To the Editor:

Mayor Lempert’s recusal from PILOT negotiations with the University (Town Topics, October 23) is concerning on a number of fronts:

1. It appears that some Council members and a minority of the public pressured her into this decision, despite an unambiguous ethics/legal opinion from Council’s attorney that no conflict of interest arises from her husband’s position as a tenured professor at the University.

2. It means that two of the seven Council members will not be participating in one of the most important matters before the Council involving the largest constituent, thereby producing a certain level of disenfranchisement.

In her contest for mayor, Ms. Lempert indicated that she would comply with the ethics and legal rulings associated with University matters. The verdict is in and by all rights she should be free to represent the municipality in the PILOT negotiations. That a minority has pressured her into taking the high road of recusal is reminiscent of recent actions or inactions that took place in Washington D.C. to reverse the Affordable Care Act.

Mayor Lempert and her supporters need to more vigorously make the political case for her participation, and the minority Council members and citizens need to allow her to follow the lead of her predecessors who were faced with similar circumstances and prevailed in representing the municipality.

Michael E. Morandi

Battle Road