(Editor's Note: Trustees John Mauk (chair), Peter Negri and Peter Bee comprise the Trustees Committee on St. Paul's while Trustees Mauk, John Watras and Jon Segerdahl (chair) comprise the Public Information Committee.)

When Mayor Barbara Miller requested June 12 that the Public Information Committee (referred to as the PIC Committee) create a Village Facts describing the possible options for St. Paul's, she asked that it be completed and distributed to the public by the end of June.

Residents need to be aware of what the board is considering in their deliberation on the fate of the St. Paul's Main Historic Building and the approximate 10-acre site, the mayor said.

The mass mailing will present the "scenarios" the Trustees Committee on St. Paul's recently studied (a library/community center, residential condos, an assisted living facility and demolition).

PIC Committee member John Mauk met the mayor's aggressive three-week deadline and completed a rough draft. However, some now feel it may be worth the board's while to hold off until early fall to enable residents to return from summer vacation.

When he presented his rough draft at the board's July 17 meeting, it prompted Trustee Robert Rothschild and Deputy Mayor Gerard Lundquist to question why they never received copies. "I'm a little behind the eight ball here," Rothschild said. "I'm one of the trustees who didn't get the draft ..."

"That makes two of us," Lundquist interjected.

"... and I don't understand why I can't get a document that other trustees have already received, whether it is a draft or a supplemental to a draft, I should get it! Why the deputy mayor doesn't have it, I don't know," Rothschild continued.

Mayor Miller informed Rothschild that Trustees Peter Negri and Peter Bee, both members of the Trustees Committee on St. Paul's, which Mauk is chair of, deserve a first look. "They were the original authors. I think this is the way we have always done this in the past and it has served us well," she said.

Mauk, somewhat agitated by the mayor's comments, said, "Trustees Bee and Negri have had this for over a week or more and have had the opportunity to provide comment. I don't see why you have two trustees who don't have copies. Why they weren't given the same consideration, especially in view of getting this prepared in final form as quickly as possible, I don't know."

Since Trustee Jon Segerdahl, PIC Committee chair, was on vacation and did not attend the July 17 meeting, Mayor Miller said all she could do was relay what Segerdahl told her. "It was sent to the Trustees Committee on St. Paul's and not to all the trustees because he wanted those committee members to sign off on it, then he wanted his committee to sign off on it, as all committees usually do, and then present it to the board. So that's the process that I am using," she said.

In following the "process," sending the draft first to Bee and Negri eliminated only two of the eight trustees - Rothschild and Lundquist. By virtue of the process, Mauk, Segerdahl and Trustee John Watras, as members of the PIC Committee, and Mayor Miller, as ex-officio of all board committees, automatically received copies.

"I am simply passing on the message that the consensus of the group was to wait because they wanted to get feedback before it went out to the rest of the board," the mayor reiterated.

Mauk didn't understand why the mayor was putting "roadblocks" in the way of the process, something he thinks has been happening since day one. "It seems to me that when we get down to trying to achieve objectives, you are more concerned about the process and that becomes the end result rather than achieving your objective. I don't understand your reluctance, mayor, to having other people review it and make comments. What problem is this going to create?" Mauk asked.

"I don't want to belabor this point mayor, but I also don't want you ever again to tell us we are slowing things up. The committee has done their best in getting this issued. I think you have served as a roadblock in getting this prepared."

Mauk continued, "There is no reason for things to come to a grinding halt during the summer while everybody is on vacation, especially if there's any expectation of getting this out as quickly as possible come the fall. I think we all agree that this is not going to be the decisive factor in what happens to St. Paul's, but it's important that we move along."

Mayor Miller believes that some feedback reached an impasse with Segerdahl gone but doesn't, however, think anything is being stalled. "I think Trustee Segerdahl doesn't, in my opinion, want to waste the time of the other trustees who do not own this document as much, to refine it. So, I think we are moving along. I don't see it as a roadblock."

Mauk, who thought the June deadline was arbitrary and very difficult to meet, despite doing so, said, "I must also say that I'm not sure there was full support, including from you [Mayor Miller], to prepare this issue in time to meet that deadline."

In an effort to quickly solve the problem, Mauk suggested that, with himself and Watras present - two members of the three-member PIC Committee - the board could cast a vote to allow the Mauk draft to be sent to Rothschild and Lundquist immediately.

Watras replied, "Well, I don't think it's complete. There were a couple of dangling participles and each member was supposed to review it."

The mayor said everyone could wait another week to get the document in shape so it could go to the whole board and eventually make its way to the public. Rothschild, still concerned that he and Lundquist were left in the dark, said, "I don't know what Jerry's [Lundquist] vacation schedule is but when Segerdahl has a vacation the world stops. That's basically what you're saying," he said, adding sarcastically, "Well when I go on vacation no votes will be taken."

"Well, that's what we do now," the mayor replied, "on any important issue."

Merillon Avenue resident Kathy Auro noted that the last published Village Facts, which was mailed to residents quite some time ago, provided a "lovely review of the building," but didn't go beyond that. "I think you'll lose some residents if you go from here to the future," she said.

Jim Carney, Eastern Property Owners' Association (EPOA) president, has always advocated issuing a Village Facts and requested that some historical perspective be included for new residents, noting that many homes on Chestnut Street [where he resides] have turned over.

Trustee John Mauk, chair of the Trustees Committee on St. Paul's and a member of the Public Information Committee, said that because of the amount of copy proposed for the upcoming issue of Village Facts, the draft warranted bringing in someone with graphics ability to help with the layout. "Just so it wouldn't be something that would automatically be tossed in the waste basket," Mauk said.

Although Mauk admitted he couldn't assure fellow trustees that his layout is "really the way it is going to end up in the final issue," he did say "there is an expectation that we will have a pretty good document to issue come early fall."