John Bernardo, was appointed as the replacement Town of Union Board Member after winning a Special Town Board vote 3-1 on Wednesday evening. Current Board Members Thomas Augostini, Frank Bertoni, and Robert Mack voted for Bernardo, while Town Supervisor Rose Sotak voted against him.

"I've spent a good deal of time trying to keep peace among the various factions and hopefully I can offer something to this process and more importantly the Town residents," said Bernardo.

Bernardo was the Town of Union Supervisor from 2005 - 2011. He then became the Deputy County Executive under Debbie Preston for the next five years.

The vote was conducted just short of one month after former-Council Member Leonard Perfetti was promoted to the position of Town Clerk. That vote took place on July 26 during a Special Board Meeting with the Board split 3-1 - again Sotak being the only dissenting vote. Perfetti's seat has been vacant since then.

Why wasn't everyone involved in the process in the first place?

— Rose Sotak, Town of Union Supervisor

Sotak acknowledged that Bernardo is qualified for the job, but she voted "no" because she feels the process in which he was presented to the Board by the Employees Committee was unfair.

"My objection to the whole process is - I was never informed, I made it very clear that I'm always available, this is very important to be able to be in these interviews, to hear what people have to say," said Sotak.

In the past, appointment interviews were conducted as a Board, according to Sotak. This included July's decision to promote Leonard Perfetti to Town Clerk. Sotak says she was not involved in the interviews for a new Board Member and was unaware that a vote was taking place on Wednesday night.

"I think it's my place to be there," said Sotak.

Sotak says the Board decided to start using Committees over relying on Department Heads "earlier this year," but this was the first time the Employee Committee made an appointment decision without the Supervisor. Robert Mack and Frank Bertoni are the heads of the Employee Committee, the same group which first reported the dropped harassment allegations against Sotak to the Town Lawyer.

Wednesday's vote was expected to take place on August 15, but the Board pushed it back because Bernardo was waiting for permission from his other engagements to take the position. 

Following the Board's decision to appoint Bernardo, Councilman Frank Bertoni voiced his opposition to Sotak's leadership. He called for her to resign after voting against both Perfetti to Town Clerk and now Bernardo to the Council, but Sotak says she's not going anywhere.

"We've been down that road - I will not step down and I'm not resigning," said Sotak.

Bernardo is only guaranteed his Council seat until November, then he will have to win the election to stay on the Board.

"I'm focused mostly on getting the job done, we'll worry about the election part at a later time," said Bernardo.

The next Town of Union meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, September 6.