I really like all the members of the Atlantic Highlands Borough Council; they’re friendly, they’re nice, they give up so much of their time on volunteer projects that are so great for the borough and its residents. They work hard, go to every event possible and are swift and generally thorough in responding to my many questions. They even stay up until midnight for their meetings if necessary and are still patient with the 11th hour citizens still full of questions. They even, for the most part, are pretty good-natured when VeniVidiScripto criticizes them as elected officials and they seem to know it isn’t personal and I appreciate they seem to take it that way.
But lately … they have given me so many things to wonder about.
I was truly surprised when they approved the minutes of the meeting in which the famed cannabis ordinance was introduced for the first time, not included in what they were approving.
Nor could any of them give any good reason for it other than they simply overlooked it.
Understandable for mundane matters and depending solely on the incredibly efficient clerk they have. But on something as important as allowing marijuana sales in town?
They didn’t even remember they had introduced it, taken a vote on it and were going to have a public hearing on it? That is the obvious conclusion since it wasn’t in the minutes at all. That does make me wonder.
There were so many other ‘errors’ as well… they wanted to hold the public hearing before they got the comments from the planning board; finally got recommendations from the planning board they liked … but didn’t include them when they advertised for the second go around. Finally, they pulled the ordinance back at the last meeting only to start over again some time in the future. Which means… yes, another introduction and publication of the whole thing once again. None of it is really serious, though it costs the borough a few unnecessary bucks. But when you’re dealing with an ordinance that has brought out so many people with so many opinions, wouldn’t you think they’d be a bit more careful?
But far more serious than all of that is all this activity on the question of regionalization. At last week’s meeting, they all voted to call in a mediator. Great idea. Highlands and Atlantic Highlands are scuffling over the cost sharing arrangements, so perhaps a mediator is a good thing. But did they even ask Highlands if they wanted to do that? And if they did, wouldn’t it be nice to tell the folks the latest?
They voted unanimously to request a specific mediator and authorized their attorney to ask him. That’s the same attorney who has said more than once he’s a labor attorney….not a mediation, education, or finance attorney. They unanimously granted him authority to ask the county commissioner of education to be the mediator.
Now that brings up two more questions: Did they even ask Highlands if they had a recommendation for a mediator? For that matter, why would they ask the county education commissioner to mediate? Isn’t this mediation over money sharing? Seems the towns are agreed on the educational issues, it’s just the money they’re talking about. Why ask someone in education? Can’t the elected municipal officials who set the tax rate make decisions themselves?
For all the money the towns have spent on attorneys, why not spend a few bucks more and get an actual trained, certified mediator? In mediation, it’s not necessary to know the specific facts, it’s simply to get the two sides to come to a compromise that hurts both, helps both, and gets it done. Not sure a Commissioner of Education is adept at that. His interest is education, regardless of cost.
If they do go to mediation, and that would really be the smart thing to do, who establishes who will represent each town? Will it be the mayors? All the Council-members? Or just attorneys? Surely it would not be anyone connected with the boards of education or their superintendent…. This isn’t an education issue, it’s a tax issue. And that’s an issue for elected officials running towns to decide, not the folks running the schools.
The towns are so, so close, to getting this question to the people footing the bill. If it takes a mediator to get them to compromise, then do it. But keep the people informed.
Also seems there’s another issue that may well be coming up before all of this is resolved and everyone gets back to thinking of the education of the children and how their parents and everyone else in town are going to pay for the best they can get. Seems there might be a conflict of interest or two among a principal player or two, involved in the entire process, but that’s another story for another time.
Back in May, Mayor Broullon called a special meeting for this Wednesday evening at 6:30 at the Highlands Community Center and invited everyone to come in and talk about regionalization, ask questions, talk about the advantages or disadvantages…you know, have their say. Sounds like even at the first beginning of all this talk about letting the people decide that she wanted the question to get on the ballot and wanted the people to have their say. A heck of an idea!
Or now, might she have something more to say? Bound to be an interesting meeting
