Request to air more boards’ meetings lacking support

By vincent todaro
Staff Writer

By vincent todaro
Staff Writer

EAST BRUNSWICK — While the Board of Education mulls the prospect of televising its meetings, a discussion has ensued about whether all township bodies, including the Planning and Zoning Boards, should also consider the idea.

Speaking to the Township Council Monday night, Republican Council candidate Robert Tagliente said the Planning and Zoning Boards should be televised so that residents can better understand the decisions that affect their lives. While residents are free to attend the meetings, most of them do not. He said that bringing the meetings into their homes through EBTV would encourage more community participation.

Tagliente noted the rezoning of the Main Street property of the defunct Giste Brocades yeast plant, saying this was an example of something that residents needed to know more about. The area has been rezoned to allow for senior housing, despite criticism from some residents who would have preferred to see a nonresidential use at the site.

Tagliente said that many of those residents who questioned the council’s rezoning were told they were commenting on a zoning issue that had been recommended by the Planning Board.

"Well, they are issues for the Zoning Board and Planning Board, and that is one of the very good reasons [their meetings] should be televised," Tagliente said. "And I remind you that those meetings also are public meetings."

He said the township has not always had the ability to televise meetings, but that it now does thanks to the local Cable television access channel, EBTV. Also, in years past the township was smaller, and it was easier for people to actually get to meetings.

"We have a new technology — television. It’s perfect. It allows people to sit at home, see the issues and become more involved," he said.

He also discussed other examples of issues residents should know more about. Recently, he said, there was a proposal before the Zoning Board to turn 66 acres of open space into a construction site. The board rejected the idea, but the process took about 10 meetings and six months.

Tagliente said he went to the meetings, "but I have to tell you that it would have been a lot nicer if I could have sat at home for some of those meetings."

Mayor William Neary and members of the council did not express support for the proposal, saying there was no need to televise the meetings, and that doing so could have harmful repercussions.

Councilman Jeffrey Simon said residents can get information about the meetings already by watching EBTV.

"Watching the scroll on Channel 3 is more informative to the layperson than watching meetings," he said.

He said that most of what comes before the boards is not meant for the whole township to hear, and gave as an example cases where people are just seeking permission to install decks or similar structures on their residences. He said airing issues like that would just make the resident applicants nervous because they would know they would be on television.

The most important issues eventually come before the council anyway, and thus the council meetings are the correct forum for people to speak on them, he said. As an example, Simon said the Planning Board can only recommend that a zone change be made, while the council has to make the final decision.

Simon urged anyone who wants to know what is happening with these boards to go to their meetings.

Neary said the people who serve on the boards are volunteers, and that they do not need to face the same "theater" as the council or the potential intimidation that comes from being on television.

"We’re grateful that these people spend the time they do," he said of the board members.

Tagliente argued that board decisions can result in more congestion, additional students in the school district, and the spending of tax dollars.

"Perhaps it’s good to be able to hear why the Planning Board made a decision," he said.