FENWICK ISLAND – Officials say Fenwick residents have until Sept. 15 to submit letters of interest for serving on the town council.
In a town council meeting last Friday, Council President Vicki Carmean announced plans to accept letters of interest from town residents looking to serve on the Fenwick Island Town Council. She noted the candidates selected to fill the two vacant positions will serve the remainder of a two-year term.
“We have two vacancies for two council members whose terms have not expired, and the charter tells us we can appoint someone to fill those vacancies,” she said. “So I am offering until Sept.15 for letters of interest to come to me.”
On Aug. 20, Councilmen Bernie Merritt and Gardner Bunting submitted their letters of resignation following an organizational meeting in which election winners Natalie Magdeburger, Janice Bortner, Jacque Napolitano and Paul Breger were sworn in as the newest members of the town council. In separate statements, the incumbents said they were stepping down over differences in vision and misleading information.
“I loved being part of the Fenwick Town Council for the last 5 years, but after this campaign that was built on hysteria and facts that were distorted, I decided that the new council had a vision for this town that I could not support, so therefore I decided to remove myself from the Council and all my Committee Assignments,” Merritt said last week. “I only wish continued success for the Town of Fenwick Island.”
According to the town’s charter, the town council can fill vacancies by appointment. Carmean said she is hoping the council can swear in the new members at the next meeting in September.
“I will wait until Sept. 15,” she said. “At that point, the town council will decide who those two new council members will be. They will have a one-year term because the two members who resigned, their terms would have expired next year.”
Carmean last week also announced plans to accept applications from interested residents looking to fill vacancies on various town committees. Since the town election, several residents have resigned from various committees, leading Carmean to suspend all committee activities.
“As we have observed, as one person resigns from a committee, there are a lot of holes because the same people served on many committees,” she said. “So I’ve basically suspended all committee activity until we have a chance to offer a new application.”
Carmean noted that applications are available at town hall and on the town’s website. She said forms will be accepted through Sept. 15.
“We have a couple of committees that need to be active and ongoing. One of them is the Charter and Ordinance Committee and the other is the Audit Committee …,” she said. “People who apply to be on the Charter and Ordinance or Audit committees, I’m going to do rolling acceptances as qualified people turn in their applications because I want to fill those committees quickly.”
During public comments, resident Charlie Hastings proceeded to submit his resignations to the Budget, Audit and Dredging committees, making him the 14th known member to step down.
“No thinking persons, including the town manager as well as the council members and committee members who have willingly given up their expertise and many hours of time over the years, would work with a group who has done nothing but find fault with almost everything this group of devoted Fenwick Islanders has done,” he said.
Carmean responded by saying her primary goal is to reunite the community following a divisive election.
“I want committees where people have a chance to exchange their ideas, and you don’t have to agree.”
Mike Quinn, a member of the town’s Charter and Ordinance Committee, agreed.
“I happen to be on the Charter and Ordinance Committee and for about the last four years I don’t think I’ve voted in favor of anything that’s happened because I didn’t believe in it,” he said. “But I had my vote and I stayed. I didn’t quit, I didn’t resign, I stayed. That’s what I want to see out of the people that have resigned. They have a lot of education about this town, and we need them.”
Carmean last week also announced the town will begin the hiring process to fill vacancies left by the resignations of Town Manager Terry Tieman and Town Solicitor Mary Schrider-Fox.
