Council does not approve mayor’s nominee

The Park Hills City Council held a work and budget session Tuesday evening. The first topic of business was hearing Mayor David Easter’s nominee for a council person to fill Linda Dickerson’s recently-vacated seat.

Dickerson resigned from her seat on the council earlier this month making it known that she was moving out of the community, which would make her ineligible to serve.

“We had talked to a couple of potential candidates and as you know Larry LaChance has been here several times attending the meetings,” said Easter. “I talked to Mr. LaChance today and told him Matt Whitwell, Norm Lucas and I appreciate him wanting to be on the council, but the three of us decided we need to replace Linda Dickerson right now with somebody with past council experience and also somebody who can help us with the budget.

“In this ongoing process we need somebody who has worked on a budget before and knows the ins-and-outs and the possibility of cutting $230,000 out of this budget if we need to do that if the governor’s veto is not sustained by Sept. 10.”

The mayor then asked if the council would appoint David Edgar to Ward 2. “He has been a councilmen before, he served admirable and I would appreciate if the council would accept my nominee,” said Easter.

Ward 2 Councilwoman Sara Cruse commented on the mayor’s choice.

“I would like to have seen Mr. LaChance,” said Cruse. “He’s taken huge interest, more so than any other resident in the City of Park Hills in the past year-and-a-half. He’s been (attending meetings) regularly and frequently and committedly, he’s here all the time. I know experience is great in a lot of different situations but I think sometimes change is good.

“If someone is new, every year hereafter, every election hereafter they will go through their first budget. I don’t know if I think it would have been the biggest factor in the decision, but of course I’m not making the decision … you are … but I respect your decision.”

Mayor Easter said there wasn’t hard feelings toward anybody, and he was basing his choice on the best candidate for the job.

Ward 4 Councilman Charles Politte made a motion to accept the mayor’s choice for Edgar to replace Dickerson in the Ward 2 seat. However, the rest of the council did not second the motion, therefore negating the mayor’s current choice for a replacement.

Easter indicated he may not have another candidate nominee for a while.

The council then moved on to vote for a new Mayor Pro-Tem. Ward 3 Councilwoman Charlotte House nominated Sara Cruse, and Cruse nominated Ward 4 Councilman Charles Politte.

After some discussion the council voted and approved Ward 2 Councilwoman Sara Cruse at the new Mayor Pro-Tem. Ward 1 Councilman Jeff Cunningham and Ward 3 Councilman Tom Reed were not present for the vote.

The meeting then switched over to review of the budget and reports from various departments as the group formulates a spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year.

The Park Hills City Council held a work and budget session Tuesday evening. Council members voted Sara Cruse as the city’s new Mayor Pro-Tem, replacing Linda Dickerson who used to carry out the duties of that position.

Korey Johnson is a reporter for the Daily Journal and can be reached at 573-518-3616 or Kjohnson@dailyjournalonline.com