Emergency Meeting October 1, 2006 At the emergency meeting of September 28, 2006, Council members Larry Stoner, Andrea McCutcheon and Clifton Atkinson unanimously elected former Council members George Wiggers and Lynn Smith-Barnes to fill the vacant seats in Ward I. Councilman Wiggers had held the Ward I seat until he resigned on May 17, 2006 when the term for which he was elected in May 2004 would have expired. Council President Larry Stoner announced that he was acting mayor while Myles Spires is under suspension as mayor. The Council elected Councilwoman McCutcheon as acting Council President while Larry Stoner is acting mayor.

The acting mayor agreed to release the details of the budget passed for FY2007 (July 2006 through June 2007). Links to this document and the audit report for FY2005 can be found on the Budget and Finance page of the Forest Heights News Report.

The Council repealed an ordinance requiring payment of annual fees by persons owning vacant lots in the Town.

After the meeting, Council President Larry Stoner indicated to us that the Council may have another emergency session on Wednesday, October 4, 2006. Watch for signs posted at the entrances to Forest Heights as to the 

Emergency Meeting September 28, 2006 An emergency meeting of the Town Council has been called for September 28, 2006 at 8:00 p.m. in the Municipal Building at 5508 Arapahoe Drive.

September 20, 2006 Town Meeting September 28, 2006 At about 8 p.m., a gathering of citizens and news reporters in the parking lot in front of the Forest Heights Municipal Building learned that the regular Town meeting, as required by Article 33-6 of the Town Charter, had been canceled. Council President Larry Stoner made the announcement on the front steps of the building. According to President Stoner, Myles Spires, who had been suspended as Mayor by the Town Council, had obtained a temporary injunction to keep the Council from enforcing its suspension resolution. He said that the Town planned to go to court to have the restraining order lifted.

April 7, 2006 Community Meeting August 4, 2006  A number of Forest Heights citizens gathered at St. Mark AME Church to discuss recent changes to the Forest Heights Town Charter. A number of speakers were critical of Mayor Spires and the Town Council. The formation of the Forest Heights Freedom Fighters was announced.

Town Trash Contractor Hit by Strike April 5, 2006 The Town's trash contractor, Waste Management, Inc., has been struck by its employee union, the Teamsters. As a consequence, trash on the east side of Forest Heights was not collected on Tuesday, April 4, 2006. We understand that at least some of the households on the west side did have their trash collected before the strike began.

We have been informed by the Town Clerk that Waste Management is able to begin collecting trash again. She indicated Goode may begin its work in Forest Heights will resume trash collection on Thursday, April 6, 2006. We will provide additional updates on this issue as the information becomes available.

Waste Management is a nation-wide company, with millions of customers across the country. A recent article in the Washington Post provides a news account on the extent and cause of the strike. Also, the Teamsters web site provides additional information on the strike from the union perspective.

Town Council Workshop and Special Meeting March 6, 2006 The Town Council will hold a special meeting concurrent with its monthly workshop meeting at 7:30 p.m. in the Municipal Building on March 6, 2006. Topics of the Special meeting will include appropriations, Charter amendments and ordinances.

Charges Dismissed March 6, 2006 On February 22, 2006 the State Prosecutor for Calvert County dismissed all assault charges, as reported here on December 21, 2005, against former Mayor Joyce A. Beck.

Town Council Special Meeting January 30, 2006 The Town Council will hold a Special Meeting on Monday, January 30, 2006 at 8:00 p.m. in the Municipal Building.

Myles Spires Sworn in as Mayor January 30, 2006 Myles Spires was sworn in as the Mayor of Forest Heights on January 27, 2006 at 9 a.m. by Rosalyn E. Pugh, Clerk of the Prince George's County Circuit Court, in the Upper Marlboro Court House.

Spires Elected Mayor January 24, 2006 In a special January 24, 2006 meeting called by the Town Council, Councilman Myles Spires was elected by the Council to fill the seat vacated by former Mayor Joyce Beck. The Council voted 5-0 to elect Councilman Spires to the Office of Mayor under a provision of the Town Charter for filling a vacancy in the Office of Mayor. Councilmen Larry Stoner, Worthington Ross, Myles Spires, Clifton Atkinson and George Wiggers voted in favor of the appointment. Councilwoman Alice Hoskins was absent from the meeting due to illness. Councilman Spires is expected to be sworn in on Thursday January 26, 2006 by the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Prince George's County.

An emergency ordinance was enacted at the special meeting regulating the conduct of petitions in the Town of Forest Heights. Also passed were two resolutions, the first appointing the Town Clerk to the position of Acting Town Treasurer for a period not to exceed 90 days, and the second to authorize payment $17,700 for the FY2004 audit. These documents will be posted on the Town Documents page when they become available.

Town Council Special Meeting January 23, 2006 The Town Council will hold a Special Meeting on Tuesday, January 24, 2006 at 8:00 p.m. in the Municipal Building to discuss further implementation of the Charter changes that went into effect on January, 17, 2006.

Judge Smith Cancels Injunction January 18, 2006 On January 17, 2006 Judge Thomas Smith of the Circuit Court  for Prince George's County, lifted the injunction restraining the Forest Heights Town Council for implementing the Town's Charter amendments passed on November 16, 2005 was lifted. The Charter amendments were to go into effect on January 6, 2006, but were put on hold by a temporary restraining order (PDF Format) issued by Circuit Court Judge James Lombardi on January 6, 2006, which was set to expire on January 17, 2006. The plaintiff's, Anne Reifsneider, et al., then filed for a permanent injunction, which resulted in the order by Judge Smith. At the hearing before Judge Smith, attorney's for both sides in the dispute questioned witnesses, focusing on whether the petition had been validly presented to the Council, the Town's legislative body. Judge Smith ruled that it had not been presented according to the requirements of Article 23A of the Maryland Code, and so found for the defendants. [Additional newspaper articles on this and other recent news for Forest Heights can be found on the Forest Heights News Report links to other sites page.]

Council Votes Not to Accept Petition January 6, 2006 At the Special January 5, 2006 Meeting called by the Town Council, the Council voted 4-3 to not accept a petition requesting a referendum on the proposed Charter amendments introduced by the Council at the November 16, 2005 Town meeting. In introducing his motion not to accept the petition, Councilman Spires said he did not believe the petition had been presented to the Council [as required by Article 23A of the Maryland Code]. Amendment 6 (see the December 20, 2005 news item below for the text of the amendments) removes Mayor Beck from office effective January 6, 2006. Voting in favor to not accept the petition were Councilmen Clifton Atkinson, Worthington Ross, Myles Spires and Council President Larry Stoner. Voting no on the motion to not accept the petition were Mayor Joyce Beck, Councilwoman Alice Hoskins and Councilman George Wiggers.

After the vote, Mayor Beck declared she would contest the decision in court.

Special Meeting Called for January 6, 2006 January 6, 2006 After the vote on the petition, the Council agreed to meet again at 6:00 p.m. on January 6, 2005 at the Municipal Building. This will be an open meeting and the public is welcome to attend.

Town Council Special Meeting January 5, 2006 The Town Council will meet tonight, January 5, 2006 at 8:00 p.m. in the Municipal Building to consider whether a petition requesting a referendum as been appropriately presented to the Council as required by Maryland code Article 23A § 13(f) and (g) (PDF Format) (HTML Format). A copy of the signed petition is currently not available to the Forest Heights News Report.

Petition for Referendum Presented and Withdrawn January 5, 2006 At the December 20, 2005 Town Meeting, Citizens Anne Reifsneider and John Kennedy presented a petition containing 329 signatures requesting a referendum on the 11 charter amendments approved by Town Council at the November 16, 2005 Town Meeting according to a letter read by Ms. Reifsneider into the record. Ms. Reifsneider requested that the petition be placed in the Town safe until such time as the election board is nominated and then brought out for verification. However, later in the meeting, Ms Reifsneider requested to pull back the petitions so that more signatures could be added to them.

Subsequent to the December 20 Town Meeting, a copy of a transmittal letter (PDF Format) dated December 23, 2005 from Ms. Reifsneider and Mr. Kennedy was placed in the Town Council's Municipal Building mailboxes on December 27, 2005 indicating that a petition containing 346 signatures had been delivered to the Town.