May Day for Volunteerism in Bloomfield

Several prominent Bloomfielders attended the April meeting of Bloomfield's Board of Health in the Mayor's Conference Room. Three of the six who spoke are pictured. (l to r) Carol Meyer Humphreys, Doreen Sarcone, and Karen Banda. They each spoke about the issues that have been plaguing the shelter in recent months, culminating in the recent dismissal of nearly all the shelter's longtime volunteers.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, several questions were asked of the Board members. There were no answers other than an initial statement that the board was "not allowed to reply" to statements or questions from the public. Doreen Sarcone (center) later noted:

I am very concerned about the manner, in which the meeting was conducted. There was no accountability, no response, no statement of how it will be addressed. I also addressed the quote in the media regarding the Acting Director stating this is a business. The Township is not a private business - rather it is a service organization first and foremost. If the services are lacking or are not effective, they must be re-evaluated, but not removed during this process.

 Having been to other Bloomfield board meeting when interaction with the public occurred,  I later emailed the board asking for the rationale for this rule. So far, there's been no comment on the "no comment" comment.