Less than two weeks after his appointment to Marysville’s Planning Commission, John Cunningham has resigned.
In a Monday afternoon email to Council President Mark Reams, Cunningham resigned from the commission having never attended a meeting. The letter gave no reason for the resignation.
Cunningham was appointed to the board during the March 8 council meeting. The appointment passed 4-2, with council members Aaron Carpenter and J.R. Rausch opposing it. Moments after the appointment, Carpenter called on Cunningham to resign, citing multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against the former county administrator.
At the time of the nomination, Boerger said he believes Cunningham is “a good person.”
Monday he reiterated that, “I believe that our boards and commissions still have a lot of work to be done and I try to pick the best person for that position.”
At Monday’s meeting, council member Deb Groat went on the offensive about the way the appointment was handled.
“Now please, can we all work together collegially for the good of Marysville, so we can focus on the major accomplishments of the city, rather than push our own personal agendas,” Groat said.
While she did not name anyone specifically she said she wanted to address the conduct of a council member who used, “language and timing to inflame controversial issues, rather than to inform residents and council members and who use social media as an outlet for narcissism and validation from their own cronies.”
“This political immaturity is unacceptable,” Groat said, calling it another example of “political posturing.”
Council member Henk Berbee said “some of the things were fairly reprehensible.”
Groat said the “embarrassment and dysfunction” of Cunningham’s appointment to the planning commission, “could have been avoided if the appropriate process had been followed from the beginning.”
She said that in the future, if a city resident, staff member or council member wants her to consider a “possibly contentious issue” the appropriate way to do it is to contact Clerk of Council Rebecca Dible and ask her to research the matter and give information to council members.
Boerger said he agrees with Groat but added that, “I think that all council members had the opportunity to do their due diligence before they voted.”
He used the issue to raise the possibility of higher standards for board and commission members.
“I would ask that we raise the monthly dues, for the purpose of educating our boards on a more frequent basis and giving them, not the opportunity, but putting it in their job description that seminars and better ways of better planning our community’s growth is an obligation, not only to the seat they sit in, but to the City of Marysville.”