The pay-to-play situation in Jackson Township is only getting worse.
As previously reported here on FAA News, the new politically appointed members of the Jackson Township Zoning Board of Adjustment have been working very hard to do massive changes to their roster of professionals.
The rest of the Board is accusing these members of doing this simply as political moves on behalf of the Township Council.
The Board has been served for the past number of years by Attorney Ryan Murphy Esq. of Gertner Murphy LLC, Engineer Evan Hill of EDH Engineering and Traffic Engineer / Planner Ernie Peters of Remington & Vernick Engineers.
At the Board's official reorganization meeting at the beginning of the month, the attorney position landed in a very hot spot.
Chairwoman Lynne Bradley urged the Board to "vote for continuity," and added that she "is aware the governing body is pushing a certain agenda here, and that their political motives should not play any role in the Board's vote." The rest of the senior members of the Board echoed these sentiments.
However, Kenneth Bressi, who the Council just appointed to the Board, along with Moshe Heiman, fought hard to get the Board to appoint Jean Cipriani of Rothstein, Mandell, Strohm, Halm Cipriani.
Ultimately though, a motion and second was made to rehire Mr. Murphy.
Ms. Bradley, Dr. Sheldon Hofstein, and Bob Hudak voted for Mr. Murphy.
Mr. Bressi and Mr. Heiman voted against Mr. Murphy.
Chrystabel Rosal abstained, stating "as a new member to this Board, Ms. Cipriani's senior experience would benefit me."
Ms. Parnes also abstained.
At that point the votes were counted and it was announced that the motion for Mr. Murphy was approved.
That should have been the end of the matter.
However, some very sneaky politics was at play, and pulling the strings from behind the scenes.
The political players had decided that Ryan Murphy needed to be replaced at all costs - just so a certain buddy could get the job instead.
So... less than 2 seconds later, Ms. Parnes asked if she could change her vote (to a no vote, so Mr. Murphy would lose).
The Board immediately fell into a heated discussion that lasted over half an hour.
Mr. Murphy stated that under Robert's Rules of Law and Order, a Board member can change their vote only prior to the votes being counted, after that point they need approval from the full Board to allow them to change their vote.
Ms. Parnes realized she was outvoted as the rest of the Board would certainly not allow her to change her vote.
Yet, Ms. Parnes pressed on and suggested perhaps she actually asked to change her vote prior to the votes being counted.
Ultimately, after heated discussion the Board closed the matter by ending the meeting and saying that everyone can go home and watch the video recording and decide at the next meeting as how to proceed.
Immediately following this heated meeting, an all-out smear campaign got underway, with the end goal to somehow get rid of Ryan Murphy.
The smear campaign included the publication of a sensational article on Shore News Network (which just so happens to also have a contract with the Township Council to run the Township's public relations office).
Ultimately, Mr. Murphy felt the heat, and, based on my perception that attempts to tarnish his reputation would not cease, agreed to tender a resignation.
As shown below, the letter indicates the resignation is only due to "the impartiality of the Board [which] had been compromised," and this led to his "reputation... unfairly assassinated over this position... for absolutely no reason whatsoever."
At the Board's subsequent meeting, the "all-out campaign" only got stronger. The senior members opined that they should table the matter of appointing a new attorney until after they solicit new proposals, which may result in interest from numerous attorneys due to the sudden vacancy.
However, Moshe Heiman refused and urged the Board to immediately vote for Ms. Cipriani.
The senior members continued to hesitate, stating they were uncomfortable voting on such a matter without clarification from an attorney. They suggested the Board table the matter until they could solicit counsel from the Township's attorney.
Led by Bressi, Heiman, and Parnes, the motion to table the matter failed, and the motion to appoint Ms. Cipriani carried.
Following this heated issue, the senior members recommended appointing Bob Hudak to the Vice Chair position.
Mr. Heiman vehemently opposed the move, "due to his opposition to Ms. Cipriani's appointment!"
Another long tassle got underway, with Bressi, Heiman, and Parnes pushing for Ms. Parnes to receive the Vice Chair appointment.
Ultimately, Ms. Parnes did not muster sufficient votes and Mr. Hudak won the vote.
As previously reported here on FAA News, Ms. Cipriani has a checkered past, including representing an Ocean County township in suing its own Zoning Board of Adjustment in an attempt to overturn a Board approval.
The application was filed by Mel-John Development, LLC. However, Town officials know that there is Jewish money backing the project and that's why they are fighting to overturn this approval, FAA News has learned.
The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed right down the drain by Judge Hodgson.
Curious minds wonder why there are all-out smear campaigns against Mr. Murphy and Evan Hill of EDH Engineering, the Board's long-time engineer who was also mysteriously replaced by Morgan Engineering.
Such curious minds need only be reminded that, as previously reported here and here, Ms. Cipriani's firm and Morgan Engineering were big donors to Mordy Burnstein's PAC and reelection campaign, while Evan Hill and Ryan Murphy - who share the same sentiment that professional positions should be based on merit, not on pay-to-play baloney - are not on the list of donors. For that one simple reason they are now both gone.
That's how politicians play their game. If you don't pay for their team they will play with other team players who do pay.
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4 comments:
The professionals appointed are a quality upgrade. There were many mistakes being made prior to the new appointments.
Personally know the story. Yes she is a piece of garbage.antismite par excellence
The last meeting was on January 15 when appointed. How can you determine that they are an upgrade? They have not done anything yet.
Your being very unfair and wrongly bashing with this article. The is the first FAA article that I disagree with. Better to be as accurate as you can to keep your credibility.
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