Jackson Township Council President Martin Flemming tonight abruptly announced that he is stepping down from his post as Council President. He added that he will remain a member of the Council, however he will no longer hold the Council President position.
.jpg)
"This will be my last evening as Council President. I will be stepping down before the next meeting. I would like to nominate Vice President Stephen Chisholm to take over my duties," Flemming stated.
Martin Flemming, Stephen Chisholm, and Nino Borrelli voted yes. Jennifer Kuhn and Scott Sargent - who are strong allies of Mayor Mike Reina - voted no.
Flemming then stated that he would like for Nino Borrelli to take over as Council Vice President.
Again, Martin Flemming, Stephen Chisholm, and Nino Borrelli voted yes, and Jennifer Kuhn and Scott Sargent voted no.
"I would like to state that while there has been a lot of talk claiming that the whole council works together, as can be seen from the last votes, this is not at all true. It is disheartening for the town and I really feel bad for that," Flemming concluded.
Councilwoman Jennifer Kuhn shot back, "I think that being blindsided is a more accurate statement. We were just in closed session and we could have talked about this properly then."
Flemming, who recently sold most of the property he owns in the Township, may be planning to resign from Council completely.
The Lakewood Scoop reported that Flemming purposely appointed his successor tonight, while he still a member of the Council, as a ploy to ensure that Mayor Reina does not get to break the define tie race that would have occurred had Flemming resigned completely prior to appointing his successor.
TLS added that "some are alleging that Flemming and Chisholm may have had secret discussions prior to tonight's meeting to discuss their strategy" and that this move is a violation of the Open Public Meetings Act.
However, this is inaccurate.
It is only a violation of the Open Public Meetings Act when a majority of a public body meets together with no notice to the public. There is no violation when only 2 out of 5 board members meet together.
To join a FAA WhatsApp Group, click here.
To join the FAA WhatsApp Status, click here.
1 comment:
The Jackson Township Council also authorized a $1.35 million settlement with Pros without placing the item on their agenda beforehand.
Additionally, the Council introduced Avi Schnall's "historic pathway for shuls" without item be publicized on their agenda beforehand.
Curiously, TLS did not call out these actions as involving possible violations of the Open Public Meetings Act.
It seems that the askanim get to pick and choose which OPMA violations to call out and which to laud ...
Post a Comment