Brennan Questions Council Over Committee Meetings

Democratic Mayoral Nominee Bill Brennan made good on his vow from last week to continue to question the Town Council, with questions during the public comments portion of last night's meeting.

Brennan, a former town judge, asked the council if the July 21 meeting of the body's code review and town property committee, which is scheduled to review the omnibus land use ordinance to implement the recommendations of the town land use task force, would be open to the public. Town Attorney Robert Cockren said the meeting will be closed to the public, as per state law.

"They are not public meetings in the open public meetings act," Cockren said of the committee sessions. "They are working sessions where the appropriate town officials work with the committee. They are not noticed public meetings, so they are not open to the public."

Most towns in the area do not open up committee meetings to the public. As long as the committee consists of less than a quorum of the full council, state law does not require the meeting to be open to the public.

Brennan questioned if having the code review committee session open to the public would allow for more public input into the wide-reaching land use ordinance. Cockren said that would be unnecessary since committee chairs routinely present a full report of the committee meeting to the full council at the next workshop meeting, which is open to the public and allows public comment.

Councilman Jim Foerst, the code review committee chairman, interjected that the omnibus ordinance has been widely discussed and debated in various public forums over the last seven years. These included public meetings of the land use task force and hearings by the planning board. He also said the ordinance would not become law for close to two months after the committee's scheduled meeting.

"This has been the most vetted piece of legislation in my tenure in the town of Westfield," Foerst said in an interview after the meeting.