I happened to read the below article and must commend Councilwoman Haxton for standing up for what is right! What this council did was wrong and she tried to make it right and got shot down. Don't give up, Councilwoman! We need more people like you!


By Harold McNeil NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: 01/03/08 6:57 AM

Councilwoman Andrea Haxton said she was excluded from meeting.
Lackawanna lawmakers Wednesday appointed a Magnolia Street resident to fill a vacancy on the City Council over the objections of First Ward Council Member Andrea Haxton.

Francis Kulczyk, a retired Bethlehem Steel employee and Democratic committeeman, was appointed to fill the vacancy left by former Third Ward Council Member Charles Jaworski, who was elected to a four-year term as Council president last November. However, Jaworski’s term as Third Ward Council member is not set to expire until Dec. 31, 2010.

Kulczyk’s term expires Dec. 31.

Haxton said she was excluded from a meeting with members of the Democratic Executive Committee, which recommended that Kulczyk be appointed to fill the Council vacancy, even though she had requested in writing that she be included in the decision-making process.

Haxton abstained from voting on Kulczyk’s appointment, telling him she did not have a quarrel with his qualifications but with the process that chose him. Kulczyk’s appointment lasts only until Third Ward residents vote in the fall on a candidate to fill the remainder of Jaworski’s unexpired term.

Meanwhile, Haxton also insisted that Wednesday’s reorganizational meeting was held illegally because she was not personally informed of the special meeting.

“I was not notified by 48 hours, in writing, at my house. A neighbor had to call me on the telephone and tell me about this meeting. . . . You’re violating the [city] charter,” Haxton told Jaworski.

“Take the roll call,” Jaworski shouted over Haxton, as he addressed City Clerk Jacqueline A. Caferro.

“It’s wrong,” Haxton continued.

“You’re out of order. Sit down now,” Jaworski ordered Haxton, while pounding his gavel.

Since winning election as the first woman to sit on the City Council in 2005, Haxton has had a contentious relationship with her Council colleagues.

Haxton insists that she is being undermined by her colleagues and often left out of decision- making process.

The City Council Tuesday also reappointed Caferro to a four-year term as city clerk and voted to appoint Second Ward Councilman Geoffrey M. Szymanski as Council president pro tempore, also over Haxton’s objection.

hmcneil@buffnews.com