WEST MILFORD — The township council is going back to what its members consider a more productive committee format in its quest to create the 2013 municipal budget.
That means, however, that the sessions with department heads will not be open to the public. Councilwoman CarlLa Horton isn’t happy about that; neither is Councilman Lou Signorino who both publicly said transparency is important.
“I’m concerned about transparency,” said Horton. “Committee meetings need to be open to the public.”
Township Administrator Nancy Gage asked the council at its first meeting of 2013 what format they would like to have for the upcoming budget meetings. Traditionally, the council had budget meetings where all council members, the mayor and members of the public and press were included. Department heads would sit down with them and lay out what they needed for their budget. Discussions were in public. Not many members of the public were ever in attendance. Still, the option was there.
Two years ago, members of the council decided to break the council into sub-committees, dividing the budget hearings between them. But with three members of the council on each committee, no other council members or the mayor could attend the hearings because it would be a quorum of the council and violate the Open Public Meetings Act.
There was a tremendous outcry from the public about the closed budget hearings, but some council members said the hearings went smoothly and cut their work in half. A public hearing was held before the budget was passed and no decisions were made in the budget hearings, only recommendations that the entire council eventually discussed and voted on. Last year, the council went back to the full council budget hearings open to the public.
Township attorney Fred Semrau recommended that the council only have two members on each committee this time to avoid a possible quorum if some council members are not present for the final budget vote.
However, no action will be taken on any part of the budget until the public is included, he said.
“You will never make a decision until you get to a public meeting,” said Semrau.
Signorino said he would prefer three council members on each committee.
The details of the committees and the dates and times of the meetings have not yet been determined.
What do you think about the closed-to-the-public budget hearings? Go to westmilfordmessenger.com and tell us.