Steve Burns
WMAL.com
FAIRFAX CITY, Va – (WMAL) The Fairfax City Council is set to hold a public meeting tonight, one week after a much-maligned closed-door session that left residents feeling like they were being left in the dark following their mayor’s highly publicized resignation. Mayor R. Scott Silverthorne was arrested on August 4, charged with distributing Methamphetamine in exchange for group sex.
“We were brought into a spotlight that I think the community did not ask for,” former city councilmember Nancy Fry Loftus told WMAL. “So therefore, we’d like to all be a part of figuring out where the Council and new mayor goes next.”
However, Loftus said that has not been the case. The Council held a closed-door session last week, shutting out residents who showed up looking for answers on when a special election may take place and what may happen in the interim. An open meeting with a public comment period is scheduled for this evening.
“Crisis Management 101 would say that the first rule is to communicate to people what the plan is,” Loftus said. “They have failed at that rule.”
Silverthorne resigned last Thursday, three days after his arrest and 89 days before Election Day. Some critics accuse Silverthorne of playing politics with his resignation. Had it been one day earlier, a Special Election likely would’ve been held in conjunction with Election Day this November. Now, the City Council may have to wait until November 2017 to schedule the special election.
Copyright 2016 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (Photo: Fairfax County Police Department)
