Transparency issues, open dialogue concerns raised at Fort Monmouth authority meeting

At last week’s Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority meeting, a new policy was introduced that limits public comment regarding agenda items to a five minute maximum per person per item at all public FMERA meetings.

Newly appointed FMERA chairman James Gorman explained that the format change, which limits discussion to agenda items only, “will allow all citizens in attendance the opportunity to address the meeting agenda items to the board.”

This policy change, along with a perceived lack of transparency on the part of the authority, was a matter of contention for some citizens present at Wednesday night’s meeting.

Tom Mahedy of the Fort Monmouth Earth Renaissance Peace Alliance expressed concern that the change would limit dialogue between the authority and the public regarding the redevelopment of Fort Monmouth. “In the last four years, when we asked a question, there’d be a response…right then and there.”

“I think if you want full public participation, then that would lead to a more rich dialogue,” Mahedy told the board. “I know that in all the bylaws, and all the statements, it said you want more public participation. So I ask that you reconsider that, and if asked questions, to respond at that point.”

Mahedy then asked, “Was that a decision from the chairman or the whole board to change the policy?”

“You’ve had your topic,” Gorman replied. “Is there anybody else who’d like to come up and ask?”

Since Mahedy was the only member of the public who addressed the board at that point in the meeting, he spoke for additional nine and a half minutes about what he perceived as possible conflicts of interest involving several of the authority’s newest appointees. He also asked the board to explain the process that led to Gorman’s appointment as FMERA chairman.

“I know that he was on the transition team for the Christie administration, and I know that he has a lot of experience in financial matters,” Mahedy said. “My comment/question is that he has not been involved in the last four years with this process. I’m not sure if he understands the importance of participation from the public. And the public are the ones who bought Fort Monmouth. Paid for the land. The buildings, the labs…everything that is on it. And in a participatory democracy, the people have a right and a responsibility to be part of the process on every level, and repression of the public is not something that is part of a real democracy. I have been warned by some higher-ups here that the new chairman may not be welcoming to the public as far as comments and questions go.”

“We’re not going to deal in rumors or innuendo, sir,” Gorman replied. “You need to sit down now.”

“So my question was, what were the skill sets and what was the process of choosing a new chairman?” Mahedy asked.

“What agenda item are you talking about, sir?”

“Excuse me?”

“Which agenda item?” Gorman repeated.

“The welcoming of James Gorman as chairman,” Mahedy replied.

“You need to sit down, sir,” said Gorman. “I’m going to ask you nicely to sit down. You need to do that … will you sit down?”

“Sir, I have a number of other comments on—“

“You will be allowed to present them under item 11. Not now.”

“Well, this part is for anything that is going to be brought up during the meeting,” Mahedy responded. “As far as a report on—“

“Have him removed!” a spectator called out.

“Excuse me?” Mahedy replied.

Mahedy was once again told to sit down. “I have to sit down or I’ll be arrested?” he asked as a point of clarification.

Mahedy was told yes, and then escorted from the podium.

FMERA strictly enforced the policy throughout the meeting. When Phil Welch, Jr., Co-Chair, Monmouth Advocacy Team, asked about affordable housing during the initial agenda-based public discussion, Gorman told him to hold his questions until later. When Charles Richman, chairman of the FMERA Housing Staff Advisory Committee, delivered his report, Welch readdressed the board.

“Mr. Welch, can you reserve until item 11, please?” Gorman asked.

“You said that this was the time,” said Welch. “I was very courteous about that, and I went back to my seat when you said this was the time when the discussion would take place. So that’s why I’m coming forward. I have a question—“

“Can you hold, sir?” Gorman asked. “Do any of the members have a problem with this process? To allow this indulgence? Does anybody have a problem with that?”

When none of his fellow board members voiced an objection, Gorman allowed Welch to proceed. To see video from their discussion, click on the media link to right of your browser.

The public discussion policy change wasn’t the only concern that citizens raised during the Feb. 16 meeting. A perceived lack of transparency was also addressed during the public comment portion of the evening. After FMERA members delivered their committee reports, one local resident asked if the committee meetings were open to the public as well.

“Which committee meetings?” Gorman asked.

“Any of them,” the resident replied.

“The Staff Advisory Committee meetings are not open to the public,” said FMERA Secretary and Executive Director Bruce Steadman. “They are set up as Staff Advisory Committee meetings. The idea was that people with expertise and skill in the areas surrounding the issues that we’re trying to address and resolve would be put into a room and help the staff understand and resolve the issues. By keeping them confidential, if you will, allows us to talk about the hard issues before the information is ready to be made public or appear in the media. However, we recognize the need to ultimately make all that information public.”

Steadman was then asked to “go down the list of committee meetings and state which ones are open to the public and which aren’t.”

“The advisory committees are the Environmental Advisory Committee, the Veterans, and the Housing,” he replied.

“…Are open or not open?”

“Are not open,” Steadman responded. “With respect to the committees that were brought up tonight…the Real Estate Committee, and the Audit Committee…those are private as well.”

“So they’re not open?”

“Those committees,” said Steadman. “That is correct.”

“Which ones are open?”

“Those are the only committees that we have at this time,” Steadman replied.

Another citizen inquired about the executive session portion of meeting, which is exclusive to FMERA members and not open to public. “May the public use an Open Public Records request to access the minutes?” he asked. “Will the public be able to access the minutes for those meetings in a way that’s timely to the public and perhaps not to the executive committee?”

Gorman replied that meeting minutes aren’t official until they’re approved by the FMERA board and Gov. Christie. Deputy Attorney General Gabriel Chacon added that they do become available to public eventually.

“So there’s no set timeline?”

“There’s no set timeline,” Chacon responded. “It could very soon, or it could take a while.”

The resident noted that, with some meetings, “its final determination could be fifteen years.”

“In all fairness, it’s going to vary from item to item,” Gorman replied. “Some things will become public information sooner than other things. It’s just a matter of what the topic of the discussion is.”

“There is an obligation of the authority,” said Chacon. “It is not something to be forgotten.”

“One final question: do [either of you] foresee that any of these discussions on real estate contract negotiations…will we see it in six months? Will we see it in six years? Do you have a feel for that?”

“You’re assuming something,” Gorman responded. “Your assumption is that all the decisions that go into answering your question are within our control. We have something that hanging fire at the federal government. We have some things that are hanging fire at the N.J. Supreme Court. So until those things are resolved, it’s going to vary from item to item.”

“Well, from the public where I speak from, knowledge is power, and if I don’t have it, someone has the power that I don’t have,” the resident replied. “Thank you for giving me the time to answer my questions.”