Pocomoke meetings to fire Sewell were legal

The decision to fire former Pocomoke Police Chief Kelvin Sewell was made over the span of two closed-door council meetings in late June.

Complaints were made that these meetings were in violation of the Open Meetings Act because the purpose of these meetings were never listed on any agenda or made public.

The Open Meeting Compliance Board investigated and found no violation.

“The open meeting compliance board found that they were really whats called administrative function activities and administrative function activities are not subject to the open meetings act,” said Pocomoke city manager Ernie Crofoot.

Croftoot said hiring and firing city employees are administration function activities.

Because of that designation he said the city is allowed to keep private what was discussed during those activities that led to Sewell being fired.

However Crofoot was able to shed light on why Sewell was not fired.

“Not because of race, not because of the EEOC complaints, not because of any constitutionally impermissible reason,” Crofoot said.

Ultimately, the reason why Sewell was fired will not come out until the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission finishes their investigation.

As of now though there’s no timetable as to when that will be.