — provide this service to its residents: it was too expensive, they would need to hire a videographer or people would use it to grandstand.

As residents kept asking for televised meetings, I began producing an e-newsletter consisting of an objective, play-by-play review of the discussions during Township Committee meetings as a way to inform residents. It was more detailed than the minutes produced by the township and was well received by the over 500 or so residents that signed up to receive it monthly. When it became clear that the committee members would not move to televise their meetings, I decided to shift my effort from the newsletter to video recording. I received overwhelming support in the form of donations from all parts of town to purchase video recording equipment and, in February, I began video recording committee meetings and posting the full, unedited segments on Internet Archive. The videos have enough hits, showing that there is public interest in our local government at work.

I offer a DVD of each meeting to the committee to be replayed on public access channels, but the committee came up with more excuses: first, they questioned the completeness of the video and, now, they state if they accept my video, they would need to accept any video produced by any resident. They are making this more complicated than it is. Sunshine laws were enacted to ensure transparency in government. Making video recordings of meetings available on public access cable takes that intent one step further to truly open meetings to all residents, not just those who have the means to make it to meetings in person. Despite the committee’s attempts to turn this into a political issue, partisanship has no place here. I make the meeting videos available to whoever wants to see them. For now, that will have to be on the web until further notice.

As stated in the letter, you can watch Mr. Watson give a copy of his video recordings to the Township Committee at the 61 minute mark of the May 7, 2012 recording previously posted. It is taken courteously from him with no intention whatsoever of  being watched, posted online or broadcasted by the Township Committee for others to watch, which is a shame.

 I can't make it to Township Committee meetings as often as I would like so I find these recordings very informative and enlightening. I think others would also if given broader access to them.

It's Your Town - Video Newsletter for 3/19/12

The It's Your Town - Video Newsletter which documents the Monday night March 19, 20112, meeting of the Middletown Township Committee has been posted online for your viewing pleasure.

This month's meeting was unusual in the sense that it took nearly 2 hours from start to finish, the norm for the past several months have been an hour or less.

At this months meeting there were two public presentations given, one by Monmouth County Deputy Freeholder Director Tom Arnone who spoke about the "Grow Monmouth" program and the other by Middletown's CFO Nick Transente, who rolled out the FY 2012 Municipal budget in his.

There were also a few public hearings on the agenda for various ordinances, one of which was for the sale of the Swim Club and another that pertained to the subdivison of the property owned by Max Weinberg, drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band.

During Public Comments Mr. Don Watson, the person responsible for video recording Committee meetings since February, once again presented the Committee with a DVD for broadcasting on the Township cable access channels. Mayor Fiore however made it clear that there were no intentions on the Township's part to broadcast this or any meeting when asked.




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.

It's Your Town - Video Newsletter 3/05/12

The It's Your Town - Video Newsletter which documents the Monday night March 5, 20112 meeting of the Middletown Township Committee has been posted online for your viewing pleasure.

Members of the public out numbered the availability of seating in the Conference room where the meeting was held. This forced many who attended to stand in the hallway outside of the room. Their complaints about this arrangement were ignored by the committee.

At this meeting members of the Swim Club came in to continue the conversation about the future of the Club and the sale of the property (the Committee introduced an ordinance, at the last meeting, to put the property up for auction).

Mr. Don Watson, the person responsible for video recording these meetings, presented the Committee with a video copy of the 2/6/12 Committee meeting, requesting that the Committee broadcast it on the Township cable access channels. He asked the Committee if they had viewed the previous video which he had given them.

Many excuses were given for not broadcasting the meetings but Township Administrator Tony Mercantante stated that he would review the video presented.

Mr. Fiore stated that there were no guarantees that every meeting would be recorded and therefore he did not want the public to miss a meeting if they were broadcast. Other Committee members were asked to discuss broadcasting but they refused and had no other comments.

So for now, only those with Internet access and knowledge of the It's Your Towns newsletter have the ability to watch and view these recordings.

New discussion items for this meeting included the formation of a new committee between the various leaders of the independent sports leagues and the Township that would discuss the best way to utilize our parks and another committee to be formed to review historical properties in town.

Ordinances will be introduced soon for the formation of these new committees.

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.  

It's Your Town - Video Newsletter 2/21/12

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.  

 

It's Your Town - Video Newsletter 2/6/12

As I announce last month, the It's Your Town newsletter was going to be changing. It's author Don Watson, had decided that it was time to stop writing about what goes on at Township Committee meetings each month and start showing residents what actually happens during Township Committee meetings.

Mr. Watson has announced he will no longer be presenting the newsletter in its current form recapping Middletown Township Committee meetings as he has done for the past few years. Instead however, it is with great delight that he now will present video recordings of the Middletown Township Committee meetings

Below is the first video which he recorded held on Monday, February 6, 2012.

"... It was an impressive meeting to launch the first recording. The Middletown Swim and Tennis Club community showed up to make their case for keeping the club off the auction block. The mayor thanked the past president of the library board, Randall Gabrielan, for his years of service. This of course was after the mayor asked for Mr. Gabrielan’s resignation the previous week. Also, something that rarely happens, the Committee voted on each new resolution individually.", Mr. Watson stated in an email announcing the format change to subscribers of his newsletter.

It is hoped that this video starts a new era in Middletown, an era of transparency. This first recording shows what really goes on at Middletown Township Committee meetings. If readers of this blog take the time to watch this video and any videos that come later they will see and hear how our Township Committee deals with its citizens.

"... Current and previous Middletown Committees said the people who want meetings recorded have a political agenda. They said recording the meetings would cost too much. They said giving the public video access would allow them to grandstand. You decide if videotaping the meetings is worthwhile..., Finally, I want to extend my personal thank you to the many concerned citizens who made this recording possible with their support. By uniting we triumphed over those who said it couldn’t be done. Many thanks. And as always, thank you all for taking an interest in your local government.", stated Watson.

Don Watson will be offering the Township Committee a copy of this recording with the hope that they will post it on our Township’s public television access stations.

The video runs over two and a half hours, the first few minutes of the video you will hear a lot of noise. There are no guns being fired. It is a malfunction of the sound system.

As a companion to the video Mr. Watson has put together a PDF document that contains the meeting agenda and the resolutions that were voted on 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. It is a little easier to follow along when you can see what is being voted on.

While watching the video pay attention to who speaks and who doesn't speak from the dais, Township Attorney Brian Nelson is sitting next to mayor Tony Fiore. Nelson is an appointed official, not an elected official, yet he speaks as if he is!

It should be pointed out that although Nelson isn't an elected official, he is a high ranking member of the Middletown GOP who makes a living off the taxpayers of the Township.

Watch closely for the arrogance and distain he shows for those that stand in front of the Committee. He rolls his eyes, laughs and snickers at the very residents that he makes his living off of.

It's Your Town - Newsletter Volume 4, Issue 2-1/17/12

Here is another edition of the It's Your Town newsletter, it covers the January 17th, 2012 Middletown Township Committee meeting. As readers of the blog know from listening to audio clips posted last week, this meeting was very eventful.

A a late notice stating that the Township will not open the Swim & Tennis Club this year was posted to the Township's website on Friday 13th, heading into the long Martin Luther King 3-day holiday weekend and apparently, from the sentiment of the members present at the meeting, they weren't informed previously of the dire financial situation of the Swim Club, over two dozen people voiced their concerns to the Township Committee.

There were a few Swim Club members who questioned the expenses incurred by the Township on behalf of the Middletown Arts Center (MAC) in relation to those incurred to operate the Swim Club. They were told by Mayor Fiore and Township Attorney Brian Nelson, that the MAC was on the way towards profitability and that the utility expenses were down dramatically to only $30 to $40K per year! Attached to the newsletter are the actual figures for the past five years so you can determine for yourself what is accurate.

Regardless, when the Club closes, all Middletown residents will be responsible for repaying the original bond used to purchase the Club instead of the member fees stated in the Pool Club ordinance.

Read this edition of the newsletter ....Here

And if you would like to listen to the companion audio clips from the meeting, I have them below

Committee comments #1

Committee comments #2

What about the kids?

Tom Wilkens comments



As always, if you wish to subscribe to the newsletter and receive in your inbox send a request to itsourtown@yahoo.com

It's Your Town - Newsletter Volume 4, Issue 1- 1/01/12

A new year and a new addition of It's Your Town newsletter is now available.

This first issue of 2012 covers the annual Reorganization meeting of the Middletown Township Committee which took place on New Year’s Day, Sunday, January 1, 2012 and includes all of the resolutions that appoint people to various Boards, Commissions and Committees in town. However, of all the appointees listed only about 25 were present to be sworn in.

This issue is the 56th newsletter published since the first issue debuted back in December of 2009 which covered the December 7th Township Committee Workshop meeting.

Due to the time that it takes to put the newsletter together, it's author Don Watson, has decided that he will be take a break from writing it on a regular basis shortly. The next issue that will cover the January 17th Middletown Township Committee meeting may be the last issue for a while.

But don't fret over the loss of the newsletter, Don Watson still plans on keeping the public informed of what transpires down at Town Hall. Don plans on videotaping the bi-weekly township meetings and posting them online so that resident can watch the Middletown Township Committee in action for themselves instead of reading about them.

The Township Committee meetings have often been described as the "best show on earth" by Don who now feels that the newsletter, which is written very matter of factly, hasn't been conveying properly what really goes on at Township meeting. He feels, why write about a meeting when he can provide people the opportunity to watch them?

Don will be announcing soon via email to all those that have subscribed to the newsletter,when and where they will be able to see the recordings. If possible I will also post the videos here for reader of the blog to look at.

So until then, enjoy reading the last few issues of It's Your Town newsletter by clicking onto the link.

It's Your Town - Newsletter Volume 3, Issue 24-12/19/11

The latest and last edition of "It's Your Town" newsletter for the year, which covers the Middletown Township Committee meeting for Dec. 19th, 2011, is now available for your reading pleasure.

Besides the usual contents of the newsletter such as the monthly bill list and various ordinances and resolutions, inside this newsletter you will read a very accurate representation of the public hearing concerning the expansion of the Middletown Library's Board of Trustees, Ordinance 2011-3048 , which became a rather testy affair at times between acting mayor Tony Fiore and the members of the public that stepped forward to address their concerns over the expansion of the board.

The expansion of the Library Board is seen by many as a way for the Township to gain greater influence over the Library's budget and business dealings, to ensure that future surpluses are readily available for the Township's purposes and a repeat of the public spectacle that took place earlier this year over the Township Committee's ruthlessly brutal extortion of $500K worth of surplus and reserved funds from the Library.

This was also the last Township Committee meeting of acting deputy-mayor Pamela Brightbill, who decided not to seek reelection to the Township Committee this year. A Proclamation was presented to Brightbill for her years of service.

You can download the newsletter ..... Here

It's Your Town - Newsletter Volume 3, Issue 23-12/05/11

The Holiday season is upon us and in full swing which means that I have been a little busy over the past few days getting the house in order and my shopping taken care and wrapping, so I've been a little behind in my blogging.

Here is the latest issue of It's Your Town Newsletter which covers the December 5 th Middletown Township Committee Workshop meeting. For those in attendance, it was a very short meeting lasting less than 30 minutes and seemed as a nuisances for those that represent the people of the township to be sitting there. Committeeman Settembrino never once pulled his nose away from his iPad, I witnessed him constantly tapping and scrolling between screens.

Committeeman Scharfenberger and CFO Nick Transente seemed equally engaged in their iPad and smart phone respectively speaking.

One of the few pieces of business that was discussed was an ordinance that was introduced to set a new salary structure for non-contractual employees, no discussion took place and it was moved by the Committee to be voted on at the December19 meeting.

Also a special meeting of the Township Committee was scheduled for Monday, December 12 to adopt a resolution to accept the vendor for the MCIA bid proposal that was to be awarded for the Township's solar project. This meeting however was canceled later in the week without explanation.

Read the Newsletter .... Here

It's Your Town - Newsletter Volume 3, Issue 22- 11/21/11

The current edition of It's Your Town Newsletter is here and covers the only Middletown NJ Township Committee meeting that took place for the month of November held on November 21,2011.

This meeting included the passing of an ordinance that approved the rezoning of the Bamm Hollow property as a result of settling a lawsuit out of court. There was also an ordinance introduced for the purpose of increasing the number of members to be appointed to the board of the Middletown Public Library.

Currently there are 7 board trustees serving the Middletown Library, this ordinance will increase the number who serve as Library Board Trustees to 9.

The problem with this is that the Township Committee, which appoints the trustees to the Library Board, will handpicked loyal Republican cronies to serve on the library board, which will then make it easier in the future for the Township Committee to raid surplus and reserved library funds for its own use, as it did earlier this year when it extorted nearly $500,000 from the library (threatening that the library would be held responsible for police lay-offs if the money was not given up), in order to balance the Township budget.

A public hearing on the ordinance will take place at the December 19,2011 Township Committee meeting.

The bill lists that were included with this edition did not scanned well therefore some of the pages are missing information on the left side of the page.

Guest blogger Linda Baum has written a post concerning the appointment of new members to the Middletown Library Board and what it will mean to those who already sit on the board and for those who run Middletown's governing body and how it will effect the library in general.

I will post it later today, in the meantime you can read the latest newsletter.... Here

It's Your Town - Newsletter Volume 3, Issue 20- 10/3/11

Here is the latest edition of the It's Your Town Hall newsletter covering the 10-3-11 Middletown Township NJ Committee Workshop meeting.

There was a request to have a special Committee meeting to discuss the capital improvements, but as stated during the meeting, the Committee felt there was no reason to discuss this in public.

There was some discussion when Linda Baum asked about principal repayments for the bonds and notes the Township has outstanding. She wanted to continue the discussion, but it was terminated due to the 5-minute rule. See inside for more details.

For those that are new to this there are links within the newsletter that will bring you to that ordinance or resolution. At the end of that resolution or ordinance there is a link to bring you back to where you were reading. In the case of the bill list there is a link on each page.

If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter and receive via email, contact Mr. Don Watson at itsourtown@yahoo.com and requests to be put on the mailing list.

Download the latest newsletter .... Here

It's Your Town - Newsletter Volume 3, Issue 19- 9/19/11

Once again I am a little late at posting the latest edition of It's Your Town newsletter, the newsletter was sent out to subscribers on Monday.

This edition is covers the Township Committee meeting held on Monday night September 19, 2011. Inside you will find a wealth of information that a person wouldn't normally know about unless they attended one of the Township Committee meetings themselves.

For instance, there was a public hearing on the new snow removal and brush and leaf removal ordinances and an update on the time frame of having Hubbard Ave repaired (it happens to be approx. 4 weeks).

During public comments a question arose about the Township's Solar Project that has now been downsized from 4.1 mega watts (MW) to 2.8MW, the commenter wanted to know why. There also seemed to be a discrepancy in a bond issue that had a perceived $100K error that the commenter asked about but the question went unanswered.

If the Township won't broadcast these meetings over it's public access T.V channels than this newsletter is the best record of what actually transpired during these meetings.

If anyone is interested in subscribing to the It's Your Town newsletter, you can do so by sending your request to itsourtown@yahoo.com.

If you don't want to subscribe but want to read this edition of the newsletter you can do so by clicking ..........Here

Happy Reading

It's Your Town - Newsletter Volume 3, Issue 18- 9/6/11

The new edition of It's Your Town newsletter is now available for your reading pleasure. It was issued earlier in the week but I just haven't been able to post it until now.

This edition of the newsletter covers the Middletown Township Committee monthly workshop meeting that took place on Monday, September 6th. Once again it was an short meeting lasting only an hour or so.

As has been the norm since January, very little was discussed in the open forum. When something was addressed to Committee members that required them to discuss an item that was on the agenda for discussion but was not discussed, the question was defered to the CFO.

This is not how open and responsive government is supposed to operate. I suppose however that people shouldn't be surprised by this any longer since our mayor,Tony Fiore stated a couple meetings back that they didn't need to discuss items in public because they discuss them in private amongst themselves.

There was also a disscussion concenering the Solar Project that my interest some.

Read the newsletter .... Here

It's Your Town - Newsletter Volume 3, Issue 17- 8/15/11

This edition of It's Your Town newsletter covers the Middletown Township Committee regular monthly business meeting that was held on Monday, August 15, 2011.

As is the norm lately, the meeting was rather short lasting about 35 minutes.

Committee members had little to say, Kevin Settembrino and Steve Massell just sat on the dais looking pretty with nothing to say, while Pam Brightbill, Gerry Scharfenberger and Tony Fiore spoke briefly.

Only 5 members of the public took the time to speak at this meeting but their questions,unfortunately, were left mostly unanswered.

Their questions ranged from why there was insufficient information in a $2.85M bond ordinance for tax appeals, that seems to have not appropriated $1M of the total, to what happened to grant money from the latest cable TV franchising contract that would have provided money to televise Township Committee meetings.

The newsletter also contains links to various proposed resolutions and ordinances.

Stay informed and read it all for yourself....Here

It's Your Town - Newsletter Volume 3, Issue 16- 8/1/11

This edition of It's Your Town newsletter covers the Middletown Township Committee Workshop meeting that was held on Monday, August 1, 2011 .

There were only a few resolutions voted on and 11 items on the agenda for discussion. However, most of the discussion items were not discussed. When a resident asked about the lack of discussion a very interesting response was given.

Tony Fiore, Middletown's acting mayor, said that there was no need to discuss agenda items in public because members of the Township Committee members receive their meeting packets on the Friday before every meeting. If a question arises, a Committee member will call a fellow Committee member, Township Administrator or someone else for clarification prior the public meeting, hence no need for discussions in public.

While this practice of Township Committee people calling others for clarification and information pertaining to items in meeting packets prior to open discussion of an item it not technically a violation existing sunshine laws, it is an extremely questionable practice that limits information being disseminated to the public by open and transparent means.

Read the newsletter for yourself, it's all covered here in this issue.

It's Your Town - Newsletter Volume 3, Issue 15- 7/18/11

It's hard to believe but another issue of It's Your Town newsletter has just been posted. This edition of the newsletter is the third one for this month and covers the regular business meeting of the Middletown Township Committee meeting of July 18th, 2011.

It was very short, only about 20 minutes for the business portion of the meeting so there isn't a lot to this edition of the newsletter. This newsletter however, is the best account of the meeting, unless you get the actual recording.

Make sure you read it so that you too can be informed of what is happening down at Town Hall.

Read the newsletter....Here

It's Your Town - Newsletter Volume 3, Issue 14- 7/13/11: 2011 Budget Adoption

There was a special Middletown Township Committee meeting on Wednesday, July 13,2011 to adopted the FY2011 Township budget. The Committee held a Public Hearing to amend the municipal budget before adoption, after which the Committee voted to adopt a budget for the 2011 calendar year. You can read all about it in the new edition of It's Your Town newsletter

This was another quick meeting with no comments from the Committee members except for Mayor Fiore, who said he was very proud of the budget produced this year.

To say that there was a handful of residents in attendance is an over statement, if you took out the reporters that were there only less than 10 people showed up. Do you think the 5pm starting time had anything to do with this? Something as important as a budget adoption could have waited until this evening when Middletown holds it regular monthly meeting in the court room.

Included in this budget is a property tax increase of about 3% over the 2010 increase of 13.85%.

It was stated that quarterly tax bills that reflect the new tax rate should be mailed out in about a week or so after the budget adoption, so you can expect your bills anytime now.

You can read this edition of It's Your Town newsletter and see a copy of the 2011 adopted Middletown Budget....Here

Once you read the news letter and take a look at the budget, you'll then be prepared to ask a few questions tonight if you are planning to attend the regular Township meeting at 8pm tonight at Town Hall.

Two things in the budget that quickly stood out to me were interest payments on bond debt, which has increased by nearly $400K over last year and the lack of an adequate surplus of funds built into this years budget. Surplus funds in this years budget have been diminished to $600K , which is extremely low, In years past that number has been as high as $4M. Last years surplus was over $1M and by the end of the FY 2010 it had been exhausted.

By the end of the year will the Township need to borrow money from the 2012 budget to make up for a shortfall as they had had to do at the end of 2009?

It's Your Town - Newsletter Volume 3, Issue 13- 7/6/11

Here is the latest edition of the newsletter, It's Your Town Hall. In this edition the Township introduced an amendment to this years budget. They also paid some bill and had a few discussion items, that were not really discussed. It was a very short meeting because the Committee members did not offer any comments, except for Mr. Fiore.

I suppose the rest of them are suffering from heat exhaustion and can't bring themselves to mutter a word for fear of imminent collapses from brain paralysis.

Enjoy reading and don't forget to look over the bill list that covers two weeks of Township expenses. It is rather revealing to see how they have been sending money.


Read it Here and stay informed!

It's Your Town Newsletter Volume 3, Issue 12- 6/20/11: The Methadone Clinic Uproar

The new edition of It's Your Town newsletter has been published and ready for reading and covers what happened during the Middletown Township NJ monthly Committee meeting of June 20th, 2011.

besides there being a presentation of the Township Solar Project by Birdsall Engineering and a public hearing on theTownship's ADA compliance plan,the newsletter tells about the very large crowd of concerned citizens that attended the meeting to express concerns about the Methadone Clinic that opened on Rt. 35 at Apple Farm Rd.

As reported here and at other websites the meeting was overflowing with residents from the the Applebrook and TwinBrook neighborhood that are effected by the methadone clinic being so close to their homes. At times the meeting became very loud boisterous and contentious. Residents found it hard to believe that they were being told the true about the clinic and the process that enabled it to open at the current location.

You can read all about it HERE in the newsletter.

As an added bonus for your listening pleasure I have an audio clip from that night that features resident Patricia E. Corridon, who spoke to the committee about the opening of the Middletown Methadone clinic. She said she did not feel a great deal of trust in the Committee who were elected to protect their citizens. She said everything from a broken toenail to a cell tower is aired in Middletown. She said it is hard to believe when they say they knew nothing about this and were blindsided. She said for them to say they will be protected but then turn Apple Farm Rd. into a police state is not what is wanted. She said the Committee does not have the pleasure of plausible deniability.

Ms. Corridon was interrupted midway through her comments by Tony Fiore who sounded arrogant, exasperated and helpless in the wake of all the criticism being leveled against himself and others who's job it was to know about this before the clinic opened at the only entrance into or out of a residential neighborhood

It's Your Town - Newsletter Volume 3, Issue 11- 6/6/11

The latest edition of It's Your Town newsletter is available for downloading. This edition of the newsletter covers the monthly workshop meeting of the Middletown Township Committee.

As is the new norm since no Democrats currently sit on the Township Committee, the meeting was over shortly after 9pm, it lasted just barely and hour. So one can imagine just how much public information was actually discussed in public.

Interestingly enough what was discussed was that the Township Committee is planning to raise a few various fees in town.

It was only about a year ago when those on the Middletown Committee were calling the fees increases imposed by the State, just another tax. Now it is their turn.

It was announced that the Township budget will be passed in early July, but I doubt it seeing how the Township will not receive surplus funds from the Library by then.

It should be noted thought that the budget $4M less than last years, but our property taxes will be increasing 2.9%. Go figure!

You can read all about these and other points of interest from the June 6th workshop meeting by downloading the current edition of the newsletter >>> Here

As always, happy reading.