CRANBURY: Township Hall holiday hours debated

[Guest]

CRANBURY: Township Hall holiday hours debated
DATE POSTED: Friday, June 17, 2011 8:06 AM EDT
By David Kilby, Managing Editor

   CRANBURY — The holiday hours of Township Hall were brought into question at the Cranbury Township Committee meeting Monday.

   Mayor Win Cody brought the topic up after Denise Marabello, business administrator, informally asked the committee if she could close the hall at 1 p.m. before holidays.

   Township code says such a decision is under the administrator’s discretion, but Ms. Marabello wanted the committee’s advice.

   Typically, Ms. Marabello decides to close the hall at 1 p.m. the day before holidays unless there is a large workload those days.

   But Mayor Cody said this kind of decision should be looked at more closely.
   At the July 25 meeting, the committee will have a more formal discussion and decide if the shortened days should be given at the discretion of the administrator or the committee.

   Mayor Cody also said it would be better if the decision was made at a public meeting.

   He said, while reading from the Sunshine Law, that secrecy in public affairs undermines the public’s faith in the governing body.

http://www.centraljersey.com/articles/2011/06/17/cranbury_press/news/doc4dfa387852595529142021.txt

[Guest]

Holy Moly what are we paying administrators for? To make decisions?
Let Ms. Marabella make some decisions. There does not have to be a huge discussion about every little thing that happens. This is such a waste of time and energy.

[Guest]

Well it seems that here is another example of the Power of The Committee----Nobody wants to do anything without the express blessing of The committee. For example : the Board of Health has the power to pass ,alter, or amend ordinances--they have tried that but have been shot down by The Committee after consulting with them on certain issues. They should have been allowed to use their judgement and not been criticized. That may be just one good reason for the turn over of members. They have lost knowledgeable members including two physicians. The Environmental Commission has the responsibility to keep an index of all open areas, publicly and privately owned.[We as the public are still waiting for The Committee to provide us with that list!] They are also granted the ability to communicate with the public and also have the right to take controversial positions as members see fit. Well they will not do that without the express permission of The Committee. Time after time their efforts have been squelched.
All the issues by some seemingly unwritten rule must be passed by The Committee. It is almost always done without the input from the public with private meetings and conversations. The business of the committee gets done mostly in private long before the committee meeting. The public sometimes gets to give their opinion but the decisions are made way in advance of the meeting.
On the issue at hand: If we are going to give away more taxpayers dollars to extra time off with pay there should be some staff from each department to hold down the fort prior to each holiday. The administrator should be there all the time to make sure the business of the taxpayers is getting done.

[What the]

Typical win Cody fashion he wants to micro manage every little issue that goes on. Can't he let the administrator make decisions? Seems like Win is still "pouting over his party on the commitee not siding with him on the budget". He seems like a child who"Wants to take my toys and go home". I'm glad he isn't running again this year because he wouldn't agree on anything with the rest of the commitee just to prove a point.

[Guest]

These issues from the board of health and environmental commission are from previous years and relate to decisions made by members no longer on the committee.

[Guest]

[Guest]

He clearly does not understand the sunshine laws.

[Guest]

[Guest]

[lighten up]

Dear Denise Marabello;
We have faith in your good judgment. If you want to close early for holidays, and it is within your powers to make that decision, then just do it. Not everything has to go before the TC for analysis and debate.
Carry on.

[Guest]

Cheers to that! No harm in asking, but Denise should make this decision on her own...