ANTIGO — In another turn of events during a saga that has had many of them, Mayor Terry Brand’s veto of a measure that would allow city council members to vote at meetings remotely was upheld Monday night.
Remote voting was to be implemented after a motion to allow it was passed 6-3 at a March 13 common council meeting before Brand vetoed the decision the following week, leading to Monday’s vote.
Monday, two thirds support was required to override Brand’s earlier veto, but the motion was only supported 5-4 after Second Ward Alderperson Sandy Fischer, who supported the motion March 13, changed her vote.
“I think it could be both ways,” Fischer said of her opinion on remote voting. “I do think if they’re in Florida and they can get this through, that’s fine, but I also felt that the people that were there were not happy with that. They think they should be here. It can be both ways. It really can be both ways.”
The meeting was originally scheduled for last week Wednesday, but was postponed because a quorum could not be met, as several council members, many who support remote voting, were apparently out of the state. Fifth Ward Alderman Mark Edwards, who has been strongly against remote voting since it was first proposed, called their absence “disappointing.”
“If they truly cared about the city, they’d make an effort to be here. They tell you they care about the city, but how much can you care about something if you don’t even want to be here?” Edwards said.
Seventh Ward Alderman Glenn Bugni, though, said occasionally, common council meetings are postponed because enough council members cannot attend, which City of Antigo Clerk Kay Matucheski confirmed.
“To me, this didn’t have to be,” said Bugni, referring to the postponement of the previous week’s meeting. “With today’s technology, all of us who were in other places had a link to come into the meeting and hear and see everyone and to vote and to discuss. I mean, it’s just like being here.”
In the citizen comment portion of the meeting, several who came to observe the proceedings made statements in support or opposition to the measure, including longtime county board member Bob Benishek, who said he disagreed with the motion.
“They said, ‘We want to go for I don’t know how many months. Help us out.’ Well, they had a lot of guts to ask you, and you knew it was wrong to give them that time. You guys got to have a conscience. The people of Antigo deserve better,” Benishek said.
Newly elected county board member Chet Haatvedt spoke in favor of remote voting.
“There’s been a lot of talk back and forth, but I think what’s interesting is we also just had an election,” Haatvedt said. “Some of the individuals — my councilman in particular, who was one of the individuals who is often needing to be here to represent me and may not be here physically — was reelected. The constituents said, ‘We’re not upset. We’re going to vote you back in. We know you represent us and you do a good job. If you don’t, we’ll get rid of you.’ I do agree there are a lot of processes with the procedure that need to be looked at, but I think go ahead, approve it, live with it, and see how it works.”
Third Ward Alderman Tim Kassis said though Brand’s veto was upheld, remote voting may be reintroduced at a later time.
“I’m almost assured we will bring it up again. I think it’s going to be important that we get this through,” Kassis said. “I talked to my ward people and they don’t have a problem with remote voting. They said, ‘Sure, you’ve got a life to live.’ The whole thing is, I missed one meeting. I’ve come back. What’s to say I won’t miss one or two meetings here or there? It’s not a big deal. At this point, it’s not right for the constituents not to be represented and us not to vote. So, yes, I’m hoping that it does come back, and somewhere along the line, we’ll get it going again.”
Most Popular
Comments / 0