By Michael Howell
On Thursday, March 10, the Stevensville Town Council refused to consent to Mayor Paul Ludington’s appointment of Chee Burnsides as Stevensville Municipal Court Judge. Councilmembers did not object to the appointment of Burnsides per se, but to the Mayor’s appointment process.
Mayor Ludington said that after reviewing in detail the 12 applications for the job he believed that Chee Burnsides was “by far” the best qualified. He said that Burnsides was already familiar with the Full Court software that the Town now uses and could hit the ground running. On top of that he could save the Town money by not requiring the kind of training from the state that other candidates would have required. He said the state training program was not a quick thing and hiring Burnsides would avoid an extended period without a judge which would happen if the appointee had to attend school first for certification.
Ludington said that due to the fact that they had 12 candidates, it didn’t seem feasible to interview every candidate and since Burnsides, in his opinion, so outstripped the other candidates in his qualifications, he decided to just interview Burnsides and if anything said in the interview gave him any reason to hesitate, he would interview whomever he considered the next best candidate. Burnsides’ interview went well and Ludington made the appointment.
Councilmembers Jim Crews and Bob Michalson both expressed concerns that no other applicant was interviewed. Councilmembers Robin Holcomb and Stacie Barker agreed and the Council voted unanimously against confirmation of the appointment. Crews suggested that the mayor could re-advertise the position and then interview all the applicants or possibly just go back and interview all the current applicants and make another appointment.
Ludington said last Friday that he had discussed the issue with the Town’s attorney and with some of the council members individually. He believed that the council members now understood more about his decision making process and he planned on placing Burnsides appointment on the next council agenda and hope for a different outcome.
The Council did approve the Mayor’s appointment of Nathan Bean, Bill Perrin, and John Kellogg to the Joint TIFID/TEDD Board, and the appointment of Joe Moore to the Planning and Zoning Board.
The Council approved a couple of amendments to the ordinance creating rules at Bear Mountain Playground and the Skate Park describing the area at Bear Mountain Playground as the area within the fence and changing the prohibition language from a prohibition against “smoking tobacco products” with the language “use of tobacco products.” The ordinance as amended was approved unanimously.
The Council approved the language of the public comment survey concerning the Town’s Utility Bill Reduced Rate Program. The survey will be sent out in the next billing cycle. Surveys are also available at the Town Hall.
The Council approved the request of Eagle Scout candidate Michael Zeilinsky to move the Town’s historic fire bell from Lewis and Clark Park to the grounds of the Stevensville Museum. Zeilinsky has plans for building a structure to hold the display and a plaque honoring donors and containing a short history of the bell. The plan is to start in April and be finished by early May.