Letter to the Editor: Bloomingdale Council Improves Conducting Business With Structure

The following is a Letter to the Editor submitted by Susan Corbo, a Bloomingdale resident.

Dear Editor:

regarding the Bloomingdale Council at meetings are misleading and disingenuous. The mayor has been unable or unwilling to control council meetings, enabling an often circus like atmosphere. The mayor, as chairperson, has not demonstrated leadership by allowing speakers to hold the floor for 40 minutes or more regarding one subject, condoning shouting out and unruliness from the audience and allowing audience jeering at speakers voicing a different point of view.  For example, at the May 24 council meeting, a well known Board of Education member repeatedly yelled out at our councilwoman from the back of the meeting room!  This uncivil behavior continued to a point where our Chief of Police intervened and directed the BOE member to take a seat and cease disrupting the meeting or vacate the premises.

The council now has provided the mayor with the structure needed to conduct borough business with expedience, professionalism and decorum. Bloomingdale has two public comment periods. The first comment period is for agenda items. The agenda is available online and is posted, by law, outside of the council chambers.  The second comment period is for any comment. Speakers are given five minutes each to express their opinions. All comments are directed to the chairperson. Public comments directed to the chairperson is not a new rule, but previously the mayor did not follow this by-law. Everyone has the same opportunity to speak. Typically, all town council meetings are conducted with these types of structures in place. The council should now be permitted to listen to each speaker voice their opinion without disruptive distractions which devour valuable time.

The enactment of placing structure around the public comment portion of governmental meetings is far from new. Each governing body places these kinds of structures into their by-laws. For instance, the Township of Wayne, in Passaic County, holds a public forum where individuals may voice their opinion and address the council beginning at 9 p.m. or as soon as the matter may be reached. Each speaker is given five minutes. There is no exchange with the council during that time. After the public speaks, the mayor and council then answer the public’s questions. It makes for a very orderly meeting. There is no shouting and no one gets rowdy. Similarly, the Passaic County Board of Chosen Freeholders, the governing body of Passaic County, has placed structure around the public portion of their meetings, which are opened and closed by motion. At a podium, each speaker provides their name and address and has three minutes to voice their concern.  Usually the Director is the only Freeholder to speak. There is no additional comment from the public. If someone from the audience speaks out of turn they are stopped. The structuring of public meeting comments is a long-time and widely accepted part of governing bodies' by-laws, because it has been proven to make government work better.  

The public comment structure provides an organized, business-like method for getting the people’s business done, while providing dignity, civility and respect for everyone. I commend our council for having the common sense and conviction to provide structure at meetings which enables the more efficient and effective governance of our borough. This comment structure is sorely needed.                              

Susan Corbo