Town looks at board appointment procedures

Councilman Steve Wilcoxson kicked off the March 5 Saratoga Town Council meeting with comments about how appointments are made on different boards.

“In my logical mind what should take place is the mayor will nominate whoever he wants for the appointment and that’s up to us to take and discuss whether that person is the one we want to fill the vacancy,” Wilcoxson said.

According to state statutes, the mayor can appoint anyone to a vacant position on the Planning Commission. However, the governing body must approve the appointment.

“It’s not a choice of who the nomination is, it’s a choice of who gets approved,” Wilcoxson said.

Wilcoxson urged the town council to do research in potential nominations for the Planning Commission and other boards.

“It is up to us to do the research if that individual that is being recommended by the mayor is qualified to do the job, not comparing them to the other ones,” Wilcoxson said.

Mayor John Zeiger reminded councilmembers they have access to letters of interest submitted by potential board members. Zeiger also invited Wilcoxson to sit in on interviews with everyone who expressed interest in two vacancies on the Planning Commission.

Zeiger hopes to have the vacant positions filled by March. 19, he said.

Later in the meeting, Zeiger told everyone there was a potential oversight in appointments on the Planning Commission as well as other boards.

One of those appointments was Bev Hempel, who may not have been reappointed for her current term.

“We are still researching the minutes to see if she had been appointed,” Zeiger said.

Zeiger thinks the sudden interest in Hempel and her seat on the Planning Commisision was a personal attack, he said in an earlier interview.

“The witch hunt needs to end tonight,” Zeiger said in the meeting. “It’s nothing more than a witch hunt.”

In other business:

Glee Johnson read a letter asking for a workshop meeting to make a better special events ordinance, an ordinance that requires an application for events and entertainment in Saratoga.

“It’s not a desire to be unregulated, but to have a plan that is not causing undue hardship to sponsor events and entertainment for the area,” Johnson read from the cover letter.

Zeiger suggested taking written comments and suggestions until March. 15 and discuss those comments during the regular council meeting on March. 19.

Stacy Morton, President of Friends of the 133rd, announced a fundraiser dinner and auction will take place April 20 in Laramie. The funds will be used to pay for military children who will be without a parent when some troops deploy.

“I think a lot of times we don’t think about the children left behind while their parents are deployed for the year,” Morton said.

Morton asked for help finding donations for the auction.

The Saratoga Recreation Department said it needed eight employees for the summer. The town council approved unanimously to allow the recreation department advertise for summer employees.