| Is it tea time?
No. 4 p.m. is when the current Bergen County Freeholders have their work session meetings to make decisions that affect YOUR tax bill. During the week. You, know, when most folks are still at work and can't come. These are the meetings that aren't televised like the "Public Meetings".
These meetings are the meat of when legislation gets done. I know because as a Councilwoman in Tenafly, our work sessions last for 4 hours - if we are lucky and they don't go for 5. We are Democrats who believe in OPEN government. OPEN public meetings. The public is invited to our work sessions and they are invited to speak about any item they wish.
Folks who don't like doing the public's work in public call what we do squabbling, but as they say, anyone who likes both laws and sausage probably wouldn't like to see either get made. Democracy is loud, it is messy. It is hard. But in the end, the best laws get made when there is debate and dissent along the way, the last draft is always better than the very first. That is how any creative endeavor works. I design in my day job as an engineer. Things always need to go back to the drawing board as they say, for a little tweaking. The final result is the better for it.
In Tenafly, our 6 Dem council often gets teased by folks who don't understand how government should work. They think we should always be united on every issue. But we have had quite a few votes that needed a tie breaking vote by the Mayor. That is how it should be. We each bring a different perspective to the table and that is healthy. Our meetings go long because we care about what we do and won't leave until we have done our due diligence.
We do not rubber stamp items that come to the table and I firmly believe the residents that voted me into office deserve every ounce of respect I can give issues that will directly affect them.
When our Mayor wanted to pass a few ordinances simply to say he got them done before his election last year, I was the speed bump in the way because I actually analyzed what these zoning ordinances would do and prevented a 2 family zone ordinance from being passed that was based on an incorrect map. I analyzed the F.A.R. ordinance the Planning Board wanted to rubber stamp and came up with a solution that worked for everyone all over the Borough in a simpler way. Getting the Mayor to admit he made a mistake has been harder than coming up with a better ordinance, but so be it. I will not pass a bad ordinance simply to say I passed something. I care about getting it right.
The latest articles in the Record about the way the current Bergen County Freeholder Board conducts business has made me even more determined to win this Primary fight. To hold work sessions at 4 in the afternoon shows how badly the current Freeholders misunderstand the concept of the Open Public Meetings act here in NJ.
Sunshine law doesn't mean the sun must be out when you hold your meetings at 4 in the afternoon. It means what you do must be open and transparent to the public you are accountable to. It means you give folks a chance to speak at that meeting and actually address you to your face. It means you show them the respect they deserve. It means you know every decision you are making - you are doing on their behalf and to benefit the community as a whole.
To have our ELECTED Freeholders waste more time on chocolate eating competitions and photo ops than on weighty decisions of budget matters should make every tax paying County resident livid.
We don't need Freeholders who are so in love with the idea of being Freeholders, that they simply kowtow to the Party Bosses to get money for re-election. We don't need Freeholders who are so busy trying to get elected Mayor in their own towns that they neglect the other municipalities in the county. We need Freeholders who are tough, who can think through the difficult decisions we have to make in this economy. The Party Bosses have a stranglehold on our County Government and the Freeholders aid and abet Boss Joe. We cannot afford a County Government that allows the Party Boss to determine who to hire and who to give fat raises to.
We cannot afford business as usual. We cannot afford sheep in Freeholder clothing. We cannot afford Ganz and McPherson.
Read the attached articles from the Bergen Record and PolitickerNJ and see if you disagree.
http://www.northjersey.com/new...
http://www.northjersey.com/new...
http://www.politickernj.com/ho... |
