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player ready...In a divided vote, Oswego trustees approved Village President Ryan Kauffman’s choice to fill a vacancy on the Village Board.
Oswego trustees met in a special session last week to consider the appointment of longtime Oswego resident Karen Novy to fill the seat on the Village Board. The vacancy was created when newly-elected Trustee Luis Perez resigned recently to accept an out-of-state job.
Voting in favor of having Novy join the Village Board were Trustees Kit Kuhrt, Karin McCarthy-Lange and Andrew Torres. Voting the other way were Trustees Jennifer Jones Sinnot and Tom Guist.
Kauffman cast the fourth affirmative vote in favor of Novy, who was his choice to fill the vacancy.
“I would have preferred to have an appointment go 6-0,” Kauffman said.
He said “a large number of people in the community reached out to me that wanted to be heard” concerning the board vacancy.
“I appreciate everyone reaching out to me,” Kauffman said.
He said Novy “is a wonderful member of this community. She brings a huge amount of experience, talent and wisdom to the Village Board. I’m confident that she will be an excellent addition.”
Apparently trustees were not in consensus with Kauffman’s first nominee Thomas Collins to fill the vacancy on the board.
Kauffman disclosed at the July 5 special meeting that the other potential nominee to join the Village Board was former trustee Brian Thomas. Novy and Collins were on the agenda for the meeting as nominees.
Kauffman agreed to the special session in order to give residents more time to give their input on filling the vacancy on the board.
Guist said he disagreed that consensus was ever an issue concerning the vacancy.
“There was another nominee potentially that had the consensus votes and had the experience vital to this community right now,” Guist said concerning Thomas.
Thomas ran for village president in the Republican primary in February but was defeated by incumbent Village President Troy Parlier. Kauffman defeated Parlier in the April 4 general election.
Guist said the village has two major projects that are four years in the making – the Lake Michigan water connection and the Wolf’s Crossing Road improvements – and that having someone with knowledge and background on them would be important.
“That’s the most vital experience,” Guist said. “If you value experience, that has to be brought up as a potential part of this appointment.”
Trustees said there were 23 candidates in all that applied for the vacancy.
Novy will serve through the next election in 2025. She previously served as chief of staff from 2016 to 2019 for state Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego.
Novy has children who attend school in Oswego-based School District 308. Kauffman praised her community volunteerism, and she is co-founder of Kiwanis Oswego and involved in the League of Women Voters, he said.
She previously served on the Oswego Planning and Zoning Commission from 2019 to 2021.
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Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.