Vernon council votes 'no confidence' in mayor

VERNON — The Vernon Township Council on Monday issued a vote of “no confidence” in Mayor Harry Shortway.
The 3-2 decision was handed down as a consequence after Shortway discussed information from an executive session on his public Facebook page.
The measure was proposed by Councilman Dick Wetzel, who said Shortway's actions “displayed poor judgement” and amounted to “cause for action by the council.” A vote of “no confidence” is used to show that a majority does not support the person in power or their policies.
Wetzel, as well as council members Patrick Rizzuto and Sandra Ooms voted to approve the censure. Council President Jean Murphy said she voted no because she had not yet seen the post in question to judge the matter for herself. Councilman Dan Kadish said the matter should have been dealt with in private and amounted to political spectacle.
Shortway was not present at Monday's meeting.
The comments in question referenced an item of litigation discussed by the mayor and council in executive session, Ooms said. Executive session is generally used to discuss confidential matters, including issues like collective bargaining agreements, pending litigation and personnel matters. The contents of those discussions are made available to the public at a later date through meeting minutes approved by the council. Shortway's comments were made prior to the public release of the executive session minutes. The offending post was subsequently removed.
Rizzuto said the censure vote was not taken because “anybody's against the mayor, but because there was a serious violation and breach of trust that occurred.”
“We sit there with the understanding that what is said remains in confidence,” Rizzuto said. “To have the item placed on social media so everybody can see it and we didn't even have minutes on it brings to mind a terrible lack of judgement and a terrible lack of respect for each and every one of the council members.”
Ooms said the council must address the issue of the mayor's Facebook page more generally to avoid potential township liability down the line. Ooms noted mean-spirited comments made about residents on the page present a “terrible face for this community.”
“What're we going to do to make sure this doesn't happen again? This is something that needs to be clarified.” Ooms said. “I think we need to determine who's responsible (for Shortway's Facebook page). If any legal action occurs because of that Facebook page, Harry Shortway needs to be paying for that and not the town taxpayer.”