Marty Petrovic Selected As Trumansburg Mayor
There’s a great deal to report about tonight’s meeting of the Village Board of Trustees, some about content, and some about process and tone. I’ll leave the discussion of the process and tone of the meeting until tomorrow, except to say that after seeing tonight’s meeting I can understand why so many people have become upset with the board over the last year.
The basic news: John Levine officially resigned as Mayor of Trumansburg, effective tonight. Then, Marty Petrovic was chosen as the new mayor by a vote of the four remaining members of the board.
Here’s how it came down:
First, the Board of Trustees, including John Levine, went over the village budget, as had been planned. That took nearly an hour and a half.
The selection of the mayor began with John Levine confirming his intention to resign. Levine then asked Marcia Horn to summarize what she had discovered concerning the procedure for selecting a new mayor.
Horn’s description of the rules was phrased in a way that seemed like an argument for postponing the selection of a new mayor until the installation of the incoming village board, which would have two Republicans and two Democrats, instead of the three Democrats and one Republican on the post-Levine board that voted tonight. Horn argued that the Village Board of Trustees could not legally conduct business with less than three members that had actually been elected (not appointed, as Horn is, and the new mayor will be). So, Horn suggested that it would be difficult for the board to select a new mayor from among its members. After all, the if the new mayor were appointed from the current board, then a board position would have to be appointed as well, and that would bring the board to three appointees and only two elected members.
Horn continued by asking John Levine to make his resignation effective on March 31st instead of tonight, so that the new board would select the mayor instead of the present board. Other board members suggested that the current board could still legally select a mayor who would not be on the upcoming board. At this point, John Levine suggested that the consideration of whether to select a new mayor tonight move forward, and Horn asked to read a pre-written statement.
The statement quickly turned into a political speech, during which Horn, speaking in a loud, angry voice, at times yelling, at times with her voice quavering with emotion, suggested that she had been purposefully excluded from information about tonight’s meeting, and that the decision to have the selection of the mayor at the meeting tonight was made behind her back. Horn then implied that other members of the board did not have the best interests of the village at heart. She exchanged smiles and a wave with Dr. Hart and Geoffrey Hart, who were sitting in the front row. Then, Horn explained that she was afraid that she would not be reappointed to the village board, concerned that a new mayor, if selected before the new board comes into power next month, might appoint someone else than herself to fill the slot originally made vacant by Mary Bouchard.
Many of Marcia Horn’s comments seemed to be directed, implicitly, at heading off the idea of John Hrubos ascending to the position of mayor. However, when Horn was done giving her speech, John Hrubos commented, “I don’t particularly want to be mayor.”
That said, John Levine resigned, effective immediately. As Deputy Mayor, Hrubos took over the meeting and began with a discussion about whether the mayor ought to be selected at the present meeting, or at a later date. Hrubos, David Filiberto and Rose Hilbert commented that it seemed appropriate to make the decision at present. Horn again argued for the present board to allow the village to wait, without a mayor, until the next board could choose one in April.
Hrubos then invited nominations, by board members, for the next mayor. Hrubos began by nominating Marty Petrovic, a past board member. Some people in the audience attempted to have their own nominations heard, but were denied (no, I wasn’t among them). Filiberto asked Hrubos if he would accept a nomination to be mayor, and Hrubos said that he would not. Hilbert asked Filiberto if he would consider being mayor, and Filiberto said he would not. Horn had no one to nominate.
With Petrovic being the only person nominated for mayor, the vote began of whether to approve his nomination. Hrubos, Filiberto and Hilbert voted in favor. Marcia, before voting, argued once more that the vote should not be taken at all, and then abstained.
So, the nomination to appoint Marty Petrovic as Mayor of Trumansburg was approved. Officially, Petrovic has not yet accepted the position, as he was not at the meeting tonight. He has three days in which to agree to become mayor.
There was a question from some people about whether the law would allow for Petrovic to serve as mayor for the full year until the next village election, or could be replaced in a second vote two weeks from now at the first meeting of the new village board. Hrubos acknowledged that the matter was not fully settled by David Tyler, the village attorney, but suggested that what was known so far indicated that Petrovic would have probably have the authority to remain mayor until next March, when a new mayor would be elected.
In theory, the village attorney will make a legal determination about whether a new vote by the incoming board is called for. In practice, that’s going to be a political decision made by the new board, which could decide at its first meeting whether it will move to appoint a new mayor or accept Petrovic. From the dynamics of the meeting, including a question shouted from the back of the audience by Chris Thomas, who is still an ordinary citizen like you and me, but will soon be a board member, it seems that those favoring a selection of a new mayor two weeks from now will be in the majority, even counting Petrovic. Hrubos made it clear that he supports the idea of tonight’s selection lasting until next March, and Horn made it clear that she supports a new vote two weeks from now. It seems fair to assume that Rordan Hart will position himself along with Horn, and unless I’m misreading Chris Thomas’s positioning tonight at the meeting, Thomas will move in support of a new vote as well (please tell me if I’m mistaken about this, Chris). I assume that Petrovic will support his own right to remain as mayor for a year instead of for just two weeks.
Of course, Marcia Horn may not still be a member of the board by the time the incoming board meets in two weeks. Petrovic may well take action to appoint someone else in Horn’s place. That would presumably put three board members in a position to support the continuation of Petrovic’s hold of the mayor’s seat, and only two against.
As you can see, there are several points of assumption that I’m making to bring the village board to that point. There is a great deal of uncertainty about how the new board will develop.
All in all, there’s a lot of opportunity for the new mayor, and for the new board, to bring Trumansburg’s government into even greater crisis.
Excellent reporting. Thanks Jonathan. So, now we are on pins and needles, waiting to see if Petrovic accepts? If he doesn’t then we wait for the new board to make another appointment?
Yes Jonathon you are making several assumptions.
First Marty may very well be the best candidate for the job. For you to assume that I would vote against that nomination is incorrect.
Plainly, I feel the incoming board should appoint the new Mayor.
As you noted I had no nomination for Mayor.
I greeted many people as they entered the room.
The smile and wave was to my son who was sitting just behind the Harts three rows back. Perhaps you didn’t realize that.
I did not say that the board members did not have the best interest of the residents at heart. I said” ANYONE who joins the board with their own self serving personal agenda is not serving in the interest of the people”
I was concerned that I was not informed about the Mayors intention to speed up his resignation. I felt as a board member I should have been notified as it was clear other board members were aware of it. I shouldnt have to read it in the paper. Rose mentioned she was not told either and if that is the case, she should have been informed as well. We all want to be aware of the facts because an immediate resignation requires a certain proceedure and we should be sure
that how we proceed is correct.
In reading my statement I will admit that I am still anxious and uncomfortable addressing a large crowd and I will work on that. If I got louder it is because a gentleman in the back put his hand to his ear and pointed upward suggesting that I speak louder. Perhaps you could not see that from your vantage point.
Regardless of who is Mayor, who is on the board, our objective should be to work together for the best interest of the village.
I absolutely have a mind of my own. I did support Rordans run for trustee but for you to assume I would “aline” myself with his point of view on every issue is incorrect.
Please don’t assume you know what I am thinking. If you have a question, just ask me and I will be happy to answer it.
Marcia, I don’t think you’re reading carefully enough.
I never wrote that you said that other board members did not have the best interests of the village at heart. I wrote that you implied it.
I also never wrote that you would vote against Marty Petrovic as mayor. I wrote that you clearly favor a new vote to appoint a mayor once the incoming board is in power. You’ve acknowledged that openly.
Again, I did not write that you will align yourself with Rordan Hart on every issue. It’s interesting to me that you thought that. I wrote that it seems fair to assume that Rordan Hart will align himself with you, in the context of the particular issue of whether to arrange a new vote by the incoming board to appoint a mayor for Trumansburg.
I saw you exchange a smile with the Harts in particular. You smiled in their direction, and the Harts waved back. Perhaps you didn’t intend the communication with them at that part of the speech, but perhaps you did. It’s a matter of interpretation.
What a person does and what a person says are not always the same. For example, you say you want to bring Red (Republican) and Blue (Democrat) together, but as you acknowledge, you have been working in partisan coordination with the Republicans against the Democrats here in the village.
With every human being, there is quite often a discrepancy between what they say they want to do and what they really want to do. It’s nothing personal against you in particular that I’m not willing to accept what you say at face value. It’s just how people are. Also, I don’t believe that any member of the village board is there solely to work “for the best interest of the village”. Everyone has an agenda. It’s simple human nature.
You’re in a public position now, without being elected by the people to that position. I think that it’s fair for you to expect that many Trumansburg residents like myself will be watching what you do with your public power, and making assumptions about your intentions based upon what you do.
I hope it is some consolation to you to remember that you will not be the only one who receives such attention.
Marty’s a great choice. If he decides to return to public service, it will be great for the Village. I hope he doesn’t let the uncivil tone of recent community exchanges discourage him. He was a wonderful, responsive and engaged, Trustee.
I support and applaud Marcia’s statement that all board members, and indeed all members of the village, should “work together for the best interests of the village”. It is my sincere hope that the residents of T-burg can now come together to pursue this noble goal. I know this might be idealistic. But I think it is possible, and I believe and hope it can happen.
Jonathan, perhaps you confuse this noble goal with agreement on the MEANS to achieve this goal. Of course different board members may disagree on HOW to achieve what is best for the village. But even if they disagree on the means, honest republicans and honest democrats can both be pursuing the same BASIC goal – they all believe they are seeking what is best for the village. They can respectfully disagree on how to achieve what is ‘best’, and come to compromises. This is the basis for successful democracy.
Jonathan, I honestly find your implication that nobody is seeking the best interest of the village, but rather their own agendas, to be discouraging and sad. I hope you don’t really believe this, but instead are confused by the means vs. goals issue. Maybe you do really believe this, in which case I hope you are wrong.
I hope and pray that others, indeed the majority of the community, can come together in a spirit of cooperation to pursue what they really believe is best for the village, even if they disagree on the details of how to achieve that noble goal.
This forum is SO GREAT! Thank you Jonathan for your excellent meeting summary. It’s also super to have feedback from someone at the meeting, providing clarifications, in her own words.
Makes you wonder why we need a “hometown newspaper” anymore. I’ll be curious to see what their reaction to the recent events will be (although with a weekly, the news will be a bit stale)
This “direct reporting” with real-time reaction from the community is definately the way to go, as opposed to the politically biased moderation that exists in the Free Press.
X,
I appreciate the praise for Finding Ulysses, but keep in mind that this isn’t meant to be journalism. It’s something else, more interactive, more spontaneous, more personal, even more argumentative. I don’t think that the word “blog” really carries it all. “Forum” is a great deal more apt.
The Free Press articles certainly have their bias. You should keep in mind that so do I. For that matter, so does everybody.
I still have my subscription to the Free Press, and I still look at the Ithaca Journal, because they have people who have the time to report a lot more information than I do. Nobody who writes here at Finding Ulysses gets paid for it. We’re just ordinary residents of the town of Ulysses who put in our two cents when we can.
That said, it is good to see more people writing articles for Finding Ulysses, and I’d like to keep that momentum up, with more new writers. With more people writing, we can cover more aspects of life in Ulysses – and even disagree with each other.
If I had some idea of who you are, X, I could offer you the ability to write here.
It’s an open invitation to anyone living in Ulysses: Drop me a line at jonathan@ashwellinsights.com, and we’ll talk about whether you’d be a good fit to write here.
Thank you Former T-burger for stating so eloquently what I truly believe is the goal here.
Jonathon, did you back a candidate in the election?
The mindset of Republican AGAINST Democrat or vice versa is exactly what I am hoping to diffuse here.
This is my point, I think if we reached out a bit more we would find we may have more in common than we thought.
Personally, I take everyone at face value until they prove otherwise.
It is so much easier to care about or empathize with someone you know than someone you don’t know.
That is what communities are all about. Working together, compromise, agreeing to disagree and then saying ” Hey, does your kid need a ride home from the game? I’d be happy to drop them off.”
Marcia, please understand that I have the temperament of a skeptic in many areas of life, partly as a result of the research that I do for a living, in which I look for motivations that underlie relatively superficial explanations for behaviors. I’ve learned too much about how people think to take people at face value.
I didn’t back a candidate in the election. I didn’t endorse anyone. I did host Chris Thomas and David Filiberto at a coffee in my home, because I was asked to do so, and I did end up voting for them, in large part because I discovered that Rordan Hart hadn’t bothered to vote in a previous village election, even though he was registered to vote.
I used to be a Democrat, but last autumn I re-registered as an independent – affiliated with no party. However, I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with people being partisan here in Trumansburg. Let people be honest with their opinions, without everyone pretending to be moderate or centrist. I find that those terms tend to cover up partisanship.
I just don’t believe anyone who says that they don’t have an agenda. I don’t buy the idea that anybody – not Gandhi, not Mother Teresa – is selfless. I think that we can try to work with other people to find common ground so that more than one agenda can be satisfied, but I find it hard to even begin a discussion with someone who says that they’re just interested in doing what everyone else wants. Until I know what someone wants, I can’t meet them halfway – they’re still holding their cards to their chest.
Here’s what I want:
- I want to live in Trumansburg for the rest of my life
- I want the village and town to keep a unique character that is reflective of the people who live here, and doesn’t blend in to the generic national culture
- I want my kids to have rich resources and opportunities here
- I want to have interesting businesses within walking distances that bring me something I can’t get elsewhere
- I want open spaces preserved in the village
- I want to keep on getting to know more people (and I can’t stand the statements by people who have been here a long time that when new people move in, no one knows each other any more – it’s absurd)
Marcia, if you really want to show that you’re willing to represent both Democrats and Republicans, I’d like to help you. Why don’t you and I work together to set up a chance for you to meet with some Trumansburg Democratic voters, so we can get a more specific idea of what you want to do on the village board, and you can hear what’s important to us?
What a great choice! I fervently hope that Marty Petrovic accepts.
Going back to your summary, Jonathan, I’m wondering why one of the trustees was en”trusted” to research the replacement procedures, and not our Village Attorney.
My understanding is that the village attorney has been looking into the matter as well, but his research is not yet complete.
the ithaca journal has just announced that marty has been sworn in as mayor
Jonathan,
I think you wear your bias quite openly, which in my mind negates it and allows me to parse your writing knowing where it is coming from. I think this is a good thing.
The free press is not as up front about their bias, even going so far as to deny it in these forums.
I’ve asked you a couple times now, X, to provide some examples of bias in the Free Press. I’ve gotten no feedback in return. Just post some examples right here. If I can clarify the positions for you, I’d be more than happy to.
In the three years I’ve been here, I have never once backed away from a conversation with someone that disagreed with the way we do things here. And if we can adapt to make the paper more alluring to new readers, we’ll do it. If you want to see differing viewpoints represented, I encourage anyone posting here to send in something for the guest opinion section. Outside of potential libelous writings, I’ve never once turned down printing a viewpoint, no matter the view.
Maybe a “meet the paper’s staff” forum similar to what the Journal offers would be in order, give everyone in the community a chance to get together and talk with the staff of the Free Press and ask pertinent questions. If there’s interest, I’ll set something up in the near future.
Steven,
we will see… how you cover… the recent events.
Jonathon,
Exactly what you have asked me to do is exactly what should happen at a board meeting. An open public meeting where the concerns of the citizens are addressed. This not only gives me and the other board members an opportunity to hear what you have to say but the community in general as well. It also gives everyone a chance to know one another.
For example, the skate park issue. I live on that street. When the neighbors had concerns we all called one another, met together and discussed what concerns we wanted the board to address.
It all starts with small groups of people, meeting together and then bringing it to a public forum. That is what the board is there for. Or should be anyway.
What has left a bad taste in my mouth is the sniping, name calling and vicious language people have thrown at eachother in the past. This accomplishes nothing and causes division.
If you have a group of Democrats, Independents that have issues you would like addressed bring it to the meeting. It is open to you, all of you, take advantage of it.
Perhaps there are alot of you out there that have felt closed off in the past but I believe fresh air is being breathed into a dead soul here and you can help it along greatly.
Realisticly I know I will never please everyone but I can at least attempt to motivate effective dialogue.
And please note that if I disagree with you on an issue I am not AGAINST you, I am simply taking a stand on what I think may be right.
We have a new Mayor (a wonderful choice I might add). We have fresh faces, new ideas, and hopefully a better way to communicate that will lead to less frustration.
On my binder that I carry to the meetings I have a quote written on it:
” Never doubt that a small group of citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has” – Margaret Mead
If you would like to grab a cup of coffee sometime and meet me, I would be happy to do that.
By the way everybody, your public officials are available to you at anytime, you can call them. You can email us, go to the Village of Trumansburg website and all of our email addresses are posted. Public information on issues you have concerns about are available at the village office. The (FOIL) Freedom of Information Law allows you to have access to the documents you want to see.
Hope to see you at the next board meeting!
In answer to Jackie Merwin’s question. They did not entrust me with calling NYCOM to find out the answers. I called myself. I wanted to make sure the process was done correctly. As I stated before, depending on the situation there was a certain proceedure for each.
I find it odd myself that the village attorney did not know the answers.
It is the responsibility of the board members to do their research and find out the facts. Acutally I find it interesting that I am the one they asked about the proceedure at the board meeting. I have been on the board for two months… but I do my homework.
As I understand it, things have proceeded as they should.