With the exception of Councilman Louis Niko, who has a pretty good reason for not attending recent council meetings, some on council are notably absent.
Mr. Niko suffered a small stroke and is recovering. According to Mayor Gerald Gross, Mr. Niko is eager to return.
Whether he actually returns and can serve is to be seen. While I hope he has a speedy recovery, his health and the good of the borough should be more important to him than keeping a seat on the council that may remain empty for the rest of his term.
The absenteeism has resulted in one meeting last month being cancelled because not enough of the remaining six bothered to attend, resulting in a lack of a necessary 4 council members to make up a quorum. Monday’s meeting just made a quorum, with only 4 council members present.
Councilman James has missed the last two. Apparently, a new job prevents him from attending.
Councilman Moore has only made one meeting since his appointment, leading the average for missed meetings, considering he was just appointed to council a couple of months ago.
Appointed by a majority vote of council because he was a “Super Voter,” Mr. Moore certainly isn’t a “Super Attender.”
When those on council start attending the meetings the way the public does (that is, not at all) it can be construed that they, like the public, doesn’t take a real interest in the borough. It leads to things not getting done on time, or a mad rush to get things done with poor results – as demonstrated by the budget presented at this past meeting.
At the very least, it leaves a taste in one’s mouth that the appointments are done just to fill a seat with a person that the current leadership in the governing body can bend to their will.
Currently, the Mayor and Council are having a difficult time finding anyone to replace council members. Most people don’t care about borough business, or they won’t be considered for an appointment because they aren’t seen as “cooperative” to the current governing body.
Others realize that to serve on council means giving up a lot of time, if it is to be done correctly.
Most are content to simply sit at home and bitch, rather than attend a council meeting and ask questions.
At the most recent meeting, Mayor Gross made a point of mentioning that attending council meetings isn’t overly burdensome. His comments were directed at those councilpersons failing to attend. They could have been just as easily directed at the residents.
Residents who could just as easily throw their hat into the ring for this upcoming election.
There must be at least a few of you, who aren’t seeing the services we would expect for our taxes, or the transparency we should demand from our local representatives, able to serve.
I believe 4 seats will be up for election and in a small borough like West Easton, party lines should play no role in electing the council people who represent us.
If you’re a Republican and I think you can do the best job, I can easily pull your lever when it comes to replacing those who aren’t acting in my best interest. That goes for any level of government.
Disclaimer: On January 4, 2016, the owner of WestEastonPA.com began serving on the West Easton Council following an election. Postings and all content found on this website are the opinions of Matthew A. Dees and may not necessarily represent the opinion of the governing body for The Borough of West Easton.
