Your Kids, Your Tax Dollars, Your Right, YOUR Vote
Superior Court Judge Gregory Acquaviva did not grant an injunction (Verified Complaint) sought in today’s hearing in Superior Court. However, the lawsuit designed to expose and challenge the secret deal to keep voters from having their promised say on adding Sea Bright to the Henry Hudson Regional Pre-K-12 School district will continue.
“The appearance before Judge Acquaviva enabled Mrs. Olszewski to expose to the public what has been going on,” attorney Vito Gagliardi told VeniVidiScripto after Superior Court action in Freehold Monday afternoon. “We will now pursue even more discovery to further expose what we all know was designed to intentionally keep the voters from what they were promised. “
Gagliardi, one of the two attorneys representing Highlands Council President Jo-anne Olszewski both for the Highlands Borough Council as council president and as a private resident of Highlands, made his arguments before Judge Gregory Acquaviva charging the Highlands, Atlantic Highlands and Henry Hudson Regional boards, all of whom will no longer exist next week, and the Henry Hudson transitional board, which will not exist after December 30, violated the Open Public Meetings Act by taking action in executive session without informing residents of the action taken.
Nor would the public still have any knowledge of the action, which essentially prevents Sea Bright from ever becoming part of this regional school district, were it not for information only learned because of Olszewski’s action.
Judge Acquaviva listened to arguments both from Gagliardi and attorneys for the school districts, Jonathon Busch and his partner Adam Weiss, questioning both for further information on the points they brought to his attention.
In response to the Judge’s questioning on whether a single student is impacted at the beginning of the coming school year, Gagliardi argued the ramifications are considerably more far reaching than a single school year, pointing out the boards who made the decision will no longer be in existence, yet are holding Sea Bright hostage for its future, an action that impacts Olszewski.
Aquaviva indicated the actions taken at the May 28 meeting of the joint boards were moot by their actions at June meetings, since the agreement they apparently made with Oceanport and Shore Regional to settle their litigation against Sea Bright negated the May action with new action they took at the June meeting. He failed to accept Gagliardi’s argument that even that argument can only be presumed, since the public was never made aware of the action, nor have minutes ever been approved and released. Gagliardi also pointed out that the public never had the opportunity to either hear or speak on the resolution adopted in the executive session.
While Judge Acquaviva also said that while the complainant did not present sufficient proof the Open Public Meetings Act was violated intentionally, Gagliardi said that just as this proceeding enabled the public to know more about what is happening, Olszewski plans to continue to fight for the public’s right to know and will continue to pursue further discover that not only will convince the court actions by the boards were intentional and voters are not being given their opportunity to vote on including Sea Bright.
“I can only hope the citizens look forward to getting all their children in the best educational situation and with the best financial situation possible,” the attorney said, “there is no doubt they have been misled, and there is no doubt the voters have been denied a right that they were promised.”
Olszewski said she has every intention of continuing to present as much evidence as the Judge wants to be sure residents maintain their right to vote on whether to accept Sea Bright into the regional school. “This has become a very complicated issue because of so many of the boards’ actions over the past years since they were promised last year’s vote was a first step,” the councilwoman said, “I have heard from so many people they only voted for regionalization between Highlands and Atlantic Highlands schools because they were promised the next step would be to have a vote on Sea Bright’s inclusion. It is a promise that was made to the people, It has been made impossible to keep by the secret action the boards took this month, and I plan on continuing my fight so the American right to vote is protected here in Highlands, Sea Bright and Atlantic Highlands.’”
