Rec Board Has No Quorum to Vote on Absenteeism

Woody Allen famously said that 80 percent of life is just showing up and the Upper Macungie Recreation Board doesn’t think that’s too much to ask.

The Recreation Board Thursday discussed possible sanctions for board members who are repeatedly absent  -- but it didn’t have a quorum so it couldn’t vote on any recommendations.

“We have a real problem with attendance obviously,” said Rich Kiser, board chairman. “We have quite a few members that are missing at least three months in a row.”

The volunteer board meets once a month on the last Thursday of the month and this is the second consecutive month it didn’t have a quorum.

The problem might be eased once Upper Macungie Supervisors choose new board members to fill two vacancies on the nine-member board. Supervisor Kathy Rader, who is the supervisor liaison to the Recreation Board but has no vote, said she’d put a discussion of filling the vacancies on the agenda of the July 5  supervisors meeting. There are currently four applicants to fill the two seats, each with five-year terms. 

Kiser said perhaps the board’s bylaws should be amended to say that if a board member misses three months in a row, the supervisors have the right to replace him or her. “Of course, we can’t vote on any of that tonight because we don’t have a quorum,” he said.

The board could make exceptions for those with valid excuses, such as people who are out of town on business, board members said. Board member Chuck Thomas suggested it might make it easier if board members who were away could vote by phone. 

The board is an advisory body in that it makes recommendations to the township supervisors on recreation matters and the supervisors set policy. So, for example, the Recreation Board for renting the new Independent Park Community Center and the supervisors adopted the recommendation.