(12/7) At the Dec. 5 Town Council meeting, Commissioner Marty Burns was elected Mayor Pro Tem in a 3-1 vote. Commissioner Bob Lookingbill nominated Burns and Commissioner Bill Blakeslee seconded the nomination. Commissioner Wayne Hooper, who was previously Mayor Pro Tem, also voted for Burns.

During the discussion, Thurmont Mayor John Kinnaird pointed out that Lookingbill was part of the 3-2 vote asking Burns to resign from his position as then-mayor in 2009. Led by then-Commissioner Glenn Muth, the vote of no confidence came one week after Burns publicly suggested that fellow commissioners leaked a town document, and said he'd pay for polygraph tests for commissioners willing to deny the claim. Burns did not resign after the vote in 2009.

Lookingbill explained that his opinion had changed with time and maturity: "There’s an old saying: Let bygones be bygones," he said, "What happened, happened. We move forward and we get on with life."

Prior to the vote, Burns suggested the Council discuss the actions of a Mayor Pro Tem. He explained that a Mayor Pro Tem acts as the president of the board in the absence of the mayor, in this case Kinnaird. The individual voted Mayor Pro Tem does not become mayor in the case of a single absence at a town meeting, as Kinnaird and Burns recalled one commissioner in the past believing, but rather is temporarily able to act as mayor solely during the meeting.

The Council also came up with an action plan to change the meeting frequency from weekly to twice monthly, but only on a trial basis for January, February and March 2024. Town meetings will be the second and fourth Tuesdays in January and the first and third Tuesdays in February and March.

The Town Charter requires that the Town Council meet at least once a month in the 12-month period, according to Kinnaird. The town currently meets weekly, except for in July when the Council meets once.

"This is about the frequency of the meetings and the substantive agenda items that we have," Burns said, reiterating that he has no intention to eliminate public comment. He went on to suggest that the Council ask for residents’ opinions through surveys to see how often they would like to attend town meetings.

According to Kinnaird, there have been at least eight meetings canceled over the past four years due to lack of agenda items. "So, we do cancel meetings if there’s nothing on the agenda, if anybody’s worried about that. We don’t have meetings for the sake of having meetings," he said. Kinnaird also said he was happy with the frequency of the meetings at the beginning of the discussion but, by the end, wanted to try out two meetings a month on a trial basis.

Burns shared his research into the frequency of meetings for other local municipalities with the mayor and other commissioners prior to the discussion. He said that Middletown only has two meetings and one workshop per month. During workshops, which Thurmont also conducts, the Council gets together to discuss topics but no decision is made and there is no public participation allowed.

For this reason, Kinnaird is concerned about how changing the frequency of the town meetings will impact Thurmont residents and public comment: "Public comment is important to me, always has been". Kinnaird went on to request that, should the frequency or format be changed, that public comment be allowed at both town meetings and workshops.

Hooper echoed Kinnaird’s concerns, adding that more frequent meetings allow residents more opportunities to express their public comments. He is also concerned about the length of time between meetings in the case of a cancellation.

Blakeslee said he would be willing to try two meetings a month, especially since Kinnaird, as mayor, and CAO Jim Humerick both have the power to call an additional meeting if it’s needed.

The Town plans to host a survey for residents to express their opinion on the Town website.