Lake County commissioners March 29 failed to bring to a vote a resolution appointing Wally Siegel to the port authority board, effectively ending his consideration for the seat.
The resolution considering the retired Perry Township administrator for the position had been tabled for the previous two and a half months.
The seat on the Lake County Ohio Port and Economic Development Authority Board was vacated by Rita McMahon at the end of last October when she moved out of the county.
McMahon, a former Painesville city manager, recommended to the commissioners they appoint someone with governmental administrative experience. One current board member, John Konrad, has governmental administrative experience, previously serving as Mentor’s city manager. McMahon also was the only female member of the board, and Commissioner Daniel P. Troy has said they should strongly consider appointing a woman to fill her spot. He said the board has had at least one female member since its inception a little more than a decade ago.
The port authority board is now a nine-member panel, expanding by two seats last year after the dissolution of the Greater Mentor Port Authority.
According to records from the county, five people applied to fill the vacancy. The commissioners interviewed four of the candidates: the three female applicants (two of whom have governmental administrative experience) and Siegel, who was Perry Township’s administrator for 30 years.
Siegel’s nomination was placed on the commissioners’ Jan. 16 meeting agenda, but the resolution was tabled after North Perry Mayor Ed Klco voiced concerns over potential conflict of interests. Siegel, who retired from Perry Township last October, still serves on the Perry Economic Development Council and is also a member of the Perry Joint Economic Development District. At the next week’s meeting, the commissioners’ legal counsel said Siegel’s appointment in and of itself is not a conflict of interest.
At the Jan. 16 meeting, Troy again expressed that he was interested in having a female candidate to fill that seat. In particular he expressed interest in Caroline Taich, who founded Kirtland Consulting, which provides strategic planning, market research, and performance measurement to organizations. Taich was previously senior partner at JumpStart Inc.
She is the only applicant of the four interviewed that does not have government administration experience, but Troy said she was the most qualified candidate for the position and her background would bring a unique perspective to the board.
The tabling of the resolution raised the ire of Commissioner Jerry Cirino, who at several meetings asked his fellow commissioners to take it off the table and vote once and for all on the appointment, but neither Troy nor Commissioner John Hamercheck budged.
Cirino asked the commissioners again at their March 23 meeting to take the resolution off the table and vote. Hamercheck said they were still in the “due diligence phase exploring concerns.” Cirino said he didn’t know what those concerns were.
Hamercheck, speaking in broad terms after that meeting, said the due diligence included a number of things, including following up on constituent concerns.
“A number of things are very delicate — potentially litigious — and others are just qualification-based. Is this what we want as a representative on our board?” Hamercheck said.
The commissioners voted unanimously to take the resolution off the table March 29, but Cirino could not get a second to take the appointment to a vote.
Cirino said he was disappointed in the result.
“It’s the board’s decision based on no information that’s apparent, it’s the board’s prerogative to make this decision, but I sincerely wish it had gone differently,” he said.
Troy said his decision was not a personal one, noting that he’s voted on several occasions to appoint Siegel to the Lake County Planning Commission.
“He’s done an outstanding job there and as I’ve said before, of the candidates we’ve interviewed I felt one was far superior in terms of the qualifications for this board,” he said. “That is my opinion and that is who I still prefer for this board.”
Hamercheck kept his reasoning vague, stating he chooses to “not to play ‘This is Your Life Wally Siegel.’ ”
“We have our reasons and concerns and there’s no reason to be dragging people hither and yon,” he said.
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