Walden again seeks a new treasurer

Posted 4/13/22

Eight months after her appointment touched off a debate among Walden officials and residents over transparency and the very type of government that exists in the village, Elizabeth Skinner is out as …

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Walden again seeks a new treasurer

Posted

Eight months after her appointment touched off a debate among Walden officials and residents over transparency and the very type of government that exists in the village, Elizabeth Skinner is out as Walden Village Treasurer.

During last week’s village reorganization meeting, the board was sailing through a seemingly routine list of appointments, until it came to the position of treasurer.

“After last night’s budget session, I’m apprehensive and not so sure how I will vote,” said new trustee and former Mayor Becky Pearson.

Her decision came just moments later when she voted ‘no” on the re-appointment of Skinner. She was joined by trustees Lynn Thompson and Brian Sebring, who also voted no. Mayor John Ramos, Deputy Mayor Willie Carley and Trustee Patricia Maher all voted yes. Trustee John Elliott was absent.

A 3-3 vote means that no action was taken, Village Attorney Dave Donovan reminded the board, meaning the person in the position would remain a holdover.

“If you never voted again, that person could remain in the position until perpetuity,” Donovan said.
In this case, perpetuity lasted only for two days. On Thursday, the village posted the position of village treasurer on social media, and Village Manager John Revella confirmed that Skinner had submitted her resignation earlier that day.

Skinner was appointed last August by Ramos to replace Kelly A. Kelly who had resigned a month earlier. The appointment did not sit well with Pearson or several other residents who complained that it should have been a village board appointment and that the board needed to set the salary. Finally, in December, the village board voted to set the treasurer’s salary at $71,500 annually, $500 less than Kelly received in the final year. Her replacement, according to the ad posted online, will receive a “Annual Salary Commensurate with Experience.”

Other appointments at the village board reorganization were more routine. They included Willie Carley as Deputy Mayor, Marcia Kraus as Village Clerk and the form of Dickover, Donnolly and Donovan as village attorneys. Sean Hoffman is the new active village justice, replacing Gerald Mishk, who resigned to run for trustee; Brenda Adams is the new chairman of the Walden Zoning Board of Appeals, replacing Pearson who was elected to the village board, and Mel Westenberg is the new Walden Village Historian.