West Orange Town Council Votes To Leave Vacancy Unfilled Until Election

WEST ORANGE, NJ — The West Orange Town Council has decided to punt the decision to select a new member to local voters.

The council voted 3-1 against appointing a fifth member during their special meeting on Wednesday. Joe Krakoviak, Michelle Casalino and Susan Scarpa voted “no,” with Joyce Rudin providing the lone dissenting vote.

Former council member Asmeret Ghebremicael announced her resignation in June, citing advice from medical professionals and discussions with her family. Her peers on the council recently issued a proclamation in her honor.

The council is now in need of a replacement to fill the remainder of Ghebremicael’s unexpired term, which ends on Dec. 31, 2026.

Rudin previously told Patch that state law grants the municipal council the authority to fill a vacant seat within 30 days of the vacancy's occurrence with a majority vote. That position would be filled until an election in November.

The council declined to exercise that option with their vote on Wednesday – setting up a special election for the unexpired term.

The township recently issued a call for potential candidates to fill Ghebremicael’s seat. According to Krakoviak, a total of 16 people applied.

Anyone who is interested in running for the seat in the November special election should contact the town clerk as soon as possible at clerk@westorange.org or 973-325-4155, Krakoviak said.

Watch video footage from the meeting below, or view it online here.

COUNCIL MEMBERS SPEAK ON VACANCY

Several people spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting, with some saying the decision may cause problems with potential tie votes – which one commenter said could “easily make the council ineffective.” Another resident pointed out that the council still has to pass a municipal budget.

Council members addressed some of these concerns during the meeting.

Krakoviak said the council has the authority to keep the seat vacant until the special election in November.

“This allows voters to make this decision, and eliminates the potential for a choice to fill the vacancy based in part on political factors that provide the opportunity for the chosen replacement to gain an advantage over competitors by virtue of holding this high-profile position,” the council president said.

Krakoviak said that if the council had voted 2-2 on whether to fill the vacancy, the motion would have failed.

“On the issue of breaking such a tie, I want to clarify to everyone that under our form of government, this is basically the only role the mayor has in any council affairs,” he continued. “The mayor cannot vote in any other motion before the council except to break a tie in a council vacancy. In all other cases, a tie vote causes the motion to fail.”

“I also want to clarify under our form of government, the mayor can veto any ordinance passed by the council,” he said. “The council can then attempt to override that ordinance veto with a vote representing a super majority of the council members – in our case, four votes.”

Krakoviak referenced a vote taken earlier this year, when the council was unable to come up with a supermajority to override Mayor Susan McCartney’s veto of a leaf blower ban.

• See Related: West Orange Leaf Blower Ban Derailed; Council Fails To Overturn Veto

Krakoviak said he requested a legal opinion about the impact of a vacancy on the requirement for a supermajority vote.

“The guidance is that the supermajority vote requirement as well as the majority quorum standard continues,” he said. “So during a vacancy, the council would still need four votes to override a mayor veto or to approve a bond ordinance.”

The council would also still require three council members for a quorum to hold a meeting, and three votes to approve any resolution or regular ordinance, Krakoviak said.

Other council members voiced their opinions about potentially filling the vacancy.

Scarpa opined that “no matter who we put in this seat, someone will be offended.”

“I believe for only a couple of months that we can go and do our business fully and let the voters decide who should sit in this seat,” Scarpa said.

Casalino said she isn’t worried about any potential tie votes.

“I think we should just keep the seat vacant – let the voters decide – and get the business done that we should have had done before July 1,” she said, referring to the still-pending town budget.

Rudin offered a dissenting opinion from her peers, however.

The councilwoman said she is concerned that declining to fill the vacancy would leave the council unable to fully function, leaving major decisions “hanging in Limbo.”

“I'm speaking to you tonight not just as a West Orange resident, but as a sitting council member who is deeply alarmed at the prospect of this body not fulfilling its most important responsibility, which is governing,” Rudin said.

“I've been on the council only about six months and I can tell you there's a lot of work that needs to be done and we need help,” Rudin continued. “We should not just be a four-person council.”

“We are not here to protect political futures – we are here to serve the public,” Rudin said.

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