Civilian Oversight at Essex County Jail Public Comment 11/13/2019

I’m happy to be able to say that I got responses to my questions from Oct 23 this week. Thank you to Freeholder President Gill and the Freeholder staff for ensuring that I got responses. I’m sad to say that they’re not actually answers. A few I guess you could call responses, but mostly they’re just words.

I asked why the Chair couldn’t be elected by the members. The response was “The Chair of the Task Force is selected by the County Executive with the advice and consent of the Freeholders.” That’s it, that’s the whole answer.
I asked two very specific questions to understand what the legal reading of connections to the County for members was interpreted to mean. The response I got pointed me to Section 3 of the ordinance that I clearly had read and had a question about and provided no answer or response to my question.

I think it’s incredibly disrespectful to residents and taxpayers to respond to us like we’re misbehaving children. The County Executive and his Chief of Staff don’t seem to be taking this ordinance and their jobs seriously. They seem intent on ignoring their constituents and when they do respond it’s as if we haven’t read the ordinance or bothered to inform ourselves in the slightest. It comes off as extremely condescending.

These are Joe D’s prisoners, the prison officers’ prisoners, your prisoners, our prisoners, my prisoners. After all these meetings and conversations those of us standing in front of you tonight probably know the ordinance better than Joe D or his Chief of Staff.

I want thank Freeholder President Gill for being the adult in the room with the Administration in this process. Thank you for treating ideas and questions with respect and actually engaging with your constituents, advocacy groups, and subject matter experts.

I wanted to read some of the longest response that I got from the Administration and then I will be finished so I ask for a little leeway on time since they’re so long-winded. I think it sums up the fact that they aren’t taking the ordinance, the task force, oversight at ECCF, or anyone who’s come up to the microphone at these meetings seriously. I’d hope that the rest of the Freeholders could impress on Joe D and his staff that they need to start joining us in an adult conversation on the ordinance, on task force appointments, and on transparency in general.

I asked why the Task Force needed to be able to dissolve itself if the Administration and Freeholders were the ones deciding to enact it. Their response was, in part:
“If the Task Force believes its functions are unnecessary because the ECCF is doing an exemplary job, then their formal action of disbanding will provide the community with the confidence the ECCF Is doing a good job.”
All of the people who have been up here speaking are here because we want this Task Force. If it dissolves we would be right back to where we are today, where we can’t trust the Administration to do the right thing.

My questions from the second comment period, requesting on the record responses.
1. What is the nomination process and why can’t that be codified in the ordinance to solidify it and make it public?
2. Given that I am aware of the existence of and have read Section 3: Does the County and/or it’s legal representatives believe that the language as written would keep Essex County municipal politicians or leadership from serving on the task force?
* What about leadership or board members of nonprofits with County grants or providing services to the County?
* Given the Administration’s interpretation of the ordinance would it keep those people from serving?
3. Given that I am aware of and have read the Section laying out appointments and the definition of advice and consent, what keeps the task force members from electing their own Chair?
* Was that considered?
* If not, why not?
* If so, why was it not selected?
4. Since their representative has spoken at several of these meetings, have the Sheriff’s Officers’ PBA explained to the Administration why they’re so worried about oversight at the jail?
* As far as I can tell those officers have their own union representing them so I’m not sure why the Sheriff’s PBA is speaking out against this ordinance.
* Are their concerns being entertained in discussions about the task force?
* If so, can the Administration please explain how jail oversight will impact officers that don’t work in the jail that will be overseen and why they need a seat at the table?