With the New Year and new officers, Wilkinsburg Council has made some changes to their meeting schedule, and their committee structure. Council will now meet on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Wednesday of most months (with some exceptions to allow for holidays and vacation time). All meetings will begin at 7pm with Public Comment at the start of the meeting. Generally, the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays will be work sessions of Council, where Council will discuss issues formerly discussed by separate committees of Council. Finance issues will generally be discussed by Council on the 1st Wednesday of the month and Public Safety and Capital Planning (which includes emerging infrastructure and economic development issues) will be generally be discussed on the 3rd Wednesday of the month. Time will be left for matters that don’t fit into any of these three areas but that need Council discussion at each of these meetings. While Council can vote at these meetings, the intent is that the vast majority of all voting takes place on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at the Legislative Session.
The hope is that the public will have greater access to the discussions that Council formerly had in committees, and that by all Council members being able to attend these meetings, Council will be more efficient and productive. See the bottom of this message for the exact dates of the Council meetings for 2012.
The following actions were taken at the January 3rd Reorganization Meeting:
Paige Trice (1st Ward) and Vanessa McCarthy-Johnson (2nd Ward) were sworn in for their second terms.
Eugenia Moore (1st Ward) could not attend due to illness but will be sworn in for her third term separately.
Eve Goodman (3rd Ward) was sworn in for her first term.
Jason Cohn (2nd Ward) was elected President of Council.
Vanessa McCarthy-Johnson (2nd Ward) was elected Vice President of Council
Michael Witherel Esq. was appointed to be the Borough Solicitor.
Glenn Engineering was re-appointed as the Borough Engineer.
At the January 4th Council Meeting the following appointments were made:
Vanessa McCarthy-Johnson will chair the Public Safety Committee
Tracey Evans will chair the Capital Planning Committee
Michael Lefevbre will chair the Finance Committee
Paige Trice will remain as the Delegate to the Turtle Valley COG
Barbara Ervin will remain as the alternate to the Turtle Valley COG
Michael Lefevbre will be the Council Member on the Pension Board.
Mayor Thompson, Manager Marcinko and Tracey Evans will remain as the delegates to CONNECT
2012 Borough Council Meeting Schedule:
Jan 11 Legislative Session
Jan 18 Work Session
Feb 1 Work Session
Feb 8 Legislative Session
Feb 15 Work Session
March 7 Work Session
March 14 Legislative Session
March 21 Work Session
April 4 Work Session
April 11 Legislative Session
April 18 Work Session
May 2 Work Session
May 9 Legislative Session
May 16 Work Session
June 6 Work Session
June 13 Legislative Session
July 11 Legislative Session
July 18 Work Session
Aug 1st Legislative Session
Sept 5 Work Session
Sept 12 Legislative Session
Sept 19 Work Session
Oct 3 Work Session
Oct 10 Legislative Session
Oct 17 Work Session
Nov 7 Work Session
Nov 14 Legislative Session
Nov 28 Work Session
Dec 5 Planning: end of year review
Dec 12 Legislative Session