by Kristina Gabalski
BROCKPORT — Ten vacancies currently exist on various boards and committees in the Village of Brockport.
During the February 12 regular meeting of the Village Board, Trustee Margaret Blackman called on the mayor to bring forward names of four individuals who applied in November 2012 for four of the vacancies.
“It’s a sad commentary that capable, interested people are turned away or ignored,” Trustee Blackman said during her report.
The mayor did not reply, but tells the Suburban News and Hamlin-Clarkson Herald she is not in a hurry to make appointments.
“I did bring forth names and they (trustees) did not approve,” Mayor Connie Castaneda says and adds that trustees are trying to “press my hand” to make the appointments.
She notes that as mayor, it is her job to bring forth names for consideration, but she says she will not do so until she sees more diversity among applicants.
The mayor says currently the boards and committees consist of several members of the Pro-Brockport group and many recent applications have been submitted by residents who are also Pro-Brockport members.
“I’m not looking for more Pro-Brockport members,” she says, “I want to be able to have diverse and fair boards that will take into consideration everyone’s opinion and not just one agenda.”
Castaneda says she is not looking to bring forward more names until other members of the community come forward, and so far, that has not occurred.
Blackman says it shouldn’t matter how many board/committee members are also members of Pro-Brockport.
“It’s the people in this community who want to make Brockport a better place who step up to the plate and volunteer to serve on committees that work for better-ment, not people who want to dissolve the village,” she said.
As of November 2012, vacancies included one position on the Planning Board; one position on the Zoning Board of Appeals; one vacancy on the Historic Preservation Board; three vacancies on the Tree Board; one vacancy on the Ethics Board; one vacancy on the Code Review Committee and two vacancies on the Parks Committee.
According to a list of residents who applied for various vacancies between September 2011 and November 2012, six people applied for the Zoning Board of Appeals; one person applied for the Historic Preservation Board; two people applied for the Parks Committee; three people applied for the Tree Board; one person applied for the Planning Board; three people applied for the Ethics Board and one person applied for the Emily L. Knapp Museum and Library of Local History Committee.
Blackman said the four applications currently in question include two for the Tree Board, one for the Parks Committee and one for the Museum Committee – all of whom applied in November 2012.
“We made a public point of urging them to volunteer as ex-officio, non-voting members of those boards and they have done so,” Trustee Blackman says. “Another one was Larry Vaughn for Zoning Board. Some of us urged him to apply because of his familiarity with zoning regulations from the time he was assistant code enforcement officer. (The mayor) refused to appoint him and brought forward Dan Kuhn’s name instead and we refused to approve Kuhn, noting that a highly qualified candidate had already applied.”
