By: Dick Brinster
EAST WINDSOR The public acrimony between the head of the Twin Rivers board and Mayor Janice Mironov gained steam last week when the mayor was asked to leave a meeting held by Scott Pohl.
Ms. Mironov arrived at the Twin Rivers branch of the Mercer County Library on Aug. 31 after learning there was a meeting being held to discuss the proposed $142 million Indian American Cultural Complex. About 50 people had come to hear Mr. Pohl, president of the board of directors of the Twin Rivers Homeowner’s Association, the most vocal opponent of the planned tourist attraction planned by Edison-based BAPS Inc. He also is the man who tried to cast the mayor as a silent backer of the proposal before she announced her opposition to the project Wednesday night.
"The mayor was asked to leave," Mr. Pohl confirmed a day after his meeting. "This was a meeting for everybody to speak and they would not have spoken freely had she stayed."
Ms. Mironov said she was within her rights to attend a public meeting in a public place.
"I heard about the meeting from several different people," she said Monday. "As mayor, it is always important to me to hear what residents are saying and feeling.
"Obviously, I was disappointed and saddened about what occurred, and it is regretful because we should all be communicating and working together." Ms. Mironov was accompanied to the library meeting by Councilman Perry Shapiro, a former president of the Twin Rivers board, who also left.
"I don’t think she’s ever been asked to leave a meeting before when the people of East Windsor get together," Mr. Shapiro said Monday. "She said she wanted to hear people’s opinions, but a few people got rude."
Twin Rivers resident Marv Gutkin emphasized that the issue is far more important than a clash of personalities between two "nice people." And he stated his empathy for the mayor in an e-mail to both Ms. Mironov and the Herald.
"I understand why Scott Pohl preferred that you not be there," Mr. Gutkin wrote. "If you were, there would be a debate on the issues. That was not the purpose of the meeting.
"However, I must say that a number of the people there were rude to you. That shouldn’t have happened."
Mr. Pohl conceded that library personnel told him he had no right to force the mayor to go. But he said people at the meeting did not want it to continue until Ms. Mironov departed, which Mr. Pohl said she did after a few minutes.
"I didn’t want it to be a debate," Mr. Pohl said.
"People didn’t want her there and they said so," Mr. Gutkin explained.
Mr. Shapiro said he didn’t think the bulk of the people in the room cared if the mayor stayed or not but that the tone of some in the crowd was not hospitable.
"But Scott said he would cancel the meeting if she stayed," Mr. Shapiro said.
Because residents from outside the development were included and because it was not a board event, Mr. Pohl said Twin Rivers bylaws would not permit him to hold the meeting in its community room.
Mr. Pohl, who accused both the mayor and BAPS of not being forthcoming with information on the project, said the meeting was conducted because of the volume of calls he received from many township residents seeking information on the subject.
"I told them that it was just not possible to e-mail or call everybody who has been contacting me," Mr. Pohl said.
The mayor was not the only person who didn’t stay. Twins Rivers resident Al Wally, a longtime critic of the way Mr. Pohl runs the board, also was denied admission.
"I was at the library copying some documents," Mr. Wally said. "I walked into the meeting and Scott Pohl asked me to leave, stating that it was a private meeting and at that point they closed the doors."
Mr. Pohl said many of those in the crowd did not want participation from Mr. Wally, whom he called a "disruptive" person. The men frequently disagree at Twin Rivers board meetings.
Mr. Wally was extremely critical of Mr. Pohl, who has accused the mayor of favoring the IACC proposal in private even through she has taken no public position on it.
"I think Scott is being a little hypocritical about talking about Janice Mironov and her shills operating behind closed doors," Mr. Wally said.
BAPS has said it wants to build 17 buildings including a conference and exhibition center and a place of worship on a 152-acre site a half-mile from Twin Rivers. Following the mayor’s announcement that she opposes the plan, the organization said it was weighing its options.
