Broadway, west of Pilgrim Pathway: The “flea market day flood” 2014. By Paul Weinstein. ©
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
On Nov 21, we wrote about a meeting which is going to occur on Dec. 1 at 7 pm at Thornley Chapel. The gathering was requested by Vito Gadaleta, the Township Administrator, for the purpose of discussing remedies for the recurrent flooding at Ocean Grove’s southeast sector. (link to BF Nov 21 post)
We had interviewed Gadaleta for that article and asked him if this was a public meeting, open to all. He was evasive saying that it wasn’t exactly a public meeting because it was intended to deal with only one agenda item: “The Broadway Flooding Matter.” He said that the small venue was chosen because he was hoping to attract only those who are directly involved with the topic, but he wouldn’t say that anyone else who came would be asked to leave. He was adamant that he would not welcome any other topics being brought up from the floor.
I was concerned about that response, because it supposes that this topic is nobody’s business but the “floodees.” The size of the room is really a red herring, because the CMA said that if a crowd developed, they would just move to the annex or even the Youth Temple.
But does Broadway flooding really only concern the neighbors down there? Since 2012, Blogfinger has posted over 30 articles about this topic. Never once did anyone say that we should ignore the subject because it is only the business of the flood folks. No one ever said that the topic was boring or that they didn’t care about the subject. We posted many disturbing flood photos and we all felt sad for people such as the man who lost his antique cars and the owners of the Sea Spray Inn who have been devastated by water on a number of occasions. We heard Fran Paladino, an engineer from Broadway, who shared his frustrated concerns with everyone at the HOA meetings.
The fact is that Broadway flooding concerns all of us. We do worry about our neighbors, and we are unhappy when they suffer during flooding. Neptune’s costly resources (including DPW, fire department, rescue squad, police, Citizen Patrol, and engineering) come into play during flooding, and it effects Fletcher Lake, traffic patterns into town, and drainage from the rest of town.
And if the Township now spends more money on remediation, then they will use tax funding, as they did for the inital run-off project. So this subject does interest and affect all of us in the Grove.
So, getting back to the meeting coming up, Mr. Gadaleta is quoted in the Coaster this past week where he seems to have taken a harder line. He said, according to the Coaster, “Let me be clear on one point, residents impacted by the Broadway flooding only should attend.”
There are several themes which particularly interest me on Blogfinger: freedom of speech, transparency in government, how democracy works in OG, and freedom of religion.
In this case, the first two stand out. I think that the Township should have encouraged anyone who is interested to attend this meeting. It may not be well attended, but we all should feel comfortable in knowing that we are invited to this public session. Maybe we all should go to demonstrate our support for our neighbors and prove to the Township that they have to treat us all as one, because if our Broadway neighbors have trouble getting what they want, then they will want all the rest of us to be behind them. Connie Ogden, of the Floodee Association of Neighbors, has been outspoken in asking that their problems be publicized throughout the Grove by Blogfinger.
By the way, there is a “Sunshine Law” (1975) in New Jersey which “is designed to ensure that decision making government bodies in the state conduct their business in public.” There are some specific exceptions having to do with public safety, protection of individual privacy, or for situations involving negotiations or investigations. If you check the minutes of the Township Committe for October 27, you will see a few examples of lawful exceptions, but this flooding session is not one of them.
I am not saying that the Thornley meeting is in violation, but, if there’s any doubt, invite us all to the party so that we all can face the music and dance.
VINCE GIORDANO AND THE NIGHTHAWKS.
Public meetings, working groups or ad hoc committees, and information gathering should be three separate activities for public officials. Trying to combine all three at Thornley has caused some confusion, or maybe public meeting law issues, who knows.
1. Ask the public for information: letters, emails and phone calls to gather information.
2. Form working groups of residents discuss specific problems, and they can gather information and discuss problems;
3. Have a totally public meeting to discuss the issue. But using Roberts Rules of Order — fastidiously — to prevent the grandstand people, the busy-bodies, the ego speechmakers and the frustrated scolds from draining the use and efficiency from the room.
Too bad we don’t have freedom of assembly in this country. Uh, what’s that? We do? Where? The Constitution? What does it say?
Freedom of assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right or ability to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue, and defend their ideas. The right to freedom of association is recognized as a human right, political right and civil liberty.
Oh…………
I hope people that are directly effected by this flooding problem go to this meeting as well as people that are supportive of their neighbors that are going through these terrible flooding issues due to the drainage problems. (supportive and concerned residents are welcome to attend) Thank you and hope to see you at the meeting.
So our taxes have been paying for the botched repairs, but I can’t be involved in this meeting. Unacceptable!
I can’t attend tomorrow night, but am equally concerned about the flooding south of Broadway. The drainage is totally inadequate and many corners, including ours at Stockton/Pilgrim Pathway are a lake for days after the slightest rain. The flooding increases basement flooding, inability to use crosswalks, freezing roads, smelly wet leaf piles… and that’s after a slight rainfall! We need drainage into Fletcher Lake from our street corners.