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A special session was to be held prior to the Thursday’s monthly Holmen Village Board meeting. At the session, trustees will have the opportunity to get to know two potential appointees to the village board seat formerly held by newly elected Village President Nancy Proctor.
It is hoped the session will resolve a board-dividing stalemate that has the potential to leave the seat vacant until the board can agree on a single candidate.
Last month, Proctor attempted to appoint five-year village resident Chris Schmid to the seat. Board members demurred, citing the desire for consensus of the full board. With Trustee Rich Anderson absent, Trustee Neal Forde moved to table the appointment until all members were present.
In the meantime, Anthony Horvath, who lost out to Trustee Tony Szak in the spring election by a narrow margin, has emerged as a rival for Proctor’s former seat. The choice between the president’s selected appointment and a former board candidate has split the board down the middle, said Village Administrator/ Clerk Catherine Schmit.
“Several of the board members do feel that (Horvath) should be considered for the seat,” Schmit said.
Those board members contend that if Horvath made the effort to run for the seat, he should be given consideration, possibly over Schmid, whom many of them had never met before last month’s meeting.
At a board Finance and Personnel Committee meeting Tuesday, Proctor inserted a proposal on the committee’s agenda that only the president be given the authority to make board appointments.
In Wisconsin, municipal board appointments still need to be approved by the full governing body, regardless of who makes the appointment. Holmen has no specific ordinance on the books regarding who can make appointments and therefore it’s subject to Wisconsin statutes, which say anyone can offer up such an appointment.
“We shouldn’t have to go through what we’re going through right now,” Proctor told the committee.
The committee approved the recommendation and village counsel will draft an ordinance for board consideration. The motion did not include any specific language.
Trustee Mark Seitz, who chairs the committee, overcame his hesitation at consolidating power with the president. “I’m always worried about limiting the power of the board of trustees,” he said, adding that events like multiple board appointees happen very rarely and they still require full board approval.
“I think it’s a prudent thing to do. I don’t have a problem with that,” Seitz said.
Proctor and Seitz agreed that adopting an ordinance that spells out exactly who gets to make appointments does tie up any loose ends on the matter.
“It’s murky the way it is now,” Proctor said. “My intent was only to make it a little clearer.”
Schmit said she hopes that the special session will sway one board member toward a different candidate. “The way it looks right now, if someone were brought forward, there would be a tie vote,” she said.
Under board policy, neither of those candidates could be brought back again for a full year unless a majority of those who voted against the candidate approves.
If both candidates come forward Thursday and neither is approved, Proctor would be put in the position of bringing in other candidates until one is eventually approved.
“It could be an ongoing process,” Schmit said.
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