Council approves three board appointments made by mayor

Perry Village Council has given the go-ahead to three board appointments made by Mayor James Gessic.

Council, during a recent meeting, passed separate resolutions to confirm Jaime Lutes, Suzanne Foxhall and Laura Wolkersdorfer as members of three different village-government panels.

Lutes will serve on the Tax Review Board; Foxhall has joined the Planning Commission; and Wolkersdorfer is the newest addition to the Zoning Appeals Board.

Gessic made these appointments in August, after Devin DiSantis was chosen to fill a vacancy on Village Council.

Council on Aug. 23 tapped DiSantis to replenish its ranks after Gessic, who had been serving as council president, was appointed as the village’s new mayor on Aug. 9.

Leading up to the Aug. 9 council meeting, Gessic also had spent nearly four months as the village’s acting mayor. He took over that role on a regular basis after then-Mayor Vicki Stevens went on medical leave April 13. On April 12, all six council members cast a “no confidence” vote in Stevens’ performance as mayor. Council accepted Stevens’ resignation at the same Aug. 9 meeting when the panel appointed Gessic to fill her unexpired mayoral term.

When the village set out to name a new council member following Gessic’s promotion, three residents applied: DiSantis, Foxhall and Wolkersdorfer. After DiSantis secured the council appointment, he resigned the seat he held on the village Planning Commission.

Gessic then decided to appoint Foxhall to replace DiSantis on the planning panel. He also named Wolkersdorfer, the other council hopeful, to fill a vacancy on the Zoning Appeals Board.

In the last of three appointments he made in late August, Gessic selected Lutes to join the village Tax Review Board. She replaced Councilwoman Jean Schonauer, who on Aug. 9 was selected by council to succeed Gessic as council president.