(10/27) In front of a tense, capacity-filled roof filled with residents hanging on every word said, the Walkersville Board of Commissioners voted 3 to 1 that fellow Commissioner Michael McNiesh had forfeited his office for failing to attend three Town Council meetings in a row.
At times, discussions during the three and a half-hour long public workshop alternated between dueling topics that were usually the domain of judicial philosophy and corporate boardrooms.
Commissioner Michael Bailey, who served as the presiding chairman of the proceeding, led his fellow commissioners through a lucent and highly articulate argument that mimicked the philosophy of judicial ‘textual’ constructivism, stating that a revision to the town charter in 2019 addressed that the attendance of town meetings by remote means was not ‘specially’ tied to the section of the code upon which the charges McNiesh were based. Because the 2019 change did not address the cited text, McNiesh should have been considered ‘present’ for the last meeting, and thus not triggering the rule for forfeiture.
His fellow commissioners, however, echoed the philosophy of ‘original intent’ of the section of the code in question, stating that the purpose of being a commissioner was to legislate. Additionally, since the charter change in 2019 prohibits one from voting via phone, McNiesh was incapable of performing his ‘legislative’ duties, meaning he was, in fact, ‘absent’ from the meeting. While in this case he had called in, the fact that he had not physically attended the last two meetings and failed to call into them had triggered the rule for forfeiture.
Commissioners also raised the fact that McNiesh had missed eight town council meeting so far, having only dialed into two. They also pointed out that while on military duty last year, McNiesh had missed most meetings, yet he managed to dial into all of them. The disparity between the two years caused several commissioners to question his commitment to his elected office.
Residents who attended the workshop rose to McNiesh’s defense, however, stating that he had lost his job as an airline pilot due to COVID-19, and that the most recent series of absences was due to him having acquired a new job which has required him to attend training in Texas for an extended period. "Do you really want penalize him for putting the needs of his family over the requirement to attend a meeting?" one resident asked the commissioners during the public comment period.
Residents also questioned the validity of the requirement for the need to be physically present for meetings, stating: "COVID-19 had changed everything," and that many people were now working remotely, and that the requirement to attending meetings in person should be dropped.
However, the commissioners’ responses echoed the thinking of many corporate boardrooms who are re-evaluating remote work, having found it inefficient due the reduced interaction of staff members. Commissioner Gilbert pointed out that to be an effective commissioner required getting out amongst the people in the town, something that McNiesh could not do while he resided in Texas.
Gilbert also rejected the call to change the rules to reflect the current post-pandemic remote work environment, stating, "Rules are rules, and that without rules, we will have chaos." Pointing to the turmoil the town was currently experiencing, he said, "You don’t change the rules after you break them, but before they are broken. If we change this rule, what other rules will we change after they’re broken? Where does it end?"
In the end, all four commissioners made it clear that this was not an easy decision to make, and they took their action with a heavy heart.
A special election will now be held to fill McNiesh’s vacant seat on the Town Council, the timing of which has not been set.
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