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A second West Easton council meeting this month met last night with a 4-member quorum (Councilpersons Gross, Nodoline, James, DePaul attending) and quickly broke out into arguments, recessed for a cooling off period after only 3 1/2 minutes in session, and then ended when Councilman Tom Nodoline didn’t return. With the loss of Nodoline, a quorum was no longer present when council reconvened and the meeting had to be adjourned.

The meeting was called to discuss a possible grant that would be applied toward road work in the borough. It seemed like it would be a simple task to accomplish, but proved otherwise.

Council President Kelly Gross hadn’t even finished presenting her reasons for the meeting when she was interrupted by Councilman Dan DePaul, who thought it unnecessary. That got the wheels of personality conflicts rolling. It quickly escalated, with Councilmen Nodoline and DePaul alternately slapping the table and yelling at each other, to such a point that I expect they won’t be exchanging Christmas cards come December.

At one point Councilman DePaul said it was Council President Kelly Gross seeking attention. Kelly Gross said DePaul was “jealous.” When the council members returned, hoping to reconvene the meeting, but not yet knowing Nodoline had left, it didn’t get much better.

I’m all for a difference of opinion and viewpoints. I think its healthy for a society to have representation that doesn’t always walk in lockstep on every issue. I can even understand an occasional bit of shouting during an argument, as frustration may surface during verbal exchanges. But, when the final result is that absolutely nothing gets done and a council meeting is forced to end, it’s time to re-evaluate conduct and whether the “personal” is preventing the “professional” from representing the best interests of borough residents.

Mayor Gross tagged it correctly and I even saw humor in his statement of, “They don’t need a Mayor in this town, they need a referee.”

It seemed to me more was accomplished after the meeting was officially ended, when Mayor Gross and Councilman DePaul remained and began talking about issues. Nothing in an official capacity, but more in the manner of a civil discussion of the grant, possible costs, and other problems the borough faces, not the least of which are conflicts between members on Council.

I even took advantage of the relaxed atmosphere to partake a bit of humor with Mayor Gross when the subject came up regarding the lack of a Borough Manager. He jokingly said he would take the job of Borough Manager after he retires. I asked him how much he would do the job for (since progress in that area seems to be going nowhere).

That after-meeting discussion was how all council meetings should be conducted. It can only be hoped that it carries over into the next meeting held in August.