They Said That?

I will revisit the best little gems of insane foolishness brought to you by the brain trust of the Berkeley Heights Town Council and the Board of Education.

“This isn’t about Liza” – LOL!

We owe great thanks to Jeanne Kingsley (Council) for stating this multiple times, in response to the overwhelming number of residents advocating for Liza’s reappointment. At times, Jeanne was borderline yelling at the public because she doesn’t like to be wrong. At one point, she pleaded that people stop bullying her. Jeanne has told multiple narratives about why she did not reappoint Liza and couldn’t vote to put her back in office. In a turn of events no one saw coming, Jeanne voted to reappoint Liza. By unanimous vote, 5-0, Liza is back to business at Township Administrator. 

“I propose divvying up the tasks of the Administrator among council members and Mayor, so we are all healthy enough to keep the business as usual.” 

Brought to you by the one and only Councilman scared to show up and face the music, Jeff Varnerin (Council). Tuesday was the first council meeting I attended and when Jeff made this remark (via zoom), I laughed out loud. Was this supposed to be a joke, or was Jeff serious? The world may never know. Most council members have full-time jobs in addition to their volunteer roles. Ironically, Jeff was so busy he couldn’t even attend this meeting but was eager to take on the full-time position of a township employee. I’m grateful for all the laughs. Jeff’s inability to not show up to the meeting but making damn well sure to log onto zoom to read a statement and then mysteriously log off without notice has me wondering if he’s seeking refuge in some underground bunker or maybe holding another one of his super secret government meetings? 

“I don’t want to violate our own policies. It sets a bad example.” 

Thank you, Dr. Foregger (BOE); we appreciate your brain and how well you use it. Dr. Varley was REALLY trying hard to have as administrator she continues to give high-level district positions to as the new Records Custodian – a job currently held by the BA, Julie Kot, (as defined by district policy). The Records Custodian is responsible for collecting, remitting, and redacting (when necessary) all OPRA requests. Our BOE attorney (#payattentionfrances) advised and proposed violating our district policy by just making a new position for Mr. Hopkins as Julie’s assistant. Our district lawyers have provided inaccurate advice before. When you are knee-deep in the weeds – who gives a rat’s ass if we continue to break the rules? This appointment was tabled for a future meeting. 

“I did not have enough information to make the decision I made. That was my mistake.”  

Thank you, John Foster (Council President); it takes a strong person to issue a public apology. I give John even more credit for doing it while sitting next to Jeanne Kingsley and in a purple shirt (we noticed, John, and we applaud you!). We all make mistakes, and it was my personal feeling that the night he cast his “uninformed” vote, he knew almost immediately he was fed lies from the Kingsley-Varnerin camp.
I look forward to seeing all the positive work John will bring to the council by avoiding Jeanne and Jeff’s lies and personal agendas. 

“Due the onslaught of OPRAs.”

Dr. Varley’s (Superintendent) reasoning for Julie Kot needing ANOTHER person to help her do her job. We’re trying to understand what Dr. Varley means by the onslaught. As you can see, there have not been (what any rational person would categorize as an onsalught) of requests. For the record, fulfillment of OPRAs is part of the JOB of Business Administrator who was granted a full time assistant last year. Dr. Varley also alleged that OPRAs are a full-time job for Julie Kot. Does Steve Hopkins have full-time availability for this position? Additionally, I foresee multiple conflicts of interest in appointing a curricular supervisor to be the records custodian – he will have access to his colleague’s emails. 

“Did you bring it up to the policy committee?” – LOL again!

I’m not sure when Robert turned but he has achieved scientology level cult member status. Guess what, Robert? I applaud Dr. Foregger for bringing up policy violations in the public meeting because most people don’t trust the private committee meeting minutes or what the majority of Board members say and do in committee meetings. The fact that you double down on his find instead of being grateful not to have yet another ethical violation against you or the Board is telling.

“Alignment with Mountainside”

I’ll give Robert one point for this comment. The BHPS calendar is different from Mountainside. Robert made the point that although input from our stakeholders is important and crucial, that Berkeley Heights should be aligned, as much as possible, with Mountainside. The current proposed calendar for Mountainside has students starting after Labor Day and BHPS calendar has students starting before Labor Day. Therefore, Mountainside families who have children in elementary schools and at GL will have their GL students starting before their elementary students. I’m so far past being shocked at anything Dr. Varley does or says, but this one just seems like basic logic would have our two districts aligned. Is this equitable? No. Does Melissa seem to care? No and for the record, neither does Pam.

“And thank you for acting as a 9th Board member”

Sheeeesssss BACK! Sai (resident) may be on the other side of the podium, but she hasn’t stopped advocating for transparency and our kids. In a not-surprising exchange, the district attorney (#payattentionFrances) interjected during Sai’s 3 minutes and essentially asked her to stop asking questions and to sit down so Angela could run the meeting as Sai had used up her time. Why can’t Angela run the meeting? District lawyers should NOT be speaking to or over residents – EVER. Their job is to protect the Board and Administration from an onslaught of ethical violations. At the last BOE meeting, a different lawyer interrupted and misled a resident during what should have been his uninterrupted 3 minutes of air time. The BOE doesn’t like hearing the facts, because the facts highlight the failure of the Administration. We, the people, can use our first Amendment right to freedom of speech anytime, especially during a citizens hearing, at public meetings of governing bodies.

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