The Montgomery “House of Representatives” - The Township Committee
     

     The Township Committee is the governing body of Montgomery in which it consists of five members who stagger three year terms. In some ways it is similar to the United States House of Representatives as described by Committeeperson Kent Huang, one of the body members, in which the mayor has a similar role to the Speaker of the House and where the body members of both bodies have a duty to oversee day to day actions and lay out policies that will benefit society. While Township Committees were quite similar to one another in terms of how they operated, with its general procedure of COVID-19 updates, passing of resolutions, and public comment hearings, the nature of the committee with it being extremely diverse topic-wise made meetings never boring to listen to.

     To expand on specifically what the Township Committee’s role is in serving the Montgomery community, it is important to note that the body members don’t necessarily whip up the resolutions we hear or make the resolutions that are discussed - that is rather the role of the township administrator, who makes operational decisions, and the various committees (e.g. Deer Management, Environmental Commission, Economic Development Commission) who discuss the various issues within each of those spheres of the town’s operation. The role of the Township committee is essentially to ratify these decisions in order to drive the direction of the town. This was something that surprised me because I had initially thought of the Township Committee as the body who essentially “controls” Montgomery in that they write all the resolutions, pass them, and oversee all aspects of the town, which is simply not true; there are multiple facets of Montgomery’s operation and the Township Committee doesn’t necessarily have more of a dominant role than any other committee or body, it’s role is simply different.

     In terms of how meetings function, meetings usually begin with a COVID-19 update, or any update of some sort, resolutions or ordinances are voted on, and then there is always a public comments portion where the public can make comments or ask questions to the committee. However, as mentioned earlier, the topics of resolutions vary from meeting to meeting whether it be about environmental, economic, social, political policy - you name a topic area, the Township Committee most likely discusses it! Unlike other committees though, the Township Committee does not have concrete goals in terms of what it wants to achieve as those goals are generally thought about by other committees, the Board of Education, or other administrative departments, but there have been several topics that have circulated across multiple meetings, including the construction of the Montgomery Municipal Center and a streamlined COVID-19 vaccination distribution process. In addition, the Township Committee members have individual goals on their own that they want to see Montgomery achieve like Commiteeperson Huang, who expressed interest in making meetings more transparent, specifically providing more budgetary and economic information to the public. 
     While the Township Committee members themselves are elected by Montgomery residents, the mayor is not, as that decision is made by the Township Committee members. To reiterate, the Township Committee is the collective body who is responsible for ratifying decisions for the town, not the people themselves. Both of these examples indicate the substantial authority the Township Committee has in dictating which direction the town goes in, increasing the need for residents to hold the members accountable when necessary. As Committeeperson Huang says, “hold us accountable”.
     Holding committee members accountable for their actions, especially in a town like Montgomery where we have officials making decisions for us in a small body, is crucial to prevent corruption. Fortunately for residents in this town, they are able to make public comments during the Township Committee meetings which is a portion of the meeting where the Township Committee members give residents the chance to ask a question, make a comment, or make their voice in some way. Residents can choose to either say their comment during the Zoom call, can dial in and make their comment heard, or can send an email prior to the meeting. The ability for locals to attend Township Committee meetings, let alone the ability for them to make public comments is information that I wish was significantly more transparent as it is one of the easiest ways for other students to get involved with the committee. 
     Also, I think that redesigning the Township website is one important step in increasing transparency as currently, it is very difficult to navigate and as a result, it can be very difficult to locate information regarding Township Committee meetings. Luckily, this is something that the township administration is currently working on! I also feel that even if more people attended these meetings, many people would feel uncomfortable giving a public comment in front of hundreds of people so not only do the meetings themselves need to be given more attention, but also the option to email or call-in a comment.
     It’s also important to note that, while I have found the YLC to be a great outlet to become more civically engaged, you don’t have to be a part of a program like it to become more involved in the Township Committee, or any committee for that matter. These committees are open to everyone and anyone, which is also something that I wish was publicized more, and I would encourage other students to attend these meetings to become more involved in our community. Additionally, even if you are not free on the date and time when a Township Committee meeting occurs, they are all recorded so you can watch them at your convenience. If you want to take your local politics experience a step further, all the public officials I have spoken to, including Committeeperson Huang, Former Mayor Jaffer, and Mayor Keenan have been very receptive to speaking with students, getting their ideas, or working on initiatives with them so please don’t hesitate to reach out to them.
     I think as I sit throughout every Township Committee meeting, I become more educated about how our town works, and as I sit with a public official one-on-one, that feeling only intensifies. Please, make your voice heard, because we are fortunate to live in a town where committee meetings are publicly available and where public officials have an overwhelming desire to interact with residents, including youth. Specifically, with the Township Committee, covering so many topics and with its ratification of ordinances and the sense of gratification that comes along with that, you will not regret attending a meeting.