Council talks rules on appointments

New procedures could make sure all candidates are nominated, field questions

Borough council continued talks July 11 on a new set of bylaws governing appointments to vacant council seats, and the talks look likely to continue for several more weeks at least.

Councilman Sal Amato presented a second draft of new bylaws meant to clarify the town’s procedures for making interim appointments to council, including questions to be asked of candidates as they apply.

“I think this is a good thing to have written down, so the audience can understand how the process works, what’s right and what’s wrong,” Amato said. “This is not a law, it’s not something that’s necessarily a legal document. We put this into our bylaws, and it’s something we can review every once in a while.”

Amato first asked if council could revisit its rules and regulations concerning the filling of vacancies last month, and on June 27 he presented a first draft of codes that would allow more candidates to be nominated for a council seat before one is chosen. The second draft he presented July 11 builds on feedback from that meeting, spelling out a process that would accept several nominations for a position before a vote is held on any.

“Part of this is to have multiple voting processes going on for all of the nominees, so that candidate A, candidate B, and candidate C, regardless of what their votes are at the time, all get to be voted upon,” Amato said.

If council needs to fill a vacancy, the new bylaws would state that all nominations must be fielded and seconded before any final vote is taken, according to Amato and Solicitor Greg Gifford. Any ties would be broken by the mayor, and if more than two candidates are nominated, a vote would be taken among all, and those receiving the most votes would then face off in a second vote.

“If four votes go to A, three go to B, and two go to C, then you’re not going to say ‘a majority of council,’ since there’s only four votes,” out of a total of eight or nine council members, Gifford said.

“Then, the top two vote getters would then be lumped into a final vote. Say A and B vote again, and the winner has the majority,” he said.

Gifford and Borough Manager Christine Hart said they have researched similar bylaws from several other boroughs in Pennsylvania and found bylaws along those lines, which they are using to revise Amato’s draft.

“Most of the rules or bylaws in the boroughs are very similar to what Sal is talking about. We’re not looking to reinvent the wheel,” Hart said. “It’s just putting it in writing so there’s no questions, when there comes a reorganization or appointment, of how to do it.”

Council member Paula Scott said she still had concerns about a provision in the draft bylaws that would allow council members to question any candidates when nominations are made.

“I don’t feel, personally, that I should be interviewing that person, because it’s not up to me to hire them, to sit in a vacant seat. We are now interviewing them to see if they can sit up here, be paid like we are, and work with us,” she said. “I just don’t believe that a question-and-answer is necessary, quite honestly.”

The last time council filled a vacancy, in late 2015 into early 2016, several candidates were given a chance to speak about their background and interests, which Hart said was a hybrid approach between state regulations and Amato’s proposal.

“I don’t know how much more fair you can be, because nobody was positing questions that could be setups, or set up for failure. It was a chance for those to present themselves,” Hart said.

Resident Andrew Berenson said he was one of the candidates who applied to

fill that vacancy in 2015, and he was sent general questions to be prepared to answer then.

“As someone who actually lost, I stated last (meeting), it was as fair as possible,” he said. “I just think, if it’s an important issue, the council shouldn’t be afraid to ask questions, and I don’t think the candidates should be afraid to respond to questions.”

Council President Mike McDonald said council members should keep in mind they each have residents of one ward to represent, but would be asking questions of a candidate who could make decisions that affect all residents.

“I’m elected to represent Ward 1, not Mike McDonald

solely, so I need to make sure the questions that I’m asking are to serve the people of the ward that I represent,” he said.

Councilman Mark Tarlecki said he has seen several vacancies filled during his decade-plus on council, and he thought the 2015 process was the most fair to date.

“I think we really try hard to be fair. Can it be improved? Absolutely, we have room to improve, but it was a good start,” Tarlecki said.

Amato suggested the bylaws include an option that candidates can be asked general questions to gauge their level of interest in the position.

“It’s simply ‘Give us your ideas on these things,’ simply to show they were interested enough in this position to think about it. I thank you need something like that,” Amato said.

Hart said she and Gifford

would take the further feedback from council and incorporate it into another draft, and Amato said he hoped to continue talks at future meetings, with the goal of having formal bylaws in place by the end of 2017 before the next set of volunteer terms expire.

“We can change, modify, update, we can make it better, enhance it, take things away that don’t work. But it is a working document for us to understand how things work,” Amato said.

Before the lengthy discussion

on the appointment rules, council voted unanimously to accept the resignation of resident Mark Rzezniacki from its parks and recreation board, and appointed resident Gina Jansen to fill that position for a term running through 2020.

North Wales Borough Council next meets at 7 p.m. on July 25 at the borough municipal building, 300 School St. For more information or meeting agendas and materials visit www.NorthWalesBorough.org.