Second Resident Banned from BOE Meetings for Disruptive Behavior

For more than six years, Parsippany resident Pat Petaccia has been a fixture at school board and township council meetings, registering her opinions, questioning officials and sometimes, raising her voice.

On at least two occassions in the past two years, she's used profanity during a  meeting.

But she was shocked on Tuesday when she received a letter from the Board of Education signed by Board President Anthony Mancuso, banning her from public meetings until April 8, after the school budget is finalized.

"When I get a stupid answer, I admit that I lose my cool, and I apologize," Petaccia said. "But I think they're violating my freedom of speech.''

It was the second time in two weeks the Last week, Anne-Marie Rizzuto, was prohibited from public meetings in the district after she attempted to distribute information for her group Parents Against Government Intrusion, which was formed to protest a proposal to require school uniforms.

A staff attorney from the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey said Thursday that the open public meetings act gives government bodies the authority to control a meeting, which includes reining in members in members of the public who are disruptive.

The attorney, Bobby Connor, couldn't comment on the specific incidents in Parsippany. But he said that in general, the ACLU has questions when citizens are removed from a meeting.

"We're very skeptical because it could be a result of them not liking what the person has to say or not wanting to hear it,'' said Connor, who specializes in open government meetings cases.  "If an individual does have to be removed, we hope it will be for just that portion of the meeting.''

In letter delivered to Petaccia on Tuesday, Mancuso referred to her outburst at a Feb. 10 school board meeting, during which she interrogated the board and unsuccessfully demanded  to speak privately to Board Attorney Margaret Miller, who was filling in that night for regular Board Attorney Mark Tabakin.

"Your unacceptable behavior when you refused to yield the microphone...as requested by the presiding officer...resulted in the board having to recess the meeting to regain proper decorum and control,'' wrote Mancuso, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday. "Your abhorrent behavior caused the board of education....only escalated from there,'' he wrote.

Mancuso also called her behavior "aberrant," "frightful" and "offensive," claiming in the letter that it was part of a pattern that justified ousting Petaccia from board meetings until April.

The Feb. 10 exchange began after Petaccia repeatedly questioned why the board couldn't discuss the controversial five-year contract for Board members and Miller explained that it was under litigation and couldn't be discussed, although the board had spoke about it at a prior meeting in January.

"I asked her does she not represent the taxpayers of Parsippany or the Board of Education? He reply was, 'I represent the board," Petaccia said. 

At two meetings, in June and July of 2009, Pettacia has used profane language, according to Mancuso's letter, and she had been warned that it was unacceptable. 

During one incident, Petaccia said she questioned why Seitz was taking $5,000 in benefits for declining insurance coverage when he was covered under his wife's plan. She called him "greedy,'' she said, and as she headed back to her seat, she audibly cursed. "I used the 'f' word,'' she confessed. "I didn't mean for people to hear it, but they did.''

But Petaccia denies that her behavior at meetings is threatening or disruptive enough to justify banning her.

Petaccia, a retired insurance worker who dealt with benefit claims, views it as her role in the township to hold government accountable. She scours the minutes of public meetings and quotes from public documents when questioning officials.

"My job is to make sure the tax dollars of Parsippany are being spent for the right reasons,'' she said.

Although Petaccia also attends township council meetings, she has never been banned from one of those. "They're respectful,'' she said.