New Board Member Imminent In Erie

When Erie Trustee Dave Callahan announced this week he was moving to Denver he also resigned from the Board; the Board now gets to appoint his replacement and will likely do so October 23. This technique is far more efficient than Boulder's recent 14-candidates-for-one-three-month-long-Council-seat special election in July, however in the past Erie's appointment process exploded in accusations of impropriety (Although Callahan's appointment to a Board vacancy wasn't).

From the history files, an excerpt of my Yellow Scene column from February 2002:

The “good ol boys” image was highlighted in February, when Trustee Jennifer Engelbrecht resigned unexpectedly at a regular Board meeting. Trustees Haglin and Steve Skapyak were not present. When the remaining three Trustees (Martinez, Bob Stremel and Lynn Morgan) and Mayor Van Lone decided to appoint a replacement from the crowd in attendance, some cried foul. Nancy Jo Wurl, a temporary Trustee from 1998 – 2000 was asked to step in until the April election.

Typically, although not always, vacancies are announced and candidates are interviewed before being appointed. “I’m just not sure the Ruling Party in Erie understands this whole democracy thing”, said Reed Schrichte, whose wife may run for a seat on the Board. Although there was no legal requirement to fill the vacancy, Van Lone explained that for certain decisions to be made at least four Trustees are required. “We’ve been having attendance problems, and Mrs. Wurl had the experience to step in and contribute. It’s our job to keep the government of Erie functioning.” He adds: “I don’t see how she could turn the world upside down in three meetings.” Because of the controversy, two days later Wurl notified the Board she was declining their temporary appointment.

These “shenanigans” as Schrichte called them, give citizens the sense that the Board is trying to avoid accountability. In a letter to the Erie Review, Bruce Cohen lamented the “blatant attempt by an axis of developers to pack the Board with a sympathetic vote”. To these comments, Van Lone replied: “What does that mean? I don’t know what great conspiracies some people think we have going on here”.

The town is accepting applications for the position, the application deadline is 5 p.m. on October 9. Who shall step forward? My guess is several single issue, pet-peeve-motivated folks. Wouldn't it be coo instead to see someone generally civic-duty minded, wanting to assist the things that are working for Erie? Is that too much to ask?