Walkersville commissioner ousted from office for absences

Oct. 6—Walkersville Commissioner Michael McNiesh has been ousted from office after three unexcused absences from town meetings.

Last week, in a closed session, other commissioners voted that McNiesh's absences on Aug. 24, Sept. 14 and Sept. 29 were unexcused. This violated the town charter, which states a burgess or commissioner must forfeit their office if they miss three consecutive regular meetings without being excused by commissioners.

McNiesh participated in the Sept. 29 meeting by phone, but the city does not recognize that as attending.

At the end of that meeting, other commissioners and Burgess Chad Weddle held a closed meeting. Because McNiesh was considered absent, he was not permitted to be part of the closed session or to vote during the public meeting.

McNiesh — who was elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2021 — is pushing back and has requested a public hearing to challenge the ouster. A hearing date has not yet been announced.

In an interview Wednesday, McNiesh said he was notified of his removal a few days after the Sept. 29 closed session.

He said he has been in Texas since Aug. 16 to train for his new job as a flight training center instructor with Southwest Airlines. He said he let the other commissioners and Weddle know he would be temporarily gone for job training.

During the Sept. 29 meeting, he told the burgess and commissioners he would return Oct. 11, and would be at the town meeting on Oct. 12 in person.

The town's charter says there can be an exception for missing meetings for "health or personal issues," as long as the burgess and commissioners excuse the absences.

McNiesh said he didn't know if he had to formally request an excused absence.

"I was really kind of surprised by this development," he said.

Town Manager Sean Williams said Wednesday that he would not provide details of the commissioners' vote to oust McNiesh. He said the Maryland Open Meetings Act requires government bodies to provide a summary of closed session actions as part of the minutes reviewed at the next public meeting.

He deferred to Weddle on whether details of the vote could be disclosed sooner.

Weddle could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

McNiesh declined to share a copy of an email Weddle sent him saying he was being removed from office.

McNiesh quoted from the email in a Facebook post: "This is to advise you that due to your violations of Town of Walkersville Charter Sections C3-2 C. and C6-2 D. for failing, without excuse, to attend three consecutive meetings of the Commissioners in 2022 — August 24, 2022; September 14, 2022 and September 29, 2022, the Commissioners voted on September 29, 2022, to acknowledge that you have forfeited your office as Commissioner as set forth in the Charter."

The town attorney, David Severn, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

In the same Facebook post, McNiesh wrote that current technology should allow elected officials to participate remotely.

"In today's age of teleworking and the virtual world, exclusively requiring in-person attendance is outdated," he wrote.

He called Walkersville's technology "archaic" compared to other municipalities'.

For example, Walkersville never moved to virtual meetings during the pandemic, he said in an interview. Instead, the town had its essential employees, burgess and commissioners attend meetings in person, socially distanced. The town recorded meetings and posted them online.

Commissioners Tom Gilbert, Mary Ann Brodie-Ennis and Gary Baker all wrote in emails on Wednesday in response to questions from the News-Post that they had no comment.

Commissioner Michael Bailey could not be reached for comment.

Several supporters on Facebook said they would support McNiesh in his challenge.

"I think that citizens recognize the job I do for them and I'm not willing to just give that up. I think that I've worked hard for them. I want them to put their trust in me," he said.

Follow Clara Niel on Twitter: @clarasniel