Sometimes when I attend the Perth Amboy Caucus/Council Meetings I feel as if I’m at a Medieval Times show minus the horses, lances and shields.

I just might come to the next meeting with different colored flags for supporters who come to speak out on different causes.

At previous meetings, the Housing Authority was in the forefront and that has settled down – somewhat.

The BID problems are the latest game in town. I know this is a very serious matter, but unfortunately it is starting to become too much of a sideshow.

I’m almost tempted to go to other municipalities that have a BID in place and see how they operate.

Perth Amboy’s City Attorney Mark Blunda, who is always a gentleman was quite astounded at how dysfunctional the BID has become when comparing it to how other municipalities operate their BID.

In a nutshell, he said, “It is becoming a power trip for some individuals.”

I attended a BID Meeting a couple of weeks ago and I was shocked at the way some of the members “jousted” with each other.

Unfortunately, unlike the Medieval Times Show, I did not find it entertaining. It was very sad.

Don’t get me wrong. I believe the BID Members are passionate about trying to make the organization work to be beneficial to their members and the City as a whole.

Behavioral problems of a few may cause the other members to leave which would be a loss to the City as a whole. This is especially true for those members who not only have businesses in the City, but also live here.

A letter was read at a City Council Meeting by a BID Board Member expressing her unhappiness as to what she viewed as an infraction of the BID by-laws.(See Page 4 of the 2/19/14 issue of the Amboy Guardian BID Under Fire Letter.)

BID Chair Barry Rosengarten read a lengthy statement at the 2/26/14 Council Meeting responding to that Board Member’s accusations. Rosengarten was there at the request to the Council who needed more information about the allegations. (See Page 6 for the abbreviated version of Rosengarten’s statement and www.amboyguardian.com for the statement in its entirety.)

In this issue are three more statements pertaining to the operations of the BID Board.

Perhaps the by-laws need be reexamined and overhauled so they are crystal clear in black and white with no grey areas.

Council President Joel Pabon addressed concerns of some residents who wanted to know why a lot of the Board Meetings were no longer televised. Pabon said he was told that there was a time restraint of two hours and any meeting going over that was exempt from being televised.

Pabon said, “Any meeting that is videotaped should be televised regardless of the length.”

I think we owe it to the residents to keep them well informed to see how decisions are made that may affect them. Meetings should be held at times when most people can attend. They should start meetings no earlier than 5:30 p.m.

– C.M.