The re-introduction of Chestertown Resolution 06-2023 is more than strange. The resolution is more insult after injury on the citizens of Chestertown inflicted by the Mayor and Council
This is the same resolution Mayor David Foster and council members Tom Herz, Jose Medrano and Meghan Efland passed in bad faith in November 2023 to create a legal fiction that allowed then-Ward 1 council member Timothy O’Brien to remain in office illegally after he had moved to Ward 4.
On December 18, 2024, Judge Harris P. Murphy brought this “fast one” to an end, admonished the Mayor and Council for conduct the Court found “disturbing,” and ordered a special election for Ward 1.
Chestertown Charter Section 3(c) is unambiguous. If a councilmember moves from his/her ward, their term in office terminates automatically. The facts show that the Mayor and these three Council conspired together to deprive Ward 1 of lawful representation in order to allow Mr. O’Brien to remain in office.
But why? No adequate explanation has been offered then or now.
The whole situation has created a new definition for S.T.U.P.I.D: Sanity Tripped Up, Preventing Intelligent Decision-making. It is difficult to fight against reasons and excuses that do not make sense.
Chestertown residents support democracy. The Ward 1 Special Election drew two candidates and over 200 voters who turned out on cold January day.
The Mayor and these three Council members have betrayed their oaths. They have not acknowledged their misconduct or offered to reimburse the Town for the legal fees their actions forced the Town –using your tax dollars and mine – to incur.
Trust has evaporated in the Mayor and these three Council members.
Mayor Foster, Herz, Efland and Medrano should resign and make way for a new Mayor and three new Council members now.
Mike says
Boy, oh boy, if a Republican tried this the call out would be way more and way beyond “should resign.”
Just for the record I am not a Republican. I just watch the double standard.
Maria Wood says
As a Ward 1 resident, I feel that my representation was compromised far more by the distracting drama and by being deprived of any representative for months than it had been by being represented by a legitimately elected Council member who resided just on the other side of the ward boundary for part of his term.
Should the entire Mayor and Council heed this mean-spirited admonition to resign in the middle of their terms, the entire town would be deprived of representation, and the business of town residents would be disrupted and neglected over a straw man donnybrook. We all have a right to disagree with our local government’s decisions, voice our complaints, and elect new candidates on a regular basis–or indeed run to replace them. We do not all have a right to bring the work they do on our behalf to a standstill whenever we disagree.
David Foster says
Mr. Miller’s Monday op-ed was ill-timed—or perhaps intended to reignite a dead issue before the March 3 Town and Council meeting, when a vote on Resolution 06-2023 was on the agenda. Mr. Miller and several others had spoken against this resolution at the February 18 meeting, so he knew a final vote was scheduled for the next regular Council meeting.
A bit of background may help. The Chestertown charter is an old and sometimes cumbersome instrument. Under this charter, the Mayor and Council may not just repeal a resolution. Rather, they must reconsider and vote again on the legislation in question. At the Monday meeting, we had a lengthy side discussion with the Town Clerk, to make sure the Council, and the public, understood the procedure correctly. Following discussion, a majority voted against 06-2023. This returned the rules regarding eligibility for town office to Section 3(c), as Mr. Miller had advocated.
My fellow Council members and I have not betrayed our oaths. Nor have we engaged in misconduct or conspiracy. All of our Council meetings, as well as the Town’s commission and committee meetings, are open to the public and available as on-demand videos. My colleagues and I look forward to working with all the citizens of Chestertown, including Mr. Miller.
David Foster
Mayor of Chestertown