(Credit: Trnava University / Unsplash.com)
Issue had the board questioning its entire board seat-filling process.
What seemed a simple appointment to a Library Board last month, turned into an overhaul of the entire Upper Dublin Township appointment process. The Upper Dublin Board of Commissioners had a unique “rescinding” of an offer during its most recent meeting. During a June session, the board had nominated and voted to place Lynn Lang into one of three available Library Board open seats. By July, that verdict was up for debate again.
“This has very little to do with Lynn Lang, who I am sure is a very well-qualified individual to sit on the Library Board,” said Board President and Ward 4 Commissioner Ira S. Tackel. “I was a bit taken aback as to the outcome when this came up at the last meeting.”
Tackel said that all members of the board “got ahead of themselves” in terms of the recommendations, perhaps not considering the “contribution each of those incumbents had made in terms of time, effort, etc.”
“I think what this pointed up, we all, meaning the Library Board, the Commissioner Board, and all the various other boards, need to a better job in the recommendations, vetting out those recommendations, sharing all those recommendations,” said Tackel. “What this is meant to do is to correct what I believe was just an oversight on my part and the rest of the board in terms of recognizing the incumbents.”
Tackel said he’d like to see “some sort of mechanism” put in place to prevent future issues. He offered that such consideration would allow for more diversity on the boards.
“I think what happened a month ago was not so orderly, and that’s why I recommended that the board consider this,” said Tackel.
Upper Dublin Township Solicitor David J. Bowman said, in terms of legality, this was, in fact, an option, despite it having been voted on in the prior meeting.
“Because the appointed person didn’t get notice and start serving, it’s rescindable,” said Bowman.
Tackel said none of the persons appointed in June to the Library Board’s three seats had yet received letters of appointment.
“All of those letters were held at my request and direction,” said Tackel. He opened the topic up for discussion.
Ward 5 Commissioner Cheryl Knight said that she thought the entire process was rather confusing, even to commissioners like herself.
“For my part, even as a sitting member of this board, the process by which we review these appointments and make the appointments has been very opaque,” she said. “I would like to see some changes and improvements in communication.”
Knight said the issue may additionally be a “breach in protocol” as the Commissioners were “not honoring the request of the committee chair.”
“I certainly did not hear what her request was,” said Knight. “I would like to see some improvements. I was making a decision based on resumes presented, and that was it. I’d like to see this as an opportunity to not only improve our communication but look at our priorities as we make these appointments and move toward some better process for legacy and moving toward new resources, new people, new skill sets.”
She said experience was a great factor in selecting board persons, but it wasn’t the only one.
“While there is certainly benefit to serving 20 years with wisdom and knowledge, it’s important to keep some of these committees fresh,” said Knight.
Tackel said that, though he was not positive, the state mandates who can and cannot serve on a library board. He said he was not aware of any “at-large” or emeritus status that a board member could have.
“We, as a commissioner board, need to put some order to the process and affect some of these changes,” said Tackel. He said they could even consider “testing” a role or having someone serve in a less-than-board-member status.
Township Manager Kurt Ferguson said he’d like to take the coming months to create such a process. He said there should be a way for both incumbents and future-hopeful board members to express their desire to the commissioners prior to an appointment.
“I would like to present a plan for appointment, re-appointment, how you get that information, what we ask for, those deadlines, to give that to you,” said Ferguson. He said that would serve as the “basis for discussion.”
Alyson J. Fritzges, Ward 6 commissioner, said she was happy so many residents had an interest to serve.
“We put out to the public that all these positions are available, and we’re so lucky to get so many applicants,” said Fritzges. “We need a way of positioning them into these committees.”
Fritzges said she’d like the committee chairs to be more involved in the process, too.
Scherpbier asked if long-term roles could be shifted into something new, such as the emeritus role Tackel had mentioned.
“How can we use an emeritus, honorific title, non-voting in some of these committees to allow some of these long-serving board members to stay with the board and act as senior advisors and make sure they keep moving the project forward, while at the same time bringing in new people,” he asked. He hoped that Bowman might be able to find out the specifics of the state’s regulations for a future discussion on the matter.
What Happened in June
Among the board and commission appointments made during the June 11 meeting of the board, appointments were made to several unique boards. The list included:
As they rattled down the list, Tackel asked for any nominees for the Library Board smack in the middle of the list. Described by Tackel as “a three-year term ending on Sept. 30, 2027,” the floor was open for any commissioner to nominate a local resident. Three positions for the board were open for discussion, but Tackel broke down each approval individually.
Meredith L. Ferleger, Ward 2 Commissioner and vice president of the board, made a motion to appoint Andrea Thomas Merrick. Before the motion could be closed, Ward 1 Commissioner Herm J. Scherpbier offered another idea.
“I would like to nominate Mrs. Lynn Lang for the position of library board,” he said. “I have full respect for the current serving members, but there are so many alternate members, and Mrs. Lang represents a well-known leader in the Upper Dublin Asian-American community. She represents many of the visitors and users of the Upper Dublin Library, so I would be proud and happy to nominate Mrs. Lang for this board position.”
The matter then went to a roll-call vote, with Commissioners Joseph A. Rudolph (Ward 7), Fritzges (Ward 6), Gary V. Scarpello (Ward 3), Cheryl Knight (Ward 5), and Scherpbier siding with Lang. Both Tackel and Ferleger opted for Merrick. With a 5-2 vote, Lang was nominated for the role.
Following the Lang vote, Ferleger went on to nominate Sue-Ann Strauss for a second position on the board. However, Scherpbier once again had another option, nominating Dr. Marissa Kaplan instead.
“A recently retired physician, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Temple University, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, 13-year resident of the township dedicated to healthcare including children’s health, nutrition, education; would be an excellent and dedicated board member,” said Scherpbier.
Scherpbier was the sole vote for Kaplan, as Knight, Ferleger, Scarpello, Fritzges, Rudolph, and Tackel all voted Strauss, making Strauss the board person.
Gary P. Fischer was Ferleger’s choice for the third seat. Scarpello moved to close, and no opponent was offered, making Fischer the board person with all members voting “yes.”
Fast-Forward to July
As the commissioners approached Action Items in the July 9 meeting, a motion to rescind a library board appointment was made. All seven commissioners voted “yes” to rescind the offer to Lang.
Tackel asked what the next steps would be.
“I think [Lang] is due an explanation, from a sense of transparency in terms of how this all came about,” said the president. Bowman said a letter may be best to explain what happened. Tackel instructed Ferguson to write such a letter. The manager said he’d run the letter by the board prior to sending to Lang.
With a now-vacant seat, Tackel asked for nominees. Ferleger once again nominated Merrick. Scarpello motioned to close. All seven voted “yes,” and the incumbent will be placed back on the Library Board, where she previously had served.
“I think this discussion was a healthy one,” said Tackel. “Although difficult to deal with, it gets us where we need to be on appointments in general, and I’m really happy about that.”
