02.15.21 MEETING MINUTES - Laserfiche WebLink

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Minutes of the Regular Meeting of Council Monday, February 15, 2021 Page 4 care about our voice and we care who represents us and for how long! Thank you for your time and your responses to the three questions. Thank you to the residents for listening tonight. Respectfully, Ms. Weber stated, it should also be noted that in the Public Comment portion of the meeting, Council members are not obligated to answer questions that are posed by residents. It should also be noted that the mailing that is being discussed in this letter was not sent out nor paid for by Mayfield Village, but sent out by a private citizen's group. Art Goldstein 6467 Derby Drive Subject: A Village Resident's Perspective on Term Limits for Mayor and Council Members I read with interest Law Director Coyne's Voice of the Village article (Winter 202 1) on term limits for the mayor and council members. The article outlines the history of term limits in the Village and the arguments both for and against. My wife and I have lived in the Village since 1984. Obviously, we have seen much change over the years, most of which has been to our liking. In my opinion, the greatest change occurred during the period when Bruce Rinker was elected Village mayor (1995-2015). I distinctly recall attending the open forum mayoral debate prior to the election. He fielded a question from Mr. Keith Hamilton, an executive at Allen Bradley, regarding his "vision" for Mayfield Village. Mr. Rinker was highly prepared and gave a detailed outline of where he intended to lead the Village. His vision included clear thoughts on expenditures, economic development, commercialization, resident services, and greenspace preservation. The vision was far reaching and probably extended beyond the two -term limit of his office at the time. It was his performance in this debate that convinced my wife and I to vote for him in the November election. Residents were satisfied with Mayor Rinker's performance, and as a result rescinded the existing term limits on his office in 2004 so he could continue to run for office. I do not believe we would have seen as much progress in our Village had term limits remained. With term limits removed administrative continuity was maintained. Mr. Rinker certainly had his opponents who did not share his vision. The voters could have voted him out of office if they chose to do so. But they didn't. In 2016 Mayor Rinker decided not to seek re-election. He could have left office without endorsing a potential successor. However, he ended up supporting a well-qualified candidate, Mrs. Brenda Bodnar. From a candidate's perspective it is probably nice to have the endorsement of a popular outgoing mayor. From my perspective as a voter, the mayor's endorsement was not enough and it was important for me to get to know Mrs. Bodnar. This was accomplished, once again, in an open forum debate. In my opinion her performance far exceeded that of the other candidates. Together with the outgoing mayor's endorsement, her excellent qualifications, and her performance in the debate, voters elected her mayor.