Canceled meeting kills workers’ ordinance

Mayor, Deputy mayor unavailable for meeting

set to include public hearing on ordinance
By:Alec Moore
   Cancellation of Tuesday’s Township Committee’s meeting has killed an introduced ordinance that would have set office hours for many municipal workers and ended the township’s flextime policy.
   The ordinance was introduced Jan. 14. Failure to hold the public hearing means the ordinance is dead and will have to be reintroduced at a later meeting.
   "I’m very disappointed with this cancellation," said Committeewoman Sonya Martin, who pointed out the item on the agenda prepared for Tuesday. "We had time sensitive issues that we had to address that night, postponing this meeting is a detriment to the welfare of the community.
   "This cancellation is completely unacceptable and it gives me great concern as to how we’re going to operate in the future."
   Upon learning of the cancellation on Friday, Ms. Martin sent a letter to each member of the Township Committee and the township’s two attorneys alerting them to her view on the matter.
   Mayor Tony Gwiazdowski attributed the cancellation to the fact that both he and Deputy Mayor Steven Sireci would be unable to attend due to business reasons and he felt the matters on the agenda for the night warranted the attention of the entire committee.
   "With such an important agenda we really need the entire committee present to hear it," said Mayor Tony Gwiazdowski. "Issues of this magnitude require more than just 60 percent of the committee, I don’t want any discrepancies."
   Mayor Gwiazdowski said he does not believe the cancellation will hinder the actions that were slated to be voted on that night.
   He said the ordinance would be readvertised and rescheduled for the meeting on Feb. 25.
   "If only Mayor Gwiazdowski and Dr. Sireci were going to be absent, than we still would have had a quorum, we still could have taken action, as far as I’m concerned this meeting should not have been cancelled," said Ms. Martin.
   Three committee members are needed for a quorum to address township business.
   The mayor said that in the event two members of the committee are unable to attend a meeting in the future, he does not expect the meeting to be cancelled. Deputy Mayor Steven Sireci was away on business this week and unavailable for comment.
   Committeemen John Souren and Joe Tricarico could not be reached for comment by press time. The mayor said he believes Ms. Martin is using the meeting’s cancellation as an opportunity to be critical of the Republicans.
   "She’s trying to derail what we’re doing," Mayor Gwiazdowski said. "We want to move forward but she’s more interested in playing political games."
   Mayor Gwiazdowski clashed with Democrats last year after he objected to the Democrats’ cancellation a Township Committee meeting in August. At the time, the mayor — who was then a committeeman –– charged the meeting had been canceled because then-Mayor Joe Tricarico was out of town, while Democrats countered that the agenda for the meeting was not significant.