WESTFIELD – There are six new members of the City Council, but some issues have been debated for much longer than those new members began serving in January. Similar discussion were conducted on July 8, 2013 and on Sept. 3, 2012 with basically the same objections raised about the process of reappointing serving board and commission members.
The debate last night began when Ward 2 Councilor Ralph Figy, the current chairman of the Personnel Action Committee, made a motion for immediate consideration on the reappointment of 24 commission and board members, a motion seconded by Cindy Harris, also a member of the PAC.
Council President Brent B. Bean II named Figy and Harris to the Pac because both have a background in Human Resources and are therefore a good fit on the PAC.
Ward 4 Councilor Mary O’Connell and At-large Councilor David A. Flaherty objected to the immediate consideration motion which requires unanimous consent to gain approval.
O’Connell argued that sending the list of reappointment candidates to the PAC gives members and residents time to “consider” those nominations until the next Council meeting.
“It’s our job to do our due diligence and put this nomination (for reappointment) into committee for review,” O’Connell said at that 2012 meeting . “When I was on the PAC, I was against this process.”
“I’m not talking about bringing those people in, just that we have a discussion because we have six new members who may not know these people,” O’Connell said last night.
Flaherty said that he agreed with O’Connell, and that the new council members may not know the citizens being nominated or reappointed.
“There are 24 people on this list. I know a couple. I’d like a short bio, a blurb as to why to keep them on those boards,” Flaherty said.
Ironically, O’Connell and Flaherty raised the same objection when Bean, then the PAC chairman, called for the immediate consideration last July of candidates already serving on board and commission.
Figy made the same argument last night as Bean has made in the past. Both argue that the reappointment process should be different from the review of new candidates.
“Anybody new should come before the committee for evaluation, but people who have been on commissions for 10 to 15 years are capable of performing those duties,” Figy said. “I think reappointments should be a done deal.”
Ward 6 Councilor Christopher Crean, who has served as the PAC chairman in the past, said that the reappointment candidates “are volunteering their time” adding that many of the candidates for reappointment have served the city for decades.
At-large Councilor Brian Sullivan, the third PAC member, argued that the 24 reappointment candidates were all approved by the council just three years ago since the term of commission and board members is three years.
“I don’t think it’s a big deal. Ssending these reappointment nominations to committee is just cumbersome,” Sullivan said. “If you don’t know them, then shame on you.”
Eventually Figy withdrew his motion for immediate consideration and referred the reappointment list to the PAC.
