A new Alliance, but not the mayor’s

The Hillside Township Council last week passed an ordinance creating the Municipal Alliance Against Drugs.

But wait! Isn’t there already a committee with a similar name?

Well, there was. It was called the Hillside Municipal Alliance (sometimes known as the “Mayor’s Alliance”) and its members were appointed by Mayor Karen McCoy-Oliver.

But this year, the council, in the midst of an ongoing feud with the mayor, dropped funding the for the group without explanation. The Alliance sponsors and organizes periodic community events.

The council members who served on the Alliance also resigned from it a few years ago, about the time the feuding began.

Now the council has created its own Alliance with a set number of seats devoted to officials from the township and the school board. Only four of the nine panelists will be civilians.

A provision in the ordinance allows the Council to appoint members to the Alliance if the mayor fails to do so.