JACKSON – Questions pertaining to administrative staff were among the discussions heard during recent Township Council meetings, although some elected officials feel that the public comment portion of the meeting has become a time for candidates to give political speeches.
Mayoral candidate Elliott Shem-Tov said he had a list of questions he asked at previous meetings that had gone unanswered.
“The responses were silence. So, we filled out OPRA (Open Public Record Act) requests, the clerk’s office said they needed a two-week extension. They are too overburdened is what we were told. The clerk’s office has four staff members. All of them collect stipends for additional clerk duties,” the resident added.
Shem-Tov noted, “this township recently hired a remote OPRA clerk (Leah Zulkovitz) specifically to handle public record requests. That is five people with extra pay whose job is records. Five people, extra pay for people who cannot produce the records. That’s not a backlog; that’s a stall and conveniently the extensions land after tonight’s meeting. How convenient.”
“While we are talking about the clerk’s office let’s talk about who’s not in it. Council President (Mordechai) Burnstein has a $50,000 assistant who works from home. The last council president did not need one. The clerk’s office handled it. The same clerk’s office that is now too overwhelmed to answer a records request. So tonight, I’d like a real answer – not a deflection, not a procedural dodge – What does she do that four clerks and a township clerk cannot? What’s her job description?” Shem-Tov asked.
Shem-Tov said the assistant to the council president is a full-time position with benefits and accrued time off. He asked if any taxpayer services were being cut so that the holder of the position could be paid.
He noted that the council had a few weeks to prepare a response to his questions from two weeks ago. He asked why the mayor who approves such staff did so noting that when she served as council president, such a position was unnecessary.
Zulkovitz was hired in October shortly after Burnstein became council president after Kuhn was appointed as mayor. Burnstein told Shem-Tov at the last meeting that he would not “respond to a political stump speech. Many of the things you said were inaccurate.”
Mayor Jennifer Kuhn responded to an inquiry from The Jackson Times that her assistant Erica LaRue who Shem-Tov noted works for JLK, a real estate firm Kuhn owns, is being paid $30,000 annually. She “serves the Township in a part-time capacity, working approximately 20 hours per week in an administrative support role to assist the Mayor’s Office with constituent services, scheduling, correspondence, and other day-to-day operational matters.”
She explained the position “was created to help ensure the efficient functioning of the office and responsiveness to residents. The employee was selected for this role based on her proven professionalism, strong work ethic, organizational skills, integrity, and ability to effectively manage administrative responsibilities.”
Kuhn maintains “the duties associated with the municipal position and those associated with her private employment are wholly separate and unrelated.”
Burnstein asked Township Attorney Gregory McGuckin to respond to Shem-Tov about administrative assistant positions.
“The position is available and can be filled by the council and the mayor in the clerk’s office. I’m not sure which budget line item it comes out of but if that is the government’s choice as to what they want to do, they can do that. It is not unusual to have a confidential assistant for administration or a council president. Other towns do it as well,” McGuckin replied.
“I am overloaded with phone calls and other administrative and council duties and I am happy that the mayor realized there was a need for more assistance,” Burnstein replied.
Where’s The Podium?
Along with a microphone, certain communities provide a podium to stand behind during public comment periods. Jackson is one of those communities but the familiar fixture vanished a few meetings back and its absence has remained a point of mystery and commentary for some residents.
“You may have noticed I brought my own podium tonight,” Shem-Tov said during one recent council meeting. “A few weeks ago, the podium that residents have used for years quietly disappeared. When people asked where it was, they were told it was out for repairs.”
“That was weeks ago. This council cannot tell us who is repairing it or when it is coming back,” Shem-Tov remarked. This isn’t a repair. They took the podium away so residents would feel smaller standing here before you.”
Resident Kim Kaminsky also noticed the podium’s absence. “I am wondering when we are going to get a podium here. It feels a little Oz-ish, like Dorthy coming up here before all of you.”
During the most recent council meeting the podium was still absent and there were more verbal fireworks between residents and the council. Council Vice President Giuseppe Palmeri made a motion to close public forum early and Burnstein seconded that motion with the meeting ending shortly afterward.
Resident Ray Cattonar remarked on a social media post after the meeting that township residents “are repeatedly told, ‘come to the council meeting if you have questions’ so that’s exactly what we did unfortunately we were met with silence instead of answers.”
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