Pocomoke residents hold press conference calling for Mayor’s resignation

A Pocomoke City group called “Citizens for Better Pocomoke” held a press conference Friday night to publicly announce they are circulating a petition calling for Mayor Bruce Morrison’s resignation.

The petition calls for Morrison’s resignation “for being incompetent and the appearance of corruption while in office.”

According to their petition, one of the group’s main claims is that Morrison swore in Councilman Brian Hirshman (D-4) after what they are alleging was an illegal election.
Hirshman ran unopposed in District Four, a predominantly African-American district according to the American Civil Liberties Union, after the incumbent Tracy Cottman, an African-American, withdrew from the race after the registration deadline.

According to Pocomoke City officials, after Cottman withdrew, another African-American citizen, Sheila Palmer, attempted to run as a write-in candidate. Officials said Palmer was denied candidacy because the city does not allow for write-in candidates and the deadline for new candidate had passed.

The group claims that because of the section C-34 of the city charter, that deadline should have been extended because Cottman withdrew her candidacy.

However as 47 ABC pointed out to them, C-34 states that the registration deadline may only be extended in the event that the incumbent “files for a certificate of nomination and a letter or resignation from the currently held municipal elective public office.”

In a conversation with William Hudson, attorney for Pocomoke City, Hudson said because Cottman withdrew, and did not resign, the city did not have to extend the deadline.

The group is also claiming that the city violated a different section of the charter, by failing to publicize the fact that the election had become a one-candidate race. They say that failure should have invalidated the ensuing election.

Section C-36 states that “in the event that there is no contest for any of the offices for which an election shall be proper”, which means in the event that there is an uncontested election, “the Board of Supervisors of Elections are authorized and directed to cancel the election” after giving public notice for two weeks in a local newspaper.

However, as 47 ABC again pointed out, there is no section of the charter that explicitly states the election shall be considered invalid if the Board of Supervisors fails to advertise the uncontested election.

After bringing this to the group’s knowledge, spokesperson Pastor Ronnie White declined to comment, but said that the group will not pull their petition.

When 47 ABC spoke with Hudson, he admitted that it was embarrassing that the Board of Supervisors of Elections failed to advertise the election was uncontested. However Hudson added that because Cottman withdrew after the deadline, that the advertisement of the uncontested election would have had no effect on the election because no new candidate could have registered.

Also Friday night, the group claimed that Pocomoke police officers were coerced into signing a “Vote of No Confidence” list against former Chief Kelvin Sewell on June 18, which played a role in Sewell’s dismissal.

During the press conference the group produced an anonymous letter that was written by Pocomoke City police officer, which said that Detective Joe Bailey came to his home and that someone associated with the Mayor and City Council came up with the idea of the a no-confidence vote.

In the letter, the officer claims that they were told by Bailey they had to sign the letter that day. The anonymous officer continues to write, that because he/she was put under duress and given false information that they are recanting their signature and remaining neutral on the matter.