Council considers meeting changes

Council considers meeting changes
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer

TINTON FALLS — Long meetings followed by rushed workshop sessions are cited as reasons to change business in Tinton Falls.

Members of both the council and administration brought the issue up at the Sept. 1 workshop meeting, one of the few council meetings that hasn't gone past 10 p.m.S

ome solutions were proposed, including starting the meeting earlier, moving the workshop to before the council meeting, and dedicating an entire meeting to the workshop session.

Business Administrator Bryan Dempsey said at the meeting that he is looking for a way to make the council meetings more efficient.

"We want to see if there is a different form of business that might be a little more productive," he said. "It might be a way to get things to flow a little better and quicker."

The current structure has the council meeting start at 7:30 p.m., immediately followed by an executive session and workshop meeting.

However, Dempsey noted that if the meeting runs late, the workshop becomes rushed.

"At the meeting it could be 10 o'clock, and at that point everyone's had a busy day and are racing to get through it to get home," he said. "Maybe people are voting on things that they are not comfortable with."

The option the council discussed the most is to dedicate one of the two monthly meetings to business and the other to workshop. Public participation would be included in both meetings.

"I think something dedicated solely to a workshop would be a great idea," Borough Clerk Karen Mount-Taylor said. "You rush through it; you're not asking all the questions that the council needs to ask."

Dempsey explained to the council that having a meeting dedicated to workshop would give the council the chance to explain some of the ordinances and resolutions that are not necessarily given a full explanation in the current format.

"It would also give us time to explain different things on the agenda," he said. "We can get some more details for you."

Mount-Taylor also said the council should limit the number of items on the workshop agenda so that the session doesn't run too long.

"Maybe only limit 'x' amount of items to go on the workshop," she said.

One councilman did not like the idea of having a meeting dedicated to workshop.

"I am very flexible on this stuff," Councilman Gary Baldwin said over speakerphone. "I think we need to have two meetings a month.

"I don't have a problem with moving the workshop up in the meeting, but I don't want to have just a workshop meeting and only one meeting there- after," he added. "Time and time again we will need a special meeting probably."

Another concern is that having only one meeting to conduct business might overload that meeting, but council President Duane Morrill doesn't think that'll be the case.

"It probably won't, because by having the workshop meeting, all the questions would be answered at that point," he said. "We could do the business meeting as a strict business meeting.

"Get in early, get out early, and spend a little time with our families," Morrill added.

If the structure of the meeting remains the same, then the council may elect to just make it earlier.

"Maybe we can start sooner and end sooner," Dempsey said. "Maybe we could cut off at 10 p.m. as opposed to 11 [p.m.] so people could get home at a decent hour."

Dempsey went on to explain that work issues in previous administrations meant that the meetings had to start later.

"In the past we had issues where we had to start at 7:30 p.m. because they couldn't get here anytime sooner," he said.

One councilman who was particularly happy with an earlier start was Morrill.

"It hurts me because I'm getting up at 4 o'clock in the morning."

Baldwin and Mount-Taylor suggested that the council ultimately go back in history and look at what may work.

"I start my 23rd year here, and I could probably write the book on how many times we changed the meetings," Mount-Taylor said.

"Why don't we look at the history book and take some conclusions from that?" Baldwin asked.

Mount-Taylor was also in favor of holding the workshop meeting and executive session before the regular meeting.

"That would be a great tool, to start that at the beginning," she said, citing the council's ability to possibly react right away to issues brought up before the meeting.

The administration said they would look at all the options and possibly have a decision by the next meeting.

If the council changes the format of the meetings, it does not necessarily mean the change would be permanent.

Council members said they may try something, but that if it doesn't seem to be working, they would go back to the old order.

"It's something we can try, and if it doesn't work out, we can always go back," Morrill said.

Contact Kenny Walter at

kwalter@gmnews.com.


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