OB Town Council Pledges ‘Special Election’, Membership Vote for 5 Open Seats; ‘Candidate Forum’ at Virtual Meeting, Wed., Aug.25

The current board of the OB Town Council held their monthly private meeting on Wednesday, August 11 and decided to call for a “special election” to allow the membership to vote on candidates to fill the 5 empty seats.

A special election and membership vote had been called for by various members of the community including the 22 community leaders who signed the “Open Letter” to the board.

The membership will choose from candidates vetted by the board. The method of notifying the community about the election and requirement of candidates to submit letters of intent was not widely broadcast or advertised by the board. Non-members of the OBTC were not notified adequately, including former board members.

In addition, the crisis on the board has deepened the distrust many feel about the sitting board members and prevented some community leaders from applying to be board members.

The announcement by the board on Monday, August 16, did not comment on the unprecedented number of open seats or the crisis, except to say “Recent resignations from the Board have led to five open seats ….” and “Given the unprecedented nature of five mid-term vacancies, the Board has decided to go through the process of creating a special provision in our bylaws which will allow for a special election in this situation.”

Initially, the board had mentioned holding a “hybrid public and zoom” meeting but last weeks announcement did not indicate they were going through with having a in-person meeting. The announcement did not cite a location or a time. (Board meetings are usually at 6 pm and held at the Masonic Hall, but have not been in-person due to the pandemic for quite some time.)

The announcement states:

At our next virtual public meeting on August 25th, the slate of candidates who have already submitted letters of intent will participate in a candidate forum.

Following the forum, the membership of the OBTC will have the opportunity to vote and elect five of these candidates to the vacant seats. This election will follow the same process that we use each year in our regular annual election.

Interestingly, the announcement also did not mention the request/ demand by community leaders for a special election, but made it sound as if the current board made “this important decision” to hold a special election all by themselves and out of the good graces of their “longstanding tradition of inclusiveness, transparency, and full partnership with the members of the amazing OB community.”

This is an amazing statement, given that the board has been embroiled in a crisis for the last month and half due to their very lack of “inclusiveness, transparency, and full partnership” with the rest of OB.

There is not a scintilla of sense in the announcement about how important it is for the OBTC to correct what has been going on, to right the wrongs, to shore up its credibility. Publicly, at least, there is a denial of the crisis of legitimacy engulfing the town council right now. The current board states, by contrast, that they “are excited to move forward, get these seats filled,” and continue to be OB’s voice and advocate.

Despite the current board’s stance, it is incumbent of dedicated community people to participate in this zoom meeting on the 25th.