New Administration: Meeting and Solicitor Changes

[VENTNOR eVOICE ADMIN]

This article in today's Atlantic City Press reports on a new meeting schedule, which will be once per month and at a later starting time of 7PM. This change would align Ventnor with many, perhaps most, NJ municipalities which hold monthly meetings. The hour is similar and seems to be chosen by most towns to allow residents sufficient time to get home from work and attend to a few things at home before heading to a meeting.

The article also notes the appointment of an interim solicitor, Tim Maguire of Brigantine.

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/1...ry/175323.html

LOCAL AGENDA: New Ventnor government changes meeting schedule; no meeting tonight
Published: Thursday, June 05, 2008

New Ventnor government changes meeting schedule; no meeting tonight

ISSUE: The new City Commission has changed the schedule for meetings that the old governing body followed for years. The new schedule calls for a workshop session on the second Thursday of every month and a public meeting on the third Thursday of the month, with both starting at 7 p.m.

WHY IT MATTERS: The old commission had public meetings at 6 p.m. on the first and third Thursday of each month, and workshops on the Thursday mornings without night meetings. But after they were sworn in following their May 13 election, the new government - Mayor Theresa Kelly and Commissioners John Piatt and Stephen Weintrob - settled on the new schedule.

RELATED DEVELOPMENT: The new Commission has also appointed a new chief lawyer for the town following the resignation of John Scott Abbott, who was city solicitor for the 12 years that Tim Kreischer was mayor. The new team, who defeated Kreischer and his colleagues last month, appointed Tim Maguire of Brigantine as the interim solicitor. Maguire, who has his office in Northfield, is also the lawyer for his hometown and for the Atlantic County Mayors Association. Abbott said this week that Kelly asked him to resign and he did.

Information about Ventnor can be e-mailed to
Martin DeAngelis at MDeangelis@Pressofac.com

[Old Timer]

I like the new start time of meetings. It gives you a chance to get home from work, freshen up and get something to eat prior to going to the meeting.

Tim Maquire is an excellent choice for solicitor. He has prior Ventnor expierence. He was the solicitor I believe for Mayor Becker and Bergman.

I'm not so sure I like the once a month public meeting. It gives the public half the amount of time to publicly address the commission and more importantly if an ordinance is needed to be passed or changed it will now take two months to get that done instead of one month since there has to be a meeting to introduce the ordinance and another meeting for a public hearing and final adoption. That also gives the public more time to think about it but sometimes things come up that needs to be fixed quicker than two months. I'll keep an open mind on this and I hope the commissioners do also.