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Court to decide mayor’s fate

Thursday, Jan. 12, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo Joyce Beck

If the injunction at a hearing scheduled for today is approved, the Council would be prohibited from amending 12 resolutions to the town’s charter, one of which calls for Beck’s dismissal, according to Debra Davis, the attorney for the plaintiffs.

Former Town Council member Ann Reifsneider, along with seven other Forest Heights residents, filed the injunction with the Prince George’s County Circuit Court after the Town Council refused to validate a petition signed by more than 300 residents, calling for a vote on the proposed amendments. The Council instead voted to immediately adopt the resolutions as of Jan. 6.

A court order, signed by Judge James Lombardi on Jan. 6, temporarily restrained the Town Council from immediately amending the town charter. If the injunction is not made permanent, Lombardi’s order is set to expire on Jan. 17 and the Council’s vote would go into effect.

The Council’s decision left many residents to question where their voting rights stand.

‘‘They have no right to push our votes aside” and choose a new mayor, said resident Erik Jensen.

‘‘You can’t take our voting rights away from us,” resident Jackie Goodall told the Council.

‘‘The lawsuit sues Beck and the Council because citizens’ rights have been taken away from them,” Davis said.

The town attorney Wilmer Ticer said the petition was submitted properly, but council members argued otherwise.

Councilman Myles Spires said the Council has concerns that some of the petitions were obtained through town funding. ‘‘We believe that to be unethical,” he said.

The proposed resolutions have caused controversy ever since Spires introduced them in November. In addition to calling for Beck’s dismissal, the resolutions also propose to increase the mayor’s term and the council members’ terms from two years to four years and would transfer more authority to the Town Council overall.

Spires said his main reason for pushing the resolutions is ‘‘because the town government needs to be reformed” and Beck’s behavior has ‘‘just amplified this so far.”

‘‘I’m with the people. The people are right to insist that the people in office do what’s right by them,” Beck said.

For now, things remain tense. In addition to stressing the importance of their voting rights, residents have urged the Council and the mayor to put their personal differences aside.

‘‘If you have a personal vendetta against someone that is between you and them,” resident Bessie Smith said at Monday’s meeting. ‘‘We’re sitting here bickering over nothing. Be about the town of Forest Heights.”

Spires petitioned to nullify Lombardi’s order on Jan. 10, which was denied by a judge.

Controversy has surrounded the town of Forest Heights ever since charges were filed against Beck during the fall for allegedly assaulting a Forest Heights police officer and a former council member.

And although the Council is still required to validate the residents’ petition, no date has been set to do so. ‘‘The Council still does not intend to validate the petitions,” Beck told The Gazette, adding ‘‘I foresee that because the Council will continue to ignore the people that the people will likely ask the attorney general to get involved.”

E-mail Erin Henk at ehenk@gazette.net.