Councilwoman Susan Francis tried to inspire residents and town leaders Monday with an appeal for forgiveness among citizens, town officials, and all else who endured the past five months of bitterness and contention in Rock Hall government.
“We have all made mistakes but we need to be focused and move forward,” Francis said.”There are many other important issues to work on. I make a suggestion that tonight we as a town, mayor and council, employees and citizens, put all this behind us so we can begin to heal and move forward.”
She and Mayor Robert Willis have been blamed for creating a hostile work environment where the work ethic, competence, and integrity of town officials have been under siege. They two have appeared to stand in lockstep with allegations against other councilmembers, the town attorney, town manager, clerk treasurer, and People’s Bank of Kent County for poor job performance and outright misconduct.
But Francis told the Spy Tuesday that she based her decisions to consider the issues over the last 5 months solely on “the information and facts presented” to her. She said everything has been vetted and it was now time to move on.
“It’s time for us all to move forward and make this town what it once was. As I said in my statement on Monday, the past 4-5 months was not a vendetta or vengeance against any one particular person or persons,” Francis said on Tuesday. “If there was any offense taken by the public or individuals, I apologize. I will always stand for what I believe is right and factual — and will fight for the same.”
Councilman “Olin” Butch Price said on Tuesday that he believed Francis’ comments were sincere.
See the video of her comments below.
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