Mount Airy’s Charter

Like Amendments to the Constitution…
Changes Should be Part of a Thoughtful and Planned Process

I attended the Public Work Session on Wednesday May 12 primarily organized by Councilman Gary Nelson regarding the Town’s Charter. Having gone back and forth with acting Mayor Peter Helt the week before regarding the process of commission appointments, I was eager to hear the Town Charter discussion.

Past Town Council members and Mayors were invited to the work session. It was an interesting dynamic with many strong personalities who shared great insight and a lively discussion. Mount Airy’s Charter and how difficult issues are dealt with has been a hot topic since the Dave Pyatt issue in December of last year, particularly for the council members who were forced to deal directly with the issue.

Discussion ensued regarding how vacancies should be handled to the overall power of a Mayor. Chris Decolli, councilman 2002-2006 believes strongly in the separation of powers. The Mayor acts as CEO and manages government operations and the Council acts as the legislative branch. Our charter currently resembles this set up. Town Council President and acting Mayor Peter Helt suggested we give the Mayor a vote at the table and take away veto power. Many thought that this presented several issues, one being an even number of votes at the table.

In addition to recommended changes to the charter structure, another recommendation was to add a "Forfeiture, Suspension or Removal from Office" option, or possibly even "Recall Procedures." A suspension or removal option is already part of our Town Code for appointed officials:

"Removals and suspensions. To remove or temporarily suspend from office any person who has been appointed to any municipal office and who after due notice and hearing is adjudged to have been guilty of inefficiency, malfeasance, misfeasance, nonfeasance, misconduct in office or insubordination; and to fill the vacancy caused by such removal or suspension."

It was councilman Nelson’s comments regarding a recall provision that got a lot of heat. Councilman Nelson thought the voters should be able to get rid of an elected official because they were not following through with the platform of promises made when campaigning.

WOW! If this were the case, we should get rid of 95% (at least) of all elected officials, including President Barack Obama! In this provision, an elected official may be recalled with only 20% of the registered voters signatures through a referendum. If Councilman Nelson had his way, it would be simply because they haven’t kept a campaign promise. Really?

Let’s examine this statement a bit closer and perhaps share a little history.

It’s no secret that Councilman Nelson and I have rarely been on the same side of an issue. But I do admire that he stayed the course and completed his term, unlike the other members of the Johnson-Nelson-Woodhull team of 2006.

As liaison to Parks and Recreation for the past four years, Councilman Nelson brought several initiatives to the table. My friend Bob King, Chair of Parks and Recreation, has nothing but praise and admiration for Councilman Nelson.

"Whatever he took on, Gary Nelson gave one hundred percent effort."

King credits Nelson with many of the commission's accomplishments such as coordinating the effort to designate the Town's 88 acres as a park, naming the park and creating a Master Plan for the park. Councilman Nelson also worked hard on Rails to Trails. By applying and receiving grants from the State Highway Administration, councilman Nelson was able to offset some of the legal costs for easements and make property purchases needed for the project. This project is now closer to reality than ever before.

The one issue that Councilman Nelson and I have agreed on is that of schools and Mount Airy. We strongly believe that we need a Frederick County middle school either in Town, or closer to Town. Although one never would have guessed it when he fought hard against an annexation that came complete with a pad-ready school site in 2006. He said, “we can do better.” Granted, he certainly tried to do better and worked on several leads to find a site for a school during his term.

After working with Councilman Nelson on the Committee for Schools, I truly believed that Councilman Nelson was committed to bringing a Frederick County middle school to Mount Airy. Unfortunately, even though Councilman Nelson managed to convince Frederick County to retain a "floating" future school site within the Town's limits, the “we can do better” promise regarding finding a site for a Mount Airy middle school for Frederick County never came to fruition.

Should we have “recalled” Gary Nelson? Overall, I do believe that Councilman Nelson meant well and truly believed he could do better, so recalling him because he did not fulfill his promise of bringing a Frederick County middle school to Mount Airy would be absolutely ridiculous! I know, crazy coming from me, but it's true. I promised readers this would be an honest and truthful Blog, and I too will honor that promise.

Campaign promises are sometimes harder to keep than one may think. Trying to work with Frederick County schools when the Mount Airy community has sent mixed messages regarding schools being built here for the past 15 years would be challenging for anyone, seasoned or green. FCPS is a tough bunch and I truly believe that Mount Airy has gone down that path one too many times to be taken seriously, although I'd love to be proven wrong in this case.

It’s the green politicians who think they know more, and think they “can do better” who create an air of arrogance. I do believe that Gary Nelson had that air of arrogance when he was elected. Personally, I believe he still has it, but that doesn't mean he should be recalled, nor should he not receive credit where credit is due.

Councilman Nelson did not run for re-election and his term ends today. But if he had run, the voters would have decided if councilman Nelson was worthy of another term based on his accomplishments and the promises made four years ago.

And that is how we get rid of politicians who are not doing the job we elected them to do. This is America! We go to the polls!

In closing, I want to thank councilman Nelson for planning this very informative public work session and for his four years of service to the Town. I admire anyone who takes on this challenge and I hope the new incoming administration will take seriously the oath they are about to take this evening in serving the people of Mount Airy.

We don't expect to always get along, but we do expect a level of consistency and commitment to promises made and for decisions to be made based on what's best for all Mount Airy residents, not just a select few.