Public weighs in on Aberdeen election ties plan, changes possible

The Aberdeen mayor and City Council are getting closer to adopting a city charter amendment resolution to resolve election ties with a runoff election, the original solution proposed by the city's elections board to resolve a tie in last year's council race.&quot;After what we went through almost a year ago, it's a welcome resolution,&quot; Mark Schlottman, a member of the city's three-person Board of Elections, said Monday during a public hearing on Resolution 16-CR-02. &quot;Thank you for putting the charter resolution together.&quot;Schlottman noted the language in the amendment, which calls for a runoff election between two or more candidates who get the same number of votes in a mayoral or council race, is &quot;what we proposed immediately following the election [of 2015], but the city attorney did not agree with that recommendation.&quot;He asked that the mayor and council not vote to adopt the resolution Monday, however, so a final version can be developed with recommendations from the city elections board and the Harford County Board of Elections.Mayor Patrick McGrady said the he and the council already had planned to postpone voting for the same reason, to review recommendations from the elections boards and the city attorney.&quot;We're happy to have you and the entire Board of Elections in on the conversation,&quot; the mayor told Schlottman.Councilwoman Sandra Landbeck said elections officials would be invited to take part in a work session and incorporate all comments into the final document.&quot;We need to get this done as soon as possible so this won't happen again,&quot; city elections board member Angela Johnson said of last year's debacle that prompted the charter amendment.City leaders had to find a way to fill a vacant seat on the four-person City Council after last November's election, when two candidates for the fourth seat tied with 655 votes each. The city attorney advised, in the absence of any procedure outlined in the charter, that the seat be declared vacant and the mayor should appoint someone with council concurrence.It took several tries after McGrady and the council hit an impasse over his first two nominees, however, and the situation wasn't resolved until April, when the council approved Steve Goodin to fill the seat.Under the proposed amendment, if there is a tie, a runoff must be held within 30 days after the elections board certifies the initial election results, according to the current version of the resolution. A second runoff must be held if there is still a tie.A candidate can opt out of a runoff if he or she files written notice within 48 hours after learning the date of the special election. If there is only one candidate left, then the runoff will be canceled, and &quot;the remaining candidate shall be deemed to be elected,&quot; according to the legislation.During Monday's public hearing, resident Bob Hartman suggested during the public hearing that each candidate who participates in the runoff should pay a small fee, such as $50, to help cover the costs.&quot;If you're really serious about doing it, you'll go and you'll pay a fee for the runoff,&quot; Hartman said.He also suggested adjusting polling hours on Election Day be adjusted to consider voters who commute from Aberdeen to work by rail and must leave early in the morning and do not get home until after the polls close.The polls at the Aberdeen Senior Center were open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. during last year's city election.&quot;I've heard people complain for the last, probably, five elections because they just can't make it,&quot; Hartman said.He noted people can use absentee ballots if they are going to be out of town, but &quot;some people want to come down and vote.&quot;McGrady said a meeting with elections officials on the resolution will be scheduled in the coming days.&quot;We'll get that set up so we can bang out these details and get this done sooner rather than later,&quot; he said.Closed sessionThe mayor and council went into closed session at the end of Monday's meeting to discuss personnel matters, to consult with staff on &quot;pending or potential litigation,&quot; review an investigative proceeding on &quot;actual or possible criminal conduct,&quot; plus a &quot;contractual issue with an existing business,&quot; McGrady said in his motion to close the meeting.The first three topics are related to &quot;a personnel matter involving a city employee,&quot; the mayor said.The mayor and council went into closed session during the previous council meeting Oct. 10 to discuss those same topics regarding a city employee, according to a statement on the meeting provided Monday. The mayor and council did not take any action after Monday's closed meeting, or at the Oct. 10 closed meeting.The mayor and City Manager Randy Robertson declined to provide additional details later, citing closed session procedures.

Public weighs in on Aberdeen election ties plan, changes possible

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