BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer
MILLSTONE — Politics have popped up around the Parks and Recreation Commission.
Mayor Elias Abilheira said the township’s Parks and Recreation Commission is an independent group consisting of nine commissioners. He said the group recently sent a memo to the Township Committee regarding attendance. Jim Kronenthal, who has served on the Parks and Recreation Commission for the last 11 years, said he thinks the attendance reviews are a political move.
“People have to notice who puts forth the effort,” Kronenthal said. “They don’t have to agree with them, but they have to respect them.”
In response to Kronenthal’s allegation, Abilheira said, “The group is having problems with attendance at meetings.”
In regard to this matter of attendance, Kronenthal said, “It has never been a matter of who attends the meetings, because people who volunteer for the Recreation Commission volunteer to help run the programs in the community.”
Abilheira said township ordinances require volunteers on boards and commissions to attend two-thirds of all of the meetings held throughout the year. That means a commissioner cannot miss more than four meetings.
According to the Township Clerk’s Office, the Parks and Recreation Commission sent a letter to the Township Committee regarding absenteeism of commissioners. The commission wants the committee to review a spreadsheet regarding the commissioners and their absenteeism and then “take the appropriate action,” according to Township Clerk Maria Delasalla.
Although the clerk said the Examiner would have to file for a copy of the spreadsheet through the Open Public Records Act, she said the spreadsheet stated that the commission had 12 meetings this year, of which Kronenthal missed six.
Kronenthal said he missed some meetings because of his job, which requires out of town travel.
“They haven’t even asked any of us why we have missed some meetings,” Kronenthal said. “It’s political power, and I’ve been outspoken against things that they support such as centralized recreation, but it was never because of politics. It was always because of what I thought was best for the kids.”
Abilheira said the Parks and Recreation Commission has nothing to do with politics, and he said the topic of central recreation has nothing to do with Kronenthal’s absenteeism.
When asked whether he supports centralized recreation in the township, Abilheira said, “I do not support centralized recreation. I support a community recreation facility that satisfies the needs of the community.”
Abilheira said a plan for a community recreation facility would not involve eliminating existing parks. He said the town will undergo significant growth in the next few years and the community will need larger recreational facilities to handle the population increase.
Kronenthal said, “I want to see where they intend to build a central facility. They say there is one place for all of this and I would like to see that one magical place in Millstone township.”
Abilheira said the township has to find 100-150 undeveloped acres for a central facility.
“It won’t be hard considering the township has 10,000 undeveloped acres left,” Abilheira said.
Abilheira said the township is currently undergoing a build-out analysis that will help the Parks and Recreation Commission develop long term plans for recreation in the near future.
Kronenthal said Wagner Farm Park, which he and Don Powell, who is also undergoing an attendance review, spent many hours of the day helping to plan, helped meet a lot of the township’s recreational needs.
“It’s beautiful and perfect for what it is built for,” Kronenthal said. “The building has issues, but that is the contractor’s problem. The fields and complex are everything that residents wanted.”
Abilheira said if Kronenthal wants to take credit for planning Wagner Farm Park, he can.
“No one up until now has wanted to take credit for designing Wagner Farm Park,” Abilheira said. “It was very poorly planned with only half of a basketball court and not enough parking space.”
Kronenthal said in the past he has worked successfully with members from both political parties.
Kronenthal said, “There have been so many different administrations, but before this one there was the common denominator of respect, and there’s just a lack of respect here.”
Abilheira said, “It is unfortunate some people politicize recreation. The Recreation Commission has nothing to do with politics,” Abilheira said. “It’s about whether people are showing up at meetings and doing the job the position requires.”
According to he township’s Web site, the goal of the commission is to provide recreational opportunities for the whole community. The commission recognizes the competitive aspect of all sports programs, but believes that competition must be secondary to the recreational needs of the participants. To this end, all sports programs sponsored by the Recreation Commission must provide equal opportunities for every child in the area of instruction, playing time, and skill development.
“The commission polices itself,” Abilheira said. “If Mr. Kronenthal can’t make the meetings, but he’s regularly communicating with the other commissioners, then there wouldn’t be a problem. But there seems to be a breakdown in communication and other problems.”
As liaison to Parks and Recreation Committeeman, Bob Kinsey said, “I can honestly state that I have never heard any member of the Recreation Commission comment that they wanted to get rid of Jim Kronenthal.”
Kinsey said at this time of year the Township Committee routinely reviews the attendance records of all of its boards and commissions.
“I can tell you that the Recreation Commission has consistently suffered this year due to a lack of attendance and a breakdown in communication,” Kinsey said. “As well, there has been a complete lack of leadership this year, which has alarmed me as a township committeeman.”
Kinsey said four members of the Recreation Commission have either resigned or been removed this year because of attendance issues or because limited personal time requirements did not allow them to effectively participate as a commissioner.
At the time the Recreation Commission voted at its Nov. 7 meeting, Kronenthal had missed six out of 11 of the meetings and Powell had missed seven out of 11 of the regularly scheduled monthly meetings, according to Kinsey.
Kronenthal said his mission on the Parks and Recreation Commission has always remained the same and will stay the same until he has to leave it, one way or another.