MontClairVoyant: Township Council (TC) Is Too Controversial (TC)

DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,

The Township Council held a special meeting Tuesday evening to appoint an interim township manager to succeed an interim township manager. What do you make of that?

Sincerely,

If It’s Tuesday, It Must Be…

Two consecutive interim township managers makes me think I’m seeing double. Might have to visit two interim ophthalmologists.

DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,

How special was a special meeting that saw councilors David Cummings and Robert Russo understandably walk out early after making impressive, impassioned remarks?

Sincerely,

The Specials

Given that Tuesday was August 1 and the Municipal Building is lit at night and Montclair has a Faulkner Act government, it’s no surprise that William Faulkner’s novel “Light in August” was named the new interim township manager.

DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,

That novel was NOT named the new manager, because since when has Montclair’s recent leadership been “by the book”?

Sincerely,

Intruder in the Cussed

Hey, I provide the humor here, not you. Actually, “Light in August” dates back to 1932 and thus is kind of old to be a manager, though there’s a 1972 paperback edition.

DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,

Why are the aforementioned councilors — and residents who spoke at the August 1 meeting — unhappy with the manager situation?

Sincerely,

Reason to Not Believe

On July 18, Mayor Spiller and fellow councilors Peter Yacobellis, Lori Price Abrams, and Robin Schlager wrongly took surprise, near-midnight, legally questionable actions to hire the Government Strategy Group consulting firm and then appoint GSG executive/former Montclair township manager Joseph Hartnett as Montclair interim township manager — creating conflict-of-interest concerns. A weird way to celebrate the two-week anniversary of Independence Day.

DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,

Why were the councilor quartet’s actions not good?

Sincerely,

Awful, Awful

GSG is yet another taxpayer expense, Hartnett had a mixed record during his first Montclair manager stint, and deputy township manager Brian Scantlebury is a longtime Montclair resident and former Montclair councilor who was doing a good job as acting manager after the ultra-controversial Timothy Stafford was belatedly ousted — so it was disrespectful and unfair for Scantlebury to be demoted. Reminds me that when a castle loses its surrounding water, it’s demoated.

DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,

If another person needed to be hired to help manage Montclair, shouldn’t that person have served under rather than over Scantlebury until Scantlebury or someone else gets picked as full manager after the upcoming search process?

Sincerely

The Road Not Taken

Would’ve been better than bringing in the politically connected GSG that Hartnett helps run, even though “a beautiful moment in time” for three-letter initials would’ve been lost. TWS (That Was Sarcasm).

DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,

What do you think of new interim township manager Michael Lapolla, who will start soon after being recommended by GSG to succeed Hartnett?

Sincerely,

The Latest Show

Lapolla has a career history that’s impressive in parts, but his being politically connected gives me enough uneasiness to reduce my feelings to…meh. A word meaning “an unenthusiastic verbal shoulder shrug,” which is easier on rotator cuffs than more violent shoulder movements.

DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,

The August 1 vote hiring Lapolla?

Sincerely,

Blight in August

It was 4-0, with Spiller, Yacobellis, Price Abrams, and Schlager voting yes — basically ignoring what was said by Cummings and Russo before the two walked out and what was said by residents who spoke during the public comment period. If there was more than one Mike at the mike, the two interim ophthalmologists might’ve had even more work.

DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,

Deputy Mayor William Hurlock, who voted with Cummings and Russo on July 18, didn’t attend Tuesday and thus also didn’t vote again. Anyway, Spiller said near the start of the August 1 meeting that he would allow only one hour of public comment on the manager situation. Turned out to be enough time, but wasn’t it undemocratic of that Democrat to limit comment time in advance?

Sincerely,

60 Minutes Moves to Tuesday

You’re allowed only a tenth of a second’s worth of wordplay, and it took me two-tenths of a second to read “undemocratic of that Democrat.” Consider using shorter words.

DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,

Speaking of shorter, the revised Lackawanna Plaza proposal discussed during a Monday, July 31, webinar has shorter buildings, more step-backs, a reduction of housing units from 375 to 300, a fourth public area, etc. Comment?

Sincerely,

Plaza Suite

Clearly a better plan, albeit still pretty large. Is it the best we’re gonna get? Does “gonna” have the same number of letters as the number of proposed Lackawanna buildings? I take the fifth.

DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,

That riff was more irrelevant than a cat in a “Dogs Playing Poker” painting.

Sincerely,

From Cardi B to Cards It Be

Hey, I provide the humor here, not you. And NO cat is irrelevant. Except perhaps the fifth one in a “Cats Playing Poker” painting that’s not in the Montclair Art Museum but should be.

DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,

The Lackawanna webinar had no chat function for viewers to ask questions in real time, so residents had to email their queries. Shouldn’t the chat function have been tested beforehand?

Sincerely,

Chats Domino

It was, according to the webinar moderator, but obviously not tested adequately. So, “Communication 101” was more like “Communication 60” — the number of “affordable” units in a revised Lackawanna.

DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,

The revised plan is expected to be introduced at the Township Council’s August 15 meeting, right?

Sincerely,

Mid-Month Matter

Exactly like a debutante being introduced at a ball — minus the debutante, the ball, and the corsage.

DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,

Getting back to Hartnett, he was quoted as saying that the cyber attack on Montclair slowed down the town’s responses to OPRA (Open Public Records Act) requests. Possible?

Sincerely,

OPRA Win-Free

Sure, but too many responses were already abysmally slow or nonexistent before the digital assault. A local OPRA requester referenced the long wait and another Faulkner novel with this lament: “I’ll finally get an answer ‘As I Lay Dying.'”

Dave Astor, author, is the MontClairVoyant. His opinions about politics and local events are strictly his own and do not represent or reflect the views of Baristanet.