“There was no intent to go to fair and open process this year by the mayor, and no response to my request to do so, so I went public and only now is it being advanced.” – Elias Abilheira Committeeman MILLSTONE – The township is considering adopting a policy to garner appointees to municipal positions through a more public process.
Committeeman Elias Abilheira said that he would like to see Millstone adopt an ordinance regarding a more fair and open appointment process. He presented the Township Committee with a sample ordinance regarding the process Nov. 7.
“Almost all of the towns around Millstone have gone to a fair and open process,” Abilheira said. “Marlboro, Freehold [and] Howell have all gone that way. This obviously forces competitive pricing and ensures [that] the taxpayers get the best deal.”
Abilheira said that he and former Mayor Cory Wingerter have been pushing for the fair and open process for two years.
“Mr. Wingerter and I have pushed for use of the fair and open process each year for all professionals to make sure the process is as open and competitive as possible, only to be ignored,” Abilheira said. “As it was clear the process would not be implemented again this year, I raised the issue publicly, presenting an ordinance and asking [that] it be placed on the agenda.”
“If Mr. Abilheira communicated with other Township Committee members, he would know that numerous discussions regarding the fair and open process took place.” – Nancy Grbelja Mayor Abilheira said that last year, the township’s Republican County Executive Committee (RCEC) decided who the appointees would be.
“If you didn’t agree, you were labeled as not a good team player,” Abilheira said. “They replaced quality people who had been rendering services to the township for years because they were not under the direct control of Steve Lambros [the chairman of the RCEC], [Mayor] Nancy Grbelja and [Deputy Mayor] Bob Kinsey. They should be allowing dissenting opinions.”
As an example, Abilheira said the group made the decision to replace longtime Planning Board member George Zanetakos in 2006. Abilheira and Zanetakos often publicly expressed their differing opinions on development issues.
Abilheira said, “We may have disagreed, but I recognize that he had valid opinions based on 10 to 12 years of experience. He was replaced because he was ‘not one of us.’ But, he’s not supposed to be. We’re supposed to have differing opinions.”
According to a Nov. 15 e-mail Abilheira received from Lambros, the RCEC recently scheduled meetings “to review the 2008 board, council and commission appointments.”
“Everybody should have an opportunity to participate, and we will exclude no one who participated in the past,” Lambros wrote in the message.
With regard to the e-mail, Abilheira said that RCEC members should make recommendations for appointments but so should other township residents. He said he would further like to see the Township Committee post public notices regarding the solicitation of appointees.
When asked for comment on Abilheira’s statements regarding the open and fair issue, Grbelja said, “If Mr. Abilheira
communicated with other Township Committee members, he would know that numerous discussions regarding the fair and open process took place. Recent modifications to the law have made it possible for our committee to entertain such a resolution.”
Kinsey said, “The fair and open process as initially instituted under state statute would have pre-empted our local pay-to-play ordinance had we adopted it. That said, historically I could not endorse it.”
He continued, “Now that those preemptive issues, originally enshrined in the fair and open statute, have been addressed, I am happy that Mayor Grbelja has taken the lead to put it on the agenda for consideration.”
Abilheira said, “I would welcome the mayor to cite all of the public discussions at township meetings for the past year discussing implementing in 2007 the fair and open process as recommended by the Citizens Campaign and Common Cause for all professionals. There was no intent to go to fair and open process this year by the mayor, and no response to my request to do so, so I went public and only now is it being advanced.”
Grbelja said that the township attorney has advised the township to create a resolution modeled after one that Freehold Township passed. She said the resolution is on the committee’s Dec. 5 agenda. Freehold Township requires all professionals to submit their proposals for appointments at a public meeting and all professional contracts awarded under the fair and open process to be made at public meetings.
Abilheira said, “I look forward to seeing the resolution the mayor has referenced, as she did not provide it to me prior to being placed on this week’s agenda, nor has she contacted me to discuss it or the ordinance I submitted. Clearly, as I presented her with my proposals and she has presented me with nothing, the problem with communications is not mine.”
In further discussing the appointment process, the mayor said that in 2003 the RCEC endorsed her and Abilheira for office, and the residents overwhelmingly embraced their platform for controlling development, promoting open space and maintaining the rural character of the community, embracing fiscal responsibility and anti-pay-to-play, and exploring environmentally friendly ratables.
“In 2003 we interviewed professionals and selected firms and professionals whose costs for services fit our budget and [whose] qualifications and performance records matched our needs,” Grbelja said. “Members of the Planning Board and Zoning Board independently chose their own professionals. Together, our new professionals improved the quality of services over Millstone’s prior professionals and saved Millstone taxpayers millions of dollars in a few short years.”
Grbelja further explained that the RCEC and many other interested residents provide insight regarding open positions on the township’s various boards, councils and commissions.
The mayor said that the Township Committee reviews talent bank applications to determine a resident’s interest in serving an open position and ultimately appoints qualified individuals to serve on the boards and commissions.
“Our boards have a diverse and talented group of residents, and their performances are noticed by many people,” she said.
Lambros said that since 2003 the RCEC has assisted the Township Committee’s appointment process by suggesting qualified individuals for the various volunteer boards, councils and commissions.
“It is one of the RCEC’s greatest roles, and the results are remarkable and verifiable through public records,” he said.
Although he did not mention specific names of municipal appointees that the RCEC replaced, Lambros said that those who were replaced may have had experience but perpetuated many of the township’s problems.
Lambros said that before RCEC’s involvement with appointments, roughly 158 new homes were approved for development in the township each year for 19 consecutive years, developers paid $50 for land use applications leaving residents to pay millions of dollars for professional reviews that developers should have paid for, and township boards were stacked with developer allies to increase developer profits.
After the RCEC got involved, Lambros said that 12 new homes on average are approved each year, developers pay all of the expenses for land use applications and professional reviews, and boards are filled with average residents that protect and preserve quality of life issues for all residents.
“Local residents recognize that RCEC involvement enhances the Township Committee appointment process, and five consecutive landslide election victories is evidence of resident approval,” he said.
When asked if township Democrats have ever been invited into the RCEC meetings regarding appointments, Lambros said no.
“However,” he said, “many registered Democrats were considered for appointments, and some were appointed and continue to serve.”
He said residents trust and respect their district-elected RCEC members as their best representative to suggest board appointees.
“An RCEC member’s knowledge of qualified and reliable residents is the best way to ensure responsible and efficient representation on all boards, councils and commissions, from residents living in every voting district,” he said.
Lambros further stated that Abilheira and his family members on the RCEC embraced the RCEC-enhanced appointment process and participated in meetings for the 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 appointees.
When asked why he believes Abilheira may be against such meetings now, Lambros said, “Although I am not certain
what Mr. Abilheira’s motivations are, it appears he is desperate to discredit the good work of local Republicans and his fellow township committeemen because he was not mayor in 2006 and 2007. He refuses to fulfill his responsibilities to the residents this year, and the majority of the RCEC is disappointed that he neglects his professional obligations.”
He continued, “Despite [Abilheira’s] disappointment and continued obstructions, the RCEC and the other four Township Committee members continue to advance sound political and public policies to benefit all Millstone residents.”
Abilheira said, “The fact that I disagree and want to debate the issues in public should not be considered obstruction. I consider that democracy. These things should be discussed in public and not in Steve Lambros’ basement.”
Abilheira took issue with some of Lambros’ other statements and said that the Democrats Lambros helped get thrown out of municipal positions over the past few years passed 10-acre zoning and other measures to stop rampant development in the township.
“I don’t understand why he thinks the RCEC made that happen,” Abilheira said.
He said that the RCEC is a bipartisan elected body that decides who gets the party line on the Republican primary ballot and advances Republican party agendas.
“I don’t know if residents feel that the RCEC is supposed to be running the town,” he said, adding that he believes Lambros is trying to do so because he was jilted after losing an election for the Township Committee.
Abilheira said RCEC members should not have the sole say on who is appointed to municipal positions, since they are people not elected by the majority but by registered Republicans in elections that garner 30 votes each on average.
Abilheira said that even if the township adopts a fair and open process to make appointments, he understands that “people will still make appointments based on partisan issues.”
However, he said, such a process would require officials to publicly explain why they chose the appointees they did and would demand that the professionals already in place stay competitive.
According to Grbelja, the issue is on the agenda for the committee’s Dec. 5 meeting, which took place after the Examiner’s deadline on Tuesday.