Prepared Comments Made to
NORTH CANTON CITY COUNCIL
September 16, 2013
Tonight I would
like to address the poor attendance record of some members of North Canton City
Council and make recommendations for legislation that will help to make Council
attendance at public meetings more transparent and economically fair for taxpayers.
I have spoken
privately to Council President Snyder on this subject on numerous occasions and
recently to Mr. Peters, Chairman of Council’s Personnel & Safety Committee.
I will preface my
remarks by stating that in my two-year term on City Council I do not recall any
absences of the seven members of Council during the entire two-year term that
was December 1, 2001, through November 30, 2003. Mr. Snyder has told me that is
his recollection as well.
Sadly, that is
not the case today with the members of the current City Council.
Almost weekly there are at least
one and sometimes two council members absent. On February 11, 2013, voting on
legislation, scheduled for passage as “an emergency,” was delayed for an hour
until a sixth member of Council arrived to garner the required minimum votes for
passage. Apparently the declaration that legislation was needed as an emergency
meant little for this late arriving member of Council.
This situation was repeated at
another Council meeting April 15, 2013, when only five of seven Council members
were present to vote on “emergency legislation,” scheduled for passage at a
Special Council meeting.
More often than not, each week a
vote is taken to excuse a Council member, sometimes two Council members, from
scheduled meetings that require their attendance. Apparently North Canton City
Council places loyalty to its members above service to City residents as
members of Council are routinely excused. And whether a Council member is
absent or not from a publicly scheduled meeting all members are paid just the same.
How many of us in the real world
get paid for not showing up for work? Rhetorical questions, as we all know that
“no work means no pay” and that if one is habitually late or absent from work
one will find him/her- self no longer employed.
Two years ago, I began tracking the
attendance of council members and this is what I have discovered:
Mr. Snyder, I
would say you would qualify for a “gold star” as by my calculations you have
missed or been tardy for only three of 127 publicly scheduled Council meetings
which equates to 98% attendance.
Mr. Peters ranks
second, missing or being tardy for eight out of 127 meetings, equating to 94%
attendance.
Mr. Foltz ranks
third, missing or being tardy for 9 out of 127 meetings, equating to 93%
attendance.
Mrs. Werren ranks fourth as she has
missed or been tardy 6 out of the 65 meetings since her appointment in mid-term
which equates to 91% attendance.
Mr. Cerreta and Mr. Griffith tie
for fifth as each has missed 13 out of 127 meetings which equates to 90% attendance.
Mrs. Kiesling ranks at the bottom
as she has missed or been tardy for 35 of 127 publicly scheduled Council
meetings, equating to a 72% attendance rating.
I guess I am getting old as I harken
back to an earlier time period and remember when people had a different work
ethic. We all remember an aging relative who would tell us how things used to
work.
I would urge at this time that Council
put in place legislation that requires the Clerk of Council to keep attendance
of Council members at all publicly scheduled meetings. Further, I would ask
that members of Council not be paid for meetings which they do not attend.
I would also like to say that
continuing to approve of non-attendance of Council members at publicly scheduled
Council meetings could make Council party to what could be termed theft in
office as the taxpayers are paying for services that are not being rendered as
an ongoing matter of business.
Mr. Snyder, I would like to thank
you for a fine attendance record. For the rest of Council, you made a
commitment to your constituents to represent them. Showing up four evenings a
month for City Council meetings is what you promised your constituents and it
the very least that the public expects from you.
Members of North Canton City
Council should show in every way that their loyalty is to City residents, first
and foremost.
Thank you,
Chuck Osborne, Resident
City of North Canton
