More goodbyes

Resignations continued from the Cultural & Heritage Committee – and so did a lack of thorough explanation for the departures – at the Borough Council’s Tuesday, Nov. 21 meeting.

Dan Iskra and former councilman Mike Hompesch were the latest resignations from the cultural group accepted by the council. Hompesch is a past chairman of the Middlesex Borough Republican Organization.

Referring to three prior resignations that were accepted in October, Councilman Jack Mikolajczyk asked, “Did we ever find out what happened?”

The answer – at least for public consumption – is no. While officials claimed to want an explanation for the resignations, they appeared in no rush to get it.

Councilman Jeremiah Carnes, who is the liaison to the C&H Committee, was absent for the second consecutive meeting.

Hompesch attended the Nov. 21 meeting, entering the municipal courtroom shortly after his resignation was accepted and Mikolajczyk’s related comment. Yet no borough official asked Hompesch why he departed from the C&H Committee.

Asked by Inside – Middlesex during the public comments portion, Hompesch said he resigned because he didn’t have the time to serve on the group.

A different picture of the resignations, however, was painted by former Councilman Bob Edwards in comments before the council. Edwards blamed Carnes, at least in part, for a wave of committee departures in recent years. Among them was Edwards’ own resignation from the group in 2022. The C&H Committee was formed in August 2020.

Edwards did not name Carnes. but claimed the C&H Committee’s council liaison had “stretched his duties” and “Ignored the wishes of the committee members.” He added, “I think that’s part of the reason why so many people have resigned.” Edwards did not give details.

Mayor John Madden said during the meeting that Middlesex taxpayers deserve an explanation for the C&H Committee departures. In October, the resignations for Emily DeScenza, Shirley Penrose and Judy Levesen were accepted.

At that time, Madden and council members said they’d wait for Carnes to publicly comment on the situation when he’s again present at a council session. Officials stuck to that position during the Nov. 21 session.

“The public is deserving of an answer,” Madden said, noting he did not know why there had been such a “tremendous volume” of C&H Committee resignations.

A response from Carnes the next time he attends a meeting would be “the best way to find out,” Madden added.

Hompesch’s resignation was accepted with roughly six weeks left on his term. He was appointed in November 2022 to serve until year-end 2023. Iskra was appointed at the same time as Hompesch, but his term was to expire at year-end 2024.

The resignations of DeScenza and Penrose were accepted after both had served roughly 10 months of respective three-year terms. They were both appointed at the council’s January 2023 reorganization meeting to terms that would expire at year-end 2025.

Reached after the Nov. 21 meeting via Facebook private message, Carnes offered still another take on the situation, particularly of Hompesch and Iskra’s resignations.

Carnes implied that Hompesch’s resignation was due, at least in part, to differences between them on Republican Party matters.

“Hompesch resigned after we started disagreeing on party stuff,” Carnes wrote. Iskra, he added, has a youth sports commitment.

Carnes added that “a few new members” will be joining the cultural group soon.

According to the borough’s administrative code, the C&H Committee’s duties consist of engaging and encouraging cultural, historic and artistic engagement, events and related activities.

The committee is charged with advancement of the visual, literary and performing arts; the collection and display of art objects; and the preservation and commemoration of Middlesex’s culture and history.

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