Wellington Council Meeting - September 11th 2012

Given the circumstances which led to the failure of the Wellington Staff to attend the Equestrian Forum Master Plan meeting on Monday evening, the Equestrian Forum was in attendance and was represented by three (3) Steering Committee members at last night's meeting.

At the request of the Equestrian Forum Steering Committee, Amy Bock Esq., addressed the Wellington Village Council. Appearing as Legal Counsel for the Equestrian Forum, Bock clarified the the Equestrian Forum's mission to represent the views and concerns of Wellington's Equestrian industry. In addition, Amy Bock requested that the Forum be included in the Equestrian Master Plan process as a Stakeholder.

Most intriguing, however, was the council's reaction to the statement that the Forum was disappointed and embarrassed by the last-minute cancellation of the scheduled presentation by Village Staff at the September 10th Forum meeting. Though clearly against protocol, Wellington Council and Staff engaged in lively debate concerning the incident, culminating in personal apologies to the Forum by Mayor Bob Margolis and Council member Howard Coates and strong questioning of the decision by Council members Howard Coates and Anne Gerwig.

Mayor Bob Margolis added that he and his Staff were looking forward to meeting with the Equestrian Forum Steering Committee.

Follow-Up

On Thursday, September 13th 2012, members of the Equestrian Forum Steering Committee duly reviewed the audio tapes of the late Monday afternoon Agenda Review Meeting, September 10th 2012 of Wellington Council members.

The resultant outcome is that the official Village of Wellington audio recordings substantiate the Equestrian Forum position that certain Wellington Council members previously cited were predisposed against the Equestrian Forum meeting and initiated the dialogue leading to the cancellation of the Wellington Staff Master Plan presentation.