Petition calls for dismissal of Hagerstown mayor and city manager
Aaron Brooks’ Olympic bronze medal was celebrated at the Primanti Watch Party
Attendees of the Hagerstown Primanti Bros. Aaron Brooks Watch Party celebrate as Brooks, of Hagerstown, wins an Olympic bronze medal in wrestling.
On August 19, an online petition calling for the removal of Hagerstown Mayor Tekesha Martinez and City Manager Scott Nicewarner was posted on the website Change.org.
By August 26, the petition had collected 43 signatures.
Robbie Soto, president and program director of Authentic Community Theatre Inc. at 43 S. Potomac St., told The Herald-Mail he started the petition because he feels the city government treats the theater company differently than other downtown businesses.
He said ACT has applied for a permit for a Halloween 5K run along Hagerstown’s cultural trail, which runs through downtown to City Park, to promote its Halloween events. This year, those events include the annual haunted house attraction and a performance of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”
“We basically just wanted to put on some kind of little community event that would be super fun and promote our Halloween season,” he said.
But the permit was denied and, according to Soto, the group was told they could not use the heritage trail “because they don’t allow 5Ks there, which is a lie.” Soto noted that the Gingerbread Dash 5K, whose proceeds benefit the nonprofit organization Girls on the Run, ran along the heritage trail.
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Are requests treated equally?
What followed was a series of emails between Soto and city officials, including two members of the City Council, in which Soto complained that his organization was being treated differently than other downtown businesses. Soto shared the emails with the Herald-Mail.
As the situation escalated, the city’s planning director, Eric Deike, sent Soto an email explaining the reasons for denying the permit:
- “We received an event request that would take place within weeks, not months. Since we as a city are already inundated with events, it takes time to plan a new event.
- The event was advertised as a 5K on the Cultural Trail. I will not approve a run on the trail because it has numerous obstacles (bollards, landscaping). It is too dangerous, especially between Baltimore Street and Lee Street.
- I also wouldn’t agree to another 5K that needs to be worked out in a matter of weeks. There are many established 5Ks downtown, north, south, and in Fairgrounds Park that have the details worked out.
- A 5k is a timed race. Again, the Cultural Trail is NOT the place for a timed race. I have no problem with it if it’s a walk on the trail.
- If ACT wants to run a 5k on the road, I have no problem with that. However, it has to be on a set route.”
City Administrator Scott Nicewarner also responded:
“Robbie, the Cultural Trail was not built for 5Ks. It was built as a walking trail. We have routes ON ROADS that can be used for 5Ks that our staff is happy to work with you on. If you ask, we’re on board. If you want to walk, the Cultural Trail is for you. Walk = Cultural Trail, run = road. Let us know. It’s that simple.”
But in a later message to Soto and City Council members, Deike confirmed that part of the Gingerbread Dash had taken place on the Cultural Trail and that other such events had been approved at short notice.
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City Council: Clarity would help
Councilwoman Kristin Aleshire noted in her response, “I have read the additional communications and find staff’s response appropriate. With that in mind, staff have expressed interest in complying with the request through this process and I would recommend that both parties work toward a positive resolution.”
However, he added: “I believe these concerns require some communication and discussion within the council to ensure that we have clear and consistent guidelines for applicants and provide staff with the resources and time necessary to meet these requirements.”
Soto said Martinez tried to call him to discuss the matter, but he insisted on written communication via email.
Martinez told The Herald-Mail she called him. “I just wanted to try to come to a conclusion,” she said. But Soto’s emails were hostile, she added. “I contacted him, but he didn’t want to talk, and that was fine.”
Soto was upset that she wouldn’t email him, she said, suggesting the city didn’t want the theater here. “I felt like it was an emotional response to what was going on between the staff and this race,” she said.
But there have been other issues between the theater and the city in the past, including a series of noise complaints about another downtown business – complaints not only from ACT, but also from residents who live above the theater and the building’s owner.
The noise was so bad one night, Soto told the Herald-Mail, “that lamps were actually knocked out of the wall.”
Those complaints brought together police officials, Nicewarner, the other business owner and members of the Washington County Board of License Commissioners, according to board Chairman Alan Levin. Levin said the board was assured that the business would comply with the terms of its liquor license.
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Would a petition make a difference?
The dispute culminated in Soto’s petition.
“I represent a dedicated organization in Hagerstown that has been unfairly mistreated and held to a different standard than others,” he wrote in the petition’s introduction. “I have personally forwarded emails to the city proving this unequal treatment, but no one from the city council or city administration has responded to these questions. This is an ongoing problem in Hagerstown, but it is not the only one we face.”
He then listed many of the same problems that Senator Paul Corderman (R-Washington/Frederick) cited in a letter to the City Council last month, including violence, drug abuse and homelessness, and called for the firing of Nicewarner and Martinez.
But neither the charter nor the city code allows for the removal of a mayor or council member by petition, and the city manager is left to the City Council. Martinez, who was appointed to the position when former Mayor Emily Keller left to join Gov. Wes Moore’s administration, is not running in the upcoming mayoral election.
Martinez said she answers emails and texts, but prefers to speak to him in person. “I really wanted to know how I could help him,” she said, “but that didn’t happen.”
But she said she will not try to meet with him again. “I want to talk to him and his wife, but not through messages,” she said, because her messages would then appear on social media. “I don’t want to do it that way,” Martinez said. “It’s making the community angry.”
But Soto claimed the city has not responded to the concerns. “Everyone refuses to answer my questions,” he told The Herald-Mail. “They ignore it. So it’s time to make a change. It’s time to get people on the same path.”
