Vacancy On Council

Councilman Matthew Danzuso previously announced his resignation, effective November 15th. It should be known that this announcement was made before the elections, and I am unaware of any purpose of it being held until November 15th, excepting that there is a council meeting November 14th and perhaps he had unfinished business to attend to. Benefit of the doubt. Otherwise, I see an ability for current council members to appoint who they want to council based on who did not get elected. The truth may never really be known, but it is something to consider.

The Mayor's Report in the November 2011 Villager states:

If you are interested in the position, please send a letter of interest and a resume to either the Mayor (mayor@minervapark.org), the President of Council (mpcurry@minervapark.org), or to any Council member by December 2.
You may also send your mail to the Village Offices at 2829 Minerva Lake Road, Columbus OH 43231.
Interested parties will be interviewed at the December 10 work session and appointed at the December 12 Council meeting.

The 2011 Rules of Council states the following regarding vacancies:

Filling Vacancies on Council
When a vacancy arises on council either through a council member vacating an unexpired term or because no one ran to fill a 4-year term, there will be an immediate call for citizens to indicate their interest in filling the unexpired or vacant term. Such call will be made through announcements in the village newsletter, phone calls from council members and others knowing of the vacancy, and announcements placed at appropriate places in the village. Such announcements will include the deadline for citizens to indicate their interest. The deadline will be within 30 days of the first date the vacancy was announced to the public.

To indicate interest, a citizen must submit a resume and letter of intent to the mayor or any of the council members. Once the mayor or council member receives the resume and letter, he/she will immediately see that all members of council receive copies. If no regular meeting is scheduled, a special meeting will be scheduled immediately after the deadline in order for the interested citizens to appear in person before the mayor and council to both ask and answer questions.

Every effort should be made to have all council members present to interview and select a new member. At least four members* of council must be present in order to call the meeting to order and select and vote to fill a vacancy. Filling the vacancy will be the first order of business on the agenda.

All candidates would be interviewed and a vote taken. Voting is to be done by secret ballot one position at a time with the vacancy of shortest duration filled first. Because there might be multiple vacancies (one, two or even three vacancies) on council at one time, there must be at least three council members present to proceed with the voting. Whether there are three, four, or five members of council present to select a new member, at least three votes must be cast in favor of any one individual for that person to be selected. In no instance would a person be voted to council with fewer than three votes. Once the vote is taken and an applicant has received three or more votes, that person can be placed on council by resolution and sworn in by the mayor and can begin his/her duties immediately. If there are still vacancies and still interested applicants for the positions, the voting can continue until all positions are filled. All members of council are required to vote unless there is a conflict of interest (see section on Voting), and , if a member feels there are no qualified candidates among those interested, that council member can cast a blank ballot that indicates "NO VOTE.”

If council is unable to select a replacement within the 30 day period, the mayor shall appoint a replacement or the mayor can decide that the position will be re-advertised and there will be another 30 days to fill the position.

Unless otherwise decided by the mayor and council, the person filling the vacancy will serve on all the committees as the person being replaced until the end of the year, however, if the person being replaced was chair of the committee, the mayor and council may appoint one of the existing committee members to serve as chair for the remainder of the year.

*In the unlikely event that there are three vacancies on council at one time, a meeting can be called to order with only three members with appointing a new council member being the first and only item to be acted upon with three members. In the case of three vacancies, if any one person receives all three votes of the council members present, that person is immediately placed on council by resolution and sworn in by the mayor. At that point there are now four on council, the new member may vote, and there is a quorum to conduct business.


To the best of my knowledge, this is the pattern of appointed council members in the past 11 years:

Darrell Kem appt 01/2000 replaced vacant
Don Champney appt 01/2000 replaced vacant

Dick Busick appt 01/2002 replaced vacant
Dave Stahr appt 01/2002 replaced vacant
Lou Busick appt 01/2002 replaced vacant
Donald Cox appt 10/2002 replaced Darrell Kem

Sharon Bierman appt 01/2003 replaced vacant
Brian Downey appt 12/2003 replaced Donald Cox

Ron Yarano appt 02/2004 replaced vacant

Marty Grosh appt 01/2005 replaced vacant
Chuck Gibson appt 08/2005 replaced Marty Grosh

Jeff Rigg appt 01/2006 replaced vacant
Todd Walter appt 09/2006 replaced Ron Yarano

David Way appt 06/2007 replaced Chuck Gibson

Matthew Danzuso appt 03/2010 replaced Jeff Rigg

? appt 12/2011 replaced Matthew Danzuso

Emotions Run High

You may have read that Minerva Park has recently hired a new Fiscal Officer, Nancy White.

Nancy is filling the place previously held by Suzanne Coulter as the elected Clerk-Treasurer. The position was eliminated later this year and made into that of a Fiscal Officer, a hired rather than elected position.

There are details previously posted on this issue here.

Suzanne Coulter resigned following the May 7th regular council meeting in 2011 during which tensions rose and she had an emotional moment, removing herself to the basement and making a frightful, loud noise.

Suzanne continuted to do the duties of an Acting Fiscal Officer until Nancy White was hired. Residents and Council who inquired about why Suzanne continued to handle the village funds were told that she had to be there to pay the police officers. Whether Minerva Park laws require this and the mayor's signature is not enough to write checks to the Police officers and employees I am not sure.

Suzanne signed a contract as an employee of the village that stated she was required to have worker's compensation and liability insurance. There is a pattern of village employees signing contracts stating they have these important contract qualifications and documentation is not checked ensuring that they have them. More than once they have not in fact had them.

Suzanne's case was no different. When she signed her contract with the village, she did not have proof of workman's compensation. When public records requests were submitted for this documentation, the village avoided a direct answer to the requests.

Eventually, one resident was given a copy of Mrs. Coulter's homeowners' insurance as documentation of liability insurance. This is the document described in her contract.

If this woman, with a business degree, truly thought that a resident was asking to see her homeowner's insurance, I understand her frustration. Having a business degree, though, I suspect she knew better.

Her response to the resident was left as a voice message:

The worst part of this situation is that it was allowed to happen. There are several lawsuits with Minerva Park about a hostile work environment, and it sounds as though this could have been led to another one.

Mayor Lynn Eisentrout and the present Council have allowed attitudes to get so unprofessional in the community building that it led to someone feeling this emotional about a public records request for documents that should have been on file. Something has to change.

Furthermore, Lynn Eisentrout didn't actively respond to this situation. The resident filed a police report about the message, Lynn made a copy of it, and apparently it was marked "in her file" but nothing else came of it. The police chief denied any threats were present and stated there weren't any charges to prosecute.

This environment that Lynn Eisentrout and the rest of council has put up with needs to change. There is a chance to make that happen with your voice and your vote.

Elections quickly approaching

The elections are quickly approaching, and I have both excitement and dread.  After Tuesday, Minerva Park's destiny will be decided for another four years.  Will we continue to be lead by our current mayor, who has questionable motives and ethics?  Will we have a new leader in our village, and will he have the influence to make the changes so many residents are seeking?  Will the newly elected council members have the backbone to make their own informed decisions, and not just follow the crowd?  Throughout this drama-filled campaign, residents have chosen sides, made their opinions known, and have become a little more involved and educated in the government as it now stands.  I am hoping that this election has record number of Minerva Park resident voters, and that even after the election, the momentum continues.  Residents need to continue to question, seek facts and push for equality in our village.  So, tell your neighbors, friends and family members to get out and vote- November 8th!     L.A.

Second Candidates Meeting Opportunity

Candidate's Meeting

Tomorrow

Thursday November 3rd

7:00pm

Tomorrow night, Thursday, November 3rd, 2011, there will be a meeting at Hawthorne Elementary School for another opportunity to meet the candidates for Minerva Park's Village ballot. Hope to see more interested residents there!

Happy Halloween

With the election coming up and political issues of high interest lately, it's been a while since many positive posts have been made here. While partaking in Beggar's Night with the young ones, I was reminded of the nostalgia of growing up in Minerva Park.

The rounds my child makes are the same as I once did, though a few homeowners and homes themselves have changed. It makes me think of the long resident families that have three or more generations of Minerva Park history tied to them. The community I saw last night was live and vibrant. There were lots of young families (naturally, seeing as it is largely a children's event) and many residents generously answered the calls of "trick-or-treat" from the newest generation in Minerva Park.

One of the things that takes me back to my childhood memories of Minerva Park and Beggar's Night is the police force slowly patrolling our neighborhood, stopping to pass out candy to the kids every block. As far as I know they have done this without fail every year and I think it is a great way to tie our police force into our community, something that should be preserved in our great village. I'd bet that most of those who previously did the trick-or-treating here would also remember the police stopping to hand out candy to them as well. I'm glad to see this continue.

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween, and look forward to seeing the turn out again next year.
If you have any holiday memories from Minerva Park, please comment and share!