Funny–
It’s funny how politicians operate. Funny how the state of New Jersey operates. In fact, it’s funny how the laws governing ADA, the Americans Disabilities Act, which was designed to protect people with any disability, and the LAD, New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination, also designed to protect residents or even visitors to the Garden State, are enforced. It’s funny how two towns, Highlands and Atlantic Highlands, both once part of Middletown, now separated sisters who have different opinions of each other, and both still sharing borders with Middletown, can find two entirely different ways to elude, evade and escape justice.
Funny how they can convince the people … residents and voters, that they are doing the right thing, thinking always of them, blah, blah, blah all the while absolutely refusing to follow either law. Then it’s funny that the state of New Jersey even goes out of its way to help these towns continue to refuse to let every resident have a way to participate in government meetings.
Funny … until you’re the victim that is being scoffed, ignored, humiliated and continued to be abused by two governing bodies that really don’t care if this resident can participate in a meeting.
A Very Brief History
Let me take that back. Since I am this resident, and I am a journalist, one who has covered both these town since the late 1950’s, and has always written the good, the bad, and the interesting about each, maybe they just don’t want me covering any meetings at all. Everybody doesn’t have the same degree of truth and the importance of keeping the public informed as this journalist has.
Diagnosis & a Request
When a sudden and totally unexpected diagnosis of aging macular degeneration forced me to limit outdoor activities, especially driving, to daylight hours, I appealed to the two towns I most often frequent for news coverage, to give me another way of knowing what they were doing each month… a reasonable accommodation. All meetings in both towns are at night, and without driving ability, and at 86 years of age, not always keen on walking the distance in the dark to council meetings, I simply asked for help. I gave both towns some alternatives that could solve the problem, in writing. The law requires their participation in an interactive process to discuss ideas or my suggestions once it gets to their level. If they did … it was half halfheartedly at best.
Resolution?
So what could have … should have … been resolved with a sit down and use of a cell phone, has now blossomed into the towns spending lots of money on two attorneys (each!), a lot of wasted time, and still no help for this disabled writer. Not even a temporary solution until the matter is resolved.
Well, neither town was interested. Atlantic Highlands did some things, spoke long and hard about something else they were doing, spending a reported $12,000 to produce a Fancy Dancy ZOOM system so everybody, not just me because of my complaint, could sit at home and attend meeting .
Ignored
Highlands did absolutely nothing. Heck, they didn’t even answer my first request. They don’t’ even have ZOOM. They got my complaint then simply turned over the state’s civil rights complaint to their attorney.
No meeting to hear more, no meeting to learn more, no meeting to try to help or explain. Just a case of the Disabled be damned.
Stalled
As a result, here we are, more than 15 months later, and still both towns are stalling rather than providing a cheap and easy solution both would have known about had they even participated in an interactive process.
Atlantic Highlands’ system was the one they use for everything of importance…simply delay, stall, and in the end do nothing. (See related story)
Highlands Response … or lack of
Highlands? What did my beloved Highlands, where I got married, raised my kids, served on the board of education, my husband served on borough council, and so much more…what did they do? NOTHING… NADA… ZIP ..They simply ignored the whole thing.
Nothing.
Not even the $12,000 ZOOM system Atlantic Highlands put in, not for me, mind you, just put it in with all its troubles, difficulties, and faults. It’s working fairly well now, but Atlantic Highlands doesn’t even think that “government business” means everything the government does, including the Harbor Commission ..but they don’t think that’s necessary at all.
Highlands, where a lot of government meetings are held in the Community Center, which in itself is questionably handicapped accessible, doesn’t even offer ZOOM meetings, open mike sessions. Nothing. Highlands acts like it doesn’t think public business is really public business.
Highlands Mayor, Carolyn Broullon
There’s a lot to be said for the Highlands Mayor, Carolyn Broullon. She’s smart, she’s pleasant, she’s hard working, and since she moved there, as opposed to being another of generation of a family that’s been there for decades or centuries, I’m sure she loves it. She also keeps things in proper perspective, when she and I disagree on issues. Which we do frequently, she doesn’t take it personally, nor does she feel I have any personal vendetta against her. We can talk, we can laugh, we can share mutual interests and we can even like each other. And we share, I believe, a mutual respect for each other’s strengths.
She’s smart, too, knows her job, knows exactly what she can do, knows how to get stuff done. And has the energy and follow through to be sure it is.
But not for everything.
The state’s complaint on my behalf is the perfect example.
Does Mayor Carolyn Broullon Know What’s Going On?
Does Mayor Carolyn Broullon even know she jeopardized the town’s finances simply by ignoring a legally mandated and required interactive process?
Does Mayor Carolyn Broullon even know the attorneys refused to allow the problem to be discussed or reported in public?
Does Mayor Carolyn Broullon even know that in spite of my getting the state of New Jersey to waive its demand for confidentiality if I could get the towns to do so, the Mayors paid attorney refused to do that?
Does Mayor Carolyn Broullon even know that when her paid attorney filed his response to my complaint, he simply cut and pasted from the paperwork he filed on behalf of Atlantic Highlands?
Does Mayor Carolyn Broullon even know she and Atlantic Highlands are both paying the same insurance company attorney, separately and independently, for doing the same thing and arguing it in two different ways?
Does Mayor Carolyn Broullon even know that since it’s one attorney and he was going to hear the Atlantic Highlands complaint first, different and separate as it is, it could well have a negative impact on her town?
Somebody’s Getting Paid
I know that not only the borough attorney but the insurance attorney are being paid to fight against my request to be treated equally under the law. And I know she has heard, but certainly not everything, from those attorneys about what’s going on.
It’s what she doesn’t know that scares me.
I think this Mayor and her council, who all have minds of their own, but because they talk and discuss lots of stuff then talk again about it at the council table, iron out stuff, save money and make changes before doing anything else.
Atlantic Highlands, before they advertise possible laws, pay other costs, and waste time or energy apparently don’t talk so much then end up stalling and delaying, the Atlantic Highlands costly and time consuming tactic for not facing issues, problems or decision or getting things done.
Ignore it and it will go away
In Highlands? They simply don’t do anything. Act like there’s nothing to address. Don’t bother answering state directives. Run the risk, it would seem to me, of incurring higher costs for the taxpayer and a shot in the eye, no pun intended, for the person the state is representing because of a disability.
Do the attorneys tell the mayor everything?. Does she know they just simply act like nothing’s happened and nothing needs to be done. Shouldn’t the mayor and council know what’s going on before signing those requests for payment?
Shouldn’t the Mayor even ask?
Mediation
The Attorneys, by state request or mandate, whichever it may be, had some conversations with the state mediation team. They were asked for dates when they could mediate. I had given lots of choices. They were too busy.
Finally they agreed on a date … a month farther out then the State of NJ DCR and I had proposed.
Not sure the Mayor or governing body was even made aware of it.
HUSH HUSH
The attorneys for both towns, wanted to keep our interaction hush hush. Don’t dare tell the public, and for God’s sake, don’t dare let ME, a seasoned journalist, tell the public, how we were going to handle this.
Did the Mayor know about this?
It doesn’t seem like she had any clue.
Was it Mentioned?
While she certainly likes to keep things from the public till she gets them done, I get the feeling that if it’s dealing with a decision that has to be made, she’ll make it, then be sure the folks know about it.
So when Highlands and its neighbor both told the state, through their attorneys of course, not through their governing bodies, they wouldn’t cooperate, I’m not so sure the Highlands attorney even mentioned it to the Mayor.
Did she Know?
When I got the state to say it would waive its own rules on keeping everything hush hush if I could get the two towns to also agree do that, it doesn’t even seem like this mayor had a clue that any transparency issues were going on or any decision on confidentiality had to be made.
Did she know?
Mediation Cancelled
Less than 48 hours before when all this grand negotiation and mediation would take place and had to be cancelled because I could not be silenced or muzzled. Was this Mayor even made aware of that?
It doesn’t seem so. But did she know?
Where We’re At
So here we are.
A little town, big taxes, another few million in costs probably coming up soon with that borough hall on the highway, and the mayor isn’t aware of what her paid attorneys are doing? Was the mayor aware of the chances they took most likely were the reason mediation was cancelled?
Does she even know that without the mediation, the whole matter of preventing me from knowing what’s going on and having my say on a meeting most likely will now go into a judge’s hands and he gets to make the decision, and Highlands will have no say in how big or small an impact it will have on the taxes, the local laws, or the future.
Shouldn’t the mayor know these things?
Related Stories
