Maplewood park board member, Adelina Mart, was voted out of the position at the city council meeting on Tuesday by a vote of 5-1. Mayor Barry Greenberg cast the only vote to reappointment her.
In many cases reappointments to boards are done in batches, but Mart’s reappointment was the only one voted on in the meeting.
In her two years on the board many causes that Mart has advocated for as a park board member have been defeated, including expanding the dog park and a walking path through Kellogg Park for Metrolink riders. She was also critical of the city’s decision to build a skate board park without first consulting the park board.
See also: Resident removed from parks board chose to have public vote
On Tuesday before she was removed she spoke against using funds meant for parks to build a veterans memorial in front of city hall, that if needed, the funds should come from the roads budget.
Following the meeting, Ward 1 Councilman Steven Moseley’s only comment on the vote was that “The item (Adelina Mart being reappointed to the parks board) should not have been on the agenda.”
As her friend and fellow Maplewood resident, I totally agree that this failure to reappoint Adelina is ridiculous! She has been more civic-minded in the time she has lived in Maplewood than 99.9% of the residents here!
I also agree with Ben. Her “difficulty” translates to her forward thinking in trying to improve the parks. The board needs shaking up! She is definitely not a problem. She is someone with great ideas and passion. It’s their loss…
I’m extremely disappointed to learn that Adelina was voted out of her position on the Parks Board. I believe the city council owes the citizens of Maplewood an explanation regarding their decision making process. I will certainly be contacting my councilman and I urge others to do the same.
Totally agree, Beth. I would love to see a formal explanation.
I was pretty dumbfounded when I heard all the “no’s” voting. I wasn’t sure I was on the correct item on the agenda. If you have ever talked to Adelina about a Maplewood topic, she is always willing to listen what you have to say. She doesn’t tell you why you are wrong or disrespect you and or even try to press her stance on you. She merely gives a thoughtful reason as to why she believes what she does.
I would be curious to know how the entire council (sans the Mayor) came to this conclusion. Was she previously notified of any “wrong doing” on her actions? Was there any attempt to seek an explanation from her? This has the appearance of a pretty egregious act by the council- to deny a person who has taken a very active role in the community and silence her simply because of not being in full agreement. If you can’t handle an opposing view, then politics is not the best setting.
Not Good. She was rightfully critical of the decision to build the skate park given other pressing needs, yet she gets the axe for opening her mouth…. Mayberry RFD politics here
Yes, appalling actions by our city council. Was there any comment from the city council about this? I love the “It shouldn’t have happened comment” from Mosley who voted no. Would love to get an explanation as to what in the hell that means.
Hello Chris, No explanation formally from the councilors. I would speculate the Parks Board members did not like that Adelina was critical of projects (per Uncle Jedd). Further, Steve’s comment, to me, indicates he did not want it on the agenda, so the “no” process wouldn’t be public.
This is a terrible decision, and one that the Council should be held accountable for. Regardless of whether other Parks Board members find Adelina “difficult to work with” — which I think is really just code for disagreeing with them on some issues — she has been one of the most civicly engaged people in Maplewood for years.
Old-school, “prom king/queen” politics need to go.