By Gail Peckler-Dziki/Correspondent
It seemed touch and go for a while when Silver Lake President Sue Gerber questioned the correctness of how the dissolution of Silver Lake petition was presented, but in the end, she accepted the petition.
“It was not presented correctly,” Gerber explained. “If it is a petition for direct legislation as it was called, it should have been presented as a statement and not a question as this is.”
“The board cannot vote on this,” she continued. “The way the direct legislation works, you present a statement to the board and the board votes up or down. If they vote for it, it stands. If they say no, then it goes to referendum.”
Cameron Loth commented from the audience, “None of you are for this, you are all biased. You would vote no.”
Karen Erb called it an illegal petition and said, “If you would vote for this (meaning the board), there are citizens that would sue you.”
Several months ago when trustee Pat Dunn suggested that the village enter into a short term agreement with Salem for fire protection services when the Silver Lake fire trucks were out of commission because of poor tires, Erb told the board that if they entered into a short-term agreement with Salem, there was a group of residents who would sue them.
Attorney Linda Gray pointed out that there is no proper form to fill out for dissolution.
“I called the GAB (government accountability board) and the League on Municipalities,” she said. “I know how it goes. If someone doesn’t agree with my opinion, they call the League.”
“Both agreed that this was a gray area,” she continued. “It is a matter of substance over form. If the people knew what they were signing, then the petition ought to be accepted.”
Gerber, however, disagreed that people knew what they were doing. “One woman who was passing the petition said she didn’t agree, but wanted it on the ballot.”
Resident Andrew Garvey said, “This is what the people of this village are sick of, semantic word games. They knew what they were signing, and you know it. This is not a decision for five people; we have a right to express our opinions.”
While it was presented as direction legislation petition, clerk/treasurer Terry Faber certified it as a petition for dissolution after conferring with Gray. That requires no board action and the question should go on as a referendum as presented.