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.
