HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-12-22-TB \Pq-\
JOINT MEETING
TOWN OF ULYSSES 1/ TOWN OF ENFIELD
DECEMBER 22, 1998
PRESENT : ULYSSES'S Supervisor Douglas Austic; Councilpeople Carolyn
Duddleston , Peter Penniman, and Robert Weatherby; Councilman Andrew
Hillman absent. ENFIELD Supervisor Jean Owens; Councilman Gary Fisher, Greg
Stevenson and Tom Drew, Councilman Lovelace absent; Attorney Bruce Wilson .
Others Present : County Representative Peter Meskill, Tom Reitz, Enfield Town
Highway Superintendent Ronald Updike, David Owens, and Enfield Democratic
Committee Member Jane Murphy .
Supervisor Austic stated that they would be following the rules of the County
Charter to join together with the Town of Enfield to appoint a replacement for
the County Board of Representatives .
Councilman Peter Penniman handed his letter of resignation to Marsha L .
Georgia, Town Clerk, resigning from the Ulysses Town Board effective
immediately . Mrs . Georgia excepted his resignation .
Mr. Austic called the Ulysses Board to order and asked for a motion to go into
joint session with the Town of Enfield .
Mrs . Duddleston moved seconded by Mr. Weatherby the following ;
RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses agrees to go into
joint session with the Town of Enfield .
Mr . Austic aye
Mrs . Duddleston aye
Mr. Weatherby aye
Adopted .
Supervisor Owens called the Enfield Board to order and asked for a motion to go
into joint session with the Town of Ulysses .
Mr. Drew moved seconded by Mr. Fisher the following ;
RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Enfield agrees to go into
joint session with the Town of Ulysses .
Mrs . Owens aye
Mr . Fisher aye
Mr. Stevenson aye
Mr. Drew aye
Adopted .
Mr. Austic stated , unless anyone objects, being that the Town of Ulysses is the
most populous in the district, he will run the meeting . No objections heard . He
has a couple of issues that were previously brought up prior to this meeting .
According to the County Charter the Towns are suppose to have this meeting
and decide within thirty days of the notice of said vacancy . Notice was received
from the County Board Clerk on December 7th, 1998 . The County Charter states
that a candidate is appointed on the basis of the majority vote of the combined
boards present. The Ulysses' Attorney has looked up some information and Mr .
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Austic will have him explain this in a minute . Second question was whether or
not a person who is presently sitting on either board would have to resign prior
to being appointed .
Mr. Wilson stated that the three issues to be addressed were whether the town
board member has to resign to be a candidate to be nominated for appointed .
The other was if it requires a majority of both boards . This is an interpretive
question . There is not a lot of law on it. It is not a majority of the combined
boards . It is unclear in the County Charter. It says that the vote of the combined
membership of the two boards of the towns of the said district. The question is
what's a majority — it has to be a majority of both boards, five members of each
board, so a majority of ten would be required or a total of six votes . So it does
not matter how many people are here it would have to be a vote of six in the
affirmative to pass a resolution. The second question is does it require a
majority of each town board or of the combined boards . It is unclear from the
County Charter . It says to assemble collectively for the purpose of filling the
vacancy. It is unclear if it means any six of the combined ten or whether it
requires three meaning the majority of each board . The safest option is to
require a majority of each board .
Mr. Austic asked than - the question is should we be conservative on this vote or
should we go with the majority of who is here? Mr. Austic asked if he hears a
motion or some kind or discussion on this to which way. He does not have a
problem with the three and three if that is the way you want to do it.
Mr. Drew moved seconded by Mrs . Duddleston the following ;
RESOLVED that the Town of Enfield and the Town of Ulysses requires
having three members of each board to vote affirmative to appoint a
candidate to fill Mr. Meskill's seat on the County Board of Representatives .
Mr. Austic stated a motion has been made and seconded that when a vote is
taken that a decision will be made on a vote of three, the majority of each
board, three and three . Mr. Austic asked if there was any further discussion .
Mr. Fisher asked if there is any precedence set with previous appointments in
Tompkins County?
Mr. Wilson stated he is not aware of any.
Hearing no further discussion the vote was taken .
Mr. Austic aye
Mrs . Duddleston aye
Mr. Weatherby aye
Mr. Fisher aye
Mr. Stevenson aye
Mrs . Owens aye
Mr. Drew aye
Adopted .
Mr. Wilson stated that for the record the resignation of Councilman Penniman
was received before the vote .
Mr. Austic stated that as far as nominations — nominations will come from the
combined boards . If there are more than one nomination they will vote on the
nominations in the order they come. He asked if there were any questions to
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that? He asked if anyone had a problem with that. No one had a problem or
question . Unanimously approved of this process .
Mr. Austic stated that before they proceed he would ask if anyone objects to
comments from the public on this matter? Mrs . Duddleston stated that she
would welcome comments .
Mr. Austic asked if anyone had any comments?
Mr. Meskill stated that he is not sure how many candidates there are but he
would strongly urge the Boards to appoint Peter Penniman to the County Board
to replace his seat. Peter has experience in County government and knows how
it works which will prove beneficial to both Towns . This way he can get going
right away versus having to learn everything all over again . He also has worked
with many of the other Board members in the past .
Mr. Reitz commented that he has worked the last three or four years with Peter
and he would urge the Board to appoint him to the office of County
Representative . He feels that he has a grasp on the workings of the County
government as a whole and supports his appointment.
Mrs . Duddleston moved seconded by Mr. Weatherby to nominate Peter
Penniman for the appointment to the Tompkins County Board of
Representatives, to fill the vacancy left by Peter Meskill's resignation .
Mr . Fisher moved seconded by Mr. Drew to nominate Joseph Schehr for the
appointment to the Tompkins County Board of Representatives, to fill the
vacancy left by Peter Meskill 's resignation .
Mr . Austic stated that a vote would be taken on the order of the nominations
received as previously agreed to .
Mr . Fisher stated that he has one question that borders on ethical and is
troubling to him . He stated that he has not consulted a lawyer or anyone else
but he does have an issue that is somewhat troubling to him about one of the
candidates .
Mr. Austic asked if he wanted to adjourn to executive session to discuss this .
Mr . Fisher stated that he would like to discuss it with the combined boards .
Attorney Wilson stated that it will take a vote of both the Boards to go into
executive session on personnel matter .
Mrs . Duddleston moved seconded by Mr . Fisher to adjourn to executive session
to discuss a personnel matter .
Mr . Austic aye
Mrs . Duddleston aye
Mr . Weatherby aye
Mr . Fisher aye
Mr . Stevenson aye
Mrs . Owens aye
Mr. Drew aye
Adopted .
Boards adjourned to executive session at 7 : 55 PM .
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EXECUTIVE SESSION
Mr. Fisher had a question in regards to the mailing of personal matter from Peter
Penniman .
It was pointed out to the Boards that this may not be a personnel matter due to
the fact that Peter Penniman would not be an employee of the Towns but rather
be an employee of the County.
Mrs . Duddleston moved seconded by Mr. Weatherby go adjourn the executive
session and go back to the regular meeting to discuss this matter in public .
Unanimously approved . Adjourned meeting 7 : 58 PM .
REGULAR MEETING
Mr. Austic called the meeting back to order and turned the floor over to Mr.
Fisher who has a question of Peter.
Mr. Fisher stated that he has received a letter from Peter Penniman concerning
the appointment to a political office . What concerns him about this is the fact
that it came in his company's envelope, which he assumes he takes business
deductions for and as far as he knows that is not legal and he has some ethical
questions concerning that.
Mr. Penniman responded to say that he does have a home business and he buys
supplies in large quantities . He has been a Town Board member, he has
personal business, and he has his property management business that he all
essential conducts from his home . He does not deduct the full cost of postage or
supplies from his business taxes . He uses the business envelopes, as a
convenience because he buys them in such large quantities and it does advertise
his business, which he feels, should not be a problem .
Mr. Fisher stated that he was troubled the way it came and he does not know if
he is still not somewhat troubled by it.
Mr. Austic stated that there is no way to resolve this .
Mr. Fisher understands that and he realizes that it is not going to be resolved
here but he felt that it should be brought up .
Mr. Weatherby asked Peter if he is aware of the time commitment.
Mr. Penniman stated that he has spoke with Peter Meskill and he was aware of
the huge time commitment of Board members when he worked on staff
previously for the County . He is able to re-arrange his schedule and get more
help in his office so that he can spend the time and make a real commitment to
put in the time he thinks is necessary to be an active Board member and
understand the issues of the County .
Mr. Austic stated that unfortunately Joe is not here so if the board's wish to ask
him questions we would have to adjourn and arrange another meeting .
Mr. Penniman commented on that and stated that the Democratic Party had a
meeting of Ulysses and Enfield and both ,he and Joe spoke . There were
questions and answers than a vote and the Democratic Party voted to endorse
Mr. Penniman and Mr. Schehr stated that he was going to support Peter and
withdraw his intention .
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Jane Murphy, Committee Member of the Democratic Party stated that they did
vote to endorse Peter Penniman and Joe Schehr has withdrawn to her
knowledge .
Mr. Austic stated that he had not received anything in writing from Mr. Schehr.
The general consensus of the boards was to continue .
Mr. Austic stated that two nominations are on the floor and they will be voted in
the manner that they were received .
RESOLVED that the nomination of Peter Penniman has been dully
received,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Boards of the
Town of Ulysses and the Town of Enfield do hereby appoint Peter
Penniman of 3391 Halseyville Road, Trumansburg , NY, to replace Peter
Meskill on the County Board of Representatives to take office on January
1st, 1999 .
Roll Call Vote
Mr. Fisher nay
Mr. Stevenson aye
Mrs . Owens aye
Mr . Drew aye
Mr . Weatherby aye
Mrs . Duddleston aye
Mr . Austic aye
Adopted .
Having received three aye votes from each Town Board the second nomination
becomes a mood issue and Mr. Penniman has been appointed by joint resolution
by both Town Boards .
A certified resolution will be mailed to the County Board of Representatives and
the Tompkins County Board of Elections .
Hearing no further business Mr. Stevenson moved seconded by Mr. Drew to
adjourn the meeting . Unanimously approved . Meeting adjourned at 8 : 15 PM .
Respectfully submitted,
Marsha L. Georgia
Ulysses Town Clerk
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