Skibitsky's Scripted Resolution Is Not a Resolution....of the Issue

      Last week's Westfield Town Council meeting featured a "Resolution" voted on by the Mayor and council members present.  The "Resolution" was nothing more than an attempt by Mayor Skibitsky, with the help of his town attorney, to send a message to the public and Union County Freeholders that he will not be questioned nor will his authority be undermined. 

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     Mayor Skibitsky has lost his ability to lead the people of Westfield in a fair and impartial manner.  It has nothing to do with this blog site or any opponent of the Mayor disagreeing with his view.  It has to do with facts, data and expert reports being ignored by Mayor Skibitsky.  For the better part of the past fourteen months, Mayor Skibitsky has stated he has "relied on the experts."  What he does not tell the public is that he relied on his own expert after he and his town council were able to influence that expert (Gordon Meth) to move the pedestrian activated crossing from it's original proposed location of Central & Clover, to a mid-block location without ever advising the public of the move after all the public outreach meetings.

     Now that the Union County Freeholders have released a report from an independent engineering expert that recommends moving the pedestrian crossing to the intersection of Central & Clover, the same location the Mayor's own expert had originally proposed, Mayor Skibitsky has decided to reject the county's expert opinion. 
     Mayor Skibitsky has yet to produce any report that backs up his claim that the mid-block  location is safer despite the fact the inventor of the HAWK pedestrian light conducted a three year study that proved intersection pedestrian crossings were safer than mid-block crossings. 

But what do the experts know?  If the expert's opinion does not agree with Mayor Skibitsky's opinion.......he ignores it. 

Why has Gordon Meth, Skibitsky's expert, refused to answer the questions asked by council member Dave Haas? 

Why did Mayor Skibitsky admonish Councilwoman Vicki Kimmins, behind a closed door, for supporting a resident's request to have Gordom Meth appear at a Town Council meeting?

Why is Mayor Skibitsky ignoring the expert report released by Union County's expert recommending the light be moved?

Was the Resolution voted on last week an opportunity for Mayor Skibitsky to circle the wagons and see which of his fellow council members would support him.....some unconditionally?

Has a Resolution ever been voted on so quickly after it was presented at a Town Council Meeting, without any further discussion?

     The Resolution may have passed 7-1 in favor of the mid-block crossing but a resolution to the issue is far from being achieved until the Mayor curbs his ego and adheres to the "experts" recommendations he claims he is listening to.
     The vote was nothing more than a symbolic show of support by Mayor Skibitsky's allies on the Town Council that would never think to step out of line and stray from party politics.

     Mayor Skibitsky was handed a report that would have enabled him to move the light without ever admitting he was wrong.   The Mayor's initial claim that a mid-block crossing was safer without the proof to back it up, has now been refuted not only by the inventor of the HAWK light, but also by Union County's expert.  Without any expert report to validate his claim, it appears that Mayor Skibitsky's tank is empty.  
     Kind of reminds us of when the commuter parking permit waiting list was never validated by the Town's former parking director when Skibitsky and former Mayor McDermott were dealing with the parking deck issue.

McDermott resigned in the wake of a public referendum on the parking deck proposal.

Maybe Skibitsky's time has come.