BY SUE MORGAN
Staff Writer
WEST LONG BRANCH – The chairperson of the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Planning Authority says he welcomes public input at the panel’s monthly meetings.
It is all a matter of ensuring that such comments do not turn out to be extremely lengthy or distracting to the ten-member, state-sanctioned entity or others in attendance according to Robert Lucky, chairman of the one-month-old authority.
At the prompting of one Tinton Falls official sitting in the audience inside Monmouth University’s Woodrow Wilson Hall during the authority’s Aug. 16 meeting, the panel has decided to allow for two public comment periods – one at the beginning of the group’s meetings and one at the end.
As a result of the authority’s unanimous vote, the panel’s by-laws will be amended to reflect the addition of a public comment period – on agenda items only – at the beginning of each meeting.
Up until the time when Tinton Falls Business Administrator W. Bryan Dempsey raised the issue, the public could only comment after authority members completed their agenda, that is, right before adjournment.
In a bit of an ironic twist, Dempsey voiced his concerns early in the order of business as the authority was discussing its yet-to-be adopted bylaws.
After Lucky recognized him, Dempsey told the chairperson that Tinton Falls Mayor Peter Maclearie, an authority member, was absent from the late afternoon meeting due to a conflict with his full-time employment.
While acknowledging state legislation that forbids the three mayors appointed to the authority from sending a designee to vote in their absence, Dempsey voiced Maclearie’s concerns as well as his own.
“The public can’t comment on the agenda or on any of its resolutions until after the meeting,” Dempsey said.
Lucky warned against allowing everyone in the public speak to agenda items.
“I’m afraid that if we allow everyone to comment on every item, we’ll be here forever,” he told Dempsey.
Dempsey persisted.
“This is such an important issue for Monmouth County and the state that not to allow the public to comment on the agenda is so unfair,” Dempsey said.
Drawing upon his experience as a former school board member and municipal official, Eatontown Mayor Gerald J. Tarantolo advised Lucky that those governing bodies allow a brief period of public comment at the beginning of meetings on agenda items only.
Lucky was still wary.
“I’m amenable to comment, but I don’t want it to get into filibustering,” he said.
Also recalling her experience as a school board member and elected official, Oceanport Mayor Lucille Chaump expressed support for Dempsey’s idea.
“I don’t have a problem with allowing people to speak in the meetings,” Chaump said.
Authority member Joseph Colfer agreed.
“I don’t have a problem either,” Colfer said.
However, Frank Muzzi, co-chair of the Patriots’ Alliance, an advocacy group composed of Fort Monmouth’s numerous military subcontractors, advised the authority to set limits.
As a former school board member himself, Muzzi explained that he had observed times when public comments became repetitive with one person dominating without allowing others to speak.
“What we’re talking about here is a very slippery slope,” said Muzzi, who has attended the authority’s three meetings held to date.
“You should allow comment to be done, but it should be very restrictive,” Muzzi said. “Otherwise, the public will be having the meeting they want to have. You’ll have one person asking the same six questions.”
Wall Township resident and environmental advocate Tom Mahedy expressed skepticism about the authority’s willingness to listen to the public.
“The public is being seen here as a nuisance,” said Mahedy, who voiced support for expanding services for military veterans at Fort Monmouth, even after its closure in September 2011.
“It’s a very important time and what is done with the land is very important,” Mahedy said. “I feel that I’m not being treated with respect here.”
Lucky denied that Mahedy or any other concerned resident would be shut out of the process of finding new uses for the fort’s 1,126 acres or trying to bring in new employment to replace jobs that will be lost once the 89-year-old U.S. Army base is mothballed.
Under the Pentagon’s Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process, about 400 military and more than 5,000 civilian jobs will be transferred to the Aberdeen (Md.) Proving Ground when Fort Monmouth shuts down.
“We’re going to need the help of the public on this,” Lucky said. “We don’t know everything.
“The last thing I want to do is turn away the public,” he added.
The authority’s next meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Aug. 30 at Monmouth University’s Woodrow Wilson Hall on the West Long Branch campus.
Future meetings will be held on the third Wednesday of each month for the remainder of calendar year 2006 in accordance with the schedule adopted by the authority. Those meetings, set for Sept. 20, Oct. 18, Nov. 15, and Dec. 20 will begin at 7 p.m. and also be held at Wilson Hall.
The later starting time has been set to accommodate Maclearie, who works full-time during the day, Lucky said.
At the panel’s inaugural meeting on July 14, Maclearie had objected to holding authority meetings prior to 7 p.m., due to the conflict with his work schedule.
Lucky indicated that he was trying to accommodate all authority members and particularly members of the public who work during the day.
The authority, a public-private partnership was created by an act of state Legislature signed into law by Gov. Jon S. Corzine in late April.

