Grant Questions Validity of Robalino's Motion to Restore $143K to Budget Surplus

At Monday's mayor and council work session, Councilwoman Hedy Grant requested that the borough attorney, Mark Madaio, provide a legal opinion regarding the validity of Councilman Diego Robalino's  that had passed in a 4-3 vote. 

Grant argued that Councilman Austin Ashley's April 9 motion to transfer $143K from the surplus portion of the budget to the general budget in order that it be used to  that passed in a 3-2 vote in Robalino's absence should be upheld. 

Grant asked, "Can a vote on a motion that was taken and passed at one meeting be undone just because someone was absent?"

And that's what Grant wants to test the validity of--was the overriding of Ashley's motion by Robalino's motion legal?

Robalino's motion came about during the introduction of the municipal budget, and the subsequent amendment to the budget, at the April 23 meeting of the Mayor and Council.

Robalino, who was not present at the April 9 work session, made a motion to restore the $143,000, bringing the surplus back up to $314,000. Citing concern that an insufficient surplus would leave the town vulnerable if there was another Hurricane Irene, and in an effort to keep New Milford's bond rating from any further downgrades, Robalino said he did not feel comfortable leaving so little in surplus. 

During that meeting Robalina said, "We went from having one million dollars of surplus in 2009, to $171,000." 

Madaio told Patch that motions, or consensus votes, are often put on the table and voted on at one meeting only to be reversed in whole or in part at a later meeting.

Borough Auditor Gary Higgins said that the budget amendment that he prepared and walked in the door with on April 23 for the council to vote on (that reflected Ashley's motion to remove $143K from surplus) "would have failed" because when the vote was taken it would have lacked the votes to carry it.

At that April 23 meeting, Robalino put forth a motion that, when voted upon, essentially reversed Ashley's motion. Robalino's motion, and the new amendment to the budget that reflected it, was voted upon and passed, restoring the $143K to surplus. 

According to both Higgins and Madaio, that vote is the binding vote and the one that currently stands. 

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