REORGANIZATION
On January 5, at its first meeting of 2024, the Tabernacle committee reorganized. There were a few surprises. Steps were taken towards a more transparent and productive year. But more work remains to be done.
NEW MAYOR AND DEPUTY MAYOR
Mark Hartman was elected mayor by a vote of three to two. Mark Hartman, Natalie Stone and Sammy Moore voted yes. Noble McNaughton and William Sprague voted no. Split mayoral votes are very, very rare in Tabernacle’s history.
Natalie Stone, newly elected to the committee and new to elected office, was elected Deputy Mayor. Natalie Stone, Mark Hartman and Sammy Moore voted yes; Noble McNaughton and William Sprague voted no.
CHANGES MADE TO PUBLIC COMMENT
Deputy Mayor Stone, who ran on a platform “time for a change,” immediately introduced a motion to expand the public comment period from the very unsatisfactory two minutes to three minutes. Committeeman McNaughton amended that to four minutes. The four-minute limit passed five to zero. Even Mayor Hartman, who started the two-minute limit, voted for the four-minute comment period. Good work; long needed.
ADDITONAL WORKSHOP MEETINGS DEFEATED
Committeeman McNaughton proposed that the committee hold more workshop meetings to better inform everyone and to improve how the committee conducts public business. Workshop meetings are sessions where committee members have extended discussion on issues before they are listed for vote at a future meeting. His proposal was to increase the number of workshop meetings in 2024 from three to 10.
Under Kim Brown’s, Sammy Moore’s, and Mark Hartman’s “leadership,” public discussion barely took place the first time an item was listed. Items would appear on the agenda and be voted on with almost no discussion. It was also rare when items were held over for a subsequent discussion and vote.
Sometimes, they would vote on items that weren’t even listed on the agenda but were raised at the meeting as a “report.” Kim Brown, when she was mayor, vowed never to do business during reports. Her vow was short lived.
Through 2023, under Mayor Moore’s and Deputy Mayor Hartman’s direction, Tabernacle’s style of doing public business was ugly, unprofessional and unproductive. The record is full of instances where important work was obviously done in the back room and brought to the meeting for a near silent rubber-stamp approval. Change is needed here.
PROBLEMS WITH COMMITTEE PREPAREDNESS UNADDRESSED
The defeat of the workshop proposal also fell short in two other areas. First, no one asked if a smaller number of workshop meetings would be okay.
Second, Mr. Sprague pointed out that because the committee gets its information packet on the Friday before Monday meetings, committee members have little time to prepare. The committee can’t function productively if the mayor and clerk bottle up information until the last minute.
This problem could be easily remedied, but wasn’t. The committee can instruct Administrator-Clerk Maryalice Brown to produce a draft agenda with attachments and distribute it earlier. That should be easy for a clerk to do. But because she is the full-time clerk in Woodland Township and Tabernacle Township, it’s difficult.
MORE CHANGE IS NEEDED
It is concerning that Deputy Mayor Stone voted with Mr. Hartman and Mr. Moore throughout the meeting, even on issues that needed change.
Change is needed to ensure that committee members receive information in time to intelligently discuss issues at committee meetings. Workshop meetings are a way to do that. Mayor Hartman, Deputy Mayor Stone and Committeeman Moore defeated the workshop proposal.
Change is also needed in the mayor’s position because the mayor sets the agenda with the clerk and controls the public meeting. Mr. Hartman is a bad choice.
He was the former deputy mayor while Mr. Moore was mayor. A deputy mayor shouldn’t be promoted automatically. Leadership positions are appointments that require responsibility to ensure orderly and productive public meetings.
Under Moore’s and Hartman’s ‘leadership’, committee meetings were chaotic, marked by unpreparedness, lacked a public deliberative process and were unproductive.
THE BAD OLD DAYS
For those who forget how bad it was, consider this:
a) the scope and cost of the new municipal complex, Tabernacle’s most expensive project ever, is still unclear despite more than two years of work;
b) the site selection process for that project didn’t seriously consider any alternatives. The flag lot at 144 Carranza Road was always the choice;
c) The Committee has not yet advanced a realistic plan for the old municipal building.
d) the public meeting process was a disaster. Committee insiders made policy in the back room, rarely discussed anything, hid information and generally ignored the public;
e) it was Mr. Hartman who instituted the two-minute public comment limit after saying that residents had little to say after two minutes – while he generally said nothing during public discussions throughout the entire meeting. Those aren’t strong credentials!
f) Committeeman Sammy Moore, along with Mayors Kim Brown and Mayor and Committeeman Joe Barton voted against the purchase of Sequoia, or even placing it on a referendum so that residents could decide. The Lenape School District fully renovated Sequoia. It has room for expansion, meets immediate needs for a community center and emergency shelter and is a visible part of Tabernacle’s village center. It sold for only $850,000. Now Tabernacle will spend at least 10 MILLION DOLLARS for a new town hall that will barely be visible and doesn’t have a public works garage.
BETTER DAYS AHEAD?
Overall, the reorganization meeting was positive. Deputy Mayor Stone and committee members McNaughton and Sprague initiated the reform of the two-minute “Hartman Rule” by extending public comment to four minutes. Residents who made public comment were appreciative and thanked the committee.
It seemed that everyone left the meeting with hope for a better new year. Time will tell.
Note: The Pine Barrens Tribune posts on YouTube the video recordings of Tabernacle Township meetings.
