Common Council holds off on replacing First Ward member

Vicky Klukkert, The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y.
·2 min read

May 22—In a 5 to 3 vote, the Oneonta Common Council delayed deciding on a replacement member to represent the First Ward at its meeting Tuesday, May 21.

Council member Kaytee Lipari-Shue, D-Fourth Ward, moved to table the nomination of Elayne Mosher-Campoli to fill the vacancy of current Luke Murphy, D-First Ward, who resigned earlier this month effective June 1.

Murphy and his partner, Vanisha Sharma, plan to move to Seattle in June, according to Daily Star archives.

Mayor Mark Drnek announced his pick — the city charter allows the mayor to appoint a person to fill a council vacancy for the unfulfilled term — last Wednesday.

This is the fourth replacement Drnek has chosen during his tenure as mayor. He replaced himself as the Eighth Ward representative with Emily Falco, and replaced Falco with Don Mathisen. He replaced John Rafter, who represented the Seventh Ward, with Edmund Overbey last year and nominated Mosher-Campoli to replace Murphy.

Every other appointment has been met with a near unanimous vote, Drnek said Tuesday, so he didn't think this vote would be much different.

In addition to Lipari-Shue, Len Carson, R-Fifth Ward, Scott Harrington, R-Sixth Ward, Bryce Wooden, D-Seventh Ward and Mathisen, D-Eighth Ward, voted to table the nomination, while Murphy, Cecelia Walsh-Russo, unaffiliated Second Ward board member, and Shannon McHugh, D-Third Ward, voted against tabling the nomination.

Murphy collected his plaque and belongings, and stood up to leave. Drnek reminded him there was going to be a closed-door session to discuss negotiations.

"Good luck, and shame on you," Murphy said to the board as he exited the meeting after the vote to table the motion.

At the beginning of the meeting, council members heard from Rick Ranc, who also interviewed for the seven-month position. He asked the council to consider him as the replacement.

Residents endorsed both candidates for the position during the public comment portion of the meeting.

Drnek said he interviewed three candidates and was impressed with Ranc, however, Mosher-Campoli "clicked all the boxes," and was the candidate most like Murphy.

Harrington and Carson said they both received several phone calls about Drnek's pick, and didn't like the short notice of the nominee.

McHugh questioned why Falco was able to vote for Mathisen in February, but Murphy was not able to vote for his replacement this month. City Attorney David Merzig said if Falco voted, it was in error and shouldn't have been allowed.

The council's next meeting is June 4.

Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at vklukkert@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7221.