By JF Grodeska
ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS – It has been two weeks since the Atlantic Highlands Borough Council began a new accessibility program for residents called “Council Office Hours.” Every Thursday between the hours of 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. at Borough Hall on First Avenue, in the small conference room across from the library, residents can use this unprecedented access to council members to ask questions, voice concerns or make comments about any subjects important to them.
The purpose of these open-door conversations is also to give Atlantic Highlands’ citizens the chance to get to know their elected council members as office hours will be staffed on a rotating basis.
During the recent election, which engendered a Democratic majority, local Democrats campaigned on the promise of government transparency and these office hours are a step toward that commitment, an idea that has long been championed by the Atlantic Highlands Democratic chair, Regina Hawley Keelen.
“We want to make it easier for folks to meet the council and share their thoughts, concerns and ideas,” she said.
Second-term councilman Jon Crowley staffed this past Thursday’s office hours. “I had a few different people drop in and we had some meaningful conversations about issues that were very important to them,” he said. “One, specifically, was a problem I was previously unaware of… but as their elected advocate, I’ll work with borough hall to find a solution to their problem and that’s what makes these office hours so valuable.”
To take advantage of Council Office Hours, simply show up any Thursday between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. For more information, visit the borough’s website at ahnj.com.
The article originally appeared in the February 2 – 8, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
