Hearing for trustee to be held

A Belgium trustee who can’t attend Village Board or committee meetings held at night due to his work schedule, is facing a hearing that could result in being removed from office.

On Oct. 8, the Village Board will hold a hearing at which Trustee Don Gotcher will present his case to have Dale Pfeifer taken off the board. Pfeifer will have a chance to present his side of the story, after which the board may vote on the issue.

The board, said Village Clerk Julie Lesar, would need four votes to remove Pfeifer from office. Gotcher and Pfeifer are not allowed to vote, which leaves five trustees eligible to decide Pfeifer’s future on the board.

Gotcher brought up the issue in July when, as newly appointed chairman of the Parks, Recreation and Forestry Committee, said he would only have two of three committee members attend meetings since Pfeifer isn’t able to come.

“I hate to say this, but I think we should take up a discussion on whether Dale should be a member of the board or not, simply because he cannot fulfill his duties,” Gotcher said.

Former committee chairman Pete Anzia had scheduled meetings on Saturday mornings so Pfeifer could attend.

Gotcher said he wasn’t willing to do that.

At the August Village Board meeting, Village Attorney Gerald Antoine said in order to remove a public official from office, verified charges — a sworn statement — would have to be filed and an evidentiary hearing held in front of the board during which both sides would present their cases and the board would make its decision.

Pfeifer said he was moved from third to second shift at Oshkosh Truck, which didn’t allow him to attend meetings at night.

Prior to the August board meeting, Pfeifer had attended three of 24 Village Board meetings since 2017, a 12.5% attendance rate.

He said one reason he doesn’t come is because they don’t last very long and he doesn’t want to spend a day of vacation for a 30-minute meeting.

Pfeifer said he had resigned from the board before because he worked second shift.

He is now in his second stint on the board after being elected in 2015 despite not being on the ballot or running a write-in campaign. His name was on the ballot in 2017 — he had been moved to second shift by then and had “waited until the last second” to file nomination papers in hopes that somebody else would run.

“Nobody else was, so I would have been elected probably whether I put my papers in or not,” he said.

The Oct. 8 hearing is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. The regular board meeting is slated to start at 7 p.m.