Englishtown Council Censures and Reprimands Jayne Carr

The Englishtown Borough Council has passed a resolution which formally censures and reprimands Councilwoman Jayne Carr for conduct it deemed detrimental. The formal resolution, entitled  “Resolution of the Mayor and Council Censuring Councilwoman Jayne L. Carr for Conduct Detrimental to the Orderly Conduct of Borough Governance And Violating Standards of Decorum and Debate of a Public Body,” passed unanimously at the Borough Council meeting on Monday, Nov. 21. Councilwoman Lori Cooke and Councilwoman Jayne Carr were absent.

The resolution states that “elected officials have an ethical duty to conduct themselves in a manner that will not impugn the integrity of the body nor the integrity of other elected officials.”

The resolution goes on to say that Carr “has repeatedly violated these fundamental precepts and, by her actions has disrupted the orderly conduct of Borough business and called into question the integrity of the elected governing body of the Borough.”

Four specific acts were cited in the resolution which represent Carr’s unethical conduct.

First, the resolution says Carr claims to have met with the Englishtown Development Committee, but Borough records reveal that the no notice of any committee meeting was published by the Borough, no minutes from the meetings were filed with the clerk, and the four other appointed members of the Committee deny being notified about, or participated in, a meeting.

The second incident cited in the resolution references a . The resolution says that Carr publicly accused Wojyn of engaging in “‘continuous behavior and unwanted contact . . . bordering on harassment and possibly stalking’” of an Englishtown businessman. An interview with the businessman about the allegation was conducted by Patch, and he revealed that .

At the same meeting, Carr publicly accused Wojyn of erasing official minutes of the Borough in conjunction with the Englishtown Development Committee, according to the resolution, which cites this circumstance as Carr’s third violation. The resolution goes on to state that no minutes from meetings of the Englishtown Business Development Committee can be found in the Borough records since 2006. Additionally, the Borough Clerk’s office said that Council members are unable to access Borough computers and files, according to the resolution.

Lastly, the resolution cites Carr’s claim that the Borough Clerk failed to notify her of a scheduled special meeting, which she discussed during the Aug. 28 meeting of the Council, as the fourth incident. The resolution says that the clerk’s records indicate that all members of the governing body received notice, and the clerk met all requirements of the “Open Public Meetings Act”.

Carr was unable to attend the Council meeting on Monday, Nov. 21 when this resolution was passed. However, Carr sent a letter via proxy to be submitted to the clerk. The proxy submitted the correspondence to Borough Clerk Peter Gorbatuk. While Gorbatuk acknowledged the submittal of the letter, he did not read it during the Council meeting because it was void of a signature.

Nevertheless, Patch contacted Carr, who verified that she did draft the said letter, and Patch has obtained a copy of it.

Carr begins the letter by tendering her resignation from her position as Chair of the Englishtown Business Development Committee. In response to the resolution, Carr said she “chooses not to dignify [the resolution] with a response.”

Carr’s letter goes on to say that she has not been at the past several Council meetings due to a death threat that she said she received in the mail about a month ago. “There is an active and ongoing investigation into this matter that started at the Monmouth County Prosecutors Office and has since been joined by the Federal postal Service and the State of NJ,” the letter reads. “At present further testing of the evidence is being done at the State Crime Labs.”

Carr told Patch that she received a letter in the mail approximately six weeks ago with the return address of .

Carr also stated in her letter that the Council is aware that the death threat is the reason for her absences, since the person who made the threat may be a “very dangerous individual” she did not want to sit among the Council and “create the possibility for any of [the governing body] to become collateral damages.”

Two Englishtown residents, Barbara Kuchinski and Kathleen Bien, spoke during public comment defending Carr’s reputation as an honest individual and politician. Kuchinski went on to say that Wojyn should also be reprimanded for his inappropriate behavior at the Council meeting on Sept. 28. A video of the debate can be viewed .