Acting Mayor Dawn Zimmer has several new faces in City Hall, directors who have yet to be approved by the City Council.
Zimmer and the council were prepared to handle ex-Mayor Peter Cammarano’s director appointments by allowing those new directors to fulfill their duties in City Hall until the council was able to conduct interviews, review resumes, then take a vote.
Now that Zimmer is in the mayor’s seat, she and the council are handling her appointments the same way.
A special council committee meeting-of-the-whole was scheduled for this evening for counicl people to vet the candidates, but city spokesperson Daniel Bryan said yesterday that the meeting was canceled due to scheduling conflicts for some of the council members. Bryan said they are trying to reschedule the meeting.
At the same time, 2nd Ward Councilwoman Beth Mason, who will oppose Zimmer in the Nov. 3 mayoral election, released a press statement calling Zimmer’s appointments “rubber stamp” hirings.
“The acting mayor should not be making lame duck appointments that will bind the city to contracts that will last for four years,” said Mason in the release that was being drafted as news of the cancellation was coming out. “Tuesday’s meeting should be canceled and no further appointments should be made until the people have elected a mayor on November 3.”
Bryan said the meeting cancellation had nothing to do with Mason’s attack, only scheduling issues. He couldn’t immediately say whether the city would reschedule before or after the election, but was under the assumption that it depended on when the council was available for the special meeting.
Mason criticized Zimmer’s claim that the directors who have been brought in need to be approved so that they don’t jump ship.
“The notion that these people are so highly in demand, in an economy with a 10 percent unemployment rate, is laughable,” Mason said in statement. “The reality is that Councilwoman Zimmer is looking to reward political backers with contracts and is attempting to put her stamp on the mayoralty when she has, in fact, not been elected by the people to that office..”
Mason said the process to hire these directors was rushed and the public meeting wasn’t noticed in time, although the city disagrees.
The new directors include Brandy Forbes in Community Development, Leo Pellegrini in Health and Human Services, and Ian Sacs in the Parking Utility. — TJC