Appointment missed by missed appointment

By Chris Johnson

News Correspondent

On Thursday, Nov. 3, Trustees with the Pecatonica Village Board met in Special Session to discuss the appointment of a local resident to fill a month’s-long vacancy on the Board. Area Resident Thomas Gipe’s name appeared on the agenda as a possible selection. The Pecatonica resident, however, was unable to attend due to scheduling conflicts. Additional attempts are being taken to get the Board back to full capacity.

Former Trustee Steve Eytalis’ position has been open since September. His departure has left the Village Board one person short. Of the six available voting members, only five votes exist. Action taken by Trustees now would help fill the gap until the April Elections.

It has been explained to be problematic at times, having a person’s vote missing. Development-Approval Projects, as an example, might require a three-fifths vote. The Village President can act at times to help break split-vote decisions. But if a Trustee is sick or unavailable, a situation develops where a vote may not be able to be taken since there aren’t enough bodies to work with. Or at times it just gets harder to get anything done at all. Right now in Pecatonica only five Trustees currently work in that capacity. In the Village of Pecatonica, residents are entitled to six separate voices, according to Statute. The position has to be filled. In order to take care of it now, rather than wait until the April 2017 Elections, Village President Dan Barber took upon the responsibility to find someone for the job and was to present his finding to the Municipal Board.

“Thomas Gipe is a local guy. I was going to present him to the Board. We were going to have discussion on the appointment but he wasn’t able to make it. He had shown interest in working with the Village Board. He is involved with area organizations. He had said he wanted to see if he could help. That says a lot. Sometimes the hardest thing to find is someone willing to try to do something.”

An appointment to a vacant position such as Village Trustee is to be made by the Village President. It is a part of the package of responsibility that comes with the position. After a motion is made to discuss the proposed addition to the Board and a second is accorded, Trustees are given the chance to present questions and comments. If discussion is completed, action can be taken to position the candidate at the horseshoe table until the next opportunity for voters to make their own choices. The Village President said the chance for the voters to pick their candidates will be at hand pretty soon.

“In April the voters and the residents of Pecatonica get their chance to decide who they want to lead. There are four Trustee positions up on the ballot and the Village President’s position as well. We have packets here and I encourage anyone who wants to run to stop in and pick one up.”

In other action, Trustees were presented with the final pieces of information towards the purchase of skid loader tires. The costs were revealed. In certain purchasing practices, a required number of bids must be received. During the most recent Committee of the Whole meeting, quotes had been sought and information had been collected on the need for the durability and safety upgrade.

The Pecatonica Village Board meets on the third Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. It also holds regular Special Meetings following each Committee of the Whole Meeting on the first Thursday of each month at 6 p.m.