Emmitsburg commissioners discuss wide-ranging charter amendments, leave final action for later

Town Attorney Clark (speaker 11) led an extended discussion on possible amendments to the Town of Emmitsburg charter at the March 2 board meeting, presenting a mix of substantive and housekeeping changes and asking commissioners for direction.

Clark described one substantive proposed change intended to address a narrow vacancy scenario: if a sitting commissioner who still had time on a commission term runs for and wins the mayoralty, the person with the next highest vote total for commissioner on that ballot would fill the remainder of the vacated commissioner term rather than leaving the selection to appointment. "This change would address the very specific situation where one of you who still had time left on their commissioner term ran for mayor and won the election," Clark said, explaining the intent to rely on ballots already cast rather than impose an appointment decision on the board.

Commissioners raised multiple related questions. Some asked for a broader, written process for filling vacancies (applications, interviews, mayoral role in tie votes), noting past deadlocks when appointments were required. Others suggested retaining appointment authority for some unfilled seats and using a decision tree that varies by how much time is left in the unexpired term.

Other proposed charter edits discussed included:

- Enforcement penalties: Clark noted state law raised the statutory cap on some municipal penalties from $1,000/90 days to a $5,000/6‑month maximum; the draft charter text would reflect the current statutory cap while leaving the board discretion to set lower amounts in specific ordinances.

- Delegation of hiring and firing: a draft would let the board reserve hiring/firing approval for department heads and senior offices while allowing department heads and the mayor to appoint or remove subordinate employees subject to budgeted salary ranges. Commissioners asked for clarification about how salary setting and budget authority would interact with the proposed delegation.

- Budgeting language: staff requested removal of a requirement to project receipts for the remainder of the fiscal year during the budget process; commissioners asked to retain reasonable year‑end projections for obligations (invoices, outstanding POs).

Clark said the changes are not final and offered to redraft language to address commissioners' guardrail requests; several commissioners requested staff return with proposed appointment procedures and clearer cross‑references to existing ordinances. No charter amendments were adopted at this meeting; the attorney will revise the draft and return it for a future review.