By John C. Gibardi
The newly elected Republican Marlboro Township Council members – Antoinette DiNuzzo, Michael Milman and Juned Qazi – were elected to make Marlboro municipal government more transparent and accessible to the taxpayers.
In our form of government, we have a five-member legislative body – the Township Council – to provide checks and balances on a strong mayor. Think of it as a CEO and a Board of Directors.
Marlboro’s government cannot continue to operate as in the past, where the mayor enjoyed a rubber stamp.
The Republican team had a 100-day plan for Marlboro on the day they took office, but the newly elected council members experienced considerable pushback to innovative
ideas while discussing the first eight items in their plan with the Administration, which
have been obstructed by the mayor.
Those priorities follow:
• Restore zoning to the Township Council, by ordinance, so directly elected representatives can be held accountable by the residents for major land use decisions;
• Authorize a study on the environmental conditions of township facilities;
• Authorize a study on the feasibility of building a new municipal complex in a
leaseback transaction, respecting any historical implications, in a budget-neutral
manner;
• Authorize a study on the current dispatch 911 in-house and using Monmouth County’s
system;
• Authorize a study on how to increase competition among internet providers presently
servicing township residents;
• Authorize a study exploring the implications of the municipality taking over solid
waste services for township residents;
• Authorize a study of our zoning and community development functions;
• Authorize a study to explore the suspension of all township inspections on transfer of
deed in residential property transactions and replace with a one-time, all-inclusive
township transfer fee. The township would still require fire, smoke and carbon
monoxide detector certifications from the homeowner.
At a Township Council meeting, Vice President Antoinette DiNuzzo placed on the record those first eight priorities of the Republican team’s 100-day plan, since the Administration has not communicated these proposals to the public.
While the Administration prefers to run the township behind closed doors, the new
council members prefer good government, debate of the issues in the public eye and
transparency.
The mayor should put petty partisan politics aside for what is in the best interest of the
residents and work with the Republican council majority to implement their 100-day
plan.
This Your Turn guest column was written by John C. Gibardi, who is the Marlboro Republican Municipal Chairman.