West Windsor council reverses stance on taping meetings

A new councilman tips the balance in 3-2 vote

By: Molly Petrilla
   WEST WINDSOR — In a 3-2 vote, Township Council members agreed Monday night to start tape recording their executive sessions again.
   In the summer, the council voted 3-2 to stop taping its closed-door meetings, with Councilwoman Heidi Kleinman, Council President Linda Geevers and former council member Barbara Pfeifer supporting the decision.
   At the time, Councilmen Charles Morgan and Franc Gambatese said the sessions should continue to be tape-recorded, and on Monday, newly elected Councilman Will Anklowitz aligned himself with Mr. Morgan and Mr. Gambatese.
   Throughout his campaign against Ms. Pfeifer, Mr. Anklowitz strongly supported reinstating the policy, and just moments after he was sworn in Nov. 13, Mr. Morgan attempted to introduce a discussion about the issue.
   Since the meeting was already running late, the matter was postponed until Monday night’s meeting.
   Mr. Morgan said Tuesday that the "most important reason (to record the sessions) is that memories — even short-term memories — are really bad."
   He added, "I’ve had too many experiences where there’s been a dispute over the minutes."
   He also said that taping sessions "tends to moderate behavior" and is "just generally healthy."
   Ms. Geevers objected to taping executive sessions, saying it could limit discussion on personnel-related issues. Mr. Anklowitz said Wednesday he "didn’t find that to be a valid argument."
   Mr. Gambatese said that he has always supported the taping of executive sessions because "there are times when I might want to go back as a council member and listen to what was said just for my own clarification."
   He added, "I don’t really think it’s going to affect the public, because very rarely — if ever — does the public listen to executive session tapes."
   But even though he supported the change, Mr. Gambatese said he thought it was "bad policy" for the council to alter its guidelines in the middle of the year.
   "We should stick to the rules we make," he said. "We shouldn’t try to prove points, and I think that’s what people were trying to do."
   Mr. Morgan and Mr. Anklowitz said taping the sessions is particularly important in the context of the state Open Public Meetings Act — also known as the Sunshine Law.
   "We’re not looking to have government more hidden, we’re looking to have it more in the sunshine," Mr. Anklowitz said.
   Mr. Morgan added, "It’s all about openness of government — it’s all about sunshine."