Council Candidate Holds His Own 'Town Hall' Meeting, Complains About Overcrowded Housing Units

Roy Messmer, who is running for township council, has been holding his alternative "town hall'' meetings at the since 2007.

He held one again Monday night that was attended by about 30 residents, including Mayor James Barberio and  Messmer's election opponents, such as Republican Robert Crawford, who is currently on the school board.  Democratic candidates Annelise Catanzaro and Tom Wyka were also there, along with BOE candidates Susy Golderer and Sharif Shamsudin.

"I want to have a dialogue...a lot of people can't get to both the Board of Ed and the council meetings, so this is my way of bringing them together,'' said Messmer, who is a famliar sight at both school board and council meetings. "You can't stand up at a lot of these and talk about things that are controversial.''

He didn't shy away from controversy at the meeting. One of the issues he tackled was occupancy violations in the township and what he perceived as a disparity between the taxes paid by apartment dwellers and property owners.

"They [apartment residents] pay $1,200 a year,'' he said. "For a condo, it would be $2,600. But they get the same services. They get garbage pick up, their kids go to go to our schools. ... It's really putting a burden on other taxpayers,'' said Messmer, who is running as a Republican.

He also complained about "boarding houses'' in the township, including his own neighborhood, Glacier Hills. 

"We have to work together to put pressure to get stricter ordinances. These people are advertising on Craigslist and they're coming and going….It's just not right. It's got to change. Safety comes first,'' he said, adding that he was referring to single-family homes that rent rooms to a rotating number of occupants.

He pointed out that the township had an ordinance requiring residents of one-bedroom apartments to move to a larger unit when their child turns 2 years old.

But he was questioned by Catanzaro.

"I understand it's a tax issue. But say you find out there's a kid living in a one-bedroom apartment. What do you do, kick them out? Tell them they can't go to school?'' she asked.

 Messmer replied that they should follow the rules and get a two-bedroom unit.

"What if they can't afford it?'' Catanzaro asked.

"It's not being cruel, it's enforcing the law,'' he said.

Messmer described an incident a few years ago when a naked 2-year-old boy, who lived in a house with 18 residents, was found wandering at the intersection of Vail and Beverwyck roads. 

After Messmer's meeting, Barberio said he is working on an ordinance that would address overcrowding issues and said it could be ready by the next council meeting, but he didn't want to elaborate until it was closer to being finished.

Barberio said municipalities have little control over how much landlords are charged.

"That was a landmark decision in 1979, 1980,'' he said. "I don't like it, either. All of us are concerned that landlords pay their fair share. But we have no control over that. That's the legislature.''