Illegal meeting in Stony Point? Maybe not…
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- March
- 1
Stony Point Town Board member Geoffrey Finn said the town’s recent Comprehensive Plan Committee meeting was illegal because it included a resident who was not supposed to be there.
The person in question was George Potanovic, president of the Stony Point Action Committee for the Environment. Potanovic said he attended the meeting because Supervisor Phil Marino, who was on vacation when the meeting was held, recently appointed him to the committee.
Potanovic had a letter of invitation from the supervisor, but Finn, who is a committee member, left the meeting because Potanovic didn’t leave.
Marino and Finn later had a discussion, and Marino admitted that he misunderstood the Town Board’s resolution regarding appointments of the Comprehensive Plan Committee members. He said he thought that he was authorized to appoint members without the Town Board’s approval.
Marino said he would bring Potanovic’s appointment before the Town Board at the Town Board meeting this month.
But Potanovic said in any case, he should be able to stay for the meeting because it was open to the public.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, March 1st, 2007 at 7:18 pm by Akiko Matsuda.
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I would like to start out by saying that I was not asking Mr. Potanovic to leave the meeting. I was clearly stating that Mr. Potanovic was not a member of the Comprehensive plan committee. All members were appointed by the Town Board and his name was not one that was appointed. I also let the committee know that I was not only speaking for myself, but also for Councilman Oneil and Councilman Cole Hatchard.We were all in agreement that Supervisor Marino had no right in appointing Mr. Potanovic to the committee without a vote from the Town Board. I simply asked the committee to postpone the meeting until the problem could be resolved when Supervisor Marino returned from vacation. I was very disappointed that the voice of 3 Town Board members was completely ignored.
I have no problem with Mr. Potanovic attending any meetings that pertain to town business as he has done for many years. I do however have a problem with him particapating in a committee that he is not appointed to. That being said, I have alot of respect for Mr. Potanovic as well as all the members involved in the S.P.A.C.E. organization.
All I ask is that we all follow the same rules.
What difference did Geoff's leaving the meeting make? The meeting still went on, hopefully work was done, and Geoff had no opportunity for input because of what appears to be nothing more than a personal snit. George had a letter in his hand from the supervisor designating him as a committee member; as far as he knew, he was officially on the committee. To walk out saying that George's presence made it an "illegal" meeting seems pretty silly on Geoff's part. Also silly was the town board's solution – refusing to second the supervisor's motion to officially appoint George. Pretty embarrassing for the supervisor – and the board. One of them could have given the second, and then showed a little personal courage by voting against George, which none of them apparently wanted to be seen doing. Geoff seems more concerned with rules than with common sense. How childish!