Walkersville commissioner resigns, leaving town with two vacancies
Dec. 15—Walkersville Commissioner Michael Bailey announced his resignation Wednesday, creating a second vacancy on the town's board of commissioners.
His last day will be Jan. 31, 2023.
"My family was afforded an opportunity to move south, and after praying about it and weighing the options, we are pursuing the relocation down to North Carolina," Bailey said. "It was a really hard decision."
The town is already hosting a special election on Feb. 13, 2023, to fill the commissioner seat vacated by Michael McNiesh.
McNiesh was unanimously ousted by his fellow commissioners in the fall for having too many unexcused absences at town meetings.
He has said he will run again for his former seat.
Following Bailey's announcement, commissioners voted for Commissioner Mary Ann Brodie-Ennis to replace Bailey as the vice president of the commission.
Commissioner Gary Baker compiled a list of different avenues the commission could take to fill the vacancy from Bailey's departure.
Baker said the town's options include:
— hold a separate special election
— appoint someone who ran in the 2021 general election
— appoint the second-highest vote-getter in the special election
— appoint someone else who ran in the special election
— appoint someone else from the town who did not file to run.
"What I would say is that if you have any interest at all in possibly being a commissioner, that you go ahead and put your name in the hat because you don't know what might possibly be out there," he said.
Walkersville resident Karen Watson said she was in favor of a special election for Bailey's seat, since there isn't ranked-choice voting in Walkersville. If there were ranked-choice voting, she would want to appoint the runner-up in the special election for McNiesh's seat to fill Bailey's vacant seat.
Ranked-choice voting is a system in which voters rank all of the candidates. When a voter's preferred candidate is eliminated, their vote shifts to their next preferred candidate. Eventually, a candidate will get a majority of the vote.
Another resident voiced the same opinion as Watson.
"I would ask that you consider holding a second election and giving citizens a chance to vote for the two positions and not just one," she said.
Commissioners also introduced a change to the charter that would amend poll times for special elections in 2023.
The charter states that polls should be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m, but the commissioners are considering having polls open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. for 2023. A public hearing on the change will be held at the next town meeting on Jan. 11.
Starting Monday, Town Manager Sean Williams said, those interested in running in the special election for McNiesh's seat can pick up their paperwork at Town Hall. People must file for candidacy by Jan. 17 at 4:30 p.m., he said.
Williams said absentee ballots will be available for voters. The last day people can request absentee ballots will be Feb. 7, he said.
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