MAYOR HERZIG, 

PEACEMAKER

He Backs Off Some Divisive Charter Issues,

Seeks Advice Toward Reaching Consensus

By JIM KEVLIN • for www.AllOTSEGO.com

ONEONTA – Mayor Gary Herzig has extended several olive branches on the proposed City Charter changes, some contentious.

They were contained in a memo to Common Council that he made public today.  The memo will be discussed at the Tuesday Council meeting at 7 p.m. in City Hall.

MAYOR HERZIG DISTRIBUTES

CONCILIATORY MEMORANDUM

On one contentious issue – whether to keep the city manager’s qualifications in the charter, or allow them to be changed by a vote of Common Council – the mayor said he is willing to “leave the current qualifications unchanged in the charter.”

On another contentious issue – whether the charter should be changed to allow a mayor to cast a vote on selecting a city manager – Herzig said he would accept the status quo.

On a couple of other contentious issues – protecting the mayor’s power to cast tie-breaking votes, and whether the proposed changes in the referendum-approved City Charter would require a new referendum to change – Herzig said he would ask City Attorney David Merzig to discuss his version of the legalities to see if Common Council can come to a consensus.

On the referendum question, he also said he is agreeable that Council “request as many legal opinions on this matter as it wishes in order to feel confident in this matter.”

“This is about getting a sense of consensus of what people feel is the best direction for the city,” Herzig said in an interview a few minutes ago.  “None of this is about me.”

On his election last November, one of the mayor’s first steps was to appoint an ad hoc Committee on Charter Revision to look at the city’s basic law after the firings of Oneonta’s first two city managers in as many years.  Former mayor John S. Nader chaired the effort.

Originally, he had hoped the committee would report back by the end of 2015.  However, the review took into the new year to complete.

“I said from the beginning that I wasn’t going to pass judgment or voice my opinion on the committee’s recommendations until I had the time to review them and talk to other people about them,” he said today.

“Since the committee made recommendations, I have spoken with each Council member individually, spoken to members of the original Charter Commission individually.  I have spoken with the ICMA (International City Managers Association) and others at the state level.

“After weighing everything that I’ve heard,” he continued, “I’ve voiced my opinions that now we should move forward.”

Herzig said the discussion at Tuesday’s meeting will determine what’s to follow.