Mar

15

Ledger: Hillside ABC session raises questions about open meeting

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Wednesday, March 15, 2006
BY JASON JETT
Star-Ledger Staff

nj_bw7.gifDid the Hillside Township Alcoholic Beverage Control Board violate public meetings law before beginning proceedings to revoke the liquor license of a popular bar?A couple dozen residents were seated in council chambers for the start of the scheduled 6 p.m. Monday meeting, but the dais was empty and no official was available to explain why.Forty-five minutes later, with as many as 50 people in the audience, board members still had not appeared and no announcement was made.

Finally, resident Shelley Bates walked to the front of chambers and knocked on a door leading to a conference room.

The door was opened, and Bates observed the three-member civilian board with Mayor Karen McCoy-Oliver and 2nd Ward Councilwoman Deborah Stroud.

“The mayor and councilwoman were in the room,” she said. “They were definitely having a meeting. They said, ‘We’ll be right out.’”

Town Counsel Dwayne Warren, who also is the attorney for the ABC board, said yesterday there was no violation of state law governing open public meetings. Public meetings cannot be held behind closed doors, unless the board is discussing litigation or personnel matters, according to state law.

“There was no meeting,” Warren said. “The board was receiving information late from an applicant regarding the Long Avenue Tavern.

“The mayor and council were not meeting with the board,” he added. “They all just came through the same door.”

The Long Avenue Tavern license-transfer applicant and his attorney were never in the conference room, but rather in the audience waiting with residents for the start of the public meeting.

Once in public view, the board members took their seats on the dais, and the mayor and councilwoman sat in the front pew.

The meeting then commenced, with an official executive session soon called to discuss the Long Avenue Tavern. Next, the board took action on complaints by nearby residents against The Ranch Bar & Grill.

Roger Shatzin of the state Attorney General’s Office, which oversees enforcement of the public meetings law, said he could not say whether there was a violation.

“I don’t have enough information,” he said after being briefed during a telephone conversation. “We’re not a party (in the matter). A citizen can go to the county prosecutor’s office, or file a complaint with the Department of Community Affairs.”

Township Clerk Janet Vlaisavljevic said she was not present for the start of the ABC board meeting and could not comment on whether there was a violation of state law.

“With the council, we sit out front first and make a motion to go into closed session,” she said. “Then we come out and reopen the meeting, and may give an explanation. That’s the way my council does it.”

Jason Jett reports on Hillside. He may be contacted at jjett@starledger.com or (908) 302-1509.