An Open Letter to Bloomfield's Board of Health:
I find it a bit ironic that we happened to be at a Board of Health meeting in the town courtroom, last night. Karen Lore may have been trying to put Jeff on trial, but in a real sense it's Karen Lore, F. Michael Fitzpatrick -- and this board -- that are on trial right now. And the rest of us in that room were the jury -- along with the Town Council. If you doubt this, I'd suggest googling "Karen Lore," Bloomfield, or "
Board of Health," Bloomfield, and take a look at the "Images" tab.
At your
September meeting, you may have set a record for violations of the
Open Public Meetings Act. You began by announcing, without justification, that no photography or video would be allowed, and promptly went into an unscheduled closed session before finally allowing comments 55 minutes later. You then announced that a decision had been reached on Memphis that would be announced the next morning. So we were then allowed to comment on an issue that had already been decided -- except we would be told nothing about the decision. Kafka would be proud!
Kafkaesque is commonly defined as:
1. Marked by a senseless, disorienting, often menacing complexity. Kafkaesque bureaucracies
1. Marked by surreal distortion and often a sense of impending danger.
Your continued unresponsiveness to the worldwide condemnation
of your actions truly fits all these definitions. You've also dismissed Facebook comments on the subject by saying that many of them are inaccurate belying the fact that Lore's misleading statements and refusal to interact with volunteers about shelter issues -- as well as Memphis -- have sparked thousands of passionate reactions in the social media.
Bloomfield residents and animal lovers from throughout the region have pled Jeff's case to a stonewalling BOH. Joel argued with a Zoning Board member who called attention to your violations of the Open Public Meetings Act. Maybe it's time for an "intervention" by Bloomfielders on other volunteer boards. I know members of virtually all of them who are incredulous at the actions of Lore and the BOH: That includes the BOE, Planning, Zoning, Recycling, Open Space, Downtown Alliance, Oakside, Bicentennial, Watsessing Heights, Halcyon Park, Save Bloomfield Now, Bloomfield Neighborhood Assoc., and Friends of Clarks Pond.
Like many of them, I literally don't have a dog in this hunt. But I react strongly when I see injustice. As others have stated about their rescued pets, the dog I rescued as a teenager, would not have passed Crosby's evaluation.
I e-mailed Lore and Fittzpatrick 5 months ago for a legal justification for your continued unresponsiveness to pertinent questions at BOH meetings and got no response. I assumed she never read the e-mail until I was confronted by your fundraising chair who angrily referenced other Shelter issues raised in the the email. This occurred in the shelter office in early spring when my wife and I were applying to adopt a cat. Of course, our application was never acknowledged. Instead, we wound up adopting two wonderful cats through PAWS.
In going over the minutes of several of your meetings and watching the last two in person, one gets the impression that your main function is to rubber stamp every item on Lore's agenda. I've been to a number of other board meetings in Bloomfield, and this appears to be the one with the most unanimity and the least discussion. Please advise me of an issue that provoked a divergence of views or a dissent from Ms. Lore, as I'm still looking for one. Undisputedly, the Health Department has a vital role to play in Bloomfield's continued well being. But your arrogant procedures and practices is dragging our town into international notoriety and threatening the security of its taxpaying residents.
Not only aren't they from this area, Lore and Fitzpatrick may be insulated against lawsuits like this one. They'll get their hefty paychecks and pensions no matter what. Bloomfield's taxpayers will pay in the end. That said, I still hope Jeff wins it all. Maybe HE could take over the shelter and begin repairing Bloomfield's severely tarnished reputation.
Sincerely,
Geoff Gove
