The Rock Hall Town Council voted 3-1 Thursday to have the Kent County State’s Attorney investigate Mayor Robert Willis for disclosing confidential legal documents regarding his fellow council member, Olin “Butch” Price.
The vote was motivated by an email sent to the press on Jan. 23 with an attached document marked “Confidential Attorney-Client Communication.”
The client in this case is the full mayor and council and confidential legal documents can only be disclosed by a majority vote, said the town’s attorney, Charles “Chip” MacLeod.
The documents were correspondences of MacLeod and the council over complaints Willis lodged against Price with the Maryland Plumbing Complaints Board on July 25, 2013. Willis made issue that Price had performed plumbing work for the town with an expired plumbing license in late 2012 and early 2013.
Willis’ complaint appeared to be official but a majority on the council moved quickly in a letter dated Aug. 12 to inform the Plumbing Board that Willis had “created the false impression that he was authorized to act on the town’s behalf when, in fact, he was not so authorized.”
The council’s letter to the Plumbing Board also said that Price had performed the work to the “Town Council’s full satisfaction” and asked that the “unauthorized complaints be dismissed.”
Price continues to perform plumbing work at Town Hall and often doesn’t charge to keep the boiler running in the winter, or fix a leaky pipe. Price has been a master plumber for about 30 years.
“It was an honest mistake,” Price said regarding the lapse in his license. “I paid the $75 fee and got it taken care of.” He said the renewal notice was in a pile of paperwork that he misplaced.
What was peculiar to Price last July was that Willis claimed he was contacted directly by the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation about the expired license — but a representative of DLLR told the Spy Monday that there would “never” be any cause to contact a third party about someone’s expired trade license.
Willis lodged a complaint with the Maryland Board of Plumbing Complaints on the same day, July 25, that he told Price he was contacted by DLLR.
Council members Brian Jones, Brian Nesspor, and Price voted in favor of the probe. Councilwoman Susan Francis voted against — calling the measure a “witch hunt.” Willis did not vote.
In the video below, MacLeod explains the potential ethics violations to the council as Willis protests.
Bill Anderson says
Editor,
There is absolutely no doubt about it — the Rock Hall town council doesn’t need the State’s Attorney to investigate this or any other matter. The fact is, some qualified mental health professional would find this very fertile ground. Some people may deserve to lose their elected positions, others may require be institutionalized for long term treatment of their mental health issues.
kecia Lea lehman says
Editor,
Although, I am no longer a resident of Rock Hall; the professional responsibility of managing the town has become disgraceful in the entirety. The role of the mayor should be without bias and that does not seem to be the case. The continued animosity of the counsel will continue as long as the mayor is at the helm. Time to man up and realize the solution and good of the town is to step down as head of the class. Bring Rock Hall back to the town that many of us love.
Mark Einstein says
Editor,
It’s like watching Saturday Night Live on a Sunday morning.