Mayor voices
ire at end
of meeting
By kathy baratta
Staff Writer
HOWELL — Still smarting from major changes in township policies that he claims were made without his input, Democratic Mayor Timothy Konopka was this week alleging that the Township Council’s newly elected Republican members violated the Sunshine Law by meeting privately and deciding to abolish the town’s six-member ethics committee.
Letters dated Jan. 2 were sent from Township Manager Bruce Davis to ethics committee members Mindy Factor-Spano, Myrna Henderson, Susan Flickinger and Robert McCarthy thanking them for their service to the community while informing them the council was eliminating the local ethics committee since the panel’s function could be performed at the state level.
In the wake of Konopka’s furor over the alleged violation, an abashed Township Manager Bruce Davis said the letters were sent in error by his office.
An angry Konopka said, "The proper forum for enacting any policies or changes is for the whole council to discuss it in workshop with the entire governing body. The ethics committee was established by ordinance and can only be eliminated by ordinance. They have continued to flagrantly disregard the proper protocols and willingly violate the Sunshine Laws."
Republican Deputy Mayor Peter Tobasco said Konopka and Republican Councilwoman Cynthia Schomaker had both been made aware in December that the three councilmen-elect (himself, Joseph DiBella and Juan Malave), now part of a Republican majority on the council, were not making appointments to fill two vacancies on the ethics committee.
Tobasco said he could not state for sure whether Konopka had been directly addressed regarding the trio’s plan to move for the elimination of the committee.
Tobasco and DiBella said that when they met in December with Davis, a great deal of upcoming township business and decisions were discussed and set in motion.
Davis confirmed the December meeting and said he was informed of the incoming council majority’s plan to abolish the ethics committee. He said his staff, in an attempt to maintain efficiency and stay abreast of the flurry of work a new administration brings, worked from notes taken at the meeting to develop letters for projected business decisions.
Admitting, ruefully, "We were ahead of ourselves on that issue," Davis said, "Unfortunately, the letters were typed and placed in a pile for me to sign. I’m the one that ultimately accepts responsibility. I signed the letters."
Regarding Konopka’s criticism of the Republicans’ conduct so far or any decisions made by them, Tobasco and DiBella both noted the mayor was aware their meetings had been held well before they were sworn into office and therefore no violation of the Sunshine Law had occurred.
The Sunshine Law, officially known as the Open Public Meetings Act, governs how elected bodies are required to conduct the people’s business. Under its provisions, elected officials are prohibited from meeting to discuss municipal business if what constitutes a quorum of the elected body is present at that time and the meeting was not advertised as a regular meeting of the elected body.
The matter of abolishing the Howell ethics committee has been scheduled for public debate at the Township Council’s Feb. 3 workshop meeting.
According to Konopka, before the ethics committee, which was established by ordinance, can be disbanded, public hearings in the matter must be held and another ordinance must be adopted that will eliminate the ethics committee and its functions.
The mandate of the ethics committee is to hear allegations of violations of conduct against township officials, either elected or appointed. The council is the ultimate forum for appeal of any decisions made by the township’s ethics committee.
Konopka said having a local ethics committee is good for Howell because it ensures the people hearing a matter will really care about the issue and give it the attention someone from out of town may not give it because they don’t have anything invested in the town.
DiBella took the exact opposite position.
Stating that he "fully respected the volunteers who’ve done a very good job," DiBella went on to say, "the state level provides a better level of objectivity with no appearance of local bias."
After observing that Flickinger is Konopka’s next door neighbor, DiBella said, "One could be concerned the mayor’s next-door neighbor is on that board."
In February 2001, Konopka himself was the subject of an ethics committee inquiry following a letter to the committee from the Howell Police Department’s Superior Officers Association. Disposition of the matter by the ethics committee was never made public despite repeated attempts by a Greater Media Newspapers reporter to get the information.
At the time, Flickinger, who was the committee’s chairwoman, said it was the panel’s policy to never publicly discuss any issue or individual under investigation.
Said DiBella, "With the state handling any allegations of misconduct or interest conflicts, a fair hearing is guaranteed, free of any local bias that could be brought to bear."
Both DiBella and Tobasco blasted Konopka’s decision to make the issue a matter of public contention, even after Davis admitted his office’s error.
"Even after Mr. Davis’ office admitted it had made a mistake, Mr. Konopka still saw fit to call the newspapers and provide the wrong information for his own personal benefit. It is unfortunate that only days into the new year, Mr. Konopka has decided to become an obstructionist. We were hoping to work with him cooperatively," DiBella said.
Said Tobasco, "I had hoped that the mayor’s choice would be to be willing to work with us for what is best for the town and stop this adversarial tone."
Tobasco said when the issue of disbanding the ethics committee comes up for discussion on Feb. 3, "We’ll know he decided if he wants to work with us or not."