Bryan “Puff” Barthelme
Leonardtown, MD — The St. Mary’s County Commissioners have made two new appointments and one re-appointment to the St. Mary’s County Metropolitan Commission (MetCom). Chairman Steve Willing was reappointed and Bryan “Puff” Barthelme and George “Mike” Thompson are the new appointees. The appointments were announced Tuesday, Jan. 13 at the commissioners’ regular weekly meeting.
Barthelme of Mechanicsville was a losing Republican candidate for the House of Delegates (District 29A) in June, 2014 primary. He is an independent contractor who does work for The Bay Net. Barthelme’s son is a member of the Republican Central Committee.
Thompson of Hollywood is a retired telephone company manager and does consulting work in the solar energy field. He was a losing candidate on several occasions for the Board of Directors of the Southern Maryland Electric Co-op. Thompson is married to former county commissioner Barbara Thompson, who is a current member of the Republican Central Committee.
Barthelme was previously on MetCom from 1996 to 2002 and was chairman for his final year. He was reappointed in 2009 but resigned due to a work conflict. He replaces Richard Mueller as the 4th and 5th Commissioner Districts representative on MetCom.
Thompson is filling the vacancy due the resignation of David DeMauro as the 6th Commissioner District representative.
The Metropolitan Commission is the county’s water and sewer authority. It is an independent agency whose members are appointed by the county commissioners. It has been on the firing line of criticism in recent years particularly over its annual rate increases.
Several of the new county commissioners during their campaign promised more oversight of MetCom.
Contact Dick Myers @ dick.myers@thebaynet.com