The West Windsor Township Council voted 3-2 on November 20 to overturn a decision made this summer to stop recording executive sessions. The decision was overturned due to the newest council member, Will Anklowitz, who said during his campaign he believed the closed-door sessions should be recorded.
As they did in the earlier vote, Council President Linda Geevers and Vice President Heidi Kleinman voted to rely on the clerk’s transcripts as the only record of executive sessions. The law does not require that the sessions be recorded, and Township Attorney Michael J. Herbert advised that most towns do not record the sessions.
“The reason for taping executive sessions is just checking to make sure the transcripts are accurate,” said Anklowitz. “When there is a changeover, it is helpful for the new member to be able to catch up on past discussions of current topics. The difficulty I have had was not being able to listen to any of the tapes regarding the selection of the planner for the redevelopment. Now as a council member I can’t do research on what happened during those discussions.”
The first vote was made while Barbara Pfeifer was a member of council. Anklowitz defeated Pfeifer after running on a platform which included open government. Franc Gambatese and Charles Morgan voted to record the executive sessions, just as they did in July.
Geevers said her reasons for supporting not recording the sessions include the fact that most othere towns do not record their executive sessions, and that discussions on personnel decisions and contract negotiations should be private.
The meeting also included votes on the way the township will communicate with its newly hired redevelopment planner, the Hillier Group. As the architectural firm requested, West Windsor designated a steering committee which will be the company’s contact on all matters concerning the draft plan for the 350-acre area in need of redevelopment.
The steering committee will include Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh, Planning Board Chairman Marvin Gardner, Geevers, and Kleinman. The committee was approved by a 4-1 vote.
Council also approved an ordinance designating the planning board as the entity which most closely works with the architects in reviewing the draft plan. While Morgan and Anklowitz previously spoke out in favor of designating council as that entity, both approved the resolution, which passed 5-0.
“Larger policy issues will be council’s responsibility, and the details of the plan will be ironed out by the planning board,” said Anklowitz. “Along the way, the public can always go to the council to voice their opinions.”
