Look, people with good intentions and good spirits can still get into a lot of trouble. This is the case of the Point Pleasant Borough Council.
How does this happen? Well for starters, being an elected official is a time-consuming, and often thankless VOLUNTEER effort. Then too, people get elected and they are under the mistaken impression that all they have to do is show up at meetings, use common sense in making decisions and try to be true to their values and beliefs. Elected officials soon find out that that common sense and long held beliefs don't help them very much. Instead they discover that politics is a different world and there is a lot to learn! Most elected officials then resort to learning by observation, i.e., watching and observing what happens at meetings...formal and informal. This approach has some value, but not that much. Take for example that the Council was not entirely sure about the law regarding the vote of the Mayor, and neither did the Council's attorney. The confusion occurred when the Mayor cast a vote on the budget approval as a tie-breaker. More recently the Council made a mistake about about appointing a Special Committee. Obviously, learning by observation got newly elected Council members in an embarrassing situation. Misimpressions about and misinterpretations of the law governing municipalities has gotten the Borough Council in trouble time and time again. Legal counsel of the Borough is partly to blame for these problems.
Despite repeated suggestions about how to become "educated " about how boards and councils operate successfully and establish "good practices", the Council has resisted learning. The business of government operations is complex and there is no substitute for reading and attending classes on the subject. There are many very good books on the subject of local governance and the League of Municipalities has regular classes on all the aspects of local governance. A good question to ask any candidate for local office should be asked if he/she has read any books on local governance or attended classes on the subject. When current Council members are asked that question they respond by saying that, "we are always researching and learning about government topics". The response is NEVER specific, which leads to the conclusion that they have not undertaken any "education" about the job they signed on for, and are learning by "observation".
Even more disastrous is fact that there are outstanding books on the topic of how boards and councils of all kinds can operate at optimal efficiency. The authors of these books have spent their entire careers studying and writing about the most successful ways to operate not for profit organizations, including local government. Have any of the Borough Council members read them? NO!
Regretfully, the Borough Council is under two (2) separate court imposed Gag Orders. That means they can not speak about the context of pending court actions, which include a a recent forced "retirement" and a a law suit on abusive working conditions at the Borough Administrative Offices. The Borough is also under investigation for financial irregularities and possible embezzlement. A accounting firm has been working on the finances of the Borough for over a year and has recently requested more funding for it's continuing forensic audit. Essentially, that means they are having a lot of difficulty figuring out the Borough finances. They have already reported that the Borough has insufficient, and some cases completely missing, accounting practices in place. Much of this could have been avoided if better good practices were in place.
Additionally, the Council has been bombarded with requests for a strategic planning. All the best organizations plan as a matter of good business and some corporations have a full time post in their organizations for a Director of Strategic Planning. Does the Borough Council Plan. NO! This is a serious mistake.
Let's take for example the recent purchase of land by the Borough Council. It's almost as if the Council collectively said...Hey, there is land for sale,so let's buy it. We can figure out to do with it later! Each Councilperson probably had some vague notion in mind when they voted for the purchase. Furthermore, there was some vague idea about a recreation center given to the newspapers...but a strategic plan...NO!
Was there a comprehensive review of all the Borough land holdings and what is done on the already existing land? NO, or if there was where is the report? Was there any consideration given to selling some of the existing land or changing uses? NO! There is a committee working on the plan now...who is on the committee? The Council has never informed the public in some specific way. Finally, with the Borough finances in a complete state of disarray is this the time to spend money?
The Council needs education, strategic planning!
What do you think?
