Hillsborough's Meeting Rules and the 2026 Disputes Over Them, Explained

The rules as written

The township’s Guide to Public Participation sets the Committee’s comment rules:

Two comment periods. One on agenda items, “when the Mayor opens the discussion to the floor” before a vote, and one at the end on “New Business and Matters Not on the Agenda.”
One three-minute turn. Speakers give and spell their name and address. “This public forum is not structured as a question and answer session. Comments are to be addressed to the Mayor.”
No comment at introduction. “There is no public comment on the introduction of an ordinance.” Comment is taken at the public hearing on second reading.
Written comment. People who cannot attend can have comments read into the record through the email or form link on each agenda.
Decorum. Since February 10, 2026 the Clerk’s opening script adds: “The Township of Hillsborough maintains a strict standard of decorum … Each speaker is limited to a single three-minute allotment.”
Livestreams. Meetings are streamed on YouTube and Facebook. Comments posted on a livestream “do not constitute official public testimony.”

Online comment. Since March 2026 introduced ordinances are posted on Engage Hillsborough, where “online public comment will open the day after the ordinance is introduced and close on the day after the second reading.”

Records. Agendas, packets and minutes are on the township’s CivicClerk portal. Resolution numbers appear only in the packets. Minutes are posted after the Committee approves them. For the 13 meetings from January 6 to July 28, 2026, the minutes were approved between 14 and 63 days after the meeting (LocalWhy’s count from the approving meetings’ minutes); the dates they were posted are not recorded. The June 23, 2026 minutes, approved August 25, were still not posted on October 29. Zoning Board meetings are not recorded on video; Susan Gulliford of Hunt Club Road asked on May 12 that they be.

What was argued, and each side’s reasons

Comment at an ordinance’s introduction, and on the budget

April 28. Before the budget presentation Committeewoman Gomez asked whether the public could ask questions. The minutes record that the Mayor “responded no, as this is an introduction of an ordinance”; on the township’s video she says questions can be asked at the May 26 hearing. A motion by Gomez, seconded by Hand, to allow public questions on the presentation failed 2–3: Gomez and Hand yes; Payne, Lipani and Britting no.

Gomez and Hand said later that night that there is no legal requirement or prohibition on public comment at an ordinance’s introduction. Answering Roy Freiman in public comment, Hand said she asks questions at presentations every day at work and that making the public wait weeks was ridiculous; the minutes record her calling it “ridiculous to not allow comments on the budget presentation.”
The township attorney said the end-of-meeting comment period allows comment on anything, and that the Legislature set the procedure of introduction, advertisement and public hearing; the minutes record him saying “as set forth by the state legislature, the time for question and answer for an ordinance is at the public hearing.” The minutes record the Mayor saying “it is useless to comment on a 4 minute budget presentation without access to the budget document, which according to state legislature rules, cannot be published until tomorrow”; on the video she says it would be “really rude of us” to take questions on a short presentation before people had seen the full document. It was posted the next day.

May 12. Gomez asked whether the end-of-meeting comment period now covered agenda items, since budget comments had been allowed there. The minutes record the Mayor stating that public comment “is for matters not on the agenda,” and the attorney saying that “residents can use their three minutes however they want” and that the earlier period exists so the public can comment before a vote. On the township’s video the attorney says that at the end of the meeting residents may comment on anything.

Meryl Bisberg of Scarborough Road (spelled “Merly” in the March 10 minutes) raised the question at the March 10 and March 24 meetings, and Engage Hillsborough’s online comment, launched that month, opens the day after an ordinance’s introduction.

When packets are posted

Residents asked repeatedly for agenda documents earlier than the afternoon of the meeting. On March 4 the Clerk said that until a couple of years ago documents were first available as printed copies at the meeting, that edits are often still being made, and that the township cannot put out a draft resolution; the minutes record her saying “a draft agenda cannot be published” and that the township “has come a long way.” On May 12 Judy Haas of Titus Court noted the claims list had been printed four days before the meeting but not posted.

On September 8 the Mayor announced a rule: “all Township Committee questions and updates must be submitted no later than Monday at noon,” with exceptions only for emergency financial resolutions. She said departments submit items by Wednesday, the packet goes to members on Thursday, and staff “often receive questions or last-minute changes from members of the Committee just hours before we go live.” On March 4 the minutes record Committeewoman Gomez raising “transparency concerns surrounding the timing of posting the agenda and providing additional documentation”; on the video she says agendas and supporting documents were available only a few hours before meetings.

Remote participation

There is no Zoom option for members or the public. On March 4, when Committeewoman Hand was absent, Gomez said Hand had asked to join by Zoom and been told it was not an option, and asked for a meeting with IT about remote participation. The Mayor said there was no precedent or set of rules for it, and on the township’s video the Clerk says “we don’t actually have the technology in this room to have a two-way Zoom.” (The minutes record these as “no precedent or rigor around the zoom meeting” and “not the technology for doing a 2-way zoom.”) On September 22, after Stefania Olochwoszcz raised remote meetings, the minutes record the township attorney saying the Open Public Meetings Act “suggests that public officials must be present at meetings and not via zoom,” and the Mayor saying the Committee “will continue to be here in person for the public.” On the meeting video the attorney says the public can take part by Zoom but the Act would indicate that members need to be present; Olochwoszcz had cited an unpublished Appellate Division decision that she said permits attendance by “communication equipment.” The Mayor says, “we will continue to be here for you in person.”

Records requests (OPRA)

On January 27 David Brook of Winding Way objected to a special service charge on his records requests (four filed the year before, he said on the meeting video), alleging, as the minutes put it, that the Clerk had been “acting politically” in charging it. He said he had filed a complaint with the state Government Records Council. The Mayor said his requests had created 98 hours of work for the Clerk’s office that year, without charge until then, and that state law allows a special service charge. The township attorney said one request had produced 5,000 emails, each of which staff must read and redact. Later in the year Stefania Olochwoszcz thanked the Clerk’s office (July 28) and the administration (August 25) for their work on records requests.

Accuracy of minutes

After Maria Janucik of Manville disputed how her comments at the June 9 meeting were recorded, the Committee approved amended June 9 minutes on September 22. The same night Janucik said an incorrect statement remained; the Clerk said the minutes had been corrected. On October 13 Janucik said again that the June 9 minutes record a false statement attributed to her.

Appointments, remarks on the dais and allegations in public comment

The minutes record these statements; each is what the speaker said, not a finding.

October 14, 2025. After the votes on two resolutions, on the state housing process and the Jersey Strong Coastal Coalition (each 4–1: Mayor Ciccarelli, Deputy Mayor Payne, Britting and Lipani yes; Hand no), Committeewoman Hand said “the Mayor is not elected. The Mayor is chosen by the 5 people on the dais,” and, in the minutes’ words, “that anything brought by the Mayor himself is probably an abuse of power.” On the township’s video she says “the fact that you would sign anything on your own, make up positions on your own, is highly disturbing and probably an abuse of power,” and thanks the Mayor for bringing the resolution to the Committee for a vote; he answers, “You’re welcome.”
November 25, 2025. Asked how 2026 appointments are decided, the township attorney said, in the minutes’ words, “discussions take place in caucus.” The minutes record Committeewoman Hand saying “they are political appointments” and asking for “clarification and transparency as to who is making the decisions.” On the video she asks whether the appointments are political appointments to be decided in the majority party’s caucus, and the attorney answers, “I can’t answer that.” Committeeman Lipani said the county and other towns do it the same way.
January 6, 2026. The appointments and liaison assignments (items 8–11) were taken separately. The minutes record that they were “unanimously approved upon the call of the roll. Committeewoman Gomez abstained.”
March 4 and April 28, 2026. In the minutes’ words, residents Lisa Dickholtz, John Ciccarelli and Philomena Cellilli said, respectively, that “bringing up the police by Committeeman Britting was political,” that Hand and Gomez “politicized their vote” on February 24, and that the Committee was “becoming very argumentative, interrupting, inpatient [sic], and very political.” On the township’s video Ciccarelli says “they willfully and intentionally politicized the no vote,” and Cellilli says the Committee had become more political than at any time in her 44 years in town.
August 25 and September 22, 2026. Stefania Olochwoszcz raised concerns about “political donations” and “private donations to Township Committee members.” The minutes record no response on the donations.

The software contract (R-275-2026)

On August 25 the Committee awarded GovPilot a municipal-software contract, not to exceed $423,454 for three years, 3–2: Payne, Lipani and Britting yes; Gomez and Hand no. Hand asked about the three-year contract, and the Administrator said it would be reviewed for a cancellation clause; the minutes do not record Gomez’s reasons. On September 8 the Mayor said the township was moving from Spatial Data Logic back to GovPilot after “platform instability, recurring outages, and an extended security incident,” that staff had endorsed the move, and that the contract includes a 30-day exit clause if funds are not appropriated. She put the savings at “exceeding $150,000 over the contract term.” Committeewoman Hand then asked about the 30-day out clause; the minutes do not record the answer.

What is not known

Whether the 2026 Rules of Order (R-1-2026, adopted January 6) say anything about comment at introduction. LocalWhy has not read them in full.
Whether packets have posted earlier since the September 8 rule.

What residents can do

Speak or write in. Comment on agenda items before the vote, or on anything at the end. If you cannot attend, use the comment link on the agenda.
Comment online on introduced ordinances at Engage Hillsborough.
Find the packet on the CivicClerk portal, and watch past meetings on the township’s YouTube channel.
Request records through the township’s OPRA form.