For assembly members, sitting around at meetings won’t be getting any easier.
Members on Tuesday narrowly struck $2,300 from next year’s borough budget for new chairs around the dais.
The assembly split 3-3 on the budget item, with Mayor Stephanie Scott breaking the tie with her vote to nix them.
Members Steve Vick, Debra Schnabel and Joanne Waterman voted against the chairs; assembly members Dave Berry, Norm Smith and Jerry Lapp favored keeping them in the budget.
Vick moved during Tuesday’s introduction of the budget ordinance to remove the $2,300 line item, recommended by manager Mark Earnest. Vick said spending $2,300 on chairs seems frivolous when viewed in conjunction with Earnest’s budget recommendations to cut pool operation and staff hours to save money.
“I think if we’re going through a time of cutting budgets and cutting staff hours and cutting pool time openings, it’s probably not the right time to spend $3,000 on chairs,” Vick said. (Smith corrected Vick’s figure error).
Smith, who voiced his support for new chairs during a preceding budget meeting, immediately rolled his chair across the room to switch with Vick. “We’ll see if yours is any worse than mine. But I’m voting ‘No’ against this,” Smith said of Vick’s amendment.
Smith, in addition to voting against the amendment, ultimately also voted against introducing the budget ordinance. However, the five other members voted to introduce, and it passed.
The budget ordinance is scheduled for its first public hearing May 14, and a second public hearing May 28.