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Charlestown councilor, former JCDA members say county removed municipal representation without notice
Summary
Speakers at the Harpers Ferry Town Council meeting said Jefferson County commissioners removed municipal representatives from the Jefferson County Development Authority board without notice, raising concerns about loss of municipal representation and possible Open Meetings Act violations.
Elizabeth Ricketts, a Charlestown city council member and the current Jefferson County representative to the Hagerstown Eastern Panhandle Metropolitan Planning Organization, and Roberta Mead Curry told the Harpers Ferry Town Council on July 14 they were removed from the Jefferson County Development Authority board without notice. Ricketts said the county commission immediately restructured the JCDA board into a smaller panel and began conducting interviews for the new board.
Ricketts said the removals eliminated guaranteed municipal representation on the authority and voiced legal concerns about the process. "They then immediately started conducting interviews. They denied me an interview saying I was not on the agenda," she said, and added that lawyers and community members believe the county violated the Open Meetings Act when it presented that agenda item.
Roberta Mead Curry said she had served on the JCDA until the removal and said the JCDA had been important to Harpers Ferry as "one of their major primary economic drivers in Jefferson County." She told the council she plans to reapply for a seat and urged municipal leaders to consider a joint resolution opposing the county action.
Mayor Vaughn and council members asked procedural questions and confirmed the JCDA still operates under its 2012 bylaws; Ricketts said those bylaws are available on the JCDA website and were referenced in the county commission agenda. Council members encouraged residents who want to speak at the county commission’s next meeting to do so; Ricketts said the county commission was scheduled to meet again on Thursday following the July 14 council meeting.
Why it matters: Councilors and residents said municipal representation on the JCDA gave towns a voice in regional economic development. Ricketts and Curry argued that removing guaranteed municipal seats could shift control of the authority and affect Jefferson County municipalities’ influence over economic decisions.
The council did not take formal action on the JCDA during the July 14 meeting. Ricketts said Charlestown is considering a resolution and encouraged other mayors to discuss a joint municipal response at an upcoming mayors’ meeting.
