20 Dec School Board Hikes Taxes, Votes in Patel

The Scranton School Board voted Wednesday to raise property taxes by 3.6% and made an unexpected decision to appoint a new member.  While the increase was on the agenda, the vote to name local businessman Gopal Patel to the seat left vacant by last week’s resignation of Paige Gebhardt Cognetti was not.

Late in the meeting, when other business had been concluded, Board President Barbara Dixon informed members of the vote.  Rather than follow the procedure used with previous vacancies, Dixon moved to bypass precedent and name Patel.  She argued that this was acceptable in light of the Board having gone through a similar process following the October passing of Carol Oleski.  While Patel had put his name forward for that process he was not present at the Wednesday meeting and it is unclear whether he remains interested in the seat.

The directors voted 5-3 – with Katie Gilmartin, Mark McAndrew, and Tom Schuster against – to approve bypassing the rules and placing Patel on the board. It was not immediately clear if last night’s action is legal.