News-Record.com

Finally, at 10:45 a.m., Arnold called in to say he wasn't going to make it. So the board's clerk, Effie Varitimidis, called Coleman at home to read here the agenda over the phone.

On went the speakerphone. But a fax machine picked up at Coleman's end and Varitimidis couldn't get through. She tried Coleman's cell phone, but all she got was, "Thank you for calling Verizon Wireless."

Varitimidis tried both phones again, but to no avail. At about 10:50 a.m., Coleman was sent a fax.

Still no response. Some staff members were smiling. Others were chuckling.

At 10:55 a.m., Best got through and left Coleman a message. Staff continued to wait. There was talk that nothing like this had ever happened before.

At 10:58 a.m., Coleman called in to the front desk but wasn't transferred to the conference room. Varitimidis tried again, but couldn’t get the chairwoman on the phone.

Five minutes later, Coleman finally hooked up with Varitimidis.

"I don’t know what's wrong with the fax machine," the chairwoman lamented over the speakerphone, "but anyway."

Varitimidis read Coleman the agenda, and the chairwoman made a few comments.

In the end, waiting for the meeting to start took much longer than the meeting itself.