Christine Dispenziere, Maria Vera and Maria Garcia at the 7/13/16 Council Meeting *Photo by Carolyn Maxwell

7/11/16 Caucus & 7/13/16 Council Meetings

PERTH AMBOY – At the 7/11/16 Caucus Meeting Law Director Arlene Quinones-Perez gave a brief explanation of why the Planning Board Members’ terms can’t be extended like other Municipal Boards. She explained that former Law Director Mark Blunda may have extended other Municipal Board Members’ terms when the Council’s and Mayor’s terms were extended (in 2012).

Quinones made that statement after Council President Lisa Nanton stated that the state stature gives the power to extend the Planning Board Members’ terms. Quinones ended the discussion by saying, “I will see what other municipalities did. It all depends on the classifications that other Boards are under.”

At the 7/13/16 Council Meeting, Christine Dispenziere, Planning Board Vice-Chair voiced her displeasure that two Board Members that each had 8+ years on the Planning Board were not reappointed. She then read an ordinance pertaining to terms of Municipal Boards. She urged the Council to investigate as to why these two Members were not reappointed. “These two individuals were very passionate, accurate and thorough and went to all the training courses. The Mayor asked for legal counsel from our Planning Board Attorney which was taken out of the Planning Board’s budget.”

Resident Stanley Sierakowski told the Council, “You have a recourse. Go to Superior Court about the ordinance pertaining to Municipal Board Member terms.”
Maria Garcia, who is one of the Planning Board Members whose is not being reappointed to another term came up to speak. She mentioned a letter that she received from the Business Administrator Adam Cruz. “In the letter it said that people were complaining about some of my postings that I put up on Facebook.”

Garcia questioned, “What postings did I have on my Facebook Page that the Business Administrator said people complained about? The Mayor failed to reappoint us for one year. Some of the decisions that were made during that time could be invalid.” (See Statement by Maria Garcia p.4.) Councilman Joel Pabon was absent at the 7/11/16 Caucus.