[RP TownTalk] Fwd: 1987 election

[Sarah Wayland]

In response to the Opinion piece Audrey posted, Mayor Ann Ferguson sent the
following recollection of that time in our town's history. Fascinating
reading! She gave me permission to share this on Town Talk.


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From:
​Ann Ferguson

Date: Sun, Apr 26, 2015 at 5:30 PM
Subject: 1987 election
To: sarah.wayland at gmail.com


Hi Sarah-

 The "Opinion" piece
​Audrey
 found brought back memories of a very sad time in the Town's history.
Below is a review:

 In the May, 1987 election, Moreland Perkins ran for the Mayor's position.
He walked every ward in the Town and spoke to every resident he found at
home.  Guy Tiberio had won six elections for Mayor by then, but they were
not continuous as there was a term limit for Mayor that interrupted his
terms.  (It is of interest to note that when he returned to office after
the interruption, one of his first actions was to have that limit removed
-- which served me in that I was elected for six terms without
interruption).

 Moreland Perkins won the election with 491 votes in 1987.  Guy Tiberio
received 328 votes.  The council seats were won as follows:
  Ward One -  Terrence Sheehan
 Ward Two  -  Edna Wade
 Ward Three-  Ann Ferguson
 Ward Four   - Thomas Riley
 Ward Five   -  Frank Creegan
 Ward Six    -  Wendall Davil

 From the swearing in of Moreland and me (June 1987), things went downhill
at a rapid pace.  Examples -- Moreland's office was "jimmied open" and the
powder that banks use to mark stacks of money so a thief is marked was
sprinkled over his desk and his papers -- (more on that later) -- he did
not know what the powder was and it got all over his hands and his glasses
and, therefore, his face!!  Further, his "Reserved parking - Mayor" sign
was removed and hidden somewhere and the "Mayor's office" sign for his door
was removed and hidden.  He was criticized (as was his wife) for their
participation in the annual convention at Ocean City.  He made multiple,
patient overtures to the councilmembers attempting to reach some point of
working together.  Instead he was ridiculed.

 The end of the road for Moreland was when Sheehan barged into his office
making loud accusations and Moreland asked him to leave.  The office
secretary (Eulaine Jones)  was at her desk in the open area and Sheehan
(out of sight of her) began yelling:  "stop pushing me, stop hitting me"
and he came down the hall as though he was injured.  (Moreland had not laid
a finger on him).  Sheehan immediately went to a commissioner at the County
Service Building in Hyattsville and swore out a warrant against Moreland.
 (Note:  Sheehan was a former D.C. Policeman -- he was retired for alleged
medical reasons so he knew much about the inner workings of claims of
injury, etcetera).

 After the above incident, Moreland sought advice from an attorney.
 (Moreland was retired from the University of Maryland -- he had  taught
Philosophy there for almost 30 years -- as some of these happenings hit the
local papers, Moreland had a call from a colleague who told him that the
standard award to him of the title of Professor *emeritus* was in question
because of these shocking reports that included his name.)  The attorney
told Moreland how much it would cost for his defense against the charges of
assault on Sheehan -- it was significant and Moreland concluded it would
only continue and he would be spending money to defend himself against
these baseless charges on into the future so he resigned.

 I voted in favor of having Edna Wade appointed to complete the term of
Mayor.

 A man named Richard Voight was appointed to complete the Ward 2 (Edna
Wade) term.  Sheehan and Riley and Creegan resigned and Edna Wade appointed
Tiberio to complete the Ward 1 term, Steve Durovic was appointed to
complete the Ward 4 term and Delores Gibbs was appointed to complete the
Ward 5 term.

 Then the attention was turned in my direction.  A letter was mailed to the
Town Office (Prangley) with the name of some fictitious organization
stating that this group was so impressed with my activities to limit the
impact of disabled persons on town services to save tax dollars they had to
send their admiration.  (I took the letter to the postmaster in Hyattsville
as the letter stated a post office box there).  The investigation revealed
there was no such organization with such a box number, however, the
postal  inspector said they had insufficient information to do an in-depth
search to find the perpetrator.  Incidentally, multiple copies of this
letter were scattered around the railroad crossing on the sidewalk and
parking lot etcetera of today's Town Center.

 Then, a card was put into my box at the Town Hall purporting to be a Santa
Claus card with some sleazy, ugly statements and signed with my son,
Patrick's name.  I requested that our mail boxes be secured with some type
of keyed door and was informed there was no reason to spend town dollars on
such an effort just to please me.

 They tried to rearrange the way the council members sat at the meeting
table.  Instead of in order of their ward number, "they" would say where
members sat.  I told them they would have to physically remove me from my
Ward 3 chair every meeting so they gave that one up.

 One meeting night, I appeared with my meeting papers and sat at the
table.  There was dust/dirt on the table (so I thought) so I brushed it
away.  In seconds, my hands were brilliant green!!  I went into the kitchen
behind the auditorium and tried to clean my hands just to learn that it was
that bank stuff and it does not wash off -- it has to wear off over time!!
I believe the intention was that I would be embarrassed and would not
attend the meeting.  *Au contraire, *I stayed at the meeting and when the
camera was rolling I announced what had been done to me and showed my
hands, etcetera.

 There were other bits of harassment, but it's time to close this saga down.

 Warm regards,
Ann
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