MARY L. O’CONNELL
WESTFIELD – City Solicitor Susan Phillips has responded to a request of the Legislative & Ordinance Committee for a formal opinion pertaining to the language establishing membership of the city’s the Conservation Commission.
L&O Chairman Ralph Figy said this morning that the communication from the Law Department states “that the ordinance is not in compliance with federal, state and city Equal Opportunity requirements.”
The current ordinance states that a woman has to be specifically included as a member of the commission.
The ordinance states: “The conservation commission shall consist of seven members appointed by the mayor, subject to confirmation by the city council. The commission shall include at least one woman, and should also include in its membership, if possible, an engineer, a lawyer and a banker.”
RALPH FIGY
Ward 4 Councilor Mary O’Connell brought that language to the attention of the City Council and Conservation Commission while expressing her opposition to a candidate, Muneeb Mahmood, nominated by Mayor Daniel M. Knapik to replace George Martin on the commission.
Knapik then made a second nomination to replace Martin, sending the name of Cheryl Koval, to the City Council. The Jan. 5 City Council agenda for the Personnel Action Committee lists the nomination of both candidates for the same term.
The L&O requested last Wednesday that the Law Department issue an opinion which will initiate revision of the current ordinance.
Ironically O’Connell, who found the language requiring a female member of the commission, is opposed to changing that requirement, while the other female of the City Council, At-large Councilor Cindy Harris, whose professional experience is in the Human Resource field, has taken a position 180 degrees from O’Connell and is strongly advocating the change.
CINDY HARRIS
O’Connell objected to the L&O discussion last week, stating that the motion approved by the council was to request the Law Department “to research and refer” revised language to the L&O.
“That motion was not to act on that legal opinion,” O’Connell said. “There is so much other stuff that this committee should be working on. This is such a minor petty thing. There are hundreds of problems with our ordinances, so why key in on this one?”
O’Connell said that membership on boards and committees does not reflect the demographics of the city’s population which is more than half female, but that 104 of the board and commission posts are held by males and that female membership, 50, is the same as the number of vacancies.
“We’re not representing the gender split of the city,” O’Connell said.
“We’re discussing it because it’s illegal,” Harris replied to O’Connell. “Women have a distinct role in this administration.”
Harris then named city departments which are headed by women: Assessor’s Department; City Auditor; City Clerk; Fire Department;, Human Resources; Technology; Law Department; Licensing Department; Purchasing Department; School Department; and Treasurer’s Department.
Figy also responded to O’Connell’s question.
“Whenever we find an ordinance that is illegal we will remedy that,” he said. “I don’t want to see the city in that position. We’re trying to clean up these issues as we become aware of these situations.”
Ward 1 Councilor Christopher Keefe made the motion to keep the issue in committee until the Law Department drafts new language to be incorporated into the ordinance.
