Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

So here I am reading my SE Messenger and I read where again, numerous times, councilman sabatino abstained from voting. What news about that? Nothing! I looked at the minutes of meetings for the last year or so and lo and behold, sabatino abstains more that he votes. What the heck is he doing taking up a valuable seat on council if he doesn't have the a. courage, b. intelligence, or c. understanding of what is before him to even cast a vote?

What is most curious to me is that he abstains from approving the minutes of the previous meeting. HUH?!? Wasn't he there? Didn't he listen? Wasn't he provided a written copy before the vote to approve was called?

I found that he abstained from voting 16 (SIXTEEN) times in a single meeting. Why did he even bother to show up? He had an advanced copy of the agenda for that night I presume. Don't you think he would take a look at it and say ''Hmmm, I don't have a clue as to what any of this means so rather than embarass myself, our residents and this city with 16 (SIXTEEN) abstenstions tonight, I think I will just stay home and drink my coffee.''

Come on folks. Why do we need this person on council? I thought you were there to vote. Obviously he thought it prudent to vote on Diley Road issues when his family stood to make direct financial gains as a result of his vote. Why the abstentions now? Is he scared?

He threatens others with ethics violations for a vote on a public information officer contract. Where is the gain there? The city needs to get its message out. Thank goodness they are not using postage's ultra-expensive Communicator anymore. (By the way, they paid for the Communicator and this same PIO at the same time. I am glad we're spending our money more responsibly now.) From what I have read in the papers, I am getting the message loud and clear and in terme I can actually understand rather than the previous administration's political-speak. I often wondered why sabatino had not authored any of those articles. Well, after reading the trash he sends out in the coupon mailers, I can see why. He is inarticulate and uninformed. He is a rambler. Even a skilled public information officer couldn't make heads or tails from those rantings. Also I noticed that the columns in the papers are dealing strictly with explanation of issues before the city. sabatino's rants are personal attacks on the mayor and councilmen. Oh wait! There's the difference.

Residents of Pickerington, I ask you to carefully consider whom you elect to represent you this fall. Elect someone who has the courage and brains to vote. Even if you don't always agree, at least choose someone who votes.

It is time to leave the past in the past. Let's leave the three minority councilmen in the past and continue to move forward.

I will be watching council more carefully and report back to you. We cannot risk this city falling back into the hands of those who nearly doomed it.

By Council Watcher

I'm a Watcher too

PICKERINGTON CITY COUNCIL
TUESDAY, MAY 18, 2004

CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD
REGULAR MEETING AGENDA 7:30 P.M.

9. LEGISLATIVE READINGS:



A. ORDINANCE 2004-28, ?“AN ORDINANCE TO ENACT CHAPTER 250 OF THE PICKERINGTON CODIFIED ORDINANCES RELATIVE TO AN ETHICS POLICY FOR ELECTED OFFICIALS AND EMPLOYEES OF THE CITY,?” Third Reading, Wright/Riggs/Hackworth/Sabatino/Wisniewski/Parker/O?’Brien/Mayor Shaver. Mr. Wright moved to adopt; Mr. O?’Brien seconded the motion. Mr. Sabatino clarified that once this was enacted, a training session would be coordinated for Council. Mr. Mapes stated he has been in contact with the Ethics Commission and they prefer to have an audience of at least 40 people. Mr. Mapes stated if we do not have that number within our own staff, the Village of Baltimore and Violet Township have both expressed interest in being able to have their people attend. Mr. Mapes stated it is just a matter of coordinating the session. Mr. Mapes stated he can start on coordinating the session once the third reading is complete, however, as we are moving into the summer season, it may be a good idea to schedule the session for September so all vacations and such are completed. Mrs. Riggs stated as long as we have a date, then people can plan around that. Mr. Parker stated at the first reading he had mentioned that perhaps the Planning and Zoning Commission members should be included in this ordinance to require they file the disclosure form and at that time everyone seemed to agree with that. Mr. Parker moved to amend the ordinance to add the requirement that the Planning and Zoning Commission members be required to file the financial disclosure form; Mr. Wright seconded the motion. Mr. Wright stated as the Planning and Zoning Commission members are volunteers, it should be included that the City will pay their filing fees. Mrs. Riggs stated as these members are appointed by Council, she felt through the interview process they could determine a conflict of interest or issues like that, so they did not have to be required to file a financial disclosure. She stated these members did not even meet the guidelines of an employee. Mr. Mapes stated there are no guidelines for voluntary filings, if Council mandates it, the individuals will be required to file. Mr. Mapes stated if they do not want to file the form, they do not have to accept the appointment, just as if the employee does not want to file the form, they can quit their jobs. Mayor Shaver stated perhaps all Board and Commission members should be included. Mr. Parker stated that may be a good idea because if we were going to do this, we should do it right.

Ethics Vote of 2004

Mrs. Riggs stated she was not sure about adding a volunteer to this requirement. Mr. Wright stated if we were going to start adding a lot of board and commission members to this perhaps it should be Tabled and brought back at the next meeting. Mr. Hackworth stated he agreed with Mr. Wright, if we were going to start adding commissions and board we should just table it and bring it back in a final form. Mr. Wright moved to Table; Mr. Sabatino seconded the motion. Mr. Mapes stated there is a motion to amend on the floor, and that must be dealt with before dealing with other motions. Mr. Parker stated he would like to have this passed tonight with just the addition of Planning and Zoning Commission members and if we want to amend it later to add other Board and Commission members we can do that. Mrs. Riggs stated she did not know to what degree the Planning and Zoning Commission members would be required to file since they do not receive a salary. Mr. O?’Brien stated he agreed adding the Board and Commission members was a good idea, but he felt it should be dealt with separately as they are not paid positions. Mr. O?’Brien stated the Rules Committee could then bring forth a new piece of legislation that dealt with the unpaid positions. Mr. Parker stated he felt Planning and Zoning Commission members should be added because they are the first ones that deal with any residential development coming into the City. Roll call was taken on the motion to amend with Mr. O?’Brien, Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Riggs, and Mr. Hackworth voting ?“Nay,?” and Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Wright, and Mr. Parker voting ?“Yea.?” Motion to amend failed, 4-3. Roll call was taken on the motion to Table with Mr. O?’Brien, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Hackworth, Mrs. Riggs, and Mr. Parker voting ?“Nay,?” and Mr. Sabatino and Mr. Wright voting ?“Yea.?” Motion to Table failed, 5-2. Mr. Sabatino moved to amend to add the requirement that all volunteer Board and Commission members be required to file the financial disclosure form; Mr. Parker seconded the motion. Mr. Wright stated he felt there seemed to be a rush to pass this tonight. Mr. Dave England, 97 Meadow Drive, stated he felt this was foolhardy. Mr. England stated these are unpaid volunteers and they are already under the ethics code of the State of Ohio, and he urged Council to get back to the original ordinance. Mr. Wisniewski stated the majority of items that come out of those Boards and Commissions come to Council and any issues should be taken care of by Council. Mr. Sabatino stated Council does not vote on anything out of the Board of Zoning Appeals. Roll call was taken on the motion to amend with Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Wright, Mr. O?’Brien, Mr. Hackworth, and Mrs. Riggs voting ?“Nay,?” and Mr. Sabatino and Mr. Parker voting ?“Yea.?” Motion to amend failed, 5-2. Roll call was taken on the third reading with Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. O?’Brien, Mr. Wright, Mr. Parker, Mr. Hackworth, and Mr. Sabatino voting ?“Yea.?” Motion passed, 7-0.

Wait a sec...

Can you guess which councilman did NOT attend the Ethics Training??

Even though there were several sessions scheduled to accommodate schedules??

Even though he was one of the most outspoken people on the Ethics legislation??

Even though he (allegedly) committed several ethics violations before and after the training??

That's right -- coffee boy sabatino.......

BTW, can anyone verify if delightful dougie and wonderful willie went?

By Council Watcher