The manager’s letter in last week’s CVN attempting to exonerate the police chief from complicity in an unfounded, brazen, and unsuccessful political maneuver to criminally prosecute the assembly for a political appointment notwithstanding, the point of my April 26 paid commentary was this:
The borough’s process for filling seats on boards, committees and commissions – through appointment by the Mayor, confirmed by the assembly – has proved itself cumbersome and laden with political mischief.
It’s apparent to anyone watching committee appointments, and later actions by these committees and commissions, that the Mayor appoints her political allies to these groups and the groups in turn push the mayor’s agenda on the assembly. When the assembly rebuffs the recommendations of an advisory group, its members invariably cry, “But you must listen to us, we’re your committee.”
When in fact, a committee hand-picked by the Mayor is the mayor’s committee.
Would a committee hand-picked by the assembly be any less tainted by unseen political agendas? Probably not.
There’s a solution to this mess, and one that many other communities adopted long ago: Let voters fill seats on the local government’s committees, commissions and boards. The election method already works for our school board.
Let’s extend that method to our planning commission, public safety commission, port and harbor committee, tourism advisory board and other groups. If there’s going to be politics involved in committee and commission appointments, let the voters make those political calls.
The process we have now not only starts fires, it’s unnecessary.
Tom Morphet