The Monster In The Closet

On Friday, June 30th, Evesham Twp. had their annual re-organization. This year, not being an election year, the newspapers assumed that nothing should go awry and chose not to attend the meeting. This is Evesham people, note the sham after Eve, that about sums it up. Cronyism is alive and well along with other nasty little monsters in the closet. Diversity is not first on the list of priorities here in Evesham; not on Council, on any of the boards, i.e. Planning, Zoning etc. or the Board of Education.


The Twp. advertises openings on boards that have members seats expiring or vacant in the "official Twp. papers" and residents are encouraged to put in a resume' by a certain deadline for the open seats. Applicants do submit resumes and may even be called by the Twp. to come in for an interview. Are you with me so far, fairly benign stuff. Now to the nitty gritty, I know of at least three people that where called for interviews, showed up and where never even considered due to cronyism. If the Mayor and Council already know whom they are choosing to re-appoint for the vacant seats, then why waste taxpayers & residents time with bogus interviews for a dog and pony show.

Now for the monster in the closet. Much worse than the above stated dog and pony show, the "Mayoral Appointments" takes the cake. An Evesham resident named Beverly Ingram did get a phone call from the Twp., went to her scheduled appointment and was seated in front of Mayor Tamburro and Deputy Mayor Sarcone. The appointment was scheduled for 5:00 pm and Ms. Ingram was finished by 5:25 pm. Twenty five minutes should be a decent amount of time to truly see if Ms. Ingram was qualified for the position she so desired; The Evesham Environmental Commission. Unfortunately for her, Ms. Ingram was told within minutes of being there that there were no openings on this board and if the Mayor didn't re-appoint one of his cronies, his wife would kill him. At re-organization, 3, three year terms where filled and one alternate for a two year term. That's four openings by my count and yes, the crony Mayor Tamburro spoke of was re-appointed. Why was Ms. Ingram never even considered, better yet, why was she lied to? Was it because she is a woman? Not likely. Maybe because she wasn't qualified; definitely not, her qualifications certainly lend to her being a very good choice, her background is working with MUA's and water treatment facilities. As a side note, Ms. Ingram has also in the past interviewed for the MUA. I guess we are to assume two Lenape Regional Board members are better qualified for the MUA. Let's see, what could possibly be the reason for Ms. Ingrams swift dismissal, could it be because she is a minority? No, I don't mean a Democrat, which she is, but a true minority, Ms. Ingram is a woman of color.

The following is the actual speech Beverly Ingram read aloud during the public comment portion of the re-organization meeting on June 30th. It has not been re-touched in any way and stands alone, leaving little or nothing to the imagination


GOOD EVENING.

THANK YOU FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK.


MY NAME IS BEVERLY INGRAM AND I AM HERE THIS EVENING TO

EXPRESS PUBLICLY MY DISMAY AND CONCERN OVER THE RECENT

RE-ORGANIZATION PROCESS, WHICH I FEEL MAY BE INCONSISTENT WITH

THE GOVERNING ORDINANCES, A PRETEXT FOR DISCRIMINATION

AND A DISSERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY.


MY CONCERNS ARE ROOTED IN MY OWN OBSERVATIONS AND

EXPERIENCE WITH THE PROCESS. HAVING RESPONDED TWICE FOR

PUBLISHED ANNOUNCMENTS AND HAVING BEEN INTERVIEWED TWICE

FOR OPPORTUNITIES WHICH I FELT QUALIFIED TO CONTRIBUTE, ONLY TO

BE BY-PASSED FOR A PRE-ORDAINED CANDIDATE, AND THEN TO BE TOLD

THAT THERE ARE NO VACANCIES


SEVERAL ISSUES CONCERN ME INCLUDING:


WHY THE TOWNSHIP WOULD BE SO DISENGENUOUS BY SOLICITING

RESUMES AND LETTERS OF INTEREST FROM RESIDENTS FOR

OPORTUNITIES WHICH EITHER DID NOT EXIST OR FOR

WHICH THEY HAVE A PRE-DETERMINED CANDIDATE?


WHY WOULD THE TOWNSHIP SCHEDULE A CANDIDATE FOR AN

INTERVIEW FOR SUCH A POSITION, AND NOT CONDUCT AN

INTERVIEW, UNLESS SUCH A MEETING WAS MERELY TO SEE THE

INDIVIDUAL AND NOT TO DISCUSS, THE CREDENTIALS, ABILITIES

OR VALUE WHICH MAY BE ADDED TO A RESPECTIVE BOARD OR

COMMISSION?


HOW CAN THE TOWNSHIP BE PROGRESSIVE AND NEW IDEAS

BROUGHT FORTH IF MEMBERS OF THE EXISTING BOARDS ARE

CONSTANTLY RE-APPOINTED, AND THERE IS NO CONSEQUENCE FOR

BEING INEFFECTIVE, NON-RESPONSIVE IN FULLFILLING THEIR

CHARGE?


I AM CONCERNED THAT THE PROCESS MAY BE PERCEIVED AS A

RUSE, TO REWARD POLITICAL FAVORITES, SPECIAL INTEREST,

FAMILY AND FRIENDS, THEREBY DEMINISHING THE CREDIBILITY OF

THE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS.


I AM CONCERNED THAT THE CURRENT BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS

ARE NOT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE COMMUNITIES IN WHICH THEY

SERVE.


HAVING SAID ALL OF THIS, LET ME CLOSE BY SAYING TO ALL OF

THE OFFICERS AND OFFICIALS HERE, BOTH ELECTED AND

APPOINTED, PUBLIC SERVICE IS A PRIVELEDGE NOT A RIGHT

PLEASE KEEP THIS IN MIND;


IF YOUR VISION IS BLINDED BY PARTISAN POLITICS YOU ARE DOING

YOUR CONSTITUENTS, AND THE VOTERS A DISSERVICE.


IF YOU ARE PROHIBITED BY INTIMIDATION FROM TAKING A STAND

ON WHAT IS JUST AND EQUITABLE, YOU ARE DOING YOUR

CONSTITUENTS,AND THE VOTERS A DISSERVICE.


IF YOUR JUDGEMENT IS CLOUDED BY CULTURE AND RACE YOU ARE

DOING YOURSELF A DISSERVICE.


IF YOU USE YOUR POSITION TO SATISFY PERSONAL VENDETTAS,

YOU ARE DOING A DISSERVICE.


IF YOU ONLY ANNOINT, APPOINT OR EMPLOY PEOPLE THAT LOOK

LIKE YOU, AND THINK LIKE YOU ARE DOING A DISSERVICE.


I WOULD SINCERELY HOPE THAT YOU CAN BE MORE

OBJECTIVE IN DISCHARGING YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES AS PUBLIC

SERVANTS IN YOUR REVIEW AND SELECTION OF FUTURE

CANDIDATES WHO ARE TRULY WILLING AND ABLE TO SERVE THE

COMMUNITY.