Council mulls changes to appointment rules, regulations

Draft code presented, will be discussed again next month

The conversation has started, and North Wales officials have had plenty to say about putting in writing new rules about how municipal appointments are made. “These are things that seem to be obvious, but I think having them written down avoids having them debated in the future,” said Councilman Sal Amato.

Earlier this month, Amato asked if council could begin a conversation about formalizing rules governing appointments for vacant positions on council and on other volunteer boards. In previous cases, appointments have been made by members nominating one person and voting to confirm them before any others are heard, a problem Amato said his proposed revisions could help solve.

“My target was to ensure a fair discussion and vote for all candidates, not just one, and avoid all appearance of bias in the vote,” he said.

A draft code Amato showed council and the public Tuesday would do that by spelling out a formal procedure: any opening would be publicly advertised on the borough website and Facebook page, letters of interest and resumes would be collected and distributed, then each candidate would be asked to introduce themselves and answer questions during a council meeting that is open to the public.

Once each candidate has had their say, the council president would call for nominations to be made, and keep making calls until no more nominations are heard. Once all nominations are made, voice votes would be taken on each candidate, and the candidate received a majority of votes would be appointed.

“This process follows Robert’s Rules (of Order) almost to the letter,” Amato said.

If two candidates tie, the mayor would cast a deciding vote, and if no candidate receives a majority, up to two additional voice votes would be taken until one candidate receives a majority.

“I’m saying, let’s go through it two times and see what happens. This is all up for debate, and we can discuss this,” Amato said.

Several other questions were up for council discussion: what if more than one candidate gets a majority of council votes? What if a candidate can’t make a meeting

to answer questions in person?

“Do we allow council to ask questions after candidates have presented? What if last minute nominations are made for the floor? What if we’ve gone through letters, et cetera, and then somebody raises their hand on the floor and says ‘I want to be considered?’” Amato said.

Any rules passed by a council would not be legally binding on a future council, according to Borough Solicitor Greg Gifford, but would set a precedent that members could reapprove every two years, or change if they so choose.

“They just want to see if we can put some sort of bylaws in place, or even if it’s not bylaws, some sort of manual saying to the public ‘These are the policies and procedures that are preferred,’” Gifford said.

Passing a formal resolution could create issues if a conflict arises between borough rules and the state-level codes governing boroughs, so Gifford suggested the local codes be spelled out clearly but less formally.

“It’s far better to put together a policy manual that council can follow, but is not forced to follow. It gives them something to say, ‘This is a good idea,’ so they’re not reinventing the wheel,” he said.

Councilwoman Paula Scott said she was worried about including a requirement that applicants must

speak in public and answer questions from council, since some may be shy of public speaking.

“I don’t want questions to frighten anybody off, because we don’t get an influx of people wanting these positions,” she said.

“I don’t want that person to feel as though they are coming before nine people for whom they feel they’re working. It’s nerve-wracking, and they’re not working for us, they’re working with us, for the people,” Scott said.

Resident Andrew Berenson said he had a problem with a requirement that the nominee attend a meeting in person, because sometimes extenuating circumstances can prevent that from happening.

“There has to be some caveat, because sometimes life happens. If you have an emergency: a work emergency, or a personal emergency, you should be able to take that into consideration,” he said.

Borough Manager Christine Hart raised another question: most volunteer terms in the borough run until Dec. 31 of a year, and council typically only holds one meeting in December, so should appointments be made by an outgoing council or the next incoming one?

“The law supports either way, and I don’t think we’re right or wrong, but that would be a good thing to put in the bylaws, because often times the waters get a little dirty when there’s a reorganization,” she said.

And councilman Jim Cherry said officials should

keep in mind that, by definition, whenever more than one candidate is nominated for a position, only one can be chosen and others could have hard feelings.

“No matter which way you change it, there’s always going to be a winner, and somebody that doesn’t get the position, so feelings may or may not be hurt no matter which way you go,” he said.

Amato said he would incorporate feedback from Tuesday night’s council meeting into a revised second draft for more discussion at future council meetings, with feedback from Hart and Gifford included.

“What Sal’s going to do is put a little form into it, so everyone knows this is the procedure we’re going to follow, and so there’s not a lot of discussion in the future on how to do it,” Gifford said.

After a lengthy discussion on the appointments code, council did vote unanimously to appoint resident Linda McAdoo to fill a vacancy on the borough’s planning commission, and council President Mike McDonald joked McAdoo was “here and ready to make a presentation” per the draft code.

“It’s not mandatory yet — the letter speaks for itself,” she replied.

North Wales Borough Council next meets at 7 p.m. on July 11 at the borough municipal building, 300 School Street. For more information or meeting agendas and materials visit www.NorthWalesBorough.org.