NY Times
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
If you actually attend a Neptune Township Committee meeting, you will hear only what is scripted in the agenda. After several hours of hanging around, you can go to the microphone and offer a 5 minute opinion, but none of the robots on the dais will actually have a conversation with you. They may say, “Your time is up.” Or they may ask a police officer to force you to sit down, or they may say something like, “We’ll look into that.” So no one really expects them to offer much in the way of explanations or opinions when they face the public. Luckily, whatever you might say is recorded and may actually be documented in the minutes
However, amazingly, on June 30. 2016, they sent a letter to the editor of the Coaster to explain some things to us Grovers. This is unprecedented , so it must really be important.
In the letter they explain that two members left early during the infamous Parking Committee meeting of a few weeks ago because they had to attend a memorial service for Orlando victims. Apparently the Committee doesn’t mind being accused of malfeasance ( eg the RSIS controversy), because they never respond to those opinions, but now they had to go public to say why they cut the meeting short.
Here are some quotes from that Coaster letter. You can judge it for yourselves. None of the Committeemen (and one woman) actually signed the letter using their actual names.
“It is a false impression that the concerns of Ocean Grove residents regarding parking were not being fully addressed”
“In relation to the parking issue, we take great pride in our efforts to make sure Neptune Township truly is a place where ‘community, business and tourism prosper.’ (Can anyone say “non sequitur?” )
“…we will continue to focus on this issue while considering the effect our actions will have on the entirety of Neptune Township” (Anyone want to explain this statement?)
“In addition to the establishment of this Advisory Board (ie the Parking Task Force) we have also requested that the Neptune Township Business Administrator seek immediate solutions that can be implemented in the short term, and not be held up due to the necessary process actions which the municipal Committee must go though. We expect residents will see some changes in the coming weeks.”
(So, one bureaucrat at the Mother Ship will prepare some sort of “immediate solutions” without letting those solutions be examined first by the citizens? Who’s to say we will like those “solutions?” Can you say “transparency?” Does the Committte now rule OG by edict? Is this the slippery slope in action? )
“As elected officials our jobs are to listen to, and act on, the concerns of all of the residents we serve…….We have no greater obligation than to make our Township an even better one to live and raise a family in.” (Editor’s note: “Really?”)
Can any of you find any specific information regarding parking in this letter which was entitled “Parking Changes will be Coming Soon.” Can you find anything besides platitudes and political double talk?
JACK JOHNSON “Anything but the Truth”
“What is this place?
Who am I?
Why did we come here?”
Oh Gee. “Attempt and fail,” “do nothing at all,” and “try something this summer” are not acceptable options. To tell the Town business manager to come up with something fast, without the scrutiny of the residents in OG or the new commission, is a condescending approach to the residents who have legitimate gripes about parking. No matter what he comes up with, this is not how local government should operate.
Tossing a crumb at our feet, regardless of how tasty it might be, is ultimately a recipe for gastroenteritis. Once again, we have an indication of that slippery slope in Neptune which seems to be getting worse.
I’m just catching up on my “Coaster” reading. In a June 22, 2016 article about this, I thought it was interesting that OG Committeeman Randy Bishop blamed Ocean Grove’s parking problems on various things, including Asbury Park, but never mentioned (nor did other Committee members quoted in the article) the fact that Neptune Township has been illegally waiving the state requirement for provision of off-street parking for new residential construction for years, allowing the addition of residential units to Ocean Grove without a corresponding increase in parking. Doesn’t he think the town itself has helped create the current situation?
I hope they do try something this summer. If it doesn’t work, then back to the drawing board to prepare for summer 2017. Better they attempt and fail, than do nothing at all.
The answer to “who” is not any resident of Ocean Grove
Q: “Who’s on First?”
A: “Who.”
Q: Who’s on First!!”
A: “Who!!” …