Councilman defends his role in pay-to-play forum.
By: Steve Feitl
A Lawrence council member Wednesday defended his decision to participate in a forum about pay-to-play last week, despite the township attorney’s advice to the contrary.
Councilman Rick Miller was part of a three-member panel at the April 1 forum, sponsored by the Lawrence Chapter of the League of Women Voters, New Jersey Common Cause and the Center for Civic Responsibility. The panel also included Heather Taylor of New Jersey Common Cause and former state Sen. William Schluter of Pennington.
Mr. Miller made it clear in his opening remarks that he was serving on the panel as a private citizen, representing his own views and not those of Township Council. He had been advised not to attend the meeting in an April 1 memorandum to Township Council issued by Municipal Attorney Kevin Nerwinski and obtained by The Lawrence Ledger.
"I read Kevin’s memo and I disagree with his memo," Mr. Miller said Wednesday. "I spoke with three municipal attorneys and they all agreed one person does not equal a council meeting. If three council members had shown, then it would have been a meeting."
Mr. Nerwinski wrote that the forum had been advertised by the Lawrence LWV to include members of Township Council as part of the panel but without providing 48 hours’ advance notice of the meeting, the council members could be in violation of the state Open Public Meetings Act.
Lawrence LWV President Adele Vexler confirmed Tuesday a flier circulated throughout the township mistakenly advertised "Lawrence City Council members." The league had informally invited members of council, but their inclusion on the flier was accidental, Ms. Vexler said.
After confirming with the LWV that Township Council was not formally invited to attend the forum, Mr. Nerwinski wrote April 1 that the gathering would be considered a meeting based on the LWV advertisement, in his opinion. Therefore, none of the council members should attend, he wrote.
"(Any) participating council member would be improperly holding himself/herself out as representing the council as a governing body," he wrote.
Reached for comment Tuesday, Mr. Nerwinski said he was surprised to hear Mr. Miller attended the forum. Mr. Nerwinski also reiterated that he was concerned about the manner in which the event was advertised, not the event itself.
If the forum had been advertised with "Councilman Rick Miller" attending rather than "Township Council members," it would not be an issue, he said. Given the circumstances, Mr. Nerwinski said he was concerned the forum would be misleading to the public.
"Mr. Miller’s first priority is as a member of council," Mr. Nerwinski said. "He usurped that by attending the forum."
In response, Mr. Miller said Wednesday he and Mr. Nerwinski had spoke prior to the forum last week and agreed the LWV advertising would not constitute a violation since neither The Lawrence Ledger nor the Trenton daily newspapers reported council members would be present.
"I went as a citizen who happens to be a council member," Mr. Miller said. "I spoke about why I think pay-to-play is important. What Kevin was trying to do was muzzle me and muzzle any other council member from going. I represented my views, not the council’s views."
Mr. Miller added the LWV forum was a good opportunity for township residents to discuss an important local issue.
"This was an opportunity to educate the public," he said. "I thank the League of Women Voters for organizing it."