Honorable Robert Alt, Mayor
Honorable Charles Given, Sr., Town Commissioner
Honorable Earl Piner, Town Commissioner
Honorable Jean Broomell, Town Commissioner
Honorable Robert Massimiano, Town Commissioner
Mr. George Lewis, Town Administrator
Greetings:
We want to thank you for your time and attention last week in discussing our concerns about the current process for hiring the next Chief of Police for Elkton. As we emphasized then, our main goal is ensuring that the hiring process is equitable and collaborative. Given the significant impact that the Chief of Police has on our community, it is vital that the voices of that community are heard directly throughout the process. While elected officials are representatives of the citizenry at large, and they are charged with making decisions such as these, that does not negate their obligation to remain open to ongoing involvement from the community in matters that directly impact them.
As such, we are continuing to ask that you include representatives from our community on the hiring committee. This decision should not be made by one individual alone as one individual is not able to fully know and understand all of the needs and experiences of the community. To fully ensure that our next Chief of Police will be representative of and accountable to the population they serve, it is necessary for our community’s voice to be heard in the decision making.
We also want to follow up about the agreement that was made during our meeting that the language, “all minority and women candidates are encouraged to apply,” will be added to the advertisement for the position so that it is clear that affirmative action policies are being followed. We appreciate you making this change.
We are hopeful that you will see the unity that exists between the different factions of our community in this request, and that you will respond to our call with openness and solidarity. We would like to set up a follow up conversation to further discuss a timeline for making the community’s input happen.
Thank you again for your time.
In Solidarity,
Cecil Solidarity, Inc. Rev. R Kevin Brown, Sr., Pastor Ms. Elyse Murray, MBA