Resident (mayor’s spouse) urges revision to Sykesville election conduct code after partisan mailer

At the April 28 meeting a resident who identified herself as Mayor Stacy Lent’s wife, Dana Alonzi, used the public-comment period to urge the council to clarify the town code governing municipal elections after she said a partisan mailer arrived in residents’ mailboxes and a rogue social-media page threatened to post an edited video.

Alonzi began by disclosing her relationship to the mayor and said she feared her perspective might be dismissed because of that relationship. She asked the council to consider updating “chapter 33, section A of the town code, entitled ‘conduct of elections,’” which currently states only that “all elections shall be on a nonpartisan basis,” and does not define prohibited conduct or provide more detailed guidance, she said.

Alonzi asked that the council investigate whether the code needs rewriting to provide clearer guidance for candidates and campaigns, noting the town had previously examined signage limits in the historic district after the 2021 mayoral race. She said the Carroll County Times contacted the mayor about an ethics complaint earlier in the week and that residents had received a partisan mailer the day of the meeting; she said a new Facebook page had threatened to release an edited video that would allegedly incriminate the mayor.

Alonzi said she was not asking the council to file a complaint but urged it to consider whether Chapter 33 requires clearer language to preserve nonpartisan municipal elections and to make future conduct expectations explicit. She concluded by expressing personal support for Mayor Stacy Lent’s character and public service.

The council did not take formal action on the request during the meeting; Alonzi left a paper copy of the mailer with staff for the record.