SAYREVILLE – The Sayreville Borough Council has scheduled a hearing that may result in the chairman of the borough’s Planning Board being removed from his position.
The council voted 4-2 on Aug. 21 to hold a special hearing on Thomas Tighe’s future on Sept. 11 prior to the start of the regular council meeting. With cause, the council may remove Tighe from his role in the borough.
Council President Daniel Buchanan and council members Victoria Kilpatrick, Ricci Melendez and Mary Novak voted “yes” on holding the special hearing. Councilmen Steven Grillo and Pat Lembo voted “no”.
The council began to discuss possibly removing Tighe as chairman following complaints from residents regarding comments that Tighe made during a June Planning Board meeting, including a derogatory remark directed at Buchanan. Buchanan, however, cited instances where he found that the Planning Board under Tighe did not properly enter closed session as the primary reason for the hearing.
A hearing was originally scheduled for the Aug. 21 meeting, where Tighe apologized to Buchanan for the comment he made.
“Mr. Buchanan, I spoke out of turn, I said something that was off-color, I’m very sorry for that, for you and for your position, and I truly apologize,” Tighe said.
Although Buchanan said he appreciated Tighe’s apology, he reasoned that the hearing needed to continue due to his concerns over the Planning Board allegedly entering closed session improperly.
“I do appreciate your apology, Tom,” the council president said. “[But] this was just part of the issues that arose from several of the meetings this past year, involving COAH [Council on Affordable Housing], possible violations of the Open Public Meetings Act [and] going into [closed] session, which jeopardized the borough. Things that were discussed could be voided out. The process should proceed.”
In response, Tighe defended his service to Sayreville, noting that despite not receiving monetary compensation as a Planning Board member, he has continued to assist the borough for 25 years.
“I’ve sat [on the Planning Board] two nights, every month, for the last 20 years, not getting paid because I thought I could do the best for Sayreville,” Tighe said.
Mayor Kennedy O’Brien, who appoints the members of the Planning Board, spoke in favor of Tighe.
“I appointed Mr. Tighe to the Sayreville Planning Board numerous times [and] he has my full faith and confidence,” O’Brien said. “My friend Tom Tighe has given countless years to the Boy Scouts of America, has given his entire working career as a business agent to the Plumbers and Pipefitters, to the AFL-CIO [American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations], he sits on the executive board of Middlesex County College.
“I don’t think you could find a better man, one with that much character or integrity,” he said. “I stand firmly behind him.”
The mayor described the hearing as “political silliness” and “hyper-partisanship at its worst”. O’Brien and Lembo are the only Republican members of Sayreville’s governing body, with Democrats holding five of the six council seats. By contrast, Tighe stated he was the only Democrat on the Planning Board.
“I’m deeply ashamed that [the hearing] has gone this far and that it appears to be going further,” O’Brien said. “It serves no purpose for the people of Sayreville.”
To allow Tighe the opportunity to be represented by legal counsel, Buchanan made a motion, seconded by Novak, to have a special hearing at a future date that would be decided by Tighe and Borough Attorney Michael DuPont.
The council’s vote on the motion ended in 3-3 tie, with Buchanan, Kilpatrick and Novak voting favor of it, while Grillo, Lembo and Melendez opposed. O’Brien cast the tie-breaking vote against holding the special hearing.
Both Grillo and Lembo cited Tighe’s apology as reason to not hold a special hearing and conclude the matter.
“I thought Mr. Tighe’s apology was sincere,” Grillo said. “I think he apologized like a gentleman for a mistake that he admitted he made. I’d like to put this issue to rest.”
“The apology should put this to bed,” Lembo said. “Enough time’s been spent on this.”
With the motion to hold a special hearing rejected, however, DuPont said the hearing could proceed at the Aug. 21 meeting, with Tighe not being represented by legal counsel. This prompted Melendez to ask for a motion to reconsider holding the special hearing at another date.
Ultimately, a new motion was made to hold the special hearing on Sept. 11. The motion passed with the “yes” votes of Buchanan, Kilpatrick, Melendez and Novak overriding the “no” votes of Grillo and Lembo.
In response to O’Brien’s request to provide Tighe with an attorney to be paid by the borough, the council unanimously approved a motion to have DuPont look into seeing if that action was possible.
Tighe stated that he intended to continue serving as the Planning Board chairman.
“Thank you very much for the people [who] stood behind me and those who didn’t, sorry that I did what I did,” Tighe said. “Sorry about what I said. But I truly apologize. I intend to stay on as the chairman of the Planning Board as long as I have the faith of the mayor and the rest of the board.”
Contact Matthew Sockol [email protected].