Last updated
12/18/2009
Prior News Articles:
2008
Special Meeting of December 29, 2008
January 1, 2009
The Town Council met in open session for over two hours prior to going
into an executive session at the end of this meeting to discuss the
appointment of a Police Chief. In attendance were Mayor
Stoner,
Councilwomen Lynn
Smith-Barnes and Jacqueline Goodall
from Ward I, Council
President Andrea McCutcheon
(Ward II), and Councilmen Bill Clarke and Brian
McLaurin from Ward III. Councilwoman Anne Reifsneider
(Ward II) was reported as recovering from her operation and not able to
attend the meeting.
Much of the public discussion dealt with a discussion of the Town
budget and the possible need for amending it. The Mayor indicated that
he was not in favor of hiring a Treasurer, although two Council members
expressed concern that the Town did not have a Treasurer trained in
accounting. One citizen during public period said he was shocked that
the Town did not have a Treasurer. Currently, the Town Clerk, Bonita
Anderson is serving as Acting Treasurer in addition to her duties as
Town Clerk. Issues involving enforcement of the Town Code and
deteriorating infrastructure were also raised during the public period.
The Council will meet again on January 5, 2009 for its regularly
scheduled workshop meeting. A time for this meeting was not announced
on page 4 of the December 2008 edition of the
Forest Heights News, although workshop meetings typically start at
7:30 p.m.
A sound recording of the December 29, 2008
meeting in MP3 compressed
format can be accessed by clicking here. This is a 15.8 MB file
and can be downloaded by right-clicking on the above link and selecting
"save target as." The FHNR will provide an uncompressed file in WAV
format (higher quality sound) on a CD
to any Forest Heights citizen or official who requests a copy by
sending an email to the editor.
Special Meeting on Police Department
December 28, 2008 The Town
Council will meet in executive session on Monday, December 29, 2008 to
discuss the selection of a Chief and other personnel matters related to
the Forest Heights Police Department. Lt. Webb has been acting police
chief since December 2007.
The meeting will start at 7:30 p.m. Prior
to going into the executive session, which is closed to the public, the
Council will conduct an open session in which residents of the Town
will have an opportunity to be heard in regard to any municipal
question.
Special Meeting on Chesapeake NEMO
October 28, 2008
Members of the Town Council will meet with Cheseapeake NEMO regarding
the "Green Initiative in Forest Heights." Any interested citizen is
welcome to attend the meeting on Monday, November 3, 2008 from 10 am to
12 pm.
October 22, 2008 Town Meeting
October 25, 2008 The Town
Council held its regular monthly meeting on
the fourth Wednesday of October instead of the third Wednesday because
of a scheduling conflict in the use of the Municipal Building. Present
were Mayor Larry Stoner, Councilwomen Lynn Smith-Barnes and Jacqueline Goodall from Ward I, Council
President Andrea McCutcheon and
Councilwoman Anne Reifsneider of Ward
II, and Councilmen Bill Clarke and Brian McLaurin from Ward III.
Councilwoman Reifsneider went through a list of action items the Town
needed to accomplish, including the status of Police vehicles. Former
Councilman Clifton Atkinson gave a brief presentation on the volunteer
work he is doing assisting the Mayor and the Forest Heights Police
Department in maintaining the fleet of police cars. During the
discussion on police expenditures, Mayor Stoner declared Council
President McCutcheon out of order and requested that she leave the
meeting or be escorted out of the meeting by the Forest Heights police.
Ms. McCutcheon complied with the request to leave the meeting without
further incident.
The Town Clerk, Bonita Anderson, provided Council Members with a copy
of the Town's FY2009 Quarterly Financial
Report (PDF Format). The report is required by Council Resolution 06-05. The Council agreed,
in keeping with the resolution to make the document available to the
public. A notice will be placed in the next Town newsletter that the
document will be available at the Municipal Building for any Town
citizen that wanting a copy of it. A copy of the report is also posted
on the Budget & Finance page of this
web site.
Councilwoman Reifsneider also introduced a Charter Amendment resolution
that would limit voting by the Council President to situations where
there was a tie vote among Council members, which was seconded by
Councilwoman Goodall. After some discussion as to how the resolution
would affect Robert's Rules of Order, the resolution was tabled with
the understanding that it could be reintroduced at a future meeting.
A sound recording of the October 22, 2008 meeting in MP3 compressed
format can be accessed by clicking here. This is a 12.8 MB file
and can be downloaded by right-clicking on the above link and selecting
"save target as." The FHNR will provide an uncompressed file in WAV
format (higher quality sound) on a CD
to any Forest Heights citizen or official who requests a copy by
sending an email to the editor.
Treasurer Dismissed September
3, 2008 At a
special meeting called on August 27, 2008, the Town Council voted to
dismiss the Treasurer. The vote was 4 to 3, with
Mayor Stoner, and Council persons Clark, McLaurin and Smith-Barnes
voting in favor, and Councilwomen Goodall, McCutcheon and Reifsneider
opposed.
Councilwoman Reifsneider said that the Treasurer was given an "unfair
hearing." Mayor Stoner told us that the Town would soon advertise in
the Forest Heights News and Maryland Municipal League for a new
Treasurer who would "be dependable and could do the Treasurer's job."
Comprehensive Planning Survey September
3, 2008 The Town is preparing a comprehensive plan and has
requested citizen input in a supplement to the August 2008 Forest Heights News. Although the
August 13, 2008 deadline for submitting the completed questionnaire has
passed, the Town Clerk has informed us that the Town is still accepting
completed questionnaires. A copy of the questionnaire can be obtained
by clicking on the following link:
http://www.forestheights.biz/Citizen_Input_Survey_Aug08.pdf
Forest Heights Real Estate September 3, 2008 As of
August 11, 2008, there were 22 homes for sale in Forest Heights. Click here for a list of those homes and a
link for additional information about them. [Editors note: In
the interest of full disclosure, one of the properties on the list is
owned by the editor.]
Armed Robbery September 3, 2008 At 12:05
a.m. on Friday, August 22, 2008 a citizen was assaulted and robbed at
gunpoint in the 5700 block of Ottawa Street. Two perpetrators stepped
from a red pickup truck to commit the crime, while a third waited in
the driver's seat. The victim was knocked to the ground and his
wallet and cell phone were taken.
For the Record September
3, 2008 Mayor Stoner was sworn in by the Clerk of the
Circuit Court on June 2, 2008.
Election Results July 31, 2008 The July 25,
2008 special election for Ward 3 was won by Brian McLaurin with 19
votes. Mr. McLaurin ran unopposed. There were 4 write-in votes for
Taunya Hines who recently served on the Council. The special election
was held to fill the seat vacated by Larry Stoner when he assumed the
duties of Mayor upon the resignation of former Mayor Quincy Hines.
Public Hearing May 31,
2008 The Town
Council held a public hearing at 7:00 p.m. on May 29, 2008 as required
by the State of Maryland in regards to the Constant Yield Tax
Rate. The Council heard from Forest Heights property owners
who generally supported a tax increase as long as they could see
results from the use of their tax money. At the conclusion of the
hearing, the Council passed a resolution increasing the tax rate to
$0.53 per $100 of assessed value, and in addition imposed an annual
trash collection fee of $216 for each residential household.
At the conclusion of the public hearing, the Council then took up the
matter of the Town's budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2008.
The Council President, Larry Stoner, announced that he would be acting
as Mayor under a provision of the Town Charter passed in September 2007
in which the Council President automatically becomes the Mayor if the
Mayor's position becomes vacant less than 15 months before the next
general election. As Mayor pro tem, Mr. Stoner then submitted a proposed budget (PDF Format)
to the Council. After some discussion, the Council then agreed to hold
a public hearing on the proposed budget at the June 18, 2008 Town
meeting.
Council President Stoner expects to be sworn-in as mayor by the Clerk
of the Circuit Court, as provided for in the Town Charter, within the
next two weeks.
Fiscal Year 2006 Audit Report May 31, 2008 The Town of
Forest Heights has released its 2006 Audit
Report, which has been submitted to the Maryland Department of
Legislative Services (DLS) according to state law. The 2006 audit
covers the time period July 1, 2005 through June 30 2006, and should
have been submitted to DLS in November 2006. The Town has yet to
complete the 2007 audit which was due in November 2007. The 2008 audit
for the current fiscal year is due in November 2008. The 2006 audit and
other Town financial documents are posted on the Budget & Finance page of this website.
Mayor Hines Resigns May
28, 2008 Mayor Hines
resigned as mayor of Forest Heights on May 27, 2008. In a telephone
interview, he indicated he resigned for personal reasons.
Memorial Day Event May 28, 2008 The Town of
Forest Heights held its annual Memorial Day wreath laying ceremony at
Lohr Park at the intersection of Seneca and Woodland Drives in the Town
of Forest Heights. At this years ceremony, special tribute was paid to
Councilwoman Anne Reifsneider, a World War II veteran. Councilwoman
Reifsneider was recognized for over 50 years of service, dedication and
civic responsibility to the Town of Forest Heights, and for her Coast
Guard (SPARS) service during World War II. Also attending the ceremony
was former Mayor J. Kemp Cook, a veteran of World War II and the Korean
conflict.
Election Results March
12, 2008 The unofficial
results of today's election are as follows:
Ward I Lynn Smith-Barnes (18); Ward II Andrea McCutcheon (34), Clifton Atkinson (17); Ward III Larry Stoner (34), Taunya Hines (19). There were
no write-in votes, and no absentee ballots accepted by the election
board. The Town
Board of Elections will
present their official results at the March 19, 2008 Town meeting, and
the winners of the election will be sworn in by the Mayor at that
meeting. (See also
Forest Heights News Special
Edition.)
Town Council Meeting March
2, 2008 The regular
Town Meeting scheduled for February 20, 2008 was held on February 27,
2008, because of inclement weather on the scheduled date. The Mayor and
all Council Members attended the meeting. Actions taken by the Council
included: passing an emergency change to the parking ordinance
requested by the Police Department, defining the meaning of easement;
and agreeing to sponsor a political debate on Monday, March 10, 2008 at
7:30 p.m. for citizens to ask questions of candidates running in the
March 12, 2008 ward elections. Councilwoman Goodall (Ward I) proposed
that needed repairs to the roof of the Municipal Building be "green,"
i.e., the roof be reconstructed to support growing plants and
vegetation. In addition to reducing run-off into the storm sewer
system, such a roof would also reduce cooling and heating costs of the
building according to Councilwoman Goodall. She said that she would
pursue obtaining grants to help finance the project.
Myles Spires Trial Testimony March 2, 2008 Testimony
given by witnesses at the criminal trial of former mayor Myles Spires
in September through November 2007 is now available by clicking on the
links below. Two PDF versions of the court transcripts are provided:
the first set are images of the transcripts, and the second set were
prepared from documents created by using Optical Character Recognition
(OCR) on the transcript images. This second set are "word searchable,"
but may contain errors produced by the OCR software. While searchable
text is convenient, readers are forewarned that the OCR text may not be
completely accurate. The image files are large and may not be suitable
for download for computers using a dial-up internet connections.
Set 1 PDF image files: September 17, 2007 (Image)
(OCR);
September 18, 2007 (Image)
(OCR);
September 19, 2007 (Image)
(OCR);
September
20, 2007 (Image)
(OCR);
September
24, 2007 (Image)
(OCR);
September
26, 2007 (Image)
(OCR);
October
2, 2007 (Image)
(OCR);
November
8, 2007 (Image)
(OCR);
November
27, 2007 (Image)
(OCR).
Myles Spires Files Appeal February 22, 2008 According to
Maryland Court records, on December 10, 2007, former mayor Myles
Spires, Jr. filed a notice of appeal to his conviction on felony theft
and misconduct in office. Spires' public information file at the court
can be accessed
by going to: http://casesearch.courts.state.md.us/inquiry/inquiry-index.jsp.
After checking the box indicating agreement with the terms for using
the website, click Continue
and enter CT070356X
in the box for Case Number near the lower left of the page. Select Prince George's County Circuit Court
from the pull-down menu, and click the Get Case button to bring up the
court's public case information file for the State's criminal case
against Spires. If you have difficulty obtaining the information from
the court website, click on this link
to view
the information that was posted there on February 22, 2008.
Nominations for Council Seats February 14, 2008 Six
citizens have filed for Council seats in the upcoming March 12, 2008
election. Councilwoman
C. Lynn Smith
Barnes is
running unopposed to retain her seat in Ward I. Councilwoman
Andrea McCutcheon is running
to retain her Ward II seat and is being opposed by former Councilman
Clifton Atkinson and by George E.
McDermott. In Ward III, Councilwoman Taunya
Hines is running to
retain her seat and is being opposed by former
Councilman and former Acting Mayor Larry Stoner, Sr. The Forest
Heights
News Report will post information about the candidates on an Elections 2008
page when the information
becomes available. Candidates are invited to submit to the Forest
Heights News Report any additional campaign material they would like
posted on the Elections 2008 page.
Mayor Apologizes February
14, 2008 Mayor Quincy Hines wrote an apology to former
Mayor Paula Noble in the February 2008 issue
of the Forest Heights News
for using an article she wrote in the January 2005 edition of the Forest Heights News without
attribution. (See the Letters to the
Editor
page of the Forest Heights News report.)
Position of Town Clerk Open February 14, 2008 Bonita
Anderson, who served as Town Clerk since 2004, has resigned, and the
Town is now recruiting a replacement. The advertisement and
qualifications for the position can be found on the last page of the
February edition of the Forest Heights News. The closing date for
applications for the position is February 26, 2008.