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	<title>Cecil Times &#187; open meetings act</title>
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	<description>News and Views for Cecil County and the Eastern Shore of Maryland</description>
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		<title>Cecil County Commish Name Two Ethics Panel Members with &#8216;Secret&#8217; Resumes; Panel Supports Broomell Revisions to Ethics Code</title>
		<link>https://ceciltimes.com/2012/07/cecil-county-commish-name-two-ethics-panel-members-with-secret-resumes-panel-supports-broomell-revisions-to-ethics-code/</link>
		<comments>https://ceciltimes.com/2012/07/cecil-county-commish-name-two-ethics-panel-members-with-secret-resumes-panel-supports-broomell-revisions-to-ethics-code/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 19 Jul 2012 18:44:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Nancy Schwerzler]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[campaign finance]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Robert Hodge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bruce Hemphill]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ethics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ethics Commission]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[james mullin]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Norman Wilson]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[robert boonstoppel]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[valerie falcioni]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[walter rozansky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://ceciltimes.com/?p=2445</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[SHH—don’t tell anyone. The Cecil County Commissioners named two new members to the county’s Ethics Commission on Tuesday, but their applications seeking appointment, listing their resumes and why they wanted the post, are a secret. For months, the commish have been having closed door meetings to discuss various appointments to boards and commissions, which they are permitted to do under the state’s Open Meetings Act when debating the relative merits of various candidates. But suddenly, the one word agenda item—“appointments”—appeared on Tuesday’s formal commissioner meeting schedule. In rapid fire action with no verbal or written disclosure to the public of the appointees’ backgrounds or reasons for their selection, the commish approved two new members of the ethics panel: Mike Dixon and Robert Boonstoppel. The appointments were ratified without comment on a 4-member vote, with Commissioner Robert Hodge (R-5) abstaining. Cecil Times filed a written public information act request to obtain the applications which all candidates for appointments to county boards and commissions must fill out to be considered. However, in a written response from the county attorney, Norman Wilson, we were advised that the applications “should not be disclosed as they are protected under SG Section 10-616 (i) ‘personnel records.’ [&#8230;]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>https://ceciltimes.com/2012/07/cecil-county-commish-name-two-ethics-panel-members-with-secret-resumes-panel-supports-broomell-revisions-to-ethics-code/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Smipkins Install Crony as Cecil County Towns Rep on Regional Panel; Mayors Cry Foul</title>
		<link>https://ceciltimes.com/2012/01/smipkins-install-crony-as-cecil-county-towns-rep-on-regional-panel-cecil-county-mayors-cry-foul/</link>
		<comments>https://ceciltimes.com/2012/01/smipkins-install-crony-as-cecil-county-towns-rep-on-regional-panel-cecil-county-mayors-cry-foul/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:23:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Nancy Schwerzler]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[E.J. Pipkin]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://ceciltimes.com/?p=1922</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A Cecil Times Special Report The mayors of Cecil County’s eight municipalities have signed a letter protesting the sudden installation of Michael A. Dawson, a new Perryville town commissioner, as the representative of the county’s towns on the Upper Shore Regional Council. The action was taken, in apparent violation of state law, late last week during an unannounced meeting of the panel convened by members of the Smipkin political organization, with which Dawson is aligned. It was just the latest in a long string of sub-rosa actions involving the USRC, including failure to notify the public of its meetings, attempts to close meetings to the public and press contrary to the state’s Open Meetings Act, failure to post meeting minutes on its website for years, and conducting other business outside public view. During the winter convention of the Maryland Association of Counties (MACO) at a resort in Cambridge, a meeting of the USRC was convened by State Sen. E.J. Pipkin (R-36). County Commissioners from the three counties covered by the regional body—Cecil, Kent and Queen Anne’s counties&#8211; attended but there was no public notice in advance, on the USRC’s website or other public means. The installation of Michael A. Dawson [&#8230;]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>https://ceciltimes.com/2012/01/smipkins-install-crony-as-cecil-county-towns-rep-on-regional-panel-cecil-county-mayors-cry-foul/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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		<title>3 Cecil County Commissioners Commiserate at Chili&#8217;s; State Lawyer Warns Private Confabs in Conflict with Open Meetings Act</title>
		<link>https://ceciltimes.com/2011/10/3-cecil-county-commissioners-commiserate-at-chilis-after-state-lawyer-warns-them-of-private-confabs-in-conflict-with-open-meetings-act/</link>
		<comments>https://ceciltimes.com/2011/10/3-cecil-county-commissioners-commiserate-at-chilis-after-state-lawyer-warns-them-of-private-confabs-in-conflict-with-open-meetings-act/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 05 Oct 2011 23:23:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Nancy Schwerzler]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA["Cecil County Commissioner"]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ann MacNeille]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Diana Broomell]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Robert Hodge]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Tari Moore]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://ceciltimes.com/?p=1694</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Commentary The Cecil County Commissioners’ “Three Amigos” faction gathered after Tuesday night’s official commissioners meeting for a tete a tete at Chili’s in Elkton, multiple sources said&#8211; just hours after an Assistant State Attorney General warned them about such gatherings that could be seen as a violation of the state’s Open Meetings Act. Granted, the Three Amigos—Commissioners James Mullin (R-1), Diana Broomell (R-4) and Michael Dunn (R-3)—had a tough night, being lambasted for the second consecutive evening meeting by members of the county’s “tea party” organization, the Cecil County Patriots, during the public comments portion of the official meeting. So perhaps a cool libation was in order to steady the commissioners’ nerves. But the lessons imparted Tuesday morning at a commissioners’ public worksession by Ann MacNeille, an Assistant Attorney General who serves as legal counsel to the state Open Meetings Compliance Board, seemed to have been quickly forgotten. Ms. MacNeille’s briefing on the fine points of the state Open Meetings Act was requested by County Commissioner Robert Hodge (R-5), who has voted several times against going into secret, closed sessions of the county board. Hodge has also questioned what he has said appeared to be private conversations or contacts among [&#8230;]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
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