PRINCESS ANNE, Md. -- On Monday night, three out of five commissioners approved a budget that will leave the town with a $111,342 deficit. Neighbors are worried the commissioners who passed the budget only did so to benefit themselves.
"What disturbs me the most is the lack of checks and balances that is required to govern," said James Holbrook. "The lack of an ethics commission should be a paramount importance, and no valid reason has been given, why it does not exist."
Monday night at the Garland Heyward Youth Center got off to a very contentious start. Several neighbors showed up sporting signs that read "Stop ARP Proposal 2, No to Budget Deficit".
Those same people went back and forth with Commission President Lionel Frederick, who at the start of the meeting, denied a request from Princess Anne neighbor Cynthia Perry.
Perry asked if herself and others could be given a chance to speak before the commissioners casted their votes. When her request was denied, tensions boiled over between the commissioners and those in attendance.
It ended with one man being escorted out by the Princess Anne Police Department. But all of the turmoil centered around the town's budget, which just a few weeks ago was in such bad shape, the town needed to turn to ARP Rescue Plan Funds.
It's why on Monday, town leaders had two proposals in front of them. Below are breakdowns of both options, via the Town of Princess Anne.
ARP Budget #1:
- Add $233,646 in revenue
- Add $16,354 in expenses
- Surplus of $79,658
ARP Budget #2:
- Adds $138,146 in revenue
- Adds $111,854 in expenses
- Deficit of $111,342
The Big Difference?
Both budgets had lien items for grants to go towards small businesses and minority owned small businesses. ARP Budget #2, however, allocated $375,000 for those grants, while ARP Budget #1 only allocated $150,000.
ARP Budget #1 was put together by town staff. ARP Budget #2 was put forward by Commission President Lionel Frederick.
Frederick stated during Monday's meeting that the money would help bridge a racial wealth divide in Princess Anne and would allow small businesses to dig themselves out of financial holes created by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Almost nobody in attendance disagreed with that sentiment. What they took issue with is that Frederick, along with Commission Vice President Shelley Johnson, both own small businesses in Princess Anne.
"The committee[commission] has nobody on the ethics board, it's completely vacant, they've made no effort since the election to fill this ethics board, and now they've just completed a vote to put money in their own pockets," said David Hooker. "
Neither Johnson or Frederick recused themselves from the vote, and when WBOC asked both directly if they planned on applying for any grant money, they dodged the question.
Now, there were some people at the meeting, like Dale Parker, who approved of the decision.
"I applaud you guys, I hope we can find a way to make it just work and to be fair to everybody but we got to look at the other side of this, if we don't invest we're going to keep going downhill," said Parker.
The overwhelming majority, however, was stunned over a vote they feel was unethical.
"The council knows that they're in violation of their charter with the state and the state knows their in violation," said Hooker. "So the next step is more than likely to contact the state and let them know what they're doing here in Princess Anne."
Commissioners Lionel Frederick, Shelley Johnson and Ellis Jones voted in favor of ARP Budget #2. Commissioners Joseph Gardner and Marion Polk were opposed.
