[RP TownTalk] Cottage City Results :)

[Jonathan Ebbeler]

Audrey -

I am reminded by the irony in life often that it is hard not to smile.  Shortly after resigning I received the following email from the municipality of Cottage City.  They decided to handle the question of changing the structure of government in a very open and transparent fashion - letting the voters decide how they wanted to be represented.

The vote last night did not change operationally how we were 'supposed' to be governed.  Our Town Administrator, since 1983 when ICMA our town as a General Manager form of government, was codified in our Charter as the Town's Chief Operating Officer.  A COO in any organization is responsible for the day-to-day administration and operation of the town.  The justification for the need to change was always flawed since our Charter already assigned the day-to-day operational responsibilities not to the Mayor but Town Administrator.

The vote last night did however change who the Chief Financial Officer is.  The CFO used to be the Mayor, responsible for the financial management of the town - now it will be a Town Administrator/Manager.  In 40 days, the current financial issues of the town are no longer the Mayor's responsibility but that of a Town Administrator/Manager the town hires.

JWE

___________________________________________________________________
Dear Citizens of Cottage City,

The Board of Elections would like to thank the citizens of Cottage City for their participation in the 2016 Commission Election! The members of the Board of Election Supervisors for the election held in the Town of Cottage, Maryland, Monday, May 2, 2016, hereby certify that the results of said election were as follows:

WARD 2 CANDIDATES:
Frederick Hill: 44 votes

WARD 4 CANDIDATES:
Sheila Butler: 51 votes


The survey questions are as follows:
BALLOT QUESTION #1 -Shall the Cottage City Commission explore a change of government other than the current commission form?
-AGAINST; 45
-FOR; 28


BALLOT QUESTION #2 -My preference is the following form of municipal government for Cottage City? (Vote For only one)
-Commission based; 42
-Mayor/Council based; 25
-Council/Manager based; 5


BALLOT QUESTION #3 -Shall the day of the Cottage City regular election be changed from the first Monday of May to the first Saturday of May?
-AGAINST; 37
-FOR; 25


BALLOT QUESTION #4 - Non-citizens who are legal residents of the U.S. and the Town shall be permitted to vote in Cottage City municipal elections?
-AGAINST; 34
-FOR; 32




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