FENWICK ISLAND – A handful of changes, including the removal of public participation regulations, highlighted the first monthly meeting of the new Fenwick Island Town Council.
Under the leadership of Mayor Vicki Carmean, the four new members of the Fenwick Island Town Council kicked off their first monthly meeting last week with a number of changes involving public participation.
“We’re going to do things a little bit differently,” Carmean said. “We’ve talked about this, and one of the things we heard from the community during this last election is the people want to be heard.”
Last fall, several community members came before the town council sharing their frustration with the lack of communication between council members and residents after setting a 30-minute time limit for all public comments and deciding not to respond to residents’ questions and concerns.
Carrying out their campaign promises of greater transparency and open communication, the council’s first order of business last week was the elimination of time limits for public participation, as well as changes to the order of public comments.
“The other thing we are going to do is, before the council votes on anything, we’re going to leave it up to the audience if anyone wants to raise their hand and provide input on the issues,” Carmean said. “We will introduce a topic, have a motion to consider the topic, we’ll discuss it and have public input.”
Carmean added that the public comment period at the end of each meeting will also be open to residents.
“All the old rules are gone …,” she said. “My thought is after five or six minutes if you are not done speaking we will leave it up to council what we do with your ideas, whether we want to defer it into another meeting, whether we want to refer it to a committee, or just thank you for your thoughts.”
With no further discussion, a motion to dissolve time limits for participation and to change the order of public participation before a council vote passed 5-0.
The council this week also voted to adopt a code of conduct for the town council and town meetings.
The resolution outlines that public officials will not use their office for personal or financial gain and will strive to provide the public and media with information on how town business is conducted, among other things.
“I think it’s a start …,” Carmean said. “I thought it was a way to generate good will among the community and to bring the community together.”
During last week’s town council meeting, Councilwoman Janice Bortner also made a request that the town reintroduce the “Quiet Resort” slogan on the town seal.
“The voters endorsed the platform on the culture the ‘Quiet Resort’ embodies, quiet residential communities, uncrowded beaches, a healthy commercial district,” she said. “I feel the voters have spoken, and we hear their voices.”
A motion to add the “Quiet Resort” to the town seal passed unanimously.
In August, challengers Natalie Magdeburger, Bortner, Jacque Napolitano and Paul Breger were sworn in to the offices of town council after defeating incumbent candidates Richard Mais, Bill Weistling, Mike Houser and Gene Langan in the annual municipal election.
Throughout the campaign, the candidates battled over issues such as outdoor bars, shuttle buses, building heights and more. The group of challengers argued the town’s leadership catered to developers’ interests and ignored the concerns of residents, while the group of incumbents asserted the challengers’ platform was based on misrepresentation and false statements.
