Tabernacle’s sudden cancellation of the March 11, workshop meeting was sleazy. Its refusal to explain why suggests that it was cancelled because Hartman, Stone and Moore want to dodge public criticism and run out the clock on Historic Town Hall.

Here’s What Happened

My husband and I asked the township committee to use the scheduled March 11, 2024 workshop meeting to rescind the resolution to demolish Historic Town Hall. Less than hour after we sent the email, Clerk Maryalice Brown canceled the meeting.

When we saw that they canceled the March 11 meeting so suddenly, my husband and I tried to find out why. I submitted an OPRA request asking for communications (emails, text messages, telephone notes, hard copies) between committee members and the clerk (https://thetabernaclejournal.org/wp-admin/upload.php?item=682). Clerk Brown replied in 14 hours. Usually, she takes seven days or more. She said: “There are no responsive records to your request.

It’s hard to believe that there are no records regarding the cancellation of the meeting. There had to be communication between individual committee members and Clerk Brown. Otherwise, how would she know to cancel the meeting?

Most people communicate through text messages or email. Those are public records. By law, they must be preserved. Even if they communicated through a phone call, there’s likely someone taking notes.

Regardless of whether there are any records, or whether records were deleted, Clerk Maryalice Brown knows who couldn’t attend the March 11, meeting. Again, how else would she know to cancel the meeting?

Clerk Brown should have explained why the meeting was canceled. The Clerk’s Desk Reference says that a core duty is to “Act as liaison to the public and correspondent on behalf of the Governing Body” (https://ecode360.com/36804176). Surely, Tabernacle residents should know which elected officials couldn’t attend the March 11, meeting and why. We pay them to be there and conduct public business.

So we sent a second email to committee members and Clerk Brown. We asked if they were able to attend the March 11, meeting (https://thetabernaclejournal.org/wp-admin/upload.php?item=681). And, if not, why not?  

Clerk Maryalice Brown evaded the question. She, again, said that there weren’t any records. We didn’t ask for any records this time. We asked who couldn’t attend the meeting and why.

Committeemen McNaughton and Sprague responded that they were able to attend the March 11, meeting. Therefore, we now know that Committee members Hartman, Stone and Moore caused the meeting to be cancelled. They haven’t responded to our emails.

Why Didn’t Hartman, Stone And Moore Speak Up?

Everyone who has ever had a job knows that if you’re going to be absent, you let someone know. More notice is better. It’s respectful, responsible and it’s no big deal. In some places, you don’t work, you don’t get paid.

Apparently, giving notice of their absence was a big deal for Mayor Hartman, Deputy Mayor Stone and Committeeman Moore.     

They didn’t mention it at the February 26, meeting even though the subject was ripe at two different times. The first time was when Tom Boyd set March 11, as a deadline for the committee’s action on Historic Town Hall. At that point Hartman, Stone and Moore could’ve said that they would be absent on March 11. That would’ve set up a discussion about options, including asking Mr. Boyd for more time.

The second opportunity for Hartman, Stone and Moore to announce that they couldn’t be at the March 11, meeting was during Committee Reports. The whole committee should know if people are going to be absent so that it can plan its work.

“Netflix And Chilling”

In their respective reports, neither Hartman, Moore nor Stone reported that they would be absent on March 11.

Instead, Deputy Mayor Stone, reported that she was one of very few people who stepped up and dedicated themselves to being a public official. Usually, people say “Thank you for your service” not “Thank ME for MY service.”

She went on to ‘report’ that “[I] could be “Netflix and Chilling” with that man behind you…[pointing to her husband, Anthony].

“Netflix and Chill” is an Internet slang term used as a euphemism for sexual activity, either as part of a romantic partnership, as casual sex, or as a groupie invitation” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netflix_and_chill).

I don’t care what Deputy Mayor Stone does in her private time. But I do care that elected officials conduct public business effectively and professionally.  

You don’t have to be Thomas Jefferson to know that a committee member’s report on “Netflix and Chilling” doesn’t advance government and doesn’t belong at a public meeting.   

Why The Secrecy?

The committee and clerk are treating the cancellation of the March 11, meeting as if it’s top secret. This suggests that something bad is going on.

My opinion is that two of the three committee members who voted to demolish Historic Town Hall (Hartman, Stone and Moore) had a planned absence. Maybe each assumed that despite their absence there would still be a quorum of four. So there was no reason to mention it. That’s sloppy thinking. You know what they say about people who assume.

When they figured out that two of them would be absent, they realized that the third person would be on the short side of a 2-1 vote at the March 11 meeting. So, they contrived to say that the third person also had a planned absence.

Really, how likely is it that all of the committee members who voted on February 26, to demolish Historic Town Hall also had a planned absence on March 11, the day of Tom Boyd’s deadline?

Judges point out that the intentional spoiling of a quorum wrongfully stalemates government. They say that public officials have a fiduciary relationship towards their citizens and emphasize that this kind of political expediency should not be tolerated. Smith v Ghigliotty, 219 N.J. Super 231 (Law 1987). See also Kossyk v. Light, 157 N.J. Super 338 (App Div 1977).

Clerk Maryalice Brown and committee members owe us a detailed explanation about how Tabernacle’s March 11, meeting came to be cancelled. Who told Clerk Brown they couldn’t attend? What did they tell her? When did they tell her? When did she cancel the meeting? How did everybody communicate? All of these questions must be answered.

A Huge Failure Of Government

At the January 2024, reorganization meeting, Committeeman McNaughton proposed 10 additional workshop meetings to better handle public business. Public business had increased significantly with the New Municipal Complex and Historic Town Hall. McNaughton pointed out that the extra meetings would allow for fuller discussion and more efficient agendas.

Hartman, Stone and Moore defeated McNaughton’s proposal saying, essentially, that they already meet enough. Deputy Mayor Stone also said that workshop meetings were for important items. She said that there were already enough scheduled meetings to address them.

Wrong and wrong.

First, the committee has struggled mightily to address municipal facilities. The process has taken far longer than necessary and the decisions have been questionable at best. It’s clear that they have not been thoroughly discussed in public.

As someone who attends meetings regularly, it’s obvious that a different approach was needed. Something along the lines of what Committeeman McNaughton proposed should’ve been adopted.

Second, Historic Town Hall is such an important matter that the committee should’ve thoroughly discussed it. Those discussions should’ve included costs (which was the only factor that Hartman, Stone and Moore considered. They should also have included the master plan, the use of the property, the overall plan for municipal facilities, the history of the building., and what residents want. That requires multiple, in-depth discussions. Workshop meetings are designed for that purpose.

The cancellation of the scheduled workshop meeting is the opposite of what was needed. Cancellation prevented a thorough discussion. Hartman, Stone and Moore failed to provide the workshop meeting for important subjects that they said they could provide without the necessity for extra meetings. 

Not only did Hartman, Stone and Moore fail to hold the workshop meetings, they also failed to thoroughly discuss Historic Town Hall at regular meetings.

After Tom Boyd gave this committee an impossible deadline to act on Historic Town Hall, Hartman, Stone and Moore made a snap decision to demolish it. They didn’t address any questions or comments from the public. They showed no interest in exploring options or alternative time frames.

Township committee has done next to nothing for the past three years about Historic Town Hall. Our last three mayors, Brown, Moore and Hartman, have not kept Historic Town Hall on township agendas. Nor has the township’s construction officer brought the condition of Historic Town Hall to the committee until the last minute. This has been a huge failure of government.

Contact Your Committee Members

The next meeting is March 26. Now is the time for residents to contact committee members to tell them what they think should be done about Historic Town Hall (https://www.townshipoftabernacle-nj.gov/departments/township_committee/index.php).