Pressed by dozens of residents during a Facebook Live town hall meeting this week to take a position on a proposal to build a medical marijuana dispensary on Adamston Road, Brick Mayor John Ducey said he is legally bound to stay out of the discussion.
“If I’m found to influence the board, it’s ethically wrong and morally wrong, and people find themselves in very hot water – going to jail and what not, about influencing a board,” he said.
An elected official taking a position on an application pending before a land use board has been construed by courts in New Jersey to be akin to inappropriately using one’s office to influence a board’s decision. One of those cases even originated in Brick, with negative comments from a former councilman contributing to litigation that resulted in the reversal of a decision against granting a variance for a church to occupy a strip-mall storefront that was largely considered to be too small.