Dear Editor:
The article in your October 15 publication, entitled “Commissioners Meeting Gets Heated” by Jim Hague omits two very important factors:
First, the tone of the meeting was set when Mr .Rocco Arciola having been told that there was a five minute limitation on his presentation to the Board, informed the panel that several of the residents whom he was representing and were going to speak, would relinquish their time to him as he would have covered everything that we, the residents would have covered and as such our questions and concerns would be more succinctly expressed. Township Attorney Herb Klitzner responded for the Board by saying that this was not permissible. As seems to be characteristic of Mayor Sacco and the Board of Commissioners, when our concerns are involved, there was no input.
The second factor to this story is that I spoke right after Mr. Arciola. I asked the panel of elected officials the following question: “Do you know what is going to be built on the Sier Bath site?” Considering that my property is within some 20 feet of the site, it would seem that this was a valid question. Mr. Klitzner immediately responded by saying to the Board, “Do not answer that question–this case is in litigation.” No one on the Board responded nor did our esteemed Mayor even try to respond, just as he had not responded to Mr. Arciola. It was at this point when someone in the audience said, “Answer the lady’s question, not you Mr .Klitzner, but the elected officials.” I later found out that the gentleman who had challenged Mr. Klitzner was Mr. Edward Scannavino. As I recall, Mr. Scannavino also challenged Mr. Klitzner over the five minute gag rule. That is when all Hell broke loose and Mr. Klitzner said to close the meeting.
It leaves one to wonder why Mayor Sacco and our elected officials did not want to acknowledge our concerns or attempt to regain control of the meeting instead of permitting the Township Attorney to take matters into his own hands. I asked a very simple straightforward question as a concerned resident of this area. It appears that the answer was too complex for a response. Is there something to hide from the good residents of the Sier Bath site area?
Mrs. Barbara Moses