(10/18) Issues acknowledged and left unresolved during Emmitsburg’s last Council vacancy in 2013 returned as the Town Council worked to fill the open seat following the election of former commissioner Frank Davis to Mayor.

In 2013, the Town Council held a special meeting to discuss the selection of a new commissioner following the resignation of then Commissioner Glenn Blanchard. The Council was stemmed by the fact that while the town code laid responsibility on selecting Blanchard replacement on the Council, no formal process was identified as to how the selection should or could take place.

The lack of a formal process created anarchy within the 2013 council with some calling on the selection of the ‘runner up’, while others proposed alternate names. In the end, the Council rejected the idea of appointing the 'runner up' and ultimately opted to appoint former Mayor Jim Hoover to fill the remaining time of Blanchard’s term.

As a result of the confusion, the Town Council, which included current Town Council President Tim O’Donnell and Commissioner Cliff Sweeney agreed to update the Charter to provide more guidance to prevent a re-occurrence. However they failed to do so, resulting in the current Town Council facing the same dilemma.

Fast-forward 10 years …

Lacking guidance, at its Oct. 2 meeting, the Council proposed that the town post a vacancy notice on the Town’s website to alert residents of the vacancy on the Council in hopes of finding suitable candidates to fill the remaining 10 months of Frank Davis’ term. A total of four residents applied.

On October 18, a special session was held by the Town Council at which time the four candidates: Planning Commission member Kevin Hagen, former Commissioner Glenn Blanchard, former Mayor Jim Hoover, and Brookfield resident Scott Frager were interviewed by the Council. Each council member asked one question related to what the candidate hoped to accomplish if selected; what personal skills they would bring to the Council; and their thoughts on the future of the Town.

At the conclusion of the questioning, the Council retreated to discuss their thoughts in private in a ‘closed session.’

Newly elected Commissioner Valerie Turnquist initially questioned the process the Council was going to employ, stating that Council members were not given enough time to consider candidate resumes and that the selection vote should be done in public, not behind closed doors as originally proposed.

Turnquist argued the Council did not have enough input into the process and suggested tabling the interviews until there was time to discuss the process further. Additionally, she stated it was important to hold the vote in the public forum as to align with the Maryland Open Meetings Act.

"I think we need to be transparent with our decision and the public is entitled to be there for that vote," she said.

O’Donnell overruled Turnquist and directed the Q&A session to go forward, but agreed to delay the vote for Davis’ replacement until its Nov. 6th public meeting.

In spite of the importance of the candidate Q&A session, not a single resident of the town chose to witness it in person.