A Council member who skips meetings, especially when without explanation, is usually a legislator who does nothing for the community. Most local legislators are very dedicated, but there are occasional exceptions. Last week, as reported on LehighValleyLive, Easton City Council voted 6-1 to amend its own Code of Conduct to take members to task when they play hooky. This initiative was proposed by Council members Frank Pintabone and Crystal Rose, Easton's two newest elected officials. It was opposed by only one member - Taiba Sultana.
Easton City Council meets biweekly. It also has a committee of the whole, which also meets biweekly.
Under the amended Code of Conduct, attendance at Council and Committee meetings as well as executive sessions is mandatory. At the end of the year, the City Clerk will report the attendance of each member.
Truant Council members can be subjected to a variety of discipline, from oral warning to censure. But Council has no authority to remove Council members. That can only be done through impeachment by the state legislature.
Pintabone, who initially proposed docking the pay of absent legislators, argued that "[w]e were elected to do a job. The bare minimum is to show up.”
Sultana, a frequent absentee, argues on Facebook that compelling an elected public official to explain her absences would violate her right to privacy. This is nonsense. An absent elected official can always say they will be absent for personal reasons, and this would violate no right to privacy.
I personally feel that an elected legislator who misses a meeting should be docked that pay period, no matter what the reason might be.
5 comments:
So if a legislator is dealing with a family death you feel a meeting is more important? Your words, not the readers! But to touch on this, it is a good idea, we all know Sultana has an issue with it because she doesn't want to do her job.
McClure should never have accepted pay for his days pretending to be on council. In fact, he should pay back the money as a show of good faith to those in the county, public and private, who actually work for their pay. Fair.
5:27, Actually, I do believe pay should be docked for missing a meeting no matter the reason, whether it is laziness or a death in the family. There should be no discretion in this matter and that way someone like Sultana can't claim that her privacy is being invaded.
McClure never missed a meeting, as far as committee meetings go, they are self explanatory but i am not going to waste my time explaining it to someone who clearly does not comprehend basic government functions
BO's hate is showing again
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