To Be Or Not To Be; To Abstain Or Not To Abstain; Is There Really Any Question?

Most people would expect an elected public official to vote on all pertinent issues at hand during the meetings and let his stance be known, whether in the majority or the minority.

Certainly, there are cases when it is better not to vote, such as you are new to a board and do not feel you have enough information yet to make a wise decision on something in particular.

Certainly, there are cases when one should not vote, such as in approving minutes for a meeting that one did not attend.

Over the last several months at least, anyone in attendance at the Town Board meetings will have witnessed a strange reluctance on the parts of Butch Hansen and Mark Ceminsky to "show their hand" and to actually vote on some matters.

Several of us in attendance at these meetings have been scratching our heads, wondering what it is that these two think is to be gained from their abstentions. The abstentions have often occurred on motions made by one of these persons mentioned and seconded by the other! Then the vote comes and three Supervisors vote and two abstain.


This has happened on routine Township decisions made by the Board at the Reorganization Meeting, (I think someone had his nose out of joint when things didn't go his way at the beginning of that meeting) to much weightier subjects such as whether to continue to explore Commercial/Industrial uses. On the latter, Hansen and Ceminsky were two of the big proponents of this endeavor, yet they chose to abstain rather than commit. Why?? Other topics without five votes have included the expenditure on a permanent gate on Chub Lake Road or cashing in one of the Township's CDs to meet the bills.

I have wondered if their thought might be the others will be held responsible by disgruntled citizens because they voted yes or no on a particular topic.  That hardly seems logical when the abstainers themselves proposed and seconded some of these motions in the first place.

At the latest meeting, Supervisor Barfknecht came right out and asked the two for an explanation for their many abstentions. She said that they were often the "dogs barking the loudest," but when it came to the vote, they abstain. Butch Hansen replied, "Because we can!" He indicated that no one can force them to vote. BUT why wouldn't an elected official take his responsibilities more seriously and give either a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down on a particular matter?

When I vote for a particular person for office, I don't expect him to always vote the way I would like him to. I will make my argument, hope he considers it seriously, and then the decision rests with the official. I hope that he has good reasons for voting whichever way he does. BUT I DO expect such an individual to VOTE. In my belief, if one can't take a stand, I wonder what he's doing there at all. This is especially so when such an individual has strongly argued for months on the topic!