Finding Ulysses

There have been some questions about the logistics and rationale of Marty Petrovic’s selection of David Filiberto to be appointed to the position on the Trumansburg Village Board of Trustees that was vacated by Mary Bouchard. Practically speaking, the passage into a new working year for the board required a separate appointment for the position, which could have been Marcia Horn, the person selected by John Levine, or somebody else. Marty Petrovic chose David Filiberto in this context. His explanation for the decision was written in a letter to the village trustees and Deputy Mayor, seen below:

In my brief time as Mayor of the Village of Trumansburg, I have had the opportunity to speak to each of you and many members of the community on the important issues facing the Village. One of my first and very important tasks as Mayor is to reappoint a Village Trustee to fill the position previously held by Mary Bouchard. I have spent many hours deliberating over this decision, taking politics out of the decision as much as possible, and focusing on what I feel would be best for the Village.

It is my responsibility to find the best-qualified person to be Trustee for the operation of our Village government and who will be able to address the critical issues facing the Village over the next 12 months until the March 2008 election. I used the following criteria to evaluate individuals the for Trustee position:

*Experience in the governing of Village of Trumansburg. Since this is only a 12-month position, the individual must be able to understand how this Village government functions and be up to speed on the governing process. There is little time to learn on the job.
*The individual must understand and commit to tackling the major issues facing the Village over the next 12 months, including the comprehensive plan, a secondary water source, and annexation to name a few.

The process I used to select the Trustee was to interview individuals who indicated they would be willing to serve in this capacity, along with several former Village Trustees who have proven experience in running our Village government, and individuals considered to be potential candidates by others with whom I spoke. I spoke with four women who were previously Village board members and several other members of our community. From the nine individuals that I spoke with, three were willing to serve as an interim Village Trustee; they were Marcia Horn, David Filiberto and Rick Willers. Filiberto and Willers were past board members while Horn has been filling the Bouchard Trustee position for about two months.

My decision is also based on the fact that we are faced with the possibility of having more than three new members of Village Board. Having only one veteran Trustee would likely make the operation of our Village government less effective because we would have four new board members.

Based on the above criteria, I believe David Filiberto is the best person to be a member of Village of Trumansburg Board of Trustees. He has been a Trustee for the past two years, understands how the village government operates, and is spearheading the comprehensive plan efforts, while also being very knowledgeable on the secondary water supply issue and the potential for annexation. Among the other candidates, David alone undertook the time and effort to run for this office two years ago where he was elected and he also ran last month where he lost the close recent election by only a few votes. This last fact suggests that many Village voters still have confidence in his abilities as Trustee. In addition, David was not named in the lawsuit seeking removal from office the Village Board that was seated when the Skate Park was being debated last fall.

Marcia Horn has only brief experience in the operation of our Village government and would need time, as all new Trustees do, to be an effective Trustee. She has shown herself to be willing to work hard to understand our government and I believe she could be a good Trustee in time. Rick Willers has been out of the Village government for several years and also would also take time to be effective. I believe the Village needs the most effective government it can have with all the important issues facing us in the next 12 months.

I would like to extend my thanks to all of you for your opinions, considerations, and kind regard over the past weeks. I believe, and I think you will agree, that the Village of Trumansburg needs the most effective and experienced government possible. Because of all the critical issues facing us over the next twelve months this is more important than ever. I therefore appoint David Filiberto as Village Trustee, effective April 16, 2007.