Marshfield (OnFocus) Tuesday evening, at the meeting of the Marshfield Common Council, Mayor McManus informed the public that Marisa Steinbach removed herself from consideration for the appointment to the Police and Fire Commission. The mayor then verbally announced former District 4 alderman Gordon Earll to replace Nate Mueller’s expiring term on the commission.
The mayor annually appoints a member for a term of 5 years and nominated Steinbach for the Commission. Based on precedent, members who are still interested in serving on the commission are nominated, but the mayor has the authority to appoint any qualified city resident. Mueller had expressed interest in continuing to serve on the commission. [More Info]
Prior to making the announcement of the withdrawal of the appointment of Steinbach. Mayor McManus addressed the body.
“I still have no idea why there is such sensitivity to such things but it is very clear that committee appointments are a bigger issue,” said Mayor Bob McManus.
“Nobody is being pulled off for wrongdoing, or malintent, or anything like that. It’s the end of a term, and for me that seems like such a simple thing to understand. And apparently it’s not,” said McManus. “If we are going to have communications with emails back and forth, my opinion is that should stay. It shouldn’t all of a sudden be sent to everyone else, because context is important and without proper context, you can make up whatever you want.“
Council Member Rebecca Spiros commented on McManus’s remarks with:
“I myself appreciate receiving emails whether they are from concerned citizens, whether they are from past appointments, whether they are from future appointments or people who have a desire to serve to the city,” said Council Member Rebecca Spiros. “I think that often those emails should be addressed to the entire Common Council.
“I’m not exactly 100% sure what emails you are referring to, but I do want to remind the mayor that this is a city full of 10 alderpeople and we are elected by the people to serve the people, so it certainly is within our rights to verbalize our opinions, to ask questions, to question you and your appointments if that’s what we feel necessary,” said Spiros.
The nomination of Gordie Earll will be considered at the council’s May 14 meeting.
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