By JOE LOGAN (11/30/2009 6:36:08 AM)
The recent resignation of Town of Aurora Councilwoman Kelly Wahl presents an extraordinary opportunity for the remaining four board members to put the interests of the town before politics. Sadly it seems as if they will choose not to do so, and it is a microcosm of Town Government over the past 5 years.
Although the process for selecting a one year replacement for Wahl is not complete, we are already getting a glimpse of why voters in Aurora in every single district voted for change in the recent Town Supervisor election. There are two concerns.
Interested Residents Have Little Time To Apply
The board announced on Monday 11/23 at 7PM that they will be accepting appplications at Town Hall for those interested in filling the one year term until next November's general election. Unless you were one of the 20 people who were at the meeting you would have only gotten that news if you picked up the Advertiser at the newsstand late Wednesday. Add to that the fact that Town Hall was closed on Thursday and Friday and people basically have one day to turn in their application in person. That day is today.
The board can not claim ignorance here because Town Parks and Recreation Director Peggy Cooke stood up during the meeting and spoke about the problematic timeline right after Krieger made the announcement that they were accepting applications. However just as in the past, someone from the audience speaks up and gives some sage advice to the board and they act like they didn't even hear them. Appearantly it doesn't matter if you work for the town and might have some pretty good advice at that!
Even board member Jim Collins stated that there is absolutely no reason to rush through the process and there needs to be a thorough examination of the resumes and the board needs to ensure they pick the most qualified candidate.
Why Is The Outgoing Board In A Rush To Appoint Wahl's Replacement?
A complete board has 4 council people and 1 supervisor. Two of the four current board members will be gone in one month. Norm Suttel is retiring and Krieger lost the November election. Newly elected supervisor Jolene Jeffe and councilwoman Sue Friess will take their positions on January 1. Collins was re-elected. Considering that the only councilmember that wasn't either elected or appointed in the past two months is Jeff Harris, wouldn't it be fair to the voters to allow the next board to choose the fifth member?
To be clear, the board has every right to appoint Wahl's replacement whenever they choose. Based on the recent history, there is no reason to believe that they will forgo this opportunity and we fully expect them to make this "midnight appointment". John Adams made several of these appointments when he left office in 1800 after being upset with the tactics of Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson's first few months were a living hell because of it.
Councilman Harris asserted that "we have to appoint someone" because they wouldn't be able to operate government without a fifth board member because a vote could result in a tie. He is correct, however waiting one month to appoint the board member and forgoing one meeting where a vote may end up in a tie is certainly not a risky thing to do. It is the righteous thing to do.
An appropriate thing to do would be for the current board to facilitate the process by giving residents the entire month of December to put in their application, perhaps go through some of the vetting process, and offer all of the information to the new board where they can make the decision on who will serve with them.
Lord help us if this turns into a political appointment.
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