CAPE MAY – A Cape May City Council meeting Oct. 2 witnessed a noisy quarrel over city appointments to a committee – again. Following a pattern that saw hurt feelings and claims of behind-the-scenes maneuvers concerning appointment to the Lafayette Park Advisory Committee and the Public Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, council heard from the chair and vice chair of the Advisory Committee on the Public Safety Building. They felt the process that left them on the outside of the request for proposal (RFP) review process was mishandled.
Both Public Safety Building Advisory Committee Chair Jerry Gaffney and Vice Chair Wister Dougherty expressed concern that they had not been allowed to participate as non-voting members of the RFP review committee. They also complained that the process that left them off had been handled without adequate explanation.
The public dispute was made all the more confused by claims that members of the RFP review committee signed non-disclosure agreements. Members of council and the mayor were unsure about the nature of what the review committee signed. The solicitor and the city manager were absent from the meeting and confusion on the topic continued until close to the end of the meeting. Then it was determined that the review committee had signed affidavits that they were free from conflicts of interest.
The RFP review committee of nine members is established and working. The advisory committee of 12 members has not been disbanded and is being promised a future role in the process.
Yet the real message may have been that the mayor and city officials need to give much more time and attention to how they handle and explain changes in committee appointments among volunteer citizens who invest time and energy in projects at the request of city officials.
Cape May – Governor Murphy says he doesn't know anything about the drones and doesn't know what they are doing but he does know that they are not dangerous. Does anyone feel better now?
