On Monday, a petition signed by 183 registered St. Michaels voters was presented to the Town Manager, asking to take Ordinance 429, the ethics law passed September 11 by the town Commissioners, to a referendum vote.
According to Town Manager Jean Weisman, 172 of those signatures have been verified, more than the 156 necessary to meet the town code requirement that a full 20% of registered voters request the referendum. In the almost 30 years that she has worked for the town, Weisman said she has never seen an ordinance challenged by a referendum vote. “Whatever the outcome, it’s good to see that the people are able to vote directly on the issue they feel strongly about,” Weisman said.
Next steps are for the St. Michaels Commissioners to set a date for a special election, or to push the vote off until the town’s next general election, in May of 2014.
At question is the 3 year long debate about the town’s response to the ethics law passed by the General Assembly in 2010, in which all elected officials in small towns across the state are to be held to the exact same conflict of interest and financial disclosure standards as are statewide elected officials. Of the 157 towns in Maryland, over 80 have been exempted from the law.
St. Michaels was granted an exemption from the lobbying portion of the law, but not the financial disclosure portion that is of great concern to many in small towns across the state. By requiring such stringent financial disclosure, residents of small towns are concerned that few people will be willing to run for office. In fact, St. Michaels Commissioner Tad duPont quit his post over the issue in early September.
At their meeting on September 11. the Commissioners of St. Michaels chose to drop an ongoing discussion about asking the state to re-consider the exemption, refused to hear Mr. duPont present the petition to the Commissioners, and forced a vote. That vote resulted in the town adopting “Model B”, the state’s recommended ethics law for small towns in Maryland. For more information on that meeting, see the Talbot Spy story here.
Mr. duPont said that the petition sends a strong message to both the town Commissioners, and the State Ethics Commission. “A one size law does not fit all. That law isn’t right for St. Michaels,” he said.
Only time will tell what effect the referendum vote will have on the town’s ethics law. Even if the present ordinance is overturned after a special election, and the citizens demand that the town ask the state to re-consider the request for exemption, the ultimate decision still lies with the State Ethics Commission.
Robert "bob" Porter says
Isn’t it just a wonderful thing when the folks in a small town can stand up against the bully pulpit and have their voices heard?
Hopefully they’ll see the light at the next vote.
Congratulations St. Michaels residents !
Bob