For the third year in a row the Calvert County Commissioners have a new board president. Pat Nutter [R] was unanimously chosen to lead the panel for the next year. For the second year in a row, Steven R. Weems was chosen as board vice president. Commissioner Gerald W. “Jerry” Clark [R], who had served as president for the past year, made the motion to appoint Nutter and Weems to their respective positions. Commissioner Susan Shaw [R], who served as board president for most of 2011, seconded the nomination.
“I thank Jerry for the nomination,” said Nutter. “I’m sure I’m going to make dozens of mistakes.” Nutter told the outgoing board president “you’ve done a wonderful job.”
As board president, Nutter will set the weekly meeting agenda and will represent the board on the College of Southern Maryland Advisory Board and the Calvert County Economic Development Authority.
The selection of a third different commissioner to serve as board president signaled a return to the tradition followed by several previous boards prior to 1999. Most of the five-member boards rotated the responsibilities of the presiding officer on an annual basis. In December, 1999, Commissioner Linda L. Kelley was chosen as board president for a second consecutive year. In 2000, fellow Republican David Hale was chosen president. Hale, who was re-elected commissioner in 2002, served six consecutive years as board president. Democrat Wilson H. Parran served four consecutive years as board president, from 2006 to 2010.
In one of his last acts as board president, Clark opened the meeting by asking the attendees to join in a moment of silence for the victims of last Friday’s shooting incident at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. Clark called the tragedy, which resulted in the deaths of several small children and educators “unthinkable” and reminded Calvert residents that a similar “unimaginable grief can visit upon us at any time.”
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