Left to right, MetCom Boardmember Alice Gaskin and St. Mary’s County Commissioner John O’Connor.
Leonardtown, MD — Commissioner of St. Mary’s County John O’Connor [R – 3rd District] has voted against the reappointment of Alice Gaskin (shown at left) to the Metropolitan Commission (MetCom). O’Connor’s was the sole negative vote on the issue during the commissioners’ June 28 meeting.
O’Connor criticized Gaskin on two fronts: her tardiness in submitting her ethics disclosure statement and her attendance at meetings. Regarding attending meetings, O’Connor said, “Her attendance rate has been lackluster at best.”
The Metropolitan Commission is the county’s water and sewer authority. Although they operate somewhat independently, the commissioners appoint the board members.
Commissioner Tom Jarboe [R – 1st District] rebutted O’Connor by saying Gaskin has attended seven of the eight meetings so far this year. The one meeting she missed was the one in which the commission voted 3-2 to advertise for a part-time attorney to replace the position held by their legal counsel Jacquelyn Meiser. Since board chairman Steve Willing could only vote to break a tie, he was unable to vote. Both Willing and Gaskins would have supported Meiser.
O’Connor charged that Gaskin turned in her ethics disclosure form at the 11th hour, saying she was breaking county law by not doing so in a timely fashion. But Jarboe noted that she was not the only one who needed prompting to return the form.
Commissioner Mike Hewitt [R – 2nd District} said the commissioners need to do more to make their boards and commissions representative of how the community looks. “We don’t have women and minorities,” he said. Gaskin is African-American and the only woman on the otherwise all-white, male MetCom board.
Commissioner President Randy Guy [R], in supporting Gaskin, noted that MetCom like most of the boards and commissions is a “volunteer service.”
In addition to Gaskin’s reappointment to another three-year term, the commissioners also appointed John Carey to the seat representing the 2nd and 9th commissioner districts. That positron is currently held by Charles “Sonny” Pessagno, Jr, whose term expires on June 30. Carey sat in the audience during the June 23 MetCom meeting.
O’Connor noted that he supported Carey’s nomination but since both Gaskin and Carey were bundled together for one vote he had to register a negative for both appointments.
Contact Dick Myers at dick.myers@thebaynet.com