Argument erupts at Cecil meeting
CECIL – After two hours of routine business Monday, Cecil Township supervisors capped off their meeting with tense questions about a funding discrepancy, a shouting match and some gavel-swinging to restore order.
The room erupted in chaos after Supervisor Elizabeth Cowden surprised everyone by displaying a page of her handwritten calculations, which pointed out what she thought was a more than $616,000 shortage in the township’s general fund.
While the matter was quickly resolved Tuesday and attributed to incomplete data, some of Cowden’s colleagues criticized her for not checking with Cecil’s bookkeeper or manager before bringing the issue into the public eye.
“Her goal was to create controversy – to make it seem that things are terrible in Cecil Township when they’re not,” said Vice Chairwoman Cindy Fisher. “You shouldn’t come to the public unless you’re 100 percent sure that what you’re saying is accurate.”
Cowden defended her actions and said she was not accusing the township of mismanaging funds.
“I was asking them simply to explain it to me that there was a difference in the figures that they provided,” she said. “I never suggested at any time that there was money missing.”
Cowden addressed her concerns the same night that the board unanimously approved a $7.8 million tentative budget for 2015 with no tax increase.
Township manager Don Gennuso said the data Cowden received were incomplete and did not cover all the transactions that were made in October. He said the township double-checked everything, and the last few transactions matched up exactly with the money that appeared to be unaccounted for.
Gennuso said he did not consider Cowden’s question an accusation, but he would have preferred the matter be discussed with the administration first.
“When you say something at a meeting, it’s tough to take it back, and I think some people misunderstood what she was saying,” Gennuso said.
While Cowden’s questions raised concerns, her next move lit the fuse for some fireworks.
Cowden called upon resident Mike Monaco, an accountant, to answer questions about her calculations, which factored in the October and November balances, income and expenses.
When Monaco approached the podium, Chairman Andy Schrader told him to sit down because it was not a public comment period and the board needed to discuss the matter first.
Monaco refused and told Schrader, “She asked me a question and I’m going to answer it, whether you like it or not.”
When Schrader told Monaco he needed to sit down, Monaco shouted, “She asked me a question, and I have the floor. You’re out of order!”
Schrader threatened to have Monaco escorted from the building by police but eventually permitted him to speak briefly.
Monday’s meeting was the latest episode in what some township officials say appears to be a trend of residents demanding to have their voices heard, even if it means talking out of turn, shouting at the board and sometimes making personal attacks.
And it’s getting worse, Fisher said. For a while, the board implemented a three-minute limit for public comments, but she said it “backfired” because residents complained their free speech rights were being restricted. Now, there are no time limits, but residents often yell from the back of the room, clap loudly and approach the podium without permission.
Fisher said the issue was exacerbated Monday by Cowden’s inquiries and the fact that the township has been operating without a solicitor since John Smith resigned in early November.
“I don’t know what the answer is except to have people understand that we are their peers, but we’re also a board trying to conduct business,” Fisher said. “You wouldn’t act like this at a sporting event, let alone at a board meeting.”
Cowden said residents “simply want to be heard.”