Merrill Whitling, the dean of Oil City Council, tendered his resignation effective March 31 at Monday night’s council meeting.
I was shocked. I think we all were. I know we all felt a great loss.
Merrill has served on council for 18 years and three months. I don’t recall anyone with a council tenure as long in the years Kathy and I have made Oil City our home.
And throughout all those years on council, Merrill was always the consummate gentleman – fair, reasoned and respectful. It is in his nature.
Merrill’s years of service brought to council a valuable perspective. He was there when decisions were made a decade or more ago that affect how the city operates today. He knows why those decisions were made and that is important to know for somebody like me with not quite three months of experience.
You can call it institutional memory, and Merrill is an institution.
When you talk of the Greatest Generation it is the Merrills of this world you are talking about.
I'm going to miss Merrill on council. Our community is going to miss the counsel he provided in that role.
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5 comments:
Yes indeed, Merrill will be missed. I can't help but wonder who council will appoint next. Jason Biddish? James Monson? Roxeanne Hitchcock? Ron Gutafson? David Mayer? One thing’s for sure, I will be waiting with bated breath to find out!
On another note, it seems a bit odd that council has not yet appointed anyone to fill the vacant seat on the Redevelopment Authority that Mr. Cochran left with his untimely resignation. Even after being prompted by Mr. Venice Lewis who is a member of the RA, council still has not discussed this. Why?
Also, one last question if I might. Why is it ok that people from Cranberry Twp. sit on the Blight Task Force even though they don’t reside in OC? If they were to actually come to a city council meeting, council wouldn’t even address them because they live outside of the city. Luke 12:1
Thanks John.
First, I need to correct a comment the oilcityoutsider made regarding who can address Oil City Council.
Council welcomes people from beyond the city boundaries at its meetings and they can and have addressed council. I have no idea how the rumor started that we won't hear from anyone outside the city. The only change we have made is in the form people sign to address council. We now ask them to indicate whether or not they live in the city. City residents do pay the bills and they are the one's directly and most affected by the actions on council. They are also the one's who elect us and to whom we are answerable.
As for the blight task force, we sought a range of talents and expertise, and some of the people lived outside the city.
I have no more clue than theoilcityoutsider who council might appoint to fill Merrill's seat. I do know if someone is interested in serving on council they should submit a letter of interest and any information they think relevant to City Manager Tom Rockovich ASAP
JNB
Hey, I'm not trying to nitpick but didn't the Mayor make it a point to call the Derrick and correct the fact that Paul Stamm does not live in Oil City. Call it what you want but when someone helps an effort like Paul did, thank you is what should be said, not silence from council and a correction in the paper as to where he lives.
dl,
I can't speak for others, but I don't think any offense was meant by identifying where Paul did or did not reside.
I do know that Paul was not only allowed to address council, but welcomed. Everyone in the region owes him a debt of gratitude for the work he did on the pool project.
John, Thanks for the correction but I don’t think that you read my original post as written. I did not say that “…we [council] won’t hear from anyone outside the city.” I stated that “…council wouldn’t even address them because they live outside of the city”
Council sure enough will allow everyone to speak, however, council themselves will not address the individual after they’ve finished speaking. This, in my opinion, is not only insulting but it also creates an awkward situation for the individual as they wait for a response, but instead get dismissed with a simple “thank you” from the Mayor. However, in all do fairness, I did watch as Mr. Venice Lewis, who is a city resident and member of the RA, addressed council and got the same none response as individuals living outside of the city. So I must admit that I’m not quite sure what constitutes the protocol for council to not address an individual. Also, I find it befuddling that Mr. Paul Stamm can address council regarding a safety issue with fencing at the pool and get no comment from council but Mr. Brozeski has a problem with his cable being too loud and channels that were taken off the air and actually gets a response from the mayor? Granted Ms. Hawkins was speaking to Tom Rockovich and not speaking directly to Mr. Brozeski but none the less Mr. Brozeski at least got to feel validated.
Just one last thought. In your response to my first post you encouraged individuals to submit a letter of interest for the vacant seat on council. However, Mayor Hawkins said as reported in the Derrick on Tuesday, March 25th, “…council has not yet decided what procedure – whether to solicit letters of interest or choose a successor on its own – to follow.” Why would anyone want to waste the time constructing a letter of interest if council may or may not consider it and just “…choose a successor on its own…” I guess we’ll just have to wait until after council’s upcoming sessions to find out more.
Thanks John.
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