Planning Board Member Apologizes for Facebook Rant Aimed at Resident

A Marlboro Township Planning Board member took his frustrations out on Facebook recently, using expletives to describe a member of Wednesday night’s audience.

Joshua Pollak, whose personal Facebook page was publicly visible at the time, named a member of the public in a status update on his page on Tuesday night. Pollak said he wrote the post during a break in the Planning Board meeting.

“I don't give a flying s**t what you think of me. I am bound by municipal land use law and as such I actually listen to what's being testified to. I am not a NIMBY like you are. And in true NIMBY fashion, you say your peace (incoherent babble), ask for illegal things, and walk away without getting any answer to your question. Stupid t**t!”

In the status, Pollak also used the first name of the woman in question, which Patch has removed from the quote. In the comments on the status, Pollak identified himself as a township Planning Board member.

In a statement to Patch, Pollak apologized for the incident, but said elected and appointed officials are “just ordinary human beings with feelings, and emotions that can be affected by outside force.”

“Within my posting, I allowed emotion and hurt feelings to bleed through. I used inappropriate language directed at this resident. For that, I do wish to offer this resident my sincerest apology, and an assurance to all that it will never happen again.”

In his statement, Pollak said the incident he was referring to on his Facebook page occurred during a five-minute recess during the Planning Board meeting, where he said he was “again attacked,” outside Town Hall.

“After explaining to this particular resident for at least the fourth time that ‘any communication regarding the application off the record is inappropriate, we've had this issue before’ I was still asked inappropriate questions, and was subjected to listening to this one residents issues with this application, the law, and the Planning Board as a whole,” Pollak said.

Tuesday’s Planning Board meeting agenda highlights discussions of Northpointe, but it is unclear what application Pollak was referring to in his post, which has since been taken down.

Pollak claims the woman at the meeting accused him of “being in the developer’s pocket,” in front of other residents.

“At this point I indicated to this resident I had testimony to listen to, and I have to protect my community to whatever extent possible, keeping in mind there is a court order encasing the application,” Pollak said in his statement. “I was venting my frustration with the way this particular resident had treated me, and accused me of something way out of line, and in fact even criminal.”

Board members are approved by the mayor of the township. Mayor Jon Hornik, who was not present at the meeting, was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.

Pollak contends that he believed his Facebook privacy settings prevented his social media comments from being publicly visible.

“[Elected and appointed officials] are entitled to have a place with a modicum of privacy where we can go to air our personal thoughts without judgement from others who represent themselves as friends, or having to deal with residual fallout for a poor reaction to a personal attack posted to my friends and family,” Pollak said.