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O’Rourke resigns from Kane Borough Council |
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Written by Publisher
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Tuesday, 09 June 2009 |
In a sudden move, Robert O’Rourke resigned Monday as a member of the Kane Borough Council.
By Ted Lutz
Republican Staff
In a sudden move, Robert O’Rourke resigned Monday as a member of the Kane Borough Council.
Just 90 minutes before the regular monthly council meeting Monday, O’Rourke hand-delivered his resignation letter to Council President Howard Kane.
“It is with regret that I inform you that I am resigning from council,” O’Rourke said in a brief notice addressed to council, Borough Manager Patrick Nuzzo and Mayor Doug Caldwell.
Contacted at his home, O’Rourke said he is resigning for “personal” reasons.
“I’ve been thinking about it,” he said in reference to his decision to leave council. He also is resigning from his seat on the borough’s three-member Civil Service Commission.
O’Rourke has been a councilman for at least seven years. He was elected to a four-year term in 2001. He declined to seek re-election in 2005 and did not serve on council in 2006. He returned to council in early 2007 to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of “Yogi” Osmer.
“I missed it,” O’Rourke said in explaining why he accepted the appointment to return to council after a year’s absence.
Will he make himself available for another appointment to council in the future?
“Probably not,” O’Rourke said.
“I think more of our residents should consider serving on council and see how things are run,” O’Rourke said.
During his time on council, O’Rourke participated in many borough projects. However, he is best remembered as the volunteer coordinator for the construction of the youth skate/bike park adjacent to the Santilli baseball field.
“You have to give back a little,” O’Rourke said in explaining why he volunteered many hours of his time to “head up” the skate/bike park construction.
After receiving the resignation letter Monday, Kane said he asked O’Rourke if he could “talk him out of it.”
“He said ‘no,’” Kane said. “I respect his decision.”
Kane called O’Rourke “a good councilman”
“We’re going to miss him,” Kane said.
Kane joined Councilwoman Janet Bard and Councilmen John Gentilman, Jim Salvamoser, Dennis Drost and Mike Merry in voting Monday to accept O’Rourke’s letter of resignation. O’Rourke did not attend the meeting.
The borough is expected to publish a legal ad to formally seek applicants to fill O’Rourke’s vacant seat on both council and the Civil Service Commission.
A special meeting may be called to fill the council vacancy.
Although Kane said that O’Rourke’s resignation was due to “personal reasons,” he still called a 10-minute private executive session Monday to discuss the abrupt decision with council.
O’Rourke last month reportedly had a heated discussion with borough police about vandalism. O’Rourke and his father, as well as several other residents, were targets of the vandalism spree.
Sources who did not wish to be identified said the vandalism issue might have been a factor in O’Rourke’s decision to step down from council.
In related business at the meeting, council voted 6-0 to seek legal advice on a proposal to reduce the size of the borough legislative body from seven members to five.
“We don’t have enough people to support a seven-member council,” Merry said in introducing the plan to cut the size of council.
Tony Alfieri, a Smethport attorney who serves as borough solicitor, reminded council that, not long ago, the size of the legislative body was trimmed from eight members to seven. When there were eight council members, each of the four wards in Kane had two representatives. Now all seven council members hold “at-large” seats with no ward residency requirements.
The reduction of council from eight to seven members required the approval of the McKean County Court. A further reduction from seven to five members also may required court approval, Alfieri said.
Council also acted Monday to approve the appointment of Lowell Watts to fill a previous vacancy on the Civil Service Commission.
In a letter to the borough, Watts said he believes he would be “an asset to the board” because of his business experience.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 30 July 2009 )
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