Dear Editor:
The Mayor is on record that if the Board of Education trustees were not in agreement with the million dollar deal he had made with a developer he would not proceed. Statement made July 3, 2012 “special meeting” of the school board.
At the July 19th school board meeting I question the board as to why they believed Mayor Gonnelli be in such a rush to have their approval. I asked the following question:
What is the policy for calling a special meeting of the board? Who initiated the calling of the July 14th meeting? How many days before the meeting took place? Who decided to take a vote by phone? Who decided who was to be called? How many days in advance?”
Why the rush to call this meeting to have the board’s approval of the deal he had made?
If I had been a trustee I would have said the following!
Why rush, the new developer Gonnelli made his deal with has not received the approval of the State Meadowlands Commission. He does not need our approval in the first place. The “negotiated” deal he
made, according to his statement, had been in the process of “negotiation” for over a year. This was the first time the board was hearing about it. Why rush now? The developer he “negotiated” with, if he gets
the Meadowlands Commission approval, the proposed project will be built in phases, over the next five to seven years. What a rush? Is he going into the real estate business? Does Gonnelli have authority to “negotiate” the terms he stated at the “special meeting” of the Board of Education with the developer? Is not that the Meadowlands Commission job?
I ran over my five minutes time limit questioning period, and returned to my seat. Later on I returned for another five minute time period. Again I was informed I had exceeded my time and the meeting was closed.
Bottom line: Apparently, eight members did believe that Gonnelli’s rush for approval for a deal he had made was the right way to go. The vote was 8-0. Only Trustee Dora Marra’s position is a matter of record. I would like to know the other trustees position. All did not respond to my questions that night.
Tom Troyer
Former Board Member