Seeking stability, continuity and a better vision

Posted 8/21/12

Honesdale Borough government needs some stability. Since the beginning of this year alone, three borough council members and a mayor have resigned. Yes, the borough normally has its share of turnover …

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Seeking stability, continuity and a better vision

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Honesdale Borough government needs some stability. Since the beginning of this year alone, three borough council members and a mayor have resigned. Yes, the borough normally has its share of turnover of elected officials who ran and lost in various elections, but in the past three-and-a-half years there have been an unusual number of resignations as well as sitting council members declining to seek reelection because of problems arising either from conflict on the council or from how the town does its business. (One recalls three years ago, when the borough needed court approval for a bailout loan to address a more than $400,000 budget shortfall. And one is forced to ask, for a town with just 5,000 residents, how do things like that happen? And this is not just ancient history; the cost of the new police union’s contract will present big fiscal problems down the road for the borough.) Every time a brand new person steps in to fill a vacant council seat, there’s a learning curve that increases the challenge of achieving progress. Worse, some of the recent resignations have resulted over divisive issues that have apparently made it difficult for elected officials to work together in a collegial manner.

Since 2011, there have been three mayors—one who resigned, saying he was sick of conflicts with borough council; another who escaped by running for higher office; and the current new mayor, who’s trying to mend fences but has served for just two months. During the same several years, 10 council members resigned—two leaving to run for higher office, some leaving for personal reasons, and others quitting in frustration, disillusionment or disgust.

Last year, when the police chief resigned after accepting a school district job, a bitter fight ensued (and still festers) with the police department over council’s choice of his replacement. (A councilmember also resigned over the matter.) During the same period, council ran afoul of the state’s Sunshine Law, according to a local magistrate, by holding an executive session to hear complaints about the police department; the council appealed the ruling, and a higher court’s decision is expected any day. And then there was the dismissal of a long-time zoning officer under a cloud of suspicion, a councilmember who served time for DUI and now a councilmember who has been charged with a felony over an incident involving his business operations. (There are reports that that case may be settled.)

The question is how to get the town’s government back on track? Three years ago, when the town faced its darkest financial crisis (the $400,000 budget shortfall), the suggestion arose that council consider hiring a borough manager. Perhaps this idea is again worth discussing.

There was a time when small towns were run by elected, part-time “volunteers” who received a minimal or token payment for their work. (This is still largely the case in Honesdale.) But unlike times gone by, running a small town nowadays takes more than being able to do some simple arithmetic, being honest and having common sense. Day-to-day business is more complex than it used to be, even for small town. The arguments for hiring a professional manager are many—in our opinion, chief among them are the ideas that a town manager is supposed to be objective and non-partisan (even apolitical), and that by overseeing daily operations, a town manager should be able to free up elected officials from administrative tasks to focus on creating a vision for their community and a path for how to achieve it. Even as we raise this idea again, however, we acknowledge that how to afford a professional borough manager remains problematic for Honesdale.

And so today we call on Honesdale’s elected officials to explain how they plan to manage the borough’s business better to avoid the mistakes of the past. We call on the council to put the town on a more sustainable fiscal path for the future. We call on councilmembers to subordinate their narrow interests (whether personal interests or the interests of squabbling factions) to work together for the general welfare of the community. Finally, we call on the borough council to put forward a clear vision for Honesdale and how it intends to achieve that vision. Residents deserve no less.

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