This
Report is brought to you by former Councilman George F. Wiggers as a public service
to the Citizens of Forest Heights. It contains Town news, facts and editorial opinion
for citizens
interested in community affairs. Town
citizens are encouraged to share information posted on this website
with neighbors who do not have internet access. Views expressed on this
website are those of the editor and are not official statements of the
Town government.
If
you would like to be notified of updates to this website, please
send an email to: editor@forestheights.biz.
Breaking
News
Summons Issued for CouncilmanDecember 18, 2009 The
District Court for Prince George's County issued a summons (PDF Format) (HTML Format) on
December 15, 2009 for Councilman Brian
McLaurin on the charge of second
degree assault. The alleged incident took place in Forest Heights on
December 10, 2009 between the council member and the Town's code
enforcement officer Napoleon Epps. The matter was discussed at the
December 16, 2009 Town meeting. Officer Epps read a statement
indicating he was in the process of issuing a parking ticket when the
alleged incident occurred.
Fiscal Year 2007 AuditDecember 18, 2009 The audit
for the fiscal year beginning July 2006 and ending June 2007 has been
completed. It can be downloaded by clicking on this link
(The audit report is also accessible on the FHNR Budget and Finance page. The FY 2008 audit
has been reported as being completed and we expect post it when it
becomes available. The
FY 2009 audit, which is also overdue, is expected to be completed in
early 2010. According to Mayor McCutcheon, the Town has consulted with
the Maryland Department of Legislative Services, and they have approved
an extension on the submission date of the past due audits.
For the RecordDecember 18, 2009 The
November 18, 2009 Town meeting was initially chaired by Council
President Jonathon Kennedy until the arrival of Mayor McCutcheon.
During the initial public period, a citizen complained about his
trailer being towed by the Forest Heights police from in front of his
house. Mayor McCutcheon noted that an ordinance had recently been
passed and advertised in the Forest Heights News, and she further
described the administrative procedure for resolving issues involving
code violations. Mayor McCutcheon announced that former Councilwoman
Taunya Hines will be the Town's liaison with Forest Heights and
Flintstone Elementary Schools. Councilwoman Reifsneider announced that
a memorial will be placed in the park on Seneca and Woodland Drives for
the Town resident who was killed in the September 11, 2001 attack on
the Pentagon. The Council passed an emergency ordinance updating the
wording of the Sections 19.1 and 19.6 of the Streets and Sidewalks
Article of the Town's ordinances. Councilman Kennedy introduced changes
to the Town ordinance on dogs and animals which was adopted by the
Council as an emergency measure. Mayor McCutcheon denied a request by
Councilman McCutcheon to be reimbursed for a training session. After
some discussion by the Council, Councilman McLaurin left the meeting
before it adjourned. A recording of the
meeting can be downloaded by clicking on this link (about 2 hours, 20
minutes).
At the Special Town meeting of October 5, 2009 the Council was provided
information by a bond attorney on the issuance of municipal bonds for
funding town infrastructure improvements. Office Assistant Sherletta
Hawkins gave a presentation on the development of the Prince George's
County Intergovernmental Network (INET) which is expected to facilitate
communications between the Town and other government entities, as well
as assist the Forest Height's police to conduct remote surveillance
within the town. The Council passed a resolution introduced by Mayor
McCutcheon to participate in INET. The Council discussed the annexation
of the new development proposed for Talbert Drive. All Council members
attended this meeting. A recording of the meeting can be downloaded by
clicking on this link (about
1 hour, 50 minutes).
Jonathon Kennedy won the special election held May 19, 2009 with 65
votes. His opponent in that election, former Councilman Clifton
Atkinson, received 17 votes. Councilman
Kennedy was sworn into office on May 20, 2009.
The transcript of the prince George's Circuit Court hearing for former
Mayor Myles Spires in which he was given probation before judgment can
be downloaded by clicking on one of the following links: (http://www.forestheights.biz/Transcript_09-03-31_Image.pdf)
(http://www.forestheights.biz/Transcript_09-03-31_OCR.pdf).
Please keep in mind that the OCR file contains computer generated text
information and may contain some errors. This court proceeding came
about after the appeals court determined that Judge Melanie Geter made
procedural and other errors when accepting Spire's attorney's request
for a bench trial in his original trial. Transcripts of the September
2007 trial can be found in the March 2, 2008 article in the 2008 FHNR news
archive page.
Former Mayor Passes AwayMarch 13, 2009 Former
Forest Heights Mayor, J. Kemp Cook passed
away on March 12, 2009. He was 84. Mr. Cook served
as mayor of Forest Heights from 1999 to 2001. He was a long time
resident of Forest Heights, having moved here in 1953, where he and his
late wife, Augustine Cook, raised four children. He was first elected
to the Forest Heights Town Council, representing Ward II, in 1998. He
was living in the Riderwood retirement community in Silver Spring,
Maryland at the time of his death.
As a World War II and Korean War veteran, Mr. Cook will be buried with
full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery on Thursday, May
28, at 9 a.m..
A viewing will be held on Monday, March 16, 2009 at the Collins
Funeral
Home, 500 University Blvd. West, Silver Spring, MD 20901 between
the hours of 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. His funeral will be a Mass of
Christian Burial at the Church of the Resurrection at Riderwood
Village, 3110 Gracefield Road, Silver Spring, MD, on Tuesday, March 17,
at 11 a.m.
In addition to his community service, Mr. Cook was a 4th degree member
of Bishop Patrick Byrne Council, No. 3877 of the Knights of Columbus,
and had served as State Deputy for the District of Columbia. He was
also a former member of
St. Ignatius Church, on Brinkley Road, Ft. Washington, MD.
CorrectionMarch 13,
2009 On March 11, 2009 we incorrectly reported that
there would be a special election under Section 33-11 of the Town
Charter to fill the Council seat vacated by Andrea McCutcheon's
election as Mayor. Because there is less than 15 months left in Ms.
McCutcheon's term as Councilwoman, the Council may fill the vacancy by
Council vote, or call for a special election under Charter Section 33-35.
Town Election ResultsMarch
11, 2009 At the conclusion of voting in the Forest
Heights general election, Freddie Colston, the Election Board chairman,
announced the following preliminary results:
For Mayor: Andrea
McCutcheon 103, Larry Stoner
89; write-in's: Joyce Beck 1, Steve
Downey 1, Quincy Hines 1.
For Ward I Council seat: Jacqueline
Goodall
40; write-in's: Gail Lewis 5, Abigail
Eason 1.
For Ward II Council seat: Anne
Reifsneider 30, Clifton Atkinson 24.
For Ward III Council seat: William
Clarke 41,
Bill Robinson 21; write-in Taunya Hines 2. The official results of the election will be presented to the
Town Council when it meets on Wednesday, March 18, 2009. At that
meeting the winners of the election will be sworn in. There were 3
absentee ballots which were included in the totals above. With the
exception of the race for the Mayor's seat, all the other seats were
won by incumbents, thereby providing stability to the Town government.
The Forest Heights News Report congratulates the winners of this
election. We also applaud those citizens who put in considerable time
and effort to run for public office, but were not successful in getting
enough votes to win their seat.
Finally, we take note of the work of the Forest Heights Election Board
which conducted the election in a fair and impartial manner.
Next Election in Forest HeightsMarch 11, 2009 Councilwoman
McCutcheon's election as Mayor will create a vacancy in her Ward II
Council seat when she is sworn in as Mayor. Under Section 33-11 of the
Town Charter (PDF Format), if a vacancy
occurs fifteen (15) months or more prior to
the next regular election, the Council shall call a special election to
be held not less than forty-five (45) days nor more than sixty (60)
days following the occurrence of the vacancy. [See correction to this
article dated March 13, 2009.]
Analysis of Forest Heights FinancesMarch 6, 2009 The Forest
Heights News Report has conducted an analysis of quarterly financial
data obtained from the Town of Forest Heights, and prepared a report
based on that analysis. The primary conclusion is that the Town's
available financial data is inadequate for making management decisions,
including preparing a budget for the next fiscal year beginning July 1,
2009. The report can be read by clicking here (PDF Format).
Race for Mayor and Council SeatsMarch 6, 2009
The race for the office of mayor and three Town Council seats is in the
final weekend of campaigning. The Gazette Newspaper has published the
results of Questions
and Answers (Q&A) submitted by most of the candidates
competing
for elected positions, and we are providing links to the their articles
on our Links to Other Sites page. We have
also posted candidate statements and fliers on our Election 2009 page.
Energy Saving WorkshopMarch 6, 2009, J. Goodall
The first workshop – Learning to Save on your Home Energy Bills was
held Saturday, January 31st. Many residents of the town and
community came out to learn, what we need can do to have energy
efficient homes and tips on what they could do themselves at little or
no money. All the utility companies sent representatives to
answer questions and a representative from the Maryland Energy Program
was in attendance to explain the program for anyone needing assistance
in paying their utility bills. Information for any one that was unable
to attend will be available at the town municipal building. There
will five more workshops that will deal with various environmental
issues. The workshops and updating our codes and ordinances are
wholly sponsored by a grant from NOAA and the Maryland Department of
Natural Resources with technical assistance from Chesapeake NEMO and
the Neighborhood Design Center. Look for time and date for future
workshops and I hope to see you there. If you would like to assist with
the “Greening Forest Heights” committee, please call the Municipal
Building (301) 839-1030 and leave a message for Councilwoman Jacqueline
Goodall. Click here for Do-It-Yourself
energy audit tips.
Candidates File For Election February 4, 2009 The
following candidates have filed their nomination papers for the
upcoming March 11, 2009 Forest Heights election: For Mayor: Larry Stoner
(incumbent) and Andrea
McCutcheon (Council President/Ward II). For Council: Ward I:
Jacqueline
Goodall (unopposed). Ward II: Anne Reifsneider
(incumbent) and Clifton Atkinson (former
Councilman). Ward III: William
Clarke (incumbent) and William Robinson (no photo
available).
The Forest Heights News Report
(FHNR) will publish the candidates statements filed with the Town Clerk
when they become available. Also, FHNR may publish on our election page additional campaign fliers
and other election material submitted to us by the candidates.
Election Nomination DayFebruary
3, 2009 February
4, 2009 is the due date for nominations for the elective offices of
Mayor and Council member for Wards I, II, and III. If a Forest Heights
citizen wishes to be placed on the ballot for the March 11, 2009 Town
election, he or she must submit a nomination form to the Town Clerk
before close of business on Wednesday, February 4, 2009
February 2, 2008 Council Workshop
MeetingFebruary 3,
2009 The Council met in a non-legislative session to
discuss the Town's budget, upcoming Town election and other matters. In
attendance at the beginning of the meeting were Mayor Larry Stoner,
Councilwomen Jacqueline
Goodall from Ward I, Council President Andrea McCutcheon
(Ward II), and Councilman Brian McLaurin and
Councilman William
Clarke (Ward III). Councilwomen Lynn
Smith-Barnes arrived later in the
meeting. Councilwoman Anne Reifsneider
(Ward II) was absent.
After looking at some financial data and finding some errors, the
Council decided to table any further discussion of the budget until
discrepancies in the financial data are corrected. In a later
discussion, Mayor Stoner indicated he may reconsider hiring a
Treasurer, but not until after the “budget is straightened out.”
In response to an inquiry during public period, Mayor Stoner said that
the financial quarterly report for the period ending December 31, 2008
has been released. FHNR was promised a copy of the report for
publication.
Notwithstanding an agreement at a previous meeting, Mayor Stoner said a
special flier regarding the upcoming March 11, 2009 election, would not
be distributed to Town residents.
The audit report for FY 2007 is still not available.
A voice recording of the February 2, 2009 meeting in MP3 compressed
format can be accessed by clicking here. This
is a 14.6 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.
Court Decides Nickens et al. v Town of
Forest HeightsJanuary
23, 2009 Prince George's County Circuit Court Judge
Nicholas E. Rattal ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, Reginald Nickens, Myles Spires and Worthington Ross on one count of their
complaint and declared that the election of Carmelita Smith-Barnes in a
special election held on March 5, 2007 was null and void. The
Town Attorney, Wilmer Ticer, represented the Town in the case, and
Mayor Larry Stoner served as a witness for the defense. Judge
Rattal’s order found there was
no provision in the Town charter at the time for such an election.
However, this appears to be a Pyrrhic victory for the plaintiffs
against the Town in that Judge Rattal denied voiding any resolution or
appointment of the Council during the period of March 5, 2007 to March
21, 2007 because these were not properly introduced in the evidentiary
phase of the trial. Consequently, the appointment of George Wiggers to
the Council and Town charter resolutions passed
on March 9, 2007 were left standing. Some of these charter
amendments removed Myles Spires and his co-plaintiff Worthington Ross
from the Council on April 28, 2007. Myles Spires would have been
removed subsequently, in any case, because of his felony conviction in
October 2007 relating to his actions while Mayor of Forest Heights.
Judge Rattal further found that the election of Goodall, Reifsneider
and Clarke to the Town Council on March 14, 2007 was valid, as was the
reappointment of Ms. Smith-Barnes to the Council on March 21, 2007
after the new Council was sworn in. Detail of some of these events can
be found in the Forest Heights News Report
archives for 2007. Under the legal principle of “res
judicata,” it
appears unlikely that Spires or Ross would be successful in any
subsequent suit they may consider filing against the Town that would
relate to actions of the Town Council in that March 2007 period.
With respect to Worthington Ross, a co-plaintiff in the suit against
the Town, we bring the readers’ attention to his role in the conviction
of Myles Spires in the above mentioned criminal case. The Forest
Heights News Report had already reported on the apparent false affidavit
(PDF Format)
he filed in that case (see 2007 archive). In his sworn testimony (see pages 5-31
to 5-113) during Spires trial regarding that document, he first
claimed that he wrote the affidavit himself with some advice from a
mysterious James Brown. Later in the trial, under cross-examination, he
admitted that an attorney, Mr. Sciubba with the law firm Joseph,
Greenwald & Laake, had in fact drafted the document for him. Ross
also admitted that he did not, in fact, witness others signing the
resolution in question, as he attested to in the affidavit.
Correction - Code Violation AppealsJanuary 23, 2008
Our reporting of the January 5, 2009 Council workshop meeting implied
that the Police Department was involved in the voiding of violation
notices by Mayor Stoner. We regret any misunderstanding of the police
department's code enforcement process. According to Acting Chief Webb,
the Forest Heights Police Department (FHPD) does have established
internal department procedures for handling errors and other problems
associated with violation notices issued by that department. Citizens
should contact the department (301-839-4040) to obtain further
information about appealing such notices to the FHPD.
Furthermore, we bring the reader's attention to a statement on page 1
of the January issue of the Forest Heights News
(PDF Format)
by Mayor Stoner. In that article he pledges to form a Code Enforcement
Appeals Board.
January 21, 2009 Town MeetingJanuary 23, 2009 The Town
Council met for 3 hours and 2 minutes in open session. In attendance
were Mayor Larry Stoner, Councilwomen Lynn
Smith-Barnes and Jacqueline Goodall
from Ward I, Council President Andrea McCutcheon
(Ward II), Councilwoman Anne Reifsneider
(Ward II), and Councilman Brian McLaurin
from Ward III. Councilman William Clarke (Ward
III) was absent. After reviewing the draft Quarterly Financial Report
for the second quarter of FY 2009, the Council decided that changes
needed to be made before releasing it to the public. In response to an
inquiry during Public Period, they announced that the Audit Report for
FY 2007 was also not yet available.
The Council discussed the Town's preparation for the upcoming March 11,
2009 elections. The seats that will be open for this election are those
now held by Mayor Stoner, Councilwoman Goodall (Ward I), Councilwoman
Reifsneider (Ward II) and Councilman William Clarke (Ward III). Some
Council members felt that information about the upcoming election
should have been more prominently displayed on the first page of the
January edition of the Town's newsletter, Forest Heights News.
Citizens wishing to run for elective office in Forest Heights this year
should submit their certificate of nomination together with a statement
of the particular office to which he aspires, with the Town Clerk on or
before the first Wednesday in February preceding the Town election
(February 4, 2009). Further information on
Forest Heights elections, including a map of the Wards can be found on
the Voting and Elections page of this
website.
Mayor Stoner reiterated his opposition to hiring a Town Treasurer at
this time, preferring that the Town Clerk continuing to serve as Acting
Treasurer.
The Council also discussed the flooding of a house basement on Woodland
Drive, the overflow of which caused icing conditions and access to
homes by public transportation. A citizen, Mr. Robinson, submitted an
information letter to the Council regarding this problem.
A voice recording of the January 21, 2009 meeting in MP3 compressed
format can be accessed by clicking here. This
is a 21.8 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.
January 5, 2009 Workshop Meeting
January 6, 2009 The meeting
began at 7:00 p.m. Attending the Town Council meeting was Mayor Stoner, Councilwoman Lynn
Smith-Barnes, Ward I, and Councilmen William Clarke and Brian McLaurin of
Ward III. Councilwoman Jacqueline Goodall,
Ward I and Council President Andrea McCutcheon
(Ward II) arrived at the meeting around 7:25 p.m. Councilwoman
Anne Reifsneider
(Ward II) was reported as recovering from her operation and not able to
attend the meeting.
Prior to the arrival of Councilwomen Goodall and Council President
McCutcheon, Mayor Stoner declared the meeting a special meeting of the
Town Council, at which the Council could vote on issues. It was noted
that the Town's signs posted for the meeting simply said the Council
was going to meet and did not specify the type of meeting.
Mayor Stoner proposed that the Council vote on the hiring of a police
chief at the January 5, 2009 meeting because Councilman Clarke,
chairman of the finance committee, found that funds are sufficient for
the position. Mayor Stoner also noted that the income from property
taxes will be $938 thousand rather than $752 thousand as currently
stated in the budget. After some discussion, the Mayor agreed to
delay the vote on the decision until the Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Town meeting.
The Town has received 5 proposals in response to a Request for
Proposals (PDF Format)
it issued in
November 2008 for work on Municipal Property Grounds and Municipal
Building Roof Improvements. The funding for this project will come in
part from a $200,000 Maryland State Bond bill, and matching funds ether
from the Town or another grant agency.
During the public period, the Council discussed aspects of the code
enforcement program, including the voiding of violation notices by the
Mayor and police department. The voiding occurred when circumstances
were presented by residents complaining about their properties being
cited. Mayor Stoner
denied making a statement regarding a connection between voiding
violation notices and the upcoming election in March 2009.
A voice recording of the January 5, 2009 meeting in MP3 compressed
format can be accessed by clicking here. This is a 16.7 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.
Correction January 4, 2009
The Council workshop meeting of January 5, 2009 has been posted by the
Town to begin at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30 p.m. as we had indicated in
our January 1, 2009 news article. We regret any confusion resulting
from this error. Click
here for articles from earlier editions of the Forest Heights News Report.
Comments on this web site should be directed to: newseditor@forestheights.biz
