NJ21st: So, really 1 question how so we see meeting after meeting. Votes going across. Massive agendas with little to no deliberations.

Really, or discussion publicly and I'd like to know how you guys come to an agreement. On this without that, like, is there a straw poll. How, like, I think the public, it would benefit the public to understand.

How these big items with big dollars. Get almost unanimous consent and agreement with little to no discussion occurring. And I'd like to know what the discussion is like, and then what forum does that discussion take place.

If any, when these items hit hit the floor.


That's my only question


Mayor Devanney: I'm going to say 95.97% of these are housekeeping items. So, these are recommendations from the department heads from the administrator.

We get the agenda. Right, Thursday, Thursday, there's questions questions are asked, but they're not really issues of debate. If we don't do certain things for the sewer plant, we're going to have a failure.

There's not a whole lot of these things on here. That are subject to debate if we don't pass these things, government doesn't run.


NJ21st: Well, I mean, I guess with all due respect, I think.

Maybe the items themselves large agenda. I don't think this is I disagree with you there.

You have a presentation on the referendum, you have a resolution on redevelopment. You have a 16 something million dollar. Resolution on emergency spending, I think there's a tree contact.

So that might not feel like a lot, but it is. And I, and and so we can debate that and I don't think you and I can disagree on that. But I think the important piece that I want to sort of point out is the lack of discussion and while this may seem routine to you, it's hard for me to believe that all these details. We're like, everybody's coming to the table without there being a discussion. Amongst you guys, and then you're just voting for it.

Like that, so the department has give it to you and it's it's okay.


Susan: If there's something that we didn't have that we had a problem with, it would get pulled. From the consent agenda that's happened before.

If someone has called and we've had a problem, it gets pulled from the question. It hasn't been thoroughly. Right.

Right. And we, and we'll call it.


NJ21st: So my original. Thank you. My original question though was, is there a discussion on these items prior to the meeting?


Poages:Are you saying we can meet and discuss?


NJ21st: No, I'm asking. Is there are there discussions amongst members of the town council, whether it's, I'm not, I'm not suggesting an OPMA violation.

Susan: It sounds like you are.


NJ21st: Okay, well, that's your interpretation, right? So, because you could legally do this....


Susan: I'm not going to argue with you today.


NJ21st: I don't think that I'm arguing.

I just want to know the answer to the question. Is there a discussion among town's council?


Margaret: We are trying to answer your question and you keep speaking over us.


NJ21st: You keep not answering the question.

Margaret: This is the 1st time I've said anything.


NJ21st:You as a body.


Margaret: So, me as a person.

NJ21st: Yes.


Margaret:  Who is an elected official. I do not meet with my other elected officials.

On these agenda items and less, there might be something that was covered as part of a negotiation. In an executive session at a prior time. So, for example, we are hiring downstream service company.

And that was brought up in a flooding meeting that we had recently because they have the equipment.


Devanney: No, not even not even actually, this is a different contract. I had the same question.

The Morris county co-op changed. And they, right and they've been to downs and downs 1. so this is the same thing that we've been doing for years. It's just that we have to change the provider because the provider is now under the Morris county co-op, rather than.

Margaret:
Whoever it was before. So, a lot of times the items on the agenda are following up on things that we've already discussed. Or have been involved with as town council members, if I have questions about anything on this list, I can go to the administrator.

I can go to the mayor. I can go to the CFO. I can go to the clerk and I have gone to all of those resources to answer questions that make me an informed council member in order to vote at the next council.

NJ21st: So that's a fair response. That's good.


Susan: That's a very effective tool.

I think we used to see here for for hours going through each 1 roll call vote. And if there's no discussion, there was never any discussion anyway. Really? So, I think the consent agenda is a very effective tool.


NJ21st: Okay, I mean, we can disagree on that as well.


John Forester: I'm going to give you an example.


NJ21st: Well, I just have a follow up question to that.

I mean, so that would thank you, Margaret. I appreciate the answer to that question. So, my understanding is so some of this discussion occurs in committees.

Right? Like, while I'm hearing what I inferred from what you were saying is that there's these work groups that you engage in and...


Devanney: no, that's not true.


NJ21st: So, I misunderstood that.


Devanney: We don't have an internal committee structure like the board of ed does.

We do not, so we don't have a council finance committee that reviews the bill list, for example. That's not our form of government. It's not the way we operate.

Susan: So, I will say, as a responsible council person, I look at the bill list every time and I reach out with questions and if I have any questions on anything. So, I'm sure everybody else at the desk does that. We just don't talk about it amongst each other.

I do it by myself on my own time. But occasionally there are items that come up that have been discussed at the volunteer committee meeting. That's right.

Forester: Yes. That's a perfect example. I'm going to give you a straight up.

I read an article that New Jersey water is looking to jump their charge of customers 12% later this year. Okay, we have anything on the agenda here. We're going to get a resolution for a shared service agreement with the play area regional sewage authority.

I reached out to Liza and Angela and said, is this going to affect us with the co-op? That's it. Okay. It was a question I had.

It didn't have to involve everybody else. Which is the question I had, so there are, I looked at it, it was done. So, there are no straw polls taken.

There's nothing that goes back to committee. Why would I need a straw poll? I'm asking. I read an article.

NJ21st: It's just a question.


Forester: I looked at it, but why would I need it? That's what I'm asking you. Why would I need that?


NJ21st: It's a yes or no question.


Forester :Why would I need that? Why would I need that? I was going to say, can I just walk you through this?


NJ21st: It's a yes or no question?


Forester: I'm asking you.

DEVANNEY: John, John, John, John, John, can I just walk you through the actual, like, what happens? A lot of these, like I explained to you, come from department heads, they're housekeeping, they're things that we must do to keep government running, or something comes up and we have to do this to keep government running. Typically, Liza will give us an explainer of everything on the agenda, if it isn't already, like, road opening bond. I mean, that's self-explanatory.

Nobody really has a question about that. We talked about the ordinance, I think, two meetings ago, Susan brought up the particulars of it, so we've discussed it. But a lot of the information here is reoccurring information on an annual basis and or Liza has given us an explainer as to what it is.

So, we come and I have staff meetings every Tuesday, so I'm, you know, informed because my job is to take care of the day-to-day, you know, operations of administration. That's not necessarily the job. It's not the job of the council.

The budget is their job and I stay out of that, right? So, that's how the process happens and if there's something, a question that comes up, somebody will reach out to, as Margaret said, to the CFO, to Liza, or to me for an explainer, but, you know, everybody goes through the agenda. I think the resolutions are very well written and are very informative and that's how our process works, which is different than the Board of Ed, maybe.


NJ21st: Yeah, and I'm not trying to sort of, like, overlay the Board of Education's structure on here, and when I said committees, my understanding was volunteer.

It's just a straightforward question as to whether or not straw polls are taken. If it's no, it's no.


Susan, Avalro and Margaret respond No


NJ21st: Thanks,  that's no on your side, John?

Forester: I have no reason to have to do that.

Okay, I showed you the example. Why would I have to, why would I have to ask anybody else? I had a question, I had an answer.

NJ21st: It's just a question, John. Thank you.