Matewsky recovering but not ready to return yet
By JOSH RESNEK
Councilor Anthony DiPierro is now President pro tempore Anthony DiPierro following a vote of his colleagues at Monday night’s council meeting.
DiPierro will be replacing, for an unknown period of time, Council President Wayne Matewsky who is recovering from a serious illness and surgery.
The vote was 8-0 for DiPierro.
Councilors Gerly Adrien and Fred Capone chose not to vote on the matter.
Both members, however, chose to speak on DiPierro’s nomination.
Capone said he wanted to discuss the merits of the piece before voting on it.
He said he was concerned about others who might have wanted to seek the nomination.
He asked the council to put off a vote for at least two weeks until such time as it could be determined what Matewsky’s health status is and when he might be expected back.
“Before we vote for a president pro tempore we should have a full understanding of what his condition is. Let’s lay this on the table for two weeks until we have an understanding of when he is coming back.
If it isn’t soon we can take nominations and move on from there,” Capone said.
This did not resonate with his colleagues.
Councilor DiPierro responded to Capone’s concerns indicating that Matewsky has a bit of a road to recovery. He spoke in favor of himself to serve as president pro tempore only until Matewsky returns. He said he reached out to most of the council in recent days.
Councilor Adrien said she was concerned about the mayor’s cousin being placed in the president’s position and becoming second in line to serve as acting mayor if the mayor left.
This isn’t anything personal against the councilor,” she said. “At this time, I’m not in favor of someone who is a cousin to the mayor to be second in line. If we have two people at the top of the chain related to one another, they simply are not accountable… and besides…Dipierro called for my resignation. I can’t vote for him.”
Councilor John Hanlon said he understood Adrien.
“But the mayor does not rule this council. The council rules the council and nobody else,” Hanlon told his colleagues.
“I’m voting for DiPierro.”
Councilor Mike McLaughlin, who nominated DiPierro, agreed. “Extended relatives don’t control our lives,” he said.
“I stand by my motion.”
The vote was 8-0 for DiPierro.