By a 4-1 vote, the Holmdel Township Committee last week censured Commit-teeman Terence Wall for violating the township’s ethical standards by releasing confidential information regarding the former Nike missile site to the news media.
The resolution, which the committee plans to amend slightly, also cites complaints of residents or their representative about "alleged harassment in person and via phone and electronic mail."
Last Wednesday, two days after the meeting, three members or a majority of the committee, agreed to delete the word "private" from a phrase accusing Wall of advancing his own "private interests." They also agreed to delete the words "illegal and/or" from a statement admonishing Wall to refrain from such illegal and/or inappropriate behavior in the future."
Mayor Art Davey said he, Deputy Mayor Gary Aumiller and Committeeman Russell Dronne all approved the deletions. The resolution will be reconsidered for adoption as amended at the next regular meeting, on Nov. 12, according to Township Clerk Maureen Shepherd.
In connection with the Oct. 22 censure vote, Deputy Mayor Gray Aumiller filed an incident report with the Holmdel Police Department the next day, stating, according to information released by police that he, the complainant, "was confronted" by Committeeman Wall after the meeting, at about 12:15 a.m.
Aumiller declined to comment further on Monday, other than to say that he wanted something on file with the police.
Mayor Art Davey, who was present at the time of the incident, also declined to comment. Deputy Police Chief Wayne Wilson, who took the report, was not available for comment.
"We are in difficult enough times as it is, and I’ll not dignify this nonsense further," Wall said Monday when asked about the incident with Aumiller.
"In preparing this I did not take this matter lightly," Committeeman Larry Fink, the lone Democrat, said at the Oct. 22 meeting when he introduced the censure resolution. "It is something that has bothered me to no end because these actions not only reflect badly on Mr. Wall, but they reflect poorly on all of us if we allow them to continue."
The resolution was seconded by Committeeman Russell Dronne.
"It shouldn’t have been done like this," Davey said before he casting his vote in favor. "This throws acid in someone’s face. I will go along with some reservations."
In a later interview, Davey said, "While I do not agree with some of the actions taken by Mr. Wall, I think the committee should have discussed this issue privately. I see no reason for the township to be embarrassed."
Before Wall voted no, he said that "this is pure politics. We have clearly different ideas on whether or not a transient homeless shelter should be at the Nike site." He went on to say that he believed that it was a visceral attack.
In a separate interview, Wall said that he believed that the resolution was "a brazen political attack on Holmdel’s sensibilities. While silly and sad, it does illustrate two things. First, by attacking my obligation to educate the public about the transient homeless shelter, the Democrats support for it is clear. Secondly, it was an insightful look into the psyche of a man blinded by partisan hatred."
The Township Committee is opposing a plan by the Monmouth Housing Alliance to use nine houses at the former Nike missile site on Telegraph Hill Road, next to Phillips Park, for a housing program for families that have lost their homes and are homeless. The three surplus houses would be used by the Middletown-based charity Barn for the Poorest of the Poor to store food for their program.
While Wall has been the most outspoken against the plan, the entire committee has pushed to acquire the land to expand Phillips Park.
The committee plans to send the censure resolution to the Monmouth County Ethics Board, the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, Division of Local Government Services, the Local Finance Board, to the Monmouth County Freeholders, and to the legislators of the 12th and 13th districts.
The censure resolution states that under the township’s ethical standards, "No officer or employee shall, without proper legal authorization therefore, disclose any confidential information concerning the property, government, personnel, or affairs of the Township."
The resolution cites a series of newspaper articles written in January, June and September that contained confidential information regarding the Phillips Park/Nike Site issue.
Wall admits to releasing information about the Nike site on June 6 to the public and the news media. He has said in the past and said again at last week’s meeting that the information, "never should have been confidential" and that the public had a right to know because the deed was set to be transferred to the Monmouth Housing Alliance for nine of the 12 homes that are on the former Nike site.