BY LARRY HLAVENKA JR.
Staff Writer
HOWELL – The bell has sounded for another round of action, and Mayor Joseph DiBella has come out swinging.
According to DiBella, the prevailing attitude of Howell seems more akin to a heavyweight fight at Madison Square Garden rather than respectable Township Council meetings at town hall, and he is sick of it.
“The behavior of people in this town is intolerable,” the mayor said. “This is not fight night.”
Speaking at the council’s May 16 meeting, DiBella said he was fed up with the lack of decorum shown by residents during public gatherings. He said the lack of decorum disrupts officials from conducting the business of the town.
“There is a constant distraction from people having conversations in these rooms,” he said. “We are going to run this municipality like a business and we will no longer tolerate people cheering on their friends and heckling others. I will ask people to excuse themselves if they lack the capability to control themselves. We can all agree to disagree with each other.”
DiBella made sure to note, though, that “we have a great community with great people.”
Councilman Robert Walsh, who himself has sparred with the mayor at recent meetings, pledged to support DiBella and stop the bickering.
“Sometimes I get caught up in the moment,” Walsh said. “Sometimes I get angry. The hostility needs to stop. I’m just passionate for Howell. Some of the things that go on in this town break my heart, so I’ll back the mayor on this.”
At a May 2 meeting another municipal official had traded his suit and tie for a pair of gloves.
After resident Evelyn O’Donnell approached the dais and chided DiBella for attending a recent budget meeting in work clothes and a baseball cap – because he had just come from coaching his
son’s Little League baseball game – Deputy Mayor Peter Tobasco came to the mayor’s aid.
After O’Donnell took her shot at DiBella, she continued to press the council on issues regarding taxes.
When O’Donnell ended her statement and after DiBella closed the public session of the meeting, Tobasco tried for his own knockout, only to be interrupted by O’Donnell.
Tobasco told her to “sit down; it’s not your time anymore.”
His statement incited those in attendance and led to an immediate adjournment of the meeting.
As the room emptied, Tobasco asked the residents to “respect this chamber.”
The back and forth at town hall comes as signs are sprouting up around Howell in support of a citizens recall effort that seeks to oust DiBella from office, as well as signs in support of the mayor.
Officials, though, appear to have had enough of the political posturing that has been occurring in the municipal building.
After his altercation with O’Donnell, Tobasco asked for an end to the political bitterness.
“Politics do not belong in this chamber,” he said. “If [residents] want to go on to personal agenda [while at meetings], I will fully support stopping that.”
Councilman Juan Malave echoed the sentiments of his peers.
“There should be no political agendas in this chamber,” he said. “This is about township business and we have to come together as a community and stop this. Allow us and give us the respect we do deserve.”