Archive for November 9, 2008
Support Your Local Mayor
By Bob Steiner
  It has now been more than six months since Bob Stearley took over the reins  of local government in Edgewood. Under his leadership the town continues to move  forward and prosper.  The Mayor is devoted to our community and handles his duties in a positive manner. Unfortunately, the town has been without a town administrator since a few days after he began his term of office. While the mayor has tried to hire a person to fill that position,  he has thus far been unable to find an applicant who is qualified and could gain the approval of the town council . Consequently, while passing off some of the “administrator”duties to other members of the town staff, he has taken on most of the work, himself. In all fairness, while he doesn’t complain, he is faced with a very heavy workload and still tries to maintain a “can do”attitude. With other members of the community, as well as staff, trying to assist him, there may, at times, be some duplication of effort in getting the business of the town done. Regrettably, this results in confusion for all parties involved. An example of such disorder came to light last Wednesday night during the most recent town council meeting.
Apparently, the town of Edgewood has few, if any, guidelines governing the purchase of goods and services for the community. There also seems to be no designated employee charged with the responsibility of performing the duties of “purchasing agent”. This is evidenced by the fact that several “well-meaning persons “associated with the town have contacted “East Mountain Flooring” at different times regarding carpet for the new Library location. While it appears that these parties were only seeking information and did not enter into any sales contract, the fact that multiple persons were making contact with the merchant has created some confusion regarding this matter. It would seem that no promises of purchase were made to the firm but they were left with the impression that they would at least be allowed to bid on the project. In view of this, “East Mountain Flooring”,  an Edgewood Business, did expend several hours of effort taking measurements of the location and answering many questions presented by these”well-meaning” persons. It is further noted that Mr.Giovenco, the owner, even brought rug samples to the council meeting to address any additional questions town staff or councilors might have had. »» Support Your Local Mayor