JACKSON – Township officials and professional staff responded to a resident’s questions concerning the application process for the township’s Open Space Committee.
During the public comment period held during a special meeting of the council, resident Peter Vincinio, who has brought up the issue of his application during prior council meetings, this time addressed the matter with Mayor Michael Reina.
“On August 22 after a meeting, I spoke to you about the selection process of the open space committee and you very specifically told me the fairest way was to pick the people in chronological order as the applications came in,” Vincinio said.
His application came in on March 6. He said other applicants had applied after him, filed incomplete information or failed to provide a resume. “Can you please explain that? I was the first one and four people had no applications or resumes?”
Mayor Reina responded, “I only go by what my office gives me and when that list comes in. I don’t have it in front of me so I can’t check what you are telling me because I only go by what the assistant gives me.”
“I’m not saying you are wrong and I’m not here to argue with you I am telling you I don’t have the information that you have,” the mayor replied.
Vincinio responded, “it is very suspect.”
“I am sorry you feel that way. We will look into it,” the mayor responded.
“These are dated documents. I got my documents from your office. They have to be the same documents. When they couldn’t produce the four, I sent an e-mail personally and came here personally and they still couldn’t produce them but they produced mine,” the resident replied.
“When applications come in, I don’t see the date they come in they are given to me,” Mayor Reina said. “We go down the list in the order I receive them, not the way they come in. The way I receive them.”
Mayor Reina added, “then I give it an okay or I say no. If there is too many, we always take the people who applied first. I’ve always done it that way unless there is an issue. I don’t know what the issue is.”
The mayor said that the number of people selected exceeded the number on the board and so there were people cut. He did not know the names of those cut and noted that it was a mistake. “There has been no meeting set yet so right now I don’t have an answer for you and as I said, I’ll look into it.”
“How can four people not even have an application or a resume sent in and be on top of the list?” the resident asked.
Two weeks later, Vincinio returned to the podium during the next regular council meeting bringing with him the documents in question. He directed his questions to Township Attorney Greg McGuckin and opened with a question about a recently filed lawsuit that named the mayor, Township Business Administrator Terence Wall and the township filed by a former township employee.
“Shouldn’t they (Reina and Wall) be removed from any voting until this matter is resolved?” he asked.
McGuckin replied, “no, officials get sued all the time and that would require every public official including myself, over the years who would have to vacate their seat if that was the case. Just because there is an allegation made in a lawsuit doesn’t make it true.”
“When it is a ‘whistleblower’ (suit) it is a little bit different,” Vincinio said.
“It is another allegation. That is all it is,” McGuckin said.
Vincinio asked about what would occur if they were found guilty and if past decisions made would have to be reviewed or changed.
“There is no guilt or innocence in a civil lawsuit, number one. Number two, this is simply a personnel issue from a former employee from a municipality. It doesn’t have anything to do with any action the municipality has taken from over the years,” McGuckin replied.
“It doesn’t smell good – put it that way,” the resident responded. He then asked to speak with Township Clerk Mary Moss as her name was on the document he brought. “We are going to revisit this issue again about my removal from the Zoning Board.” He noted a document that showed his name had been removed. “Can I ask you who directed you to remove my name?”
He presented her with two documents, one that had his name on it, another where it had been removed. Moss asked McGuckin if she could look into this and get back to the resident. “This was done back in March. I would have to look back.”
Councilwoman Jennifer Kuhn who has had exchanges with Vincinio about this matter during prior meetings interjected that “I would think the Council President would advise you. At the time the Council President was Marty Flemming. I’ve answered this question for you and I’m glad you found the documents.”
Vincinio accused Kuhn of lying. “It took me three times at the podium to determine you lied.”
“I didn’t lie. You just got the documents,” she said.
Vincinio told Kuhn, “you specifically said that it was because of my social media. My social media was spotless clean.”
“He removed you because of content on your social media. I believe you were removed from the Planning Board for that reason as well. I believe this wasn’t the first time your social media had come into question. I went and spoke with the council president at the time. The next day your name was off. That is probably the exact document you were given because you OPRAed it correct?” Kuhn asked.
This refers to the Open Public Records Act, that allows people access to government documents.
Kuhn said, “you have literally handed over the information that you have been seeking for so long. You answered your own question.”
Council President Steve Chisholm noted that Vincinio’s five minutes to speak were up. While the resident argued for more time, Chisholm noted he could submit any further documents he wanted to submit to the clerk. Also, if residents wanted the time for public comments to be longer, “well when the new council takes over in January, they can revisit the time clock.”
