BY SUE M. MORGAN
Staff Writer
WEST LONG BRANCH –– The borough’s recreation board has been functioning very well, thank you, without the assistance of the town’s primary sports association, according to resident Susan Juliano.
Finally, the seven-member West
Long Branch Board of Recreation Commissioners has staged nonsports related events such as concerts at Franklin Lake Park that all residents can attend for free, Juliano told Mayor John Paolantonio at the Aug. 3 Borough Council meeting.
In fact, the recreation board is even talking about holding an outdoor movie night, which would also be open to residents of all ages regardless of athletic ability for free, Juliano said during a public hearing on a borough ordinance to add two alternates to the board.
“Why would you want to mess with recreation in this town?” Juliano asked the mayor. “This recreation committee is moving forward.”
But Paolantonio, who was appointed mayor in April, begs to differ with Juliano and other residents who object to his idea to include a representative from the West Long Branch Sports Association on the recreation board.
Earlier this summer, Paolantonio publicly stated that he would like to see a representative from the sports association, which serves as an umbrella over various youth teams in town, serve on the borough’s recreation committee.
Now, Paolantonio is taking the heat from objectors who believe appointing someone from the sports organization would ultimately result in athletics dominating recreational activities and events in town.
Defending his position, Paolantonio explained that the sports association had a representative on the board up until a few years ago.
Because over 400 borough children participate in the sports association’s various teams, the umbrella group should have a voice on the main recreation board, Paolantonio said.
The council did vote to create the two alternate posts which Paolantonio is authorized to fill at his discretion. He has not done so yet.
“I haven’t appointed anyone,” Paolantonio told Juliano. “My opinion is that we should have more people on that board and that 400 kids in the sports program should be represented.”
It is unlikely that one representative from the sports association will sway the opinion of a board majority when a decision comes up for vote, Paolantonio said.
“One person can’t change seven other people’s minds,” he said. “It’s one voice. One vote.”
Another resident, Mike Dwyer, who is involved in the sports association, pointed out the umbrella group’s status as a private corporation
Putting a representative on the sports association might result in a private group taking public money, Dwyer said.
“The sports association is not accountable to the town,” Dwyer said.
Dwyer suggested that if the mayor insists on having representation from the sports association, that only one of the alternates come from that organization.
The purpose of the ordinance allowing the alternative posts to be created is to ensure a quorum at all of its meetings, Councilwoman Bettina Munson said.
“If members are absent, then the alternates can vote,” Munson said.
According to a copy of the approved ordinance, the initial appointment for one alternate will run from the time of appointment to Dec. 31, 2007.
The second alternate post will be official from the time of mayoral appointment to Dec. 31, 2007, the ordinance states.
Beyond those dates, each alternate post will be appointed by the mayor for a five-year terms, the ordinance states.
Both regular and alternate members are volunteer, nonpaid positions.

