Matawan Seeks to Stop Paying Benefits to Criminals

The 20 May 2014 Matawan Borough Council meeting minutes try to avoid spelling out what the borough is doing to the local municipal code. They planned to pass an ordinance changing and/or augmenting the wording of some unnamed portion of the General Ordinance 2-15 dealing with the fire department. The agenda said the wording was attached herewith, but I guess that herewith didn't mean online.

Here's all the borough provided online:

Borough of Matawan

STATEMENT

The ordinance published herewith has been finally adopted by the governing body of the Borough of Matawan, in the County of Monmouth, State of New Jersey, by the recorded affirmative votes of at least two-thirds (2/3rds) of the full membership of the governing body on May 20, 2014, and the twenty (20) day period of limitation within which a suit, action or proceeding questioning the validity of such ordinance can be commenced has begun to run from the date of the first publication of the statement."

Karen Wynne, RMC

Municipal Clerk

ORDINANCE 14-08
AMENDING AND SUPPLEMENTING
THE REVISED GENERAL ORDINANCES OF THE
BOROUGH OF MATAWAN
CHAPTER II – ADMINISTATION, SECTION 2-15, ET SEQ
FIRE DEPARTMENT

The borough was required to post the full wording somewhere, so I searched the web and found it at EZNotice. Click here or view the pertinent text below.

Municipal Clerk ORDINANCE 14-08

AMENDING AND SUPPLEMENTING THE REVISED GENERAL ORDINANCES OF THE BOROUGH OF MATAWAN
CHAPTER II - ADMINISTATION, SECTION 2-15, ET SEQ -
FIRE DEPARTMENT

WHEREAS, it is necessary to amend the Administrative Code for the Borough of Matawan Fire Department to address issues concerning the membership and removal of membership of individuals who are members of the Borough of Matawan Fire Department and its component companies; and

WHEREAS, the Governing Body feels that the following amendment should be undertaken with respect to the Administrative Code for the orderly administration and composition of the Borough of Matawan Fire Department.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED that the Borough of Matawan amends the Administrative Code, Section 2-15.7 and adds the following language:

a. Any member of the Fire Department of the Borough of Matawan and its constituent recognized fire companies who is convicted of a crime or felony in the State of New Jersey or in any other state during membership in the Fire Department shall tender his or her resignation upon such conviction. If a member does not tender a resignation within thirty (30) days of conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction or a plea of guilt to a felony or criminal offense, the Mayor and Council shall cause the Municipal Clerk to notify the member that he or she will be removed from membership in the Borough of Matawan Fire Department, and all privileges, rights and benefits, including LOSAP contributions, if any shall terminate within thirty (30) days of the action of the Governing Body.

In all other respects, the remaining parts of Ordinance 2-15 remain unchanged

Then I wondered what Ordinance 2-15.7 said before this text was added. I found it at Clerkbase. (Go to Chapter II ADMINISTRATION and move through the text until you get to 2-15 FIRE DEPARTMENT. Then go to subsection 7.) Click here or read the excerpt below.

2-15.7      Resignations, Transfers and Deaths.

       All resignations, expulsions, transfers or deaths of active members from the Department shall be promptly reported to the Secretary of the Board of Fire Officers and to the Borough Clerk. (1971 Code § 15-1.6)

I suspect the key to all this is the borough doesn't want to pay Length of Service Award Program (LOSAP) benefits to convicted criminals, so they've added wording to the code allowing them to cease paying these benefits thirty days after sentencing if the individual hasn't already resigned. (Click here to read up on LOSAP.)

Matawan hasn't published the minutes of any Council meeting since September 2013, but the public notice says the ordinance passed.

You can debate the pros and cons of paying this benefit, but you must concede that your municipal government should be more open about what it is doing. It's time that Aberdeen and Matawan began providing more information online, not less. A good place to start would be to make the wording of attachments to resolutions available online along with the agenda. After about twenty minutes of research I was able to learn something the borough could have added to its website in two minutes.

Publishing the minutes of meetings every couple of months is bad enough, but every 9 months seems a bit much. When the Council members run next time, think about all they haven't told you.