Democracy returns to Henderson
The new Henderson Town Council officially took the reins of town government Monday night, and found that the old board had left them a parting gift: It improperly hired an attorney to appeal an Appellate Court decision affirming the ruling granting the Mark Hopkins Performing Arts Center property to the Henderson Harbor Performing Arts Association.
What the old board did – led by former Supervisor Clyde Moore – was contract for the appeal and get it filed a week before the resolution to approve the appeal was given to the council for a vote. The agreement with attorney David P. Antonucci was improper, because it committed the expenditure of at least $5,500 in taxpayer funds without a vote authorizing the expense. It was backroom politics at its very worst.
The fact that three members of the council – Mr. Moore, David Perry and Carol Hall, who have formed a nearly insurmountable voting bloc for the past two years – subsequently pushed the resolution authorizing the appeal through only makes matters worse; it served notice on Henderson residents that the democratic process in their town was broken. But, I suspect, most of the town already knew this, since both Mr. Moore and Mr. Perry were handily voted out of office in November.
New Supervisor Raymond Walker quickly righted this situation. Acting with the new board, and without the presence of Mrs. Hall, the decision to appeal was rescinded. As it should have been. The issue of who owns the Mark Hopkins property was resoundingly resolved in not one, but two, levels of state Supreme Court. To further appeal, and pay the costs attendant to that action, was little more than paddling upstream in a flood. And it would have needlessly prolonged an issue that deserved to be closed.
There are still issues with the Mark Hopkins property. The building must come down, because no one in Henderson with deep enough pockets to renovate the dilapidated building will provide the funds to do that. Now, the performing arts group is going to have to get the building down, no inexpensive endeavor by any means. If they don't, the town can have it done and put a lien on the property for the cost, insuring it will be indemnified for its expense. The arts group has left itself in no enviable position despite winning its court case.
More importantly, at least judging by the new council's first official action, it appears that democracy may have returned to Henderson. As long as the new council keeps its actions transparent, and continues to vote with the best interests of the citizens at the forefront, a bright new day will have dawned in Henderson. And not a moment too soon.
