Gardner City Council members will research changing the way appointments are made to the council when there’s a vacancy.
“I basically have several points that I’m concerned about and would like to see changed,” Council vice president Chris Morrow said.
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Currently, the Mayor appoints and the council approves. Under state statute however, if council does not approve a Mayoral appointment, they must draft and approve a resolution declaring the candidate unfit. If council simply chooses not to vote on a Mayoral appointment, the candidate is given the job after a several day waiting period.
Mayor Dave Drovetta suggested that council members may want to charter out of those statutes that govern appointments.
“A number of cities have chartered out of it,” he explained during the June 4 council meeting.
That’s Morrow’s first item of concern in considering a new appointment process.
The statute, Morrow explained, “is basically asking elected and appointed representatives to kick dirt on someone brought forward instead of just having an up or down vote.”
Morrow said he isn’t trying to take appointment authority from the Mayor, but he would like the council to have some input.
(Read more at http://gardnernews.com/council-to-research-changes-to-appointment-process/)