Now that the West Windsor Township Council has effectively terminated former animal control officer Bettina Roed’s position, her lawyer is seeking a new vote.
In a letter to the council on April 11, Trenton-based attorney Walter Bliss alleges that the 3-2 vote the council took to enter into a shared services agreement with East Windsor for animal control services, which effectively terminated Roed’s position, violated the Open Public Meetings Act and is invalid.
Among the reasons Bliss lists for the violation is that Councilman Charles Morgan admitted publicly that he had difficulty hearing the proceedings because he attended the meeting via telephone. Bliss also alleges that the township’s agreement with East Windsor does not provide for all of the animal control services needed to be covered under state law.
He also alleges that the council used a “personnel matter” as a reason not to discuss the matter in public, even though there was no reason.
Bliss asked the council to revoke or take a new vote on the resolution, which it approved on March 7.
Morgan, who cast the deciding vote on the shared services agreement “has since stated publicly that he had difficulty hearing the proceedings on March 7, in particularly, the public comment; and in fact he did not have the benefit of the information provided in the public comment that evening,” Bliss wrote. Bliss said the Open Public Meetings Act requires every municipality to hold public comment, but that the public comment is meaningless “if appropriate means have not been provided to ensure that the public is heard by all members of the governing body participating in the related vote.”
“It is compelling in this regard that at a subsequent council meeting, Councilman Morgan stated that if he had known at the March 7 meeting what he learned later, he would have voted differently,” Bliss wrote.
Regarding the “personnel matter,” Bliss said that although state law allows exclusion of public discussion on “contract negotiation,” council members said during the meeting that they were withholding their comments in front of the public because it was a personnel matter. “However, nothing in the communications between the administration and Ms. Roed has suggested this is a ‘personnel’ matter,” and there was no reason for council members to withhold their comments, he said.
Bliss also alleges that the agreement only covers services requested by West Windsor when the “immediate need arises.” But “on its face, the terms of the agreement need never be invoked,” Bliss wrote.
Township Attorney Michael Herbert said he was going to discuss the issue with the administration and the Township Council.
“We don’t think there was any violation of any obligation that the township council had, but obviously, as with any letter of that type, we will discuss it,” said Herbert.
The council told Roed’s supporters — who crowded four council meetings through March and April — on April 4 that it was sticking behind its March 7 shared services agreement. The council had agreed to hold another discussion on the matter during its March 21 meeting, when Morgan asked the council to discuss possibly reinstating Roed without breaking the contract with East Windsor.
West Windsor decided to contract with East Windsor after Plainsboro pulled out of its agreement with West Windsor for animal control services in favor of a cheaper contract with Helmetta.
While Morgan asked on April 4 for a financial analysis of the decision to contract with East Windsor, council members and Business Administrator Robert Hary said a financial analysis was provided in January in executive session when the council first began evaluating the contract with East Windsor. Hary shared the information with Morgan again.
Council President Kamal Khanna said at a prior meeting that when Plainsboro pulled out of the agreement, the administration presented council with a list of alternatives. It was done in executive session because it was a personnel issue. The council, in turn, gave guidelines to the administration. When the administration brought the East Windsor agreement to the table, the administration told the council what would happen, and then the council voted, he said.
The lost revenue from Plainsboro created the problem. Police Chief Joseph Pica called neighboring municipalities to try to enter a shared services agreement with them, but none were interested. East Windsor became the best fit, Business Administrator Robert Hary said.
Officials estimated that West Windsor would save about $40,000 in the first year of the agreement with East Windsor.
