Another Councilman Joins Board of Health

Another council member was named to Hopatcong's board of health Wednesday as the governing body looks to turn the board into a council-run entity.

Howard Baker was appointed to the spot recently vacated by Yvonne Syto. Baker joins councilmen Michael Francis and John Young on the seven-member board.

President Mariano Gianni, Vice President Thomas Forbes, Joell Servoss and James Vanderhoof round out the board.

Mayor Sylvia Petillo recently announced plans to create a volunteer health advisory committee, charged with community health outreach but lacking the board's law-making power. Petillo said council members would fill in open board seats.

Last week, Gianni said the board of health would refuse to recognize council-appointed alternates. "They have no right" to name alternates for the board, Gianni said. Gianni also said the council ignored its request to appoint a member in the place of Craig Bradley, who died last year.

"They decided they wanted to put the town council in instead," he said. "It's not a give-and-take. It's a give-give."
Borough Attorney John Ursin said Gianni was "100 percent wrong" and that the council had the power to choose board of health alternates.

"The borough has had an ordinance in place since 1998, that's as far back as i checked, which says that the board of health shall have two alternates," Ursin said."

"The statue is clear that once there is an ordinance in place that indicates that the board of health should have alternates, the statue says specifically that the alternates are chosen by the appointing authority in the same manner as members are chosen."

The council chooses board of health members, according to state law.

Gianni and Forbes each said they wouldn't seek re-election to the board with their terms expire at the end of 2012. When Gianni and Forbes leave the board and a pair of council members are inserted in their places, the council will own the majority of spots on the board.

The pair, in fact, is seeking the Republican nomination for the two open council spots, opposing incumbents Richard Bunce and Marie Galate.

In March, the board of health sued the council for breaking state laws regarding the appointment of health department employees. The council recently responded to the lawsuit, calling it "moot" and asking its dismissal on several grounds.