Well, business as usual in Edison Township! What I actually mean is business as usual with Mayor [Jun] Choi and his four cronies on the council.
First, they become council members, and from the very beginning it was obvious that they were very much aligned with Mayor Choi. The voting 4 to 3 started right out of the box. Anything that was good for the mayor, but not the residents and taxpayers of Edison Township, was approved.
Second, without consultation with Councilwoman [Antonia] Ricigliano and possibly other members (don’t know for sure), Councilwoman [AnnMarie] Griffin Ussak was made council president. The reorganization wasn’t done with full knowledge to certain council members. It was just done the Choi method, and I think most of us are on to him at this point.
Third, the council meeting of Jan. 14, 2009, which I watched on Thursday, Jan. 15, was an abomination of the public process, freedom of speech and total lack of consideration for us, the residents and taxpayers of Edison Township.
I listened to the Choi 4 as they insisted that shortened speaking time and limitation of times to speak would draw more people to the council meetings. What a crock. The reason people have stopped attending the council meetings is because they realize that whatever they say falls on deaf ears. The vote is always going to be 4 to 3. Thankfully, the regular speakers at the council meetings who actually fight for their opinions continue to attend; otherwise, you might as well not even have work sessions or meetings.
Work sessions and regular meetings work and have worked from the beginning of time. You say change is good. Unfortunately, change since Mayor Choi has been mayor is not a change for the good of the residents and taxpayers of Edison. Change with these four council members is also a change not for the good, but combined with the mayor’s, is destruction of the process of having the public involved at all times for years and years before this. They are taking away freedom of speech from us, and this is not good. Council President Griffin- Ussak is like a dictator, running the meetings. It is not a positive change. The meetings are not school classrooms where the teachers are dictators. The council meetings are for the residents and taxpayers of Edison Township. This is being taken away from us. Next, council President Griffin-Ussak will be giving detention if you don’t behave at the council meetings.
The Choi 4 would never have survived being on the council back in the ’80s and ’90s when there were good exchanges of ideas and late meetings, sometimes until after midnight. Time for a change for the good this year. We will remember all of this at election time. We’re stuck with you for now, but we are not stuck with Mayor Choi after this year.
Barbara Sabatie
Edison