The Board of Charles County Commissioners has petitioned the Charles County Circuit Court to deny a request to release the unredacted minutes of two closed board sessions that are at the heart of the legal battle to determine whether District 2 Commissioner Thomasina Coates (D) is allowed to vote on the employment contract of the county administrator.
District 2 Commissioner Thomasina Coates (D) is appealing last month’s circuit court ruling barring her from voting on County Administrator Mark Belton’s employment contract, and both sides have requested that the circuit court case be paused until the appeals court issues its decision — which might not happen before this fall.
After a grueling 3 1/2-hour hearing Tuesday, Judge Leo E. Green, Jr. ruled on the motions to dismiss the complaint filed by District 3 Commissioner Amanda M. Stewart (D) and District 1 Commissioner Gilbert Bowling III (D) on Dec. 30, and subsequently joined by County Administrator Mark Belton, to seek
The attorney representing two Charles County commissioners in a lawsuit against the rest of the board has asked the judge to unseal documents that could reveal the identity of a commissioner who was censured two years ago for racial discrimination and abusive behavior toward the county administrator.
On Friday, Jan. 13, the four defendants in Stewart et al. v Commissioners — the Board of County Commissioners, District 2 Commissioner Thomasina Coates (D), Board of Charles County Commissioners’ President Reuben B. Collins II (D), and District 4 Commissioner Ralph E. Patterson (D) — filed motions to dismiss the
