Officials’ bad behavior is
embarrassment to township
In our first issue after the Nov. 5 election, we ran an editorial which stated that Millstone residents must have done something terrible to deserve their current township government.
The actions of certain township officials in the past five weeks have proved that the observations made in our Nov. 7 issue were on the mark. The reprehensible behavior by certain members of the governing body turned last week’s Township Committee meeting into a circus.
Two members of the committee, John Pfefferkorn and Deputy Mayor Cory Wingerter, proceeded to trade insults, barbs and allegations of, at best, improper — at the worst, potentially criminal — behavior.
Despite Mayor Evan Maltz’s attempts to restore order by furiously banging the gavel, the two continued on for a stretch of several minutes, keeping the committee from proceeding with an agenda crowded with items for discussion.
During the initial public session, residents who were shouting at the committee were heckled by members of the crowd, in addition to the bad blood evident on the dais. The blowout between Pfefferkorn and Wingerter was as much a result of the atmosphere in the room, which was out of control, as of their political and personal enmity for each other.
In recent months certain items have appeared on the committee’s agenda meeting after meeting because the members of the governing body spend more time arguing with each other than attending to the business of the township. Meetings typically stretch until midnight to accommodate this constant bickering.
With only one meeting left with Maltz at the helm of the township, the gavel will likely pass to either Democratic Committeeman Wil-liam Nurko or veteran Democratic Committeeman Charles Abate.
With the addition of Democratic Committeeman-elect Chester Halka, they will lead the new administration. Hopefully, their failure to condemn the behavior of their colleagues when they are out of line will not hold.
The Examiner wishes either of these two the best of luck in an attempt to referee the ongoing political feud between Wingerter and Pfefferkorn, since it would not be a Millstone Township Commit-tee meeting if these two did not find something to fight about.