NEWS

Mount Olive rec football program to remain with Junior Marauders

Michael Izzo
@MIzzoDR

MOUNT OLIVE – Following a clash that played out at a meeting and through social media, a tentative agreement was reached over the weekend to keep Mount Olive's youth football teams under the control of the Junior Marauders Football Association.

"The Junior Marauder program and I have reached a tentative agreement to resolve the issues which led to our dispute," Mayor Rob Greenbaum said Saturday on his Facebook page. "I hope the program and the Township will be better as a result of our compromise."

Greenbaum said that as part of the agreement reached Saturday, the township-appointed ombudsman will now determine all voting appeals.

Previously, Greenbaum had threatened to seize control of the program after leaving a Junior Marauders board meeting Thursday unhappy with some of the board's decisions.

Immediately after the Thursday meeting, both Greenbaum and the board took to their respective Facebook pages to voice their sides of the argument.

In a statement Thursday on his Facebook page that has since been taken down, Greenbaum said he would take over Mount Olive's youth football program from the Junior Marauders Football Association.

Greenbaum said his intervention was not related to the Junior Marauders varsity team's suspension, though it may have been the reason for the reduction in voting seats.

"I think the team's suspension was tangentially related because of the unhappiness it created within the club, but my involvement was not related," Greenbaum said. "I'm not happy with the decision (to suspend the team), but it's their club."

The varsity football team was unanimously banned from the playoffs in October by team representatives within the Morris County Youth Football League. The league said it fielded several complaints about the team throughout the season.

"It is my feeling that the penalties handed down by the league were a direct result of the Mount Olive club's refusal to address the issues of concern to the league," Greenbaum said in the Thursday Facebook post. "Sometimes leadership requires jumping into issues that are not in one's best interest."

Last year, Greenbaum appointed an ombudsman, former township Mayor Paul Licitra, to oversee voting and suspension appeals.

Greenbaum said he chose to get involved after the Junior Marauders board removed a number of voting seats, dropping the number of voting members from 11 to five, and chose not to listen to Licitra's decision to wait until after a December election to do so.

The result would mean that in the December election for seven two-year open seats in the club, only one would be for a voting position.

"By doing so, I felt the Board created a perception that they did so to perpetuate control over the club," Greenbaum said, adding he insisted the remaining seats be put up for election, a decision he said the board rejected.

"Because the Board refuses to recognize the authority of my office, I have no choice but to take action," Greenbaum's Thursday post said. "Next year, we will run a football program through our recreation department so as not to hurt the kids."

The Junior Marauder program would not be recognized by the township, Greenbaum added.

"If they don't want to take our direction they can go on their own," he said.

Greenbaum denied a claim that his involvement in the issue was to help a friend the board suspended.

"One of the two who were suspended happens to be a friend, but that had nothing to do with it," he said. "That was an attack. "

Thursday night, the Junior Marauders board assured followers they would be playing football next season and registration would begin as scheduled in March.

"We are happy to announce the Junior Marauders will be playing football in 2015," read the statement. "We thank all of our football and cheerleading families for their continued support! We will be here for your boys and girls. We will continue to be the feeder for the high school football program."

But on Saturday, Greenbaum and members of the Junior Marauders ran into each other at a private event and reached an agreement.

The board agreed to listen to the ombudsman on voting issues, and Greenbaum agreed not to dispute the decision to reduce the number of voting members to five. The board also reinstated the voting rights of two suspended members.

Representatives from the Junior Marauders board did not respond to requests for comment.

Staff Writer Michael Izzo: 973-428-6636; mizzo@dailyrecord.com