2008-03-25 Mayor Gets A Voice In Ewing

Mayor gets a voice in Ewing Tuesday, March 25, 2008

BY LISA CORYELL

EWING -- Two weeks after threatening to sue the township council for civil rights violations, Mayor Jack Ball has been granted a chance to be heard -- and seen -at the council meetings. Ball, a Republican, took a seat last night alongside the Democratic-controlled council, where he commented briefly on several agenda items during the meeting. "I'm very happy and very pleased to be part of the council discussions and have the chance to have input at the meetings," Ball said prior to the meeting. Ball has been battling to speak at the council meetings since taking office in January 2007. The council has maintained that Ewing's strong mayor-council form of government does not allow the mayor to speak at will during its monthly meetings. Yesterday, council President Bert Steinmann said the state's municipal charter law is ambiguous about the issue. "Legal opinions vary," Steinmann said. "We reached out to the League of Municipalities and they said there's no case law on the issue. They recommended we sit down and work this out together and we did." The solution was to give Ball a seat at the table for the council's semimonthly meetings. Ball will be allowed to take part in council discussions but the extent to which he participates will have to be worked out as the weeks go on, Steinmann said. "I think it is a good start," Steinmann said after last night's meeting. "If we can continue this way it will be a good process." Steinmann said there has to be cooperation on both sides. Cooperation was in short supply two weeks ago when Ball lost his temper and yelled at acting President Joe Murphy for ignoring his raised hand and attempts to speak during the public comment period of the meeting. "Mr. President, you have violated my civil right to speak," Ball bellowed, as Murphy banged the gavel and called him out of order. "You have violated my civil right to speak here at this meeting." The next day a fuming Ball said the state Faulkner Act allows him a voice at the meetings and vowed to sue the council the next time his voice was stifled.

Called on by a reporter to comment on the law, an attorney representing the state League of Municipalities agreed with Ball's interpretation. Steinmann, who was on vacation when the confrontation took place, said Ball has always been more than welcome to speak during the meetings. What Steinmann, as president, is seeking to avoid is situations where Ball engages in direct dialogue with audience members who criticize him during the publicspeaking section of the meetings. "I guess that's where I come in and take a greater role as to the content of what gets discussed," Steinmann said. "My goal is to keep things civilized. This is a council meeting where we try to get our business done." Last night Ball thanked council for letting him have a seat at the table and apologized to the public for his outburst two weeks ago. "To anyone I may have offended, I'm big enough to apologize and you have my apology."