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Resident asks Lake County to review Middletown MAC nomination process before Jan. 9 election
Summary
Julia Bono delivered a formal complaint during public comment alleging that a Dec. 12, 2024 Mass Municipal Advisory Council meeting improperly accepted a late nomination and that a circulated election overview would reallocate Middletown seats in violation of the council’s bylaws.
Julia Bono said she sent a formal complaint to the Lake County Board of Supervisors and read it during public comment, asking the board to review alleged irregularities in the Middletown area Mass Municipal Advisory Council election procedures ahead of a Jan. 9 election.
Bono said that at the Dec. 12, 2024 Mass meeting the chair, Monica Rosenthal, initially announced nominations were closed (she cited a YouTube video timestamp at about 1 hour 40 minutes), then about 20 minutes later said nominations were still open and accepted an additional nomination before closing them again. Bono said she raised a point of order at the meeting and that the chair declined to reverse the later acceptance.
Bono also said a document titled "mass 2025 election process overview," which she said was circulated on Jan. 3 and she was told by the mass secretary Ken Gonzales was prepared by chair Monica Rosenthal, indicated only one Middletown-proper seat would be available in the election while another open seat would be allocated at-large. Bono said that change would contravene Section 2 of the mass bylaws, which she said require two Middletown-proper representatives at all times.
Bono asked the board to review the procedures and take corrective or disciplinary action to ensure fair representation. The chair responded that the item was public input and the board could not discuss non-agenda items at that time, and advised Bono to look for a reply by email. Bono asked whether she could expect board action; the chair said the board could not give assurance during the public-input item.
The complaint references the Brown Act and the Mass Municipal Advisory Council bylaws; the board did not take a formal action on the complaint during the meeting.
