OCTOBER 29, 2024 |
Photo – Saratoga Town Hall – Bigfoot99 file photo
Saratoga officials continue the process of removing council liaisons as voting members from town boards and committees.
The various boards in Saratoga are staffed with volunteers chosen by the town council. A council member is designated as a liaison to each of the boards and is tasked with keeping the governing body informed about board activities. The liaisons participate in policy discussions and can cast tiebreaking votes.
In August of 2023, the Saratoga governing body began the process of stripping away the voting power of the council liaisons. Saratoga Mayor Chuck Davis explained that the new rules will more closely follow Wyoming Association of Municipality guidelines.
Mayor Davis said by removing the ability to vote from the council liaison, the town is limiting the appearance of impropriety. The mayor said the ordinance change will require the council liaison to be treated like any other member of the public.
Each of the town’s ten boards and committees require a separate ordinance to remove voting power from the council liaison. The governing body began with the recreation commission.
Last October, Mayor Davis introduced Ordinance 868, a revision to the town’s municipal code regulating the composition of the recreation commission. Mayor Davis reiterated that the Wyoming Association of Municipalities recommends not having town council members sit on any boards. The mayor said Town Attorney Kylie Waldrip is drafting similar ordinance changes for each of the town’s remaining committees.
The introduction of Ordinance 868 came after Councilwoman Kathy Beck, who was the council liaison for the recreation commission at the time, was forced to defend her decision to authorize the purchase of lunches and t-shirts for a town-sponsored pickleball tournament. The plan was to have the rec commission sell the food and shirts to tournament participants. At the time, Attorney Waldrip said, in her legal opinion, the town could not sell items to the public for profit.
When Ordinance 868 was introduced after the pickleball tournament issue subsided, Mayor Davis made it clear that he wasn’t singling out Councilwoman Beck or the recreation board.
As with all regulation changes, Ordinance 868 was read and passed during three separate public meetings before being adopted into law.
During the October 1st Saratoga town council meeting, the governing body continued the process of eliminating council liaisons from town boards. The mayor introduced an ordinance revising the composition of the planning commission, for first reading.
Also at the October 1st meeting, Town Clerk Jennifer Anderson presented the ordinance to revise the composition of the airport advisory board for first reading. Mayor Davis noted that, similar to the previous matter, this ordinance removes the council liaison from the board.
The town council unanimously passed both ordinances during the first reading, and again during the second reading on October 15th. The third and final reading of both resolutions is likely to occur during the November 5th Saratoga town council meeting.
