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Debate over village administrator not quashed
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - September 30, 2010)
Debate over village administrator not quashed
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
It was a short-lived moratorium on discussions over the hiring of a Burton Village administrator.
Two weeks after approving a motion to stop all talk on the issue, Village Council revisited it Monday.
Councilman Craig Ronyak, who had made the motion two weeks ago, asked council to consider two motions involving the position. He had asked two weeks earlier that all discussion on the issue cease until a committee could review it for 60 days.
Mr. Ronyak said the motions were not considered to be a discussion.
But others felt otherwise.
Councilman Jeff Coleman said Mr. Ronyak's raising of the issue once again at council went against what council had agreed to two weeks earlier. "We're supposed to have a moratorium," he said. "Craig doesn't want to talk about it. Now Craig wants to talk about it."
Mr. Ronyak said his first motion Monday was to clarify the motion he made two weeks ago.
He said the motion asked that the committee look at the economic impact of the position on the village and residents and that it would look at the pros and cons of the issue and pass that information on to residents.
The motion also included a list of the people that should sit on the committee. Those members would be the council president, the chair of the board of public affairs, himself, Councilman Charles Hauser and Mayor Thomas Blair Sr.
He also asked that the committee not make a recommendation to council but only serve as a fact-finding body.
Mr. Coleman immediately objected that he was not included as a member.
Mr. Blair said it was his responsibility to name members of the committee, as he had done. It was to include himself, four members of council and two members of the board of public affairs. The only elected officials left out were Councilwoman Dianne Lillibridge, Councilman Gerald Rouge and board of public affairs member Judith Beaumier.
Village Law Director Todd Hicks said, because Mr. Ronyak's motion two weeks ago only sought to form the committee but did not list members, it was presumed that the mayor would make those appointments. He said it serves no purpose to have two "dueling committees" with overlapping members.
Mr. Hicks also said that council had not delegated any authority to the committee which would allow it to act in place of council.
Mr. Ronyak agreed to amend his motion, asking only that the committee's role be considered.
That motion passed with only Mrs. Lillibridge abstaining. "I think the whole thing is redundant," she said.
Mr. Ronyak then made a second motion, asking that any decision on hiring a village administrator and abolishing the board of public affairs be put to a vote by the village's residents in November 2011. He said the issue is too dramatic of a change in village government for council to decide it.
Mrs. Lillibridge again said there was no reason to consider such a motion. "How can you make a motion on something not decided yet?" she asked.
Mr. Coleman was even more blunt. "I think this is absurd," he said.
Mr. Coleman said he believes there were good reasons to move to a village administrator and abolish the board. He said he has seen the board of public affairs do things that are "plain wrong," he said.
Mr. Ronyak said Mr. Coleman is allowing his personal feelings to affect his judgment. "You have a personal problem with the BPA," he said.
Board of public affairs chairman Brian Johnston agreed. "You have a vendetta with the BPA," he said to Mr. Coleman. He said he has never been approached by Mr. Coleman with any concerns involving the board.
Mr. Johnston said that led him to believe it a personal vendetta, rather than someone who would air his concerns so issues could be resolved.
Mr. Hicks said the merits of the village administrator would be discussed by the committee. "I think this is a debate the committee will have," he said.
He said Mr. Ronyak's motion on the vote of the electorate was "simply a statement of preference." He said council would be required to take a formal vote before the issue could actually be placed on the ballot.
Council voted 3-2 on the motion, with Mr. Coleman and Mrs. Lillibridge dissenting.
Following the vote, Mr. Ronyak directed a question at Mr. Coleman. "Are you going to apply for this position?" he asked.
"No," Mr. Coleman replied.
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