It was so ludicrous I had to ask the board president to repeat it more than once.
Make no mistake about it, I finally learned, I could not ask any questions during the public portion of the Highlands Board of Education meeting.
How could I make comments if I didn’t know what they were talking about, I asked? A reporter does think of things like that.
But it was clear. Not only could I not ask any questions about anything, but a school board member couldn’t ask any questions about regionalization either!
But that’s another story.
This one is about how I truly was treated differently from everyone else who attended the Highlands school board meeting Monday night.
During the public portion, in response to an announcement it was time on the agenda for the public to speak, before I even gave my name, the board president smiled and said, “You’re limited to three minutes, I’m starting the timer now.” I smiled and said, “I haven’t even given my name yet, is that included in my time.” She smiled, friendly like, but apparently even giving my name was being timed.
I was the only timed speaker the entire night. No one else was told the timer was starting; indeed, though admittedly I don’t see well, it did not even appear from the front row that the egg timer was used for anyone else at all. And several residents, including a Councilwoman, asked questions. But I was denied.
So why couldn’t I ask questions even if I contained them in the three minutes allow?
I read the rules.
I would be allotted a limited time AFTER BEING RECOGNIZED (which to me means giving my name, how else can I be recognized? (oops, that’s a question!)
The rules said the board encourages public participation. But how can you comment on things that were said if you aren’t sure what you heard and need clarification in order to be informed?
The rules said my conduct could cause them not to listen to me. But I only stood, gave my name and address, and asked a question… Not allowed.
The rules said they would not respond to questions about employment, appointment, discipline, prospective or current employees, or “any other matter that may be discussed during a non-public meeting in accordance with NJSA 10:4-12…”
I wasn’t asking about any of those things.
My question, horrors of horrors, had to do with REGIONALIZATION. You know, that’s the same every one of the three boards are supposed to know about, three different Mayors and Council have been discussing and, like the boards, acting on, and councils want to get on the ballot to let the people decide whether we should do it or not.
But nope, I couldn’t ask that question.
Why, you ask? (That’s ok, I welcome questions!) Simple. The board president told me not one, but two attorneys advised the board last August they cannot answer questions about regionalization.
Wait!
You’re supposed to be part of the planning, part of the decision making, representing the people, but I can’t dare ask you a question about it? Is that for real? Is it any wonder there’s been so little communication among all the entities if a private citizen can’t even ask a question about it at a school board meeting?
Is that a violation of the First Amendment?
Do two attorneys have the right to recommend I, or others like me, don’t have the right to ask questions of an elected board?
Does a school board have the right to deny a constitutional First Amendment right because two attorneys they pay well told them I and others like me should not be allowed to ask questions?
All of which begs the questions…
Is it these same two attorneys who also advised a school board member cannot participate in any decision on whether regionalization can be on the ballot simply because her husband is on the Council and has recused himself from any decision making?
Did those two attorneys, or whoever issued that opinion, think it’s okay for a councilman in Atlantic Highlands to vote on regionalization even though his wife, the former school board member, quit her post so he could vote?
There’s another school board member in Atlantic Highlands whose husband is also on Council. Can’t either of them vote either, in the opinions of these two attorneys?
I did hear at the meeting there’s yet another conflict at the Henry Hudson level, though I don’t know a member of that board married to a councilman.
So have we come to the point where paid attorneys are deciding what the First Amendment of the Constitution permits for Americans or anyone who comes into our beloved country?
There’s no doubt many other people asked many other questions after I was denied the right. None was on regionalization I suppose.
Though the Highlands Mayor, who attending the meeting along with two council members because I guess they think all of this discussion is important for the residents to know and learn made some very good points. She wanted to know when the board would be able to figure out its budget and present it to Council? Because Council has a deadline they have to meet in figuring how much of their budget has to be allocated for the school district. If the borough doesn’t get the school board figures in time, council simply won’t have the money to give them to pay their bills since they can’t take it from other accounts.
Not sure she got an answer. I was still struggling over why I was singled out with an egg timer, a warning it was being turned over, and a denial of my right to speak if that speech included a question mark at the end of a sentence.
