[RP TownTalk] Ward 1 residents and voters

[Vernon Archer]

Friends and neighbors,

I wish to thank both the council members and members of the public who came
out this rainy morning to review the issues related to swearing in, or
possible forfeiture of the seat for the council member from Ward 1. This
was, in my opinion, a complicated matter and I am much relieved that others
on the council and members of the public came out to help work through the
issues.

We were unable to get a quorum to have a formal council session.  Instead
we had a council work session that provided me an opportunity to report on
why I had grave concerns about the legality of swearing In Jonathan Ebbeler
to a new term of office.  In short, my concerns rested in his having not
been sworn into office until long after the initial swearing in on June 1.
The meeting of course also heard extensively from Ebbeler about his
position about why he was late in getting sworn in and why he felt that it
was still within an allowable time frame to swear him in.  The dozen or so
members of the public in attendance made clear their desire have him seated.


Despite still having concerns, it became very clear that my opinion was
almost certainly in the minority on the council. I therefore administered
the Oath of Office to Councilman Ebbeler. The final decision still rests
with *the Council which is the ultimate judge of elections and
qualifications of its members.* I trust that by taking this route nothing
will stand in the way of our Town Government concentrating its talents,
time and resources on moving forward on our many important projects and
plans.

This was a long and at times complicated meeting and full minutes of the
meeting will be posted on the Town's website as they come available.
 (Special thanks to Councilman Thompson for doing double duty of taking
minutes and participating in the meeting.)

Like is often the case, unusual situations such as this one exposes
ambiguities in the system, and reviewing the issues related to taking the
Oath certainly did do that. I hope to work with the Council over the coming
year to come up with reforms to clarify it for the future.

Best wishes,

Vern


On Sat, Jun 27, 2015 at 6:48 AM, Vernon Archer <varcher at gmail.com> wrote:

> I neglected to mention the meeting is at 10 AM this morning.
>
> ____________________________________________________
>
> As was posted yesterday there will be an Emergency Special Legislative
> Meeting for the "Council to consider matters related to possible
> forfeiture of Ward One Council seat for failure to take oath of office
> within time required by state law."
>
> I hope that you will be willing to take a portion of your morning to come
> out and learn for yourself what is happening.
>
> Vern
>
> --
> Vernon Archer, Mayor
> Town of Riverdale Park, Maryland
>



-- 
Vernon Archer, Mayor
Town of Riverdale Park, Maryland
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