Remove Weintraub from Flemington Planning Board

02/15/2023

To follow up on Monday night’s statement regarding the call for Weintraub’s removal from Flemington Borough Planning Board, I sent the following email to council and mayor.

The ball is in their court. Whether they act or not is up to them, but their decision will speak volumes to our community.

Community is the center of everything ❤️

02/15/2023

I apologize for not posting this here yesterday:

Yesterday evening, I attended the Flemington Borough Council meeting to make a statement regarding James Weintraub’s position on Planning Board. Several other community members were in attendance in support for his removal. Weintraub was also present and attempted to refute my comments.

The full meeting is available on Youtube. You can hear my “diatribe” around 1:03:30 and Weintraub’s comments at 1:12:00. Listen and make your own conclusions about Weintraub’s behavior.

Flemington can do better than folks like this who spend their time tearing down others. I hope that council and mayor hear my concerns and those of many other community members who have also made their comments known in a variety of ways.

Accountability for harmful actions and words is not divisive. While being called out for our biases can be uncomfortable, we have the responsibility to do better by taking ownership of our actions and educating ourselves when we are lacking understanding. There’s no room for racism, homophobia, and transphobia here or anywhere. It’s time to stand up and say, “no more will this be tolerated.”

All we can do now is wait and watch. We have made our concerns known and have presented the grounds for his removal. Now, we wait for council and mayor to act - or not. Either way, what our borough decides to do will send a message to our community. We hope that they consider ALL of Flemington in their decision regarding Weintraub.

Regardless of the outcome, we will continue working to build a better community where all are safe and welcome. The work does not end here.

Community is the center of everything ❤️

Jae (they/them)

02/13/2023

I will be attending the council meeting tonight at 7PM at Flemington Borough Hall to read the following (and what I hope is my final) statement on James Weintraub’s appointment to Planning Board.

Flemington, we’ve got a respect problem and Weintraub is just a symptom. Please give my full statement a read.

Thank you and hope to see you tonight,

Jae (they/them)

02/10/2023

Call for Council for his removal:
The cause for his removal would be his violation of Planning Board code of ethics, which is explicit about gender and racial bias, etc.
2013 New Jersey Revised Statutes
Title 40 - MUNICIPALITIES AND COUNTIES
Section 40:55D-23 - Planning board membership.
14.Planning board membership
b. ….Any member other than a Class I member, after a public hearing if he requests one, may be removed by the governing body for cause.

Planning Board Code of Ethics: https://planning.org/ethics/ethicscode/
Section A: Principles to Which We Aspire
1. People who participate in the planning process shall continuously pursue and faithfully serve the public interest.
1. Examine our own cultures, practices, values, and professional positions in an effort to reveal and understand our conscious and unconscious biases and privileges as an essential first step so we can better serve a truly inclusive public interest promoting a sense of belonging
3. People who participate in the planning process shall work to achieve economic, social and racial equity.

The full text of the AICP Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct as revised in 2016.

02/10/2023

Reminder: Flemington Borough’s next Council meeting is Monday, 2/13 at 7PM at Borough Hall. Call for Weintraub’s removal from Planning Board on the basis of his behavior online being a violation of Planning Board principles by showing clear bias towards a variety of groups.
This not “political divisiveness” or “personal pettyness.” This is about accountability for harmful actions against the Flemington community.

01/31/2023

Hear some public comments already made about his appointment

FLEMINGTON, NJ – It is still early days of the new administration in Flemington, but Mayor Marcia Karrow’s recent appointments to local boards are already causing controversy.

01/31/2023

Welcome to the official organizing page for the call to remove James Weintraub from Flemington Planning Board. This page is started by Jae (they/them) with the intention to provide a space to make the community’s voices heard regarding his appointment and to pressure Council and the Mayor to move to remove him.

Please share this page and your own personal interactions with Weintraub and/or your thoughts on this issue.

Weintraub has attempted to frame this as a “me vs him” issue and claims that he is being attacked and misrepresented. However, it’s his own words against him. Regardless of his comments against me directly, he demonstrates a clear pattern and history of rude and disrespectful to downright hateful speech online. Weintraub has attacked numerous individuals in Flemington during his rants on social media yet claims any accountability for his actions is censorship and partisan slander.

However, we, the community of Flemington say NO to James Weintraub and those who act and speak hatefully, either online or in person. Weintraub does not represent us and the spirit of Flemington.

Read my letter to the editor:
https://www.tapinto.net/towns/flemington-slash-raritan/articles/resident-james-weintraub-has-a-reputation-in-town-for-stirring-up-trouble-online

01/31/2023

Petition link! ~~~

https://chng.it/xnJm2TLBC4

Call for Council for his removal:
The cause for his removal would be his violation of Planning Board code of ethics, which is explicit about gender and racial bias, etc.
2013 New Jersey Revised Statutes
Title 40 - MUNICIPALITIES AND COUNTIES
Section 40:55D-23 - Planning board membership.
14.Planning board membership
b. ….Any member other than a Class I member, after a public hearing if he requests one, may be removed by the governing body for cause.

Remove James Weintraub from Flemington Planning Board