Just a quick follow-up for those of you who were unable to
attend last night’s (12/10/18) Brookfield Town Board meeting. It was packed house due to the scheduled appoint
of an interim TOWN SUPERVISOR to serve out Salka’s term through the next
general election – Nov 2019.
Supervisor Salka presided.
All Board members were present: Joe Walker, DeWitt Head, Jeff Mayne and Clint
Abrams. Also in attendance our Highway
Superintendent Paul Owens.
The meeting was a combination of “who would have thought”…and
“here we go AGAIN”.
From the “Who would
have thought” column: there were
actually FIVE QUALIFIED candidates who submitted letters of interest and bravely
threw their hats in the ring. Unfortunately,
Salka would not allow their letters of interest to be read aloud and grudgingly “revealed”
the names of the 5 candidates…as though they wanted to keep it a secret: Kate Peerman, Diana Weaver, Loren Corbin, Chuck Blood and Jeff Mayne.
From the “Here we go
again” column: Salka didn’t do his
homework and once again, at the 11th hour, the Board was unable to
move forward – to the Board’s OBVIOUS relief!!
Problem: under the law, the Board could not appointment an interim
supervisor UNTIL SALKA VACATED HIS SEAT and he would not do it at the meeting because he wanted to serve out his term until DECEMBER
31, 2018. So the appointment cannot be made until the
JAN 2.
[No doubt the relief
was due to the fact there was: a) packed house; b) five candidates; c) no idea
how to proceed with a vote; and d) the usual back-room politics.]
The vote confusion stems from the rules of appointment as
reported by Salka: the appointment
requires a “super majority” (at least 2/3 vote approval)…among 4 board members…one
of whom has to recuse himself from the voting because he is a candidate.
It was really unfortunate that Salka would not allow the
letters of interest to be read aloud to the packed house. Wouldn’t
it have been good to KNOW the candidate’s interest and their qualifications? Who would have known of Kate Peerman’s
professional and military background?
That Chuck Blood was retiring from farming and could devote full time to
the position? That Diana Weaver has a
great equipment background and is regular at Town Board meetings? That Loren
Corbin was the former Town Supervisor?.. and Jeff Mayne’s tenure on the County
Fair and Highway experience?
It was evident that the Board was scrambling as they met privately in John’s office right after
the meeting was adjourned……technically, a BOARD MEETING.
Stay tuned….there will be an extension of the time to write
a letter of interest for the SUPERVISOR position…HOWEVER, a separate letter of
interest will be required to fill the open TOWN BOARD position in the event
current Board Member, Jeff Mayne, is appointed to the Supervisor position.
Check the Town Board website for “special
meetings/notifications”. The TOWN
WEBSITE http://www.brookfieldny.us/
