Neptune Twp Committee minus Eric Houghtaling: (L to R) : Dr. Brantley, M.B. Jahn, Kevin McMillan, R. Bishop. Undated photo
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
We have been concerned that the current mayor, Mary Beth Jahn, has been absent from many meetings, and our concern specifically relates to her role as the head of our two person sub-committee on the negotiating team trying to hammer out a Redevelopers Agreement for the North End Project. The other committeeman involved is Randy Bishop.
There have been problems producing a Redevelopers Agreement, and our representation is critical because this is about the largest development project in Ocean Grove history. It has the potential to change the town in ways that will affect us all. This is no time to have a mayor who is AWOL, because we are currently in a critical position with respect to the North End Plan.
At the August breakfast meeting of the OGHOA, I asked Deputy Mayor Kevin McMillan how the Township can function properly without a mayor who shows up. He essentially said “no problem because we all fill in when necessary.” I suggested twice to him that a new mayor be named, but he dodged that proposal…”
Last night at the Township Committee Meeting, during the Workshop session, Mayor Mary Beth Jahn read the agenda, but then was “slumped over in her seat,” according to our reporter on the scene. She was incapable of participating in the meeting, so the Deputy Mayor had to preside. After that there was a closed meeting, and when the public session began, she was no longer present. No explanation was given for her departure.
In our system of local government, the mayor is the CEO of the town. The mayor is appointed by her fellow elected officials, but we don’t get to vote for the mayoral position. Mayor Jahn has evidently been incapable of doing her job, and Deputy Mayor McMillan’s reassurances are not persuasive because he evidently knows next to nothing about the intricacies of the North End planning and we don’t even know if he attends those meetings instead of her. The Committee is responsible for seeing to it that we have a mayor who can effectively represent us during the North End negotiations. Randy Bishop does not represent the people, even though he was elected to do that. His loyalties seem to be elsewhere.
From our perspective, the main reason that Mary Beth Jahn must be replaced, is because she does not appear to be fit to sign off on any Redevelopers Agreement that WAVE and Randy Bishop present to the Committee for approval.
We ask the Committee to appoint a replacement for Mary Beth Jahn and to make sure that the replacement is schooled in all the aspects of Redevelopment Zones and Land Use so that we wind up with a North End project plan that is best for our town and not best for the re-developers.
We cannot depend on our HOA to make a contribution here, so we will post a poll to see how our readers feel about her replacement. We are sorry if Ms. Jahn is having some medical issues, but the right thing needs to be done.
Credit: Jack Bredin, researcher.