Councilwoman Gwenn Hauck will not be present at Village Hall for this week’s Village Council Reorganization Meeting.
However, Ms. Hauck will be permitted to cast her votes for Mayor and Deputy Mayor via some form of electronic communication.
Reportedly, in the event an electronic connection with Ms. Hauck can’t be made during the scheduled July 1 meeting, provisions have been made to hold meetings on Wednesday and Thursday to try a connection again.
If you read Ordinance #3-6, you can see why the 3 Amigos are so concerned about having Ms. Hauck vote.
§ 3-6. Mayor; Deputy Mayor; President Pro Tempore.
A. At 12:00 noon on the first day of July following each election of Councilmen, the Council shall assemble at Village Hall, organize and elect one of the Councilmen as Mayor. The Mayor shall be chosen by ballot by majority vote of all members of the Council. If the members shall be unable, within five ballots to be taken within two days of the organization meeting, to elect a Mayor, then the member who in the last election for members of the Municipal Council received the greatest number of votes shall be the Mayor. Should such person decline to accept the office, then the person receiving the next highest vote shall be the Mayor, and so on until the office is filled.
B. At the same time as a Mayor is elected, the Council shall elect one of its members as Deputy Mayor. The Deputy Mayor shall serve in place of the Mayor in the event of the temporary absence or disability of the Mayor. The Council shall elect a President Pro Tempore in the event of the absence or disability of both the Mayor and Deputy Mayor.
C. Vacancies in the office of Mayor or Deputy Mayor shall be filled by the Council for the remainder of the unexpired term.
That’s right ladies & gentlemen. If more than 48 hours goes by and Councilwoman Hauck can’t be reached, Susan Knudsen could become the Village’s next mayor.
Hope spring eternal. Maybe the rich lady’s extravagant safari will be the undoing of the horrible threesome.
Once this is all said and done, how much will Village Attorney Matt Rogers have earned in additional legal fees associated with interpreting Ordinance #3-6 and fielding the dozens of phone calls, e-mails, and face to face meetings with Council members and Council member elects about this issue?
More importantly, who will be paying those legal fees; taxpayers, or the safari queen Ms. Hauck?
I support the mayor and want him to continue BUT Ms. Hauck knew this schedule in advance and chose to schedule a vacation at this time. That means she shouldn’t vote. Sorry.
If it was an emergency that arose and she was away I could see skyping in. But to abdicate your responsibility to participate in this vote should result in you NOT BEING ABLE TO VOTE. Maybe there are responsibilities you take on when elected which include not being able to take extended vacations for a couple years.
And we wonder why our teachers and coaches pull out their hair when kids demand makeup tests because of family vacations. Our elected officials can’t even be counted on to show up to do their jobs.
Daddy is taking the family on a vacation.
Hauck’s absence demonstrates her arrogance to the citizens of Ridgewood. Shameful.
I guess none of you work anymore. Using Skype or Lync is commonplace in boardrooms at companies small to large. No reason for the Village to remain in the dark ages just because the Luddites posting here don’t like it.
Has Council woman confirmed she will not be there? Can the press editors confirm…….?? Where will she be ?
yes confirmed , big game hunting or something lol
Sorry James, you have not confirmed her “location” you just muddied the waters.
Total agreement with #6 comments, time to live in the present.
Thanks again good friend James…….. it is a Safari in Africa….. no elephant hunting however,,,,,,,,, ha, ha, ha,
I am outraged. Concerned, and outraged. Whatever it is, it bothers me.
# 6 has to be our soon to be ousted Deputy Mayor. No one does condescension and arrogance like Albert.
If it is in fact a trip to Africa it would have had to be planned well in advance…..and possibly before the meeting schedule was set. As far as condescension and arrogance goes, this blog’s moderator brings it to a new level…”lol”
“The gladdest moment in human life, methinks, is a departure into unknown lands. The blood flows with the fast circulation of childhood.” ~ Sir Richard Burton, Explorer ~
The meeting date is set by ordinance! Arrogant!
“Not all who wander are lost”. ~ J. R. R. Tolkien ~
By ordinance, #14, the meeting is ALWAYS at noon on July 1, as you well know. And we know that you know this, because you were there two years ago when YOU were sworn in. And Gwenn was there, too.
My 20 bucks says that if Jim “Softball” Albano had been voted in, Gwenn would have gone on vacation and not bothered to Skype in. But because the possibility now exists of a 2-2 tie vote for Mayor and Deputy Mayor without Gwenn there, she has to be reached for her vote. And isn’t the reorg meeting always held at 12 noon on July 1 of an election year?
“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Sadly, but not surprisingly, taxpayer funded personnel resources (i.e., Village Clerk Heather A. Mailander and Village Attorney Mathew S. Rogers) are focused on calming the issue of Gwenn Hauck’s absence instead of focusing on activities that would benefit Ridgewood’s taxpayers as a whole.
This isn’t about doing what’s best for RIdgewood, it’s about what’s doing best for Paul and Albert, at whatever expense necessary.
Poor Roger Wiegand must be rolling over in his grave.
“To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.” ~ Aldous Huxley ~
OPRA the legal fees after the dust settles. They’ll have a lot of explaining to do then.
“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” — Lao Tzu
It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their own selfish purposes.
Andrew Jackson
we are trying to keep the quotes safari oriented lol
Bravo #6 — a rational voice in this insanity.
Anyone deserves a vacation. Sometimes family plans are not easily adjusted. If we can make the technology work than congratulations Ridgewood!
“I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.” — Mark Twain
“I tramp a perpetual journey” Walt Whitman
Geez #27, #6 get’s a Bravo? I think this thread got so much more interesting when the journey quotes started up. If you like the “3 amigos” you’re in love with technology, if you want what best for Ridgewood, hopefully Tarzan finds Jane [Gwenn].
“The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it.” – Rudyard Kipling
“Reminds me of my safari in Africa. Somebody forgot the corkscrew and for several days we had to live on nothing but food and water.”
W. C. Fields (American Comic and Actor, 1880-1946)
Horray for Captain Spalding, the African explorer. Hello I must be going!