Shutting off the public

So it was his mistake to not have included two resolutions on the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders agenda at its May 24 meeting, the clerk to the board said this week. If he had, then the public would have had a chance to comment on the appointment of political insider John Tobia to head the public works and engineering department and the decision to terminate the Hall of Records renovations contract with a company formerly linked to Freeholder Director William Barham.

James Gray's honesty is commendable. But given the importance of both matters, the freeholders should have reopened the public portion before voting on the two add-on resolutions. They had to know the politically charged nature of each matter. By not having them on the agenda, the public didn't know to comment on them. It all seems underhanded. The freeholders, who campaign on newfound government openness, should know better.