Supervisor Gonser has had three months to nominate a person to fill a vacancy on the Planning Commission.  At the July 8th Board meeting, he nominated a person without an application, without a resume or without the nominee being present.  Gonser still wanted the Board to approve his recommendation with only HIS verbal description of the individual’s qualifications.  He then appears to blame the Board for having a vacancy on the Planning Commission for another month. 

Several months ago, John Giannangeli was appointed as a Trustee replacing former Trustee Sharon McKay.  The Township Board then appointed Trustee John Giannangeli to be the Board’s representative on the Planning Commission, replacing Jeanne Langlois.  Since John Giannangeli was already a member of the Planning Commission, this created an open position on the Planning Commission.  The position has been open since May.  Supervisor Gonser has had 3 months to nominate a replacement candidate for the Board to consider.

At the July 8th Board meeting, Supervisor Gonser finally recommended an individual.  However, Gonser indicated that the individual had not provided a resume with his qualifications.  In addition, Gonser indicated that the individual was out of town.  He then proceeded to ask for a motion to approve the individual for the position.

Fortunately, the Board unanimously decided to table the appointment for one month.  Gonser then commented that tabling the appointment would result in another month that the Planning Commission would only have 6 members.  He apparently tried to blame the Board for a delay, even though he had 3 months to suggest an appointment.  He clearly expected the Board to ‘blindly’ accept his recommendation.

Several citizens were outraged by Gonser’s approach to filling this critical position.  One citizen had previously suggested a transparent thoughtful process for filling Planning Commission openings.  His comments were previously reported on this website, and can be viewed by clicking on the link at the end of this post.

This same citizen made the following comments at the July 8th meeting:

“At a prior meeting, I made a number of suggestions about an organized approach to appointing somebody to the Planning Commission because the importance of the job warrants it to the Township.  Instead of that, we get a nomination with no resume, no application, and the Board is expected, or asked to approve it!

We are trying to be thoughtful citizens and recommend good approaches, and yet this kind of thing happens! It’s disappointing!  I am sorry I have to stand here and say that!”

Here is a video of this portion of the July 8th Board meeting:

 

Why is this important to the citizens of Oakland Township?  This is yet another example of Supervisor Gonser’s definition of the ‘transparency’ he promised the citizens of Oakland Township!  He fully expected the Board to ‘rubber stamp’ his recommendation without ANY information on the individual.  Fortunately, some on the Board may be beginning to realize the arrogance and despotic nature of our Supervisor.  The citizens of Oakland Township need to continue to monitor Supervisor Gonser’s actions, and demand that the other Board members fulfill their responsibilities to ensure Gonser does not exceed his statutory authority.

Will Oakland Township use a transparent Planning Commission selection process?

Richard Michalski