1/16/19 Business Meeting
By Joseph L. Kuchie
Councilwoman
Zusette Dato
SOUTH AMBOY – South Amboy Councilwoman Zusette Dato raised concerns about resident behavior at recent South Amboy council meetings.
Tension has been high at the last three council meetings following the public hearing and eventual passing of the Manhattan Beach Project, which will bring a minimum of 500 residential units to South Amboy. Residents have used the public portion of these meetings to voice their concerns about the project and their extreme disappointment in the council’s decision to pass the vote.
Dato believed that while residents are entitled to speak their mind and voice their opinions, she did not think that vulgar and disrespectful language should be used in a public forum. She referenced the December public hearing on the Manhattan Beach Project that involved the use of profane language from certain residents in the crowd toward both the Mayor and the council.
“I thought some of the comments crossed the line of being inappropriate and it wasn’t addressed,” Dato said. “People are entitled to make their comments and criticize and I’m okay with that, but it’s not okay to cross the line of what’s respectful and what isn’t. I think there should be some plan about how we’re going to handle that.”
“Treat the council and the people of the public who are in the room with respect,” she continued. “We can handle the criticism and comments but not if it is inappropriate. I think that should be a line.”
Councilman
Brian McLaughlin
Councilman Brian McLaughlin, who was against the Manhattan Beach project and has been interested in bringing in Offshore Wind facilities to South Amboy, argued that the hostility came from the dais as well. He mentioned that one could argue that South Amboy Redevelopment Agency attorney Joseph Baumann was out of line when speaking to residents as well.
“That was a very heated meeting, there were a lot of tempers flaring,” McLaughlin said. “The way Mr. Baumann spoke to the people from the Energy people was out of line. He talked at them, not to them. I think he was very unprofessional.”
Councilman Tom Reilly believed that Council President Mickey Gross should be the one to take control of the inappropriate comments and remove the residents from the meeting after a warning. Councilwoman Christine Noble mentioned that Gross did address certain residents and give warnings during the meeting in December.
City Law Director Francis Womack said he would look into some rules of conducts that have been acceptable in other towns that would give the city something to work with. Councilman Reilly noted that the council use caution and only limit the restrictions to profanity to avoid running into issues with freedom of speech.
Councilman Mickey Gross was not in attendance for the business meeting. The next city council meeting will be held on January 30th at 7:00 p.m.
