The post Bob Gatchel calls out conflict of interest. appeared first on Cecil County News.

      Anyone who tries to stay current on what is happening in Cecil County likely has a variety of sources that they check for local news. Although the last few years saw the end of the Cecil Guardian and the Rising Sun Herald as print journalism declined, a variety of online sources have emerged. As the barrier for publication became eliminated by the internet, legacy media either died or moved to online platforms to compete for readership. At the same time, social media allowed individuals to publish developments faster than any news outlet could, and it began to emerge as a common venue for the exchange of public information.

As the way we consume news changed, so did the sources and the scrutiny of the information we read. With a variety of options comes varying quality, and any Cecil County resident who has searched for multiple sources knows that some outlets are more reliable than others. Take for example the Cecil Times. Even at a cursory glance your average reader could quickly dismiss it as more fact-free blogging than news. It is widely known to be the propaganda arm of the Cecil Business Leaders PAC and served as a mouthpiece for the McCarthy administration and fellow cronies. Despite having been largely written off as the ramblings of an out of touch CBL sycophant, the Cecil Times continues to produce content for all three of its readers.

Articles from the Cecil Times often go unchallenged mainly because they often go unread, but every now and then they produce an article so riddled with half-truths and lies that the contents of the article must be addressed. In a recent piece regarding the September 7^th County Council Legislative Session the Cecil Times attempted to opine on the events leading up to the newly formed Redistricting Commission. Attempted and opine being the operative words as the article failed to present hardly any materially relevant information, and because it contains more bitterness, lies, and deception than facts.

The article starts by setting the scene of the September 7^th Legislative Session where Council President Bob Meffley was using his gavel to try and silence a speaker during the public comment period. But the story doesn’t start there. In advance of the September 7^th Legislative Session the Council failed to include on the meeting agenda that the resolution for the Redistricting Commission appointments was going to be introduced, nor did they make the resolution publicly available in advance of the meeting, both of which are violations of the Open Meetings Act. Trying to silence the only person there who happened to be present to speak out about the Redistricting Commission only further implicates the Council’s motives to hide the process from public scrutiny. Neglecting to provide this context makes this scene seem one sided.

In the same paragraph the article says that this scene was:

“…nothing compared to the belligerent battle waged by Vincent Sammons, the chair of the local GOP Central Committee, who wanted to override county law to claim a seat on a Redistricting Commission… that both the County Charter and the authorizing legislation enacted by the Council in April to establish the local commission specified that any “elected” official could not be seated on the redistricting panel.”

If the title and tone of the article didn’t initially make the reader suspicious of the author’s partiality, hyperbolic word choice like “belligerent” “battle” and “override” quickly removes all doubt. Aside from a stylistic critique, the content in this excerpt is also lacking. First, the legislation restates the County Charter, so implying that Vincent Sammons is trying to “override” multiple statutes is misleading. Second, the author fails to mention the distinction between a public official and a party official. Vincent Sammons, in his capacity as the Chairman of the GOP Cecil County Central Committee was a party official, meaning he was selected by and works for his party, not the public. Other articles have thoroughly examined this distinction and the case law and statutes will not be repeated here, but suffice it to say that the evidence and legal opinions rendered overwhelmingly reject the notion that a party official would conform to the standard of an “elected” official as laid out in the charter.

After obfuscating and misleading the reader, the article then goes on to flat out lie when it says that:

“[the Republican]Central Committee had not submitted a full slate of five GOP candidates to the County Council, as required, this summer and instead had listed “to be determined” instead of actual names for several GOP seats.

                Vincent Sammons, when he was chair of the Central Committee, submitted a full slate of appointees on March 16^th. Two weeks before the April 1^st deadline, and without prompting from the County Council. Not only is this a lie, but it is especially pernicious in that it covers up that the Council is actually the one that “belligerently” violated the Charter. The author not only fails to mention that the Charter mandates that the Council appoint a Redistricting Commission by April 1^st, but instead falsely claims that the list was required to be submitted this summer. Two patently false statements. Secondly, the author claims that the list that an incomplete list was submitted, and “several” seats were left open. This is again a lie. The resolution that was posted when it was going to be initially introduced listed the District 4 and District 5 seats on the republican slate as TBD. However, this was because the Council removed Vincent Sammons name and the District 4 appointees name, not because there was not a full slate provided. Using the word “several” to describe two slots aside, this is a malicious lie since it shifts the blame that should be placed on Bob Meffley and the Council.

                Further down in the article it states that:

“Sammons wanted to hold on to his seat as the chairman of the GOP Central Committee while also serving on the Redistricting Commission and he filed a personal lawsuit on 8/30/2021 against Meffley in the county’s Circuit Court, seeking a “writ of mandamus” to let him hold onto his elected Central Committee seat while also seeking a seat on the Redistricting Commission. He claimed that because he was only elected by Republicans in a party primary, he shouldn’t be considered an “elected” official. But faced with the clear language of the Charter, Sammons suddenly resigned as chair of the GOP Central Committee on Tuesday and put his name in for a seat on the redistricting panel…”

                Again, the author’s unwillingness to research, inability to understand, or intention to deceive results in another excerpt filled with duplicity and lies. Sammons did seek judicial relief and filed a writ of mandamus to have a judgement resolve the dispute between conflicting interpretations. In other words, he asked a judge to do exactly what the judicial branch is designed to do, so it is hard to see why the author would frame this case in a pejorative manner. However, the author then goes on to claim that Sammons, presumably faced with defeat and acceptance that he was an elected official, chose to resign from the Central Committee. This is not true at all. Sammons decision to resign, as made public on social media, was taken to prevent the Council from barring him from the Redistricting Commission. He did not accept the interpretation of the Council that he was an elected official, and lawsuit against the Council is still pending. In fact, cecilcounty.news obtained documentation that shows that Bob Meffley has filed for a dismissal of the lawsuit, not Sammons. The author portrays this as a last ditch effort of Sammons, when in reality it was precipitated by the Council because they refused to wait until the legal proceedings had run their course.

                This article from the Times was selected to be examined not because it was a one-off that veered a little off track, but because it was a particularly egregious article and serves as an example of the kind of content routinely provided on their forum. It is a difficult balance between deciding to address the many lies and half-truths of the CBL propaganda blog known as the Cecil Times and allowing them to continue on unread and unnoticed. It is equally difficult to hold them accountable. To that end, we ask that you contact the Cecil Times and demand they retract and apologize for the lies and disinformation about important local events that they have promulgated. Please contact the author, Nancy Schwerzler at ceciltimes@gmail.com and let her know that as Cecil County residents we will not be silenced, and we will not be slandered out of public participation. If the times has any shred of journalistic integrity they must print a retraction and issue a public apology.

The post Demanding Journalistic Integrity in Cecil County appeared first on Cecil County News.

  At the close of business on Friday August 27^th, the Cecil County Council were continuing their efforts to block citizen participation on the Redistricting Commission. In response to the Council’s insistence to bar members of the Democratic and Republican Central Committee from serving on the Redistricting Commission Vincent Sammons, the Chairman for the Republican Central Committee and nominee to be the Republican representative for District 5 on the Redistricting Commission, has filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Cecil County to compel the County Council to abide by the law in the Charter regarding the formation of the Redistricting Commission.

As previously reported, the Cecil County Charter requires a Redistricting Commission to be formed each year following the U.S. Census. Each party that earns at least 25% of the vote share for County Executive is entitled to nominate five members (one from each district in the county) to serve on the Redistricting Commission. So long as those nominees meet the eligibility requirements to serve, the County Council is required by the Charter to appoint the members selected. The Council’s actions to prevent Mr. Sammons from serving on the Commission were centered on an objection that he was an elected official as a member of the Republican Central Committee, and is therefore ineligible under the provisions of the Charter. The full context of these events were dealt with in a previous article that explored the Council’s claims in greater detail.

Now, new information has been gathered that shows Mr. Sammons has informed the Council of the objections to his removal and has asked the Council to reconsider. In his role as Chairman of the Republican Central Committee, Mr. Sammons is responsible for selecting the individuals appointed for the Redistricting Commission. Ironically, this has made him the point of contact that the Council must communicate with regarding their decision for his removal. In email exchanges with the Council and the Council’s legal advisor, Mr. Sammons has provided Maryland Statute, Maryland Case Law, and other examples of Central Committee members serving on Redistricting Commissions throughout Maryland in an attempt to urge the Council to reverse their decision. Despite Mr. Sammons request for reconsideration, the Council has refused to yield, and gave Mr. Sammons an ultimatum that he must submit the new name of a District 5 Republican by September 1^st. In light of this deadline Mr. Sammons had three options: withdraw his name, resign as a committee member, or seek judicial relief. With little time to secure counsel and mount a defense, Mr. Sammons chose to represent himself and challenge the Council’s actions in court. On Monday, August 30^th, Mr. Sammons filed a lawsuit asking the court to compel the Council to follow the law, naming Council President Bob Meffley as the Defendant.

The ongoing saga surrounding the redistricting process is marred by intra-party politics and petty political grudges held by Councilman Meffley. Not only do his actions impede the redistricting process, but it also throws the credibility and purpose of the Redistricting Commission into question. The Commission is designed to be composed of individuals chosen to represent their districts and their parties independent of the elected office holders who are currently representing those districts, namely the County Council. If the Council is unjustly interfering in the formation of the Redistricting Commission, then they are also interfering in the redistricting decisions arrived at by the Commission. Not only does this circumvent the letter and intent of the law as outlined in the County Charter, but it also undermines the faith voters have in the ability of the Redistricting Commission to submit a fair proposal, free of influence from those currently holding office.

In addition to the irreparable harm done to the integrity of the 2021 Redistricting Commission, the Council’s actions are now beginning to have long term ramifications as well. The Charter requires that the Redistricting Commission is appointed April 1^st, and the Commission’s plan and report are to be sent to the Council no later than November 15^th. With April far behind us and November quickly approaching, the Redistricting Commission, once appointed, will have little time to complete a thorough assessment and put forward a well thought out proposal. This abbreviated timeline as a result of the Council’s actions will further weaken voter’s trust that the Commission was given the necessary time to complete their work. The result of the redistricting plan will be in place for another ten years, meaning the next five elections will take place with voters placed in, what are at this point bound to be hastily constructed districts.

In order to hold the responsible parties accountable, it is worth noting the timeline in which these events unfolded. The appointees of the Redistricting Commission on the Republican slate, which are the ones with which the Council originally took issue, were submitted in March in advance of the April deadline set out in the Charter. No objection to any of the names were noted until recently in August, when the Council was preparing the resolution to confirm the appointees in advance of the September Legislative Meeting. Mr. Sammons was contacted on August 16^th with the notification that he was ineligible to serve on the Commission due to the fact he was a central committee member. After pushing back on this determination based on the fact that other central committee members from both parties were not also determined to be ineligible, the Council Attorney sent a notice on August 27^th to both Mr. Sammons and the Chair of the Democratic Central Committee, Patricia Folk, informing them that they had until September 1^st to submit alternate names. Providing three business days when the Council had since March to make these determinations is by all objective standards an unreasonable request.

The Council’s decision to drag their feet throughout the entire redistricting process has led to delays, a total lack of trust by the voters in our leaders and the redistricting process, and now legal action. While the final outcome of the pending judgement is not yet known, what is abundantly clear is that the members of the Council who supported these actions being carried out in the way that they were must be held accountable. Citizen participation is fundamental to our political process, and the decisions carried out by Councilman Meffley, if left unchallenged, would have set a precedent that discouraged individuals from stepping forward on the grounds that a particular Council member may object to their involvement at the last minute and arbitrarily prevent their participation with very little opportunity for redress. Community and political participation should be encouraged. The Council’s actions are having a negative impact on community involvement and the function of government. Should Mr. Sammons’ lawsuit fail, voters will have to remind our elected officials at the ballot box that Cecil County wants honest, fair, and transparent government.

The post County Council’s failures on redistricting commission appeared first on Cecil County News.

           The world in which we live has been irreparably changed. Such a statement may sound banal, but its simplicity should not detract from its truth. Our habits, our customs, and our community have been altered in ways that just two years prior would have defied belief. This change is irreparable, as we will never again be able to trust the institutions that were used to betray us. The opportunity to increase the reach of government was seized at every level. Compliance was mandated, questions were discouraged, and dissent was silenced. Our compassion for others was exploited to usher in unprecedented government mandates, while our voices were silenced out of fear of reprisal. While we continue to grapple with the impact that the last several months have had on our own personal lives, the sweeping transformation that we have undergone as a society cannot be overlooked and should not be understated.

            Although the changes we have seen are broad and sweeping, their effects are felt on a personal and local level. As we piece together answers and begin to confront the world we now know, it is important that our local community does not get lost in the national narrative. The expansion of governmental power at the local level, the actions of our business leaders, and the influence of various organizations on our community must all be made transparent. Absent a reliable source of information that is not beholden to public officials, local leaders, and various interest groups, it is incumbent on the local citizenry to create and maintain a free journal. This journal must be free not only in circulation, but free from advertisers, free from political agendas, free from all external influence that seeks to subvert its goal of informing the reader. Maintaining a source of information that has an allegiance only to truth is essential if we are to live in a transparent and free society. CecilCounty.News is such a source.

The lines in the sand are being redrawn. Gone are the days when individual liberty was assumed. Past is the period when our personal freedom was not confronted. Lost is the time when our right to self-determination was a principle universally accepted. We now live in an era where no aspect of our daily life is left untouched by government diktat, and where our basic freedoms are not challenged. Our rights to associate, to choose what we wear, to decide what goes in our body, are increasingly falling under the purview of government bureaucrats, with their orders being carried out by big business. Where we shop, where we worship, and what we teach our children is becoming increasingly subject to outside control. Today, freedom is defended not on a distant battlefield, but in our neighborhoods, our schools, our churches and our lives. Liberty is lost only when we abdicate our duty to expose and hold accountable those seeking to take it. In standing up for yourself you are lifting up for others, in standing against corruption you are protecting others, and in standing for the truth you help inform others. Through its renewed focus to provide reporting on the entire community, and by expanding its scope to expose not just government corruption, but to promote transparency at large, CecilCounty.News is taking those stands.

A citizen journal is only possible through the patronage and participation of the entire community. We not only encourage readers to regularly visit this site, but also to submit articles and volunteer to write about everything happening in Cecil County. Articles can be published anonymously if the contributor so chooses. No one knows better than those in the community what is happening in our own backyards, and it is vital that those who live in the community be part of its reporting.

The post The lines in the sand for liberty are being redrawn appeared first on Cecil County News.

Rising Sun, Maryland – Mary Beyer Halsey, 59, of Rising Sun, Maryland was sentenced today to two years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur announced. Halsey previously pleads guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, receipt of a bribe by a bank official, and false statement in bank records, in connection with the straw purchase of a home in Rising Sun, Maryland, upon which Cecil Bank had foreclosed. U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow also ordered Halsey to forfeit interest in the Rising Sun property and to pay $300 in special assessments and restitution to the bank in the amount of $145,000. “Mary Beyer Halsey will now serve time in federal prison after she used her position as President and CEO of Cecil Bank for her personal benefit, causing a loss to the bank, which had already received federal taxpayer funds as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program,” said U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur. “Corrupt bank officials undermine the public’s trust in our financial system.” According to court documents, Halsey conspired with Daniel Whitehurst, an employee of a real estate development company that did business in Maryland, to defraud Cecil Bank and another bank to purchase a home through false pretenses, representations, and promises. Halsey agreed to help Whitehurst to obtain a line of credit from Cecil Bank, in exchange for Whitehurst agreeing to serve as the straw purchaser of 127 Ebenezer on behalf of Halsey. Halsey later participated in a loan committee meeting at Cecil Bank that considered and approved a $650,000 line for credit for Whitehurst and a $500,000 line of credit for his business partner.
Halsey admitted that at her request, Whitehurst visited 127 Ebenezer and provided Halsey with an estimate of the costs to update the house. Whitehurst determined that beyond replacing the kitchen subflooring at a cost of about $1,000, there were no significant repairs needed. A full appraisal on September 10, 2012, reflected a market value of $295,000. To support the below-market price that Halsey wanted to pay, Whitehurst included in the letter of intent a list of lower-priced home sales in the same area that was not comparable to 127 Ebenezer and therefore was not reflective of the property’s actual market value.
On the same day, Whitehurst e-mailed Cecil Bank his offer to purchase 127 Ebenezer for $145,000, during a meeting of the Cecil Bank Board of Directors, Halsey advised the Board that Whitehurst had made a purchase offer of $140,000 for the property, $5,000 less the actual offer. To support the below-market price of $140,000, Halsey falsely characterized the property as having “structural deficiencies [that] will require significant repairs.” Halsey did not disclose her personal interest in the property, nor Whitehurst’s role as her nominee to acquire the property on her behalf. The Board authorized Halsey to “negotiate the best price.” Thereafter, Whitehurst submitted a contract for him to purchase 127 Ebenezer from Cecil Bank for $150,000, which Halsey signed on August 17, 2012 on behalf of Cecil Bank.
On November 21, 2012, the settlement of 127 Ebenezer was held with Halsey representing Cecil Bank as the seller, and Whitehurst as the purported purchaser, selling the property to Whitehurst for $150,000. Both signed the HUD-1 form which falsely represented that Whitehurst had paid approximately $52,566 at settlement, when in fact, the down payment and all related closing costs were paid from the $75,000 Halsey had wired to Whitehurst’s bank account beforehand. From October 31, 2012 through March 29, 2013, Halsey transferred an additional $60,000 to Whitehurst to cover the cost of the upgrades to the house that they had previously discussed, as well as to reimburse Whitehurst for mortgage payments he made on the property.
In December 2012, in response to a question from a bank examiner for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond inquiring about the sale of the property to Whitehurst, Halsey falsely stated that she was “not totally familiar with [that] property” and that the bank had difficulty marketing the property and had not listed it with a realtor because of “issues with the county over the bonds outstanding.”
In April 2013, federal agents began interviewing employees and other borrowers about banking irregularities at Cecil Bank. Halsey never told the bank that she was the true purchaser of 127 Ebenezer, nor did the bank know that Halsey and Whitehurst had orchestrated the sale of the foreclosed property at the fraudulent price of $150,000, instead of the appraised pre-renovation price of $295,000.
As a result of Halsey’s misrepresentations and omissions, the bank lost approximately $145,000. This case was the product of a joint investigation by the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Office of Inspector General (FHFA-OIG), the Mid-Atlantic Region; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of Inspector General (FDIC/OIG), New York Region; and the Small Business Administration, Office of Inspector General (SBA/OIG).

The post FORMER CECIL BANK PRESIDENT SENTENCED TO TWO YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR BANK FRAUD appeared first on Cecil County News.

This article follows up on an earlier story, Alan McCarthy’s Illegal Censorship of Constituents

To recap: it is illegal for elected public officials to censor their constituents and silence their voice on any public forum. In 2018, the ACLU settled a lawsuit with Governor Larry Hogan for deleting comments on his official Facebook page, and a federal court ruled that President Trump could not block individuals who post negative comments on his Twitter account. In 2019, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2014 that the comments section of a public official’s social media account is a public forum and discrimination against contrary opinions is not allowed.

Vincent S. Sammons of Rising Sun, MD, has recently filed a lawsuit against the Cecil County Government, naming Alan McCarthy, Alfred Wein, Jason Allison, Jennifer Lyall, Maggie Tome, Bob Meffley, Deborah Sniadowski, Brian Miller in both individual and official capacity as defendants.

The suit contends that the defendants named have purposely violated Mr. Sammons’ First and Fourteenth Amendment rights, as well as Article 40 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights. These alleged violations occurred when Mr. Sammons was blocked from posting and commenting on the Facebook page, “Dr. Alan McCarthy, Cecil County Executive”; when Mr. Sammons video feed was blocked during a virtual county meeting held on Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic; and when Mr. Sammons’ email was blocked from contacting the county government by States Attorney Jason Allison.

Screenshots and other documentation have been provided to the court by Mr. Sammons’ attorney as evidence.

As many know, Vincent Sammons has been a resident of Cecil County for many years. He was once president of the Rising Sun Chamber of Commerce and is now the Chairman of the Cecil County Republican Central Committee. He is a self-made businessman and his name has become widely known for his social media presence and outspoken criticism of corruption in the County Government and special interest groups backing it (which has resulted in repeated harassment against him by the County and members of the Cecil Business Leaders PAC “CBL” over the years).

Another county resident, Rob Perkins of North East, sympathetic to this case, has started a fundraiser to assist with Mr. Sammons’ legal fees.

In an era where civilian controlled government has become threatened by increasingly powerful organizations and institutions and may soon cease to exist, it is the right and duty of the citizens to question and challenge the establishment and ensure what President Lincoln described as the government of the people, by the people, and for the people, continue to endure.

The full PDF formatted complaint can be viewed by clicking on the image of the complaint above.

The post Cecil County Government Sued For Constitutional Violations appeared first on Cecil County News.

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Perryville, MD – On the first and third Tuesdays of every month, the Town of Perryville holds meetings that are open to the public. In attendance are the Board of Commissioners, the town administrator and town attorney, among other officials.

One of the night’s topics was a discussion on the property dispute between the town and Charles and Amber Maggiore, who purchased 52 acres of land with hopes of starting their own organic farm and claim ownership of 18 acres surrounding the old reservoir.

Cecil County News met with the Maggiores and other concerned citizens who turned out to the meeting in order to protest logging, mining, and the draining of the reservoir which would pollute their wells and destroy the value of their land.

Only, after less than fifteen minutes into the meeting, there was a motion to adjourn and go into a closed session to discuss the property dispute and seek legal advice.

“I went in and took a seat. I was hoping to see Charles and Amber but there were only three other people seated in the audience,” we were told by one person in attendance. “And after about five or ten minutes they showed us the door. Even the Cecil Whig’s reporter had to leave. Makes you wonder what happened to freedom of the press?”

For a short time, we spoke with the Maggiores and a neighbor who regaled us about a previous attempt to mine in the area in the 1990s that was ultimately blocked. As we discussed the topic two uniformed police officers entered the Town Hall and we frequently noted them peeking out the window at us discussing the reservoir.

Vincent Sammons, a friend assisting the Maggiore’s with their land dispute arrived on the scene. After about five minutes of small talk with the officers at the door, they returned saying they were not going to reconvene and that the meeting was done for the night.

In our support for the Maggiore family and desire to see their situation resolved, we are asking our readers, if you are a lawyer or know one specializing in real estate and property law who is interested in taking the case pro bono, please reach out to us so that we can put you in touch with the family.

As always, thank you for reading Cecil County News.

The post Perryville Shuts Public Out of Town Meeting appeared first on Cecil County News.

Earlier this week Cecil County News reported the sad story of Charles and Amber Maggiore, who have had land belonging to them seized via an action to quiet title that failed to name the appropriate landowner nor representatives as defendants when the Maryland Code for Real Property demands it, and was based on a deed to the wrong property.

Read the story here: http://cecilcounty.news/2019/09/08/perryvilles-not-so-quiet-title-farce/

Assisting the Maggiore family in their negotiation with the town is local businessman Vincent Sammons who has reported that Perryville refuses to acknowledge the 17.85 acreage surrounding the Mill Creek Reservoir as the part of the estate of Mabel Williams-Whack whose representatives sold the estate to the Maggiores.

Fred Sussman, the town attorney for Perryville insists that the town purchased the reservoir property from the Perryville Water Company despite filing an action to quiet title to claim the land. He insists that the 17.85 acres is separate from the 51.62 acres owned by the Maggiores despite the evidence we provided in our prior article stating otherwise.

For anyone confused by Perryville’s response; think of it like buying a six pack of soda at the market, having someone take a soda then try convince you that 3+3 equals 5 instead of 6, and that the sixth soda theirs because they bought it from a different market. And if you try to take the soda back, they threaten to have you arrested.

Based on the current information provided, Sussman also claims that the town is being required by the Maryland Department of the Environment to lower the water level in the reservoir to ensure the safety of the reservoir, despite the Cecil Whig’s reporting in 2016 that the reservoir was going to be demolished and scrapped while Lidl would be restoring the streams as part of a compensatory mitigation.

This, readers, is what is known as gaslighting; which is an attempt to manipulate someone into doubting reality in spite of facts and logic by asserting a lie like it’s truth.

Inspection of the terrain has uncovered property markers that support the Maggiore’s claim, and three witnesses attest that some more were removed during the work being done on the land by the town.

Sussman has also demanded that the Maggiores remove the signs posted claiming ownership of the disputed property and directing people to “keep out,” claiming that they are “inaccurate and defamatory.”

Meanwhile at the Maggiore property, Perryville two men showed up on the premises accompanied by a police officer out of uniform and driving an unmarked car, but wearing his badge and holstered sidearm. When he was asked and was legally required to answer, refused to reveal his name. An argument ensued over who was the owner of the property that Charles Maggiore told Cecil County News went on for five to ten minutes. He was only identified as Officer Jerry Warner of Perryville PD due to the neighbor coming out to check on the commotion and calling him out by name.

Mr. Maggiore also told us of another incident with police where he was stopped on the road because of a broken headlight. But when Mr. Maggiore asked to get out and look at it, the officer instructed him to remain seated. After the officer left, Mr. Maggiore inspected his headlights only to find that they were fine.

At this point, the town of Perryville has few options. Either they can arrest Charles Maggiore for trespassing, or he will have them arrested for trespassing. Either way, the case and the evidence will go before a judge. Based on the evidence we have collected, the quiet title judgment should be vacated.

In his back and forth with Town Administrator Denise Breder, Mr. Maggiore reported that every time she sends him a deed to prove the town owns the reservoir property, it is the same wrong deed that belongs to a property at Old Post Road in Perry Point, several miles from the disputed land.

We will continue to keep you apprised of the situation.

The post Perryville’s Response to the Maggiore Case appeared first on Cecil County News.

Meet the Maggiores

Imagine after working hard finally being able to purchase your dream home. You sign the papers, write a check, put your name on the deed and start moving in. It’s heavenly, right? This is one of the single greatest joys a person can have in their life, to stand on land and sleep in a house that is theirs alone.

But for Charles and Amber Maggiore of Perryville, MD, that dream became a nightmare. The couple, for the sum of $275,000.00, bought a parcel of land to put down their roots and raise their five children from the estate of Mabel S. Williams-Whack, who passed away in 2014 at the age of 90. It’s a beautiful range of 51.62 acres located on Jackson Station Rd home to wetlands and waterways.

After signing the dotted line in May 2016, their problems began. One day, the Maggiores caught a suspicious man hunting near the old Mill Creek Reservoir, which stands on their property. This poacher claimed to have been given permission by the town to hunt on the land. Reasonably, Mr. Maggiore consulted Denise Breder, Perryville’s Town Administrator.

“Poacher said the town gave him permission to hunt by the reservoir,” Charles Maggiore told us, “I went into town to see Denise and she said to call the cops.”

Mr. Maggiore said that the next time it happened, the Department of Natural Resources got involved and advised him to put up No Trespassing signs. According to their maps, the reservoir was on his property and by the opinion of the state, belongs to him.

A 2013 Cecil Whig article by Jane Bellmyer claimed that the reservoir built by the Cole family in the 1930s was sold to Perryville for the use of the reservoir. The land it sat on was purportedly being leased to the town. More on that later.

 The Maggiore’s situation only worsened after this.

The Action to Quiet Title

 In March of 2016, the Town of Perryville had filed a quiet title action and the following July a judge ruled in their favor, allowing Perryville to effectively seize the 17.85-acre parcel of land where the reservoir stands as town property.

From Wikipedia: “An action to quiet title is a lawsuit brought in a court having jurisdiction over property disputes, in order to establish a party’s title to real property, or personal property having a title, of against anyone and everyone, and thus ‘quiet’ any challenges or claims to the title.”

In previous cases involving a quiet title, people using lands that are not theirs have made adverse possession claims followed by quiet title actions and been able to take ownership of that land by court authority. Various news websites have described this as a means to legally steal real estate.

In order for the action to work, the squatter for an amount of time that varies state-to-state has to be openly living on or using the property without permission and paying taxes or other expenses associated with maintaining the property before they can make the case. It’s similar to a common law marriage, where after cohabitating for an established period of time an unmarried man and woman are considered legally married.

A municipality (the Town of Perryville) arguably cannot squat on private property, nor can they pay taxes and fees to themselves for it. Even if they argue that they own the Mill Creek Reservoir which has been on the land since the 1930s, that is a very flimsy predicate, as for decades the reservoir and land have not been in use by the town.

It’s also worth noting that the defendant listed in the court records for the quiet title action is Gertrude C. Cole of South Carolina, not Mabel S. Williams-Whack or the representatives of her estate, Dwight James and Thomas Short III, or even Charles and Amber Maggiore who were sold the property and all its contents before the ruling was made. According to the deed for the property, William Cole Jr. and his wife Sarah sold the parcel of land to Collins Williams in 1926.

Maryland Code Real Property Title 14 – Miscellaneous Rules subtitle 6 – Actions to Quiet Title states in subsection 14-610: “Notification of personal representative. – If a person required to be named as a defendant is dead and the plaintiff knows of a personal representative, the plaintiff shall join the personal representative as a defendant.”

In a similar case, Estate of Zimmerman vs Blatter, the additions to Subtitle 6 signed in by Governor Larry Hogan in 2016 applied retroactively and following an appeal, the judgment in the Zimmerman case was vacated and the case was dismissed. This sets a legal precedent for any future cases with the same circumstances.

As we pointed out before, in the action to quiet title and settle ownership of the 17.85-acres, Perryville town attorney Fred Sussman did not name Thomas Short III or Dwight James, the representatives of Mabel S. Williams-Whack as defendants in his action to quiet title. Which, by the precedent we’ve explained, means the court’s ruling that the 17.85-acre parcel belongs to Perryville should too be vacated. But to this day, they still claim the town owns the land around the reservoir.

In our investigations, we have found that there are no records in the Cecil County circuit court of that land ever being allocated to the town of Perryville prior to the quiet title action, either ownership or lease. The County Clerk was unable to locate any relative information.

Not only that, the Town of Perryville submitted the wrong deed for their case. The document given belongs to a property at Old Post Road in Perry Point that was owned by John Stump in the 1800s. This location is miles away from the disputed land.

And that would be checkmate, I think. It is hard to believe that this farce ever held up in a court of law. The Court should review their ruling and with the evidence in mind, vacate it and dismiss the case according to legal precedent.

The quiet title action is not the only suspicious misfortune the family has suffered since moving in.

The Fire, the Liens and the Land Developers

In November 2016, the Maggiore’s home caught fire. Investigators suspected arson and according to Mr. Maggiore, inspectors came out twice while he wasn’t home and logged it without notifying him. Evidence pointed to the fire being started from outside the house and Maggiore believes the case is still open and unsolved.

No one was hurt, thank God, but for a time the house was unlivable, and the family had to be away from the property, and Mr. Maggiore says they never received anything in the mail from the town about any matter, except for warnings Ms. Breder and town attorney Fred Sussman issued for them to stay off the property and not to hang signs or paint the trees.

Tax liens were then placed on their property, ostensibly to satisfy unpaid taxes and charges due the county in the amount of $919.12. The property was sold at an auction for $170,000.00 to Thornton Mellon LLC, who would foreclose the property after six months if the Maggiores did not pay the money.

After fighting the sale and highlighting errors made by the town, the Maggiores successfully reclaimed their property. But the Town of Perryville still claims ownership of that 17.85-acre parcel of land around Mill Creek Reservoir via their shady quiet title action.

The question you’re likely pondering is: why does Perryville care so much about an 80-year-old defunct reservoir and the land surrounding it?  

In March 2016 (the same month the Quiet Title action was filed,) Jane Bellmyer reported in the Cecil Whig that the Town of Perryville was given a draft plan for a stream restoration project that would fix flooding issues around the reservoir and help the town. The specifics are unclear as the representatives of TLBT, LLC whose organizations devised the draft plan were under a DNR, as was Lisa Webb, the director of Cecil County’s Department of Economic Development.

That fall, Bellmyer reported in her Whig news column that the town of Perryville wanted to scrap the reservoir and sell the property. She also mentioned that the stream restoration project was being carried out by Lidl, which recently opened its new distribution center in the county. Following this information, it would be safe to conclude that Lidl would be the purchaser, or perhaps another company working in tandem with them.

The area around it has a lot going on recently. Contrary to the Whig’s claim of stream restoration, the logging and digging taking place adjacent to the Maggiore’s property have been damaging the wetlands and waterways. The MDTA notified the family of this effect along with their intention of applying to the Maryland Department of the Environment to obtain authorization.

There are also improvements to the I-95 exit sought by the Maryland Transportation Authority, likely due to the Great Wolf Lodge going up next to Hollywood Casino. Being nestled between I-95 and Route 40, the land is also in the path of the County’s Master Water and Sewer Plan. York Builders (Stewart Properties) is involved with many of these enterprises.

In another letter, MDTA requested permission to enter the Maggiore’s property to perform a field survey. Mr. Maggiore has expressed contempt for the damage these projects are doing to his property and its value.

It would seem that the only crime Charles and Amber Maggiore committed was choosing a home for their family that lay in the path of the town and developers looking to turn the area around the I-95 exit into a tourist hub. The lack of concern for the local nature and the value of Maggiore’s property is sad.

• The Maggiore Deed 2016 with Map (Current Owner of 655 Jackson Station)
• The Cole Deed 1926 (Previous owner of 655 Jackson Station)
• Town of Perryville Quiet Title 2016
• The Stump Deed 1893 Town claims was Deed to 655 Jackson Station (Reservoir) Page 1 at bottom , Page 2
• 1858 Survey map of Cecil County showing the Deed 2 different deed’s references.

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