Now we know -- YES, the MAC has already been formed! It was formed on February 9th. Residents have asked repeatedly if the MAC was formed and who its members are, and now they wonder why they never received an answer. Perhaps there's a tactical advantage in delaying the release of information? The appointed members are: Jose Gonzalez, David Arbetter (replaced Paul Camacho), Paul Hernandez, Sonia Castro, Martha Melcon, Julie Clark-Chambers and Marta Trueba.
This means Commissioner Souto had already appointed the members of the MAC before the infamous February 10th town hall meeting at the Westchester Library.
We've known Souto had already appointed the members. But it was not known who they were. Those are probably the same people he asked to speak at the commision meeting when he asked to bypass the 20% of required signatures (like David Arbetter and Paul Camacho that spoke at the meeting, see update about Commissioners' meeting). And by eliminating 20% of the signatures he's the only one who gets to appoint the members.
Here is clearly a conflict of interest with the people chosen for the MAC. It seems at least 3 do not actually reside in Westchester, and David Arbetter went to speak in favor of incorporation and his speech was used to determine the bypassing of the 20%. This means that he’s clearly in favor as he took time off to go downtown to support this initiative. He therefore can not be expected to be an impartial “judge.” And that is without figuring if he has financial interests in the incorporation of Westchester. He should resign from the MAC immediately.
Anyone that sees how this scam was perpetrated on the citizens of Westchester will definitely turn against it.
Update on 03/04: Effective March 1st, David Arbetter's appointment has been withdrawn.