Maurice King: Arlington officials just need to work together

ARLINGTON — It’s no secret that there is no love lost between this small city’s new mayor, Ray Williams, and several members of the City Council. Williams was elected in November by just five votes.

Much of the acrimony is centered around a nine-member Recreation Board. The mayor says the body constitutes a committee, while the council says it’s a board.

According to section 2.20 (b) of the Arlington City Charter, “All committees and committee chairs and officers of the City Council shall by appointed by the mayor and shall serve at the pleasure of the mayor. The mayor shall have the power to appoint new members to any committee at any time.”

And therein lies the rub. The mayor says the residents he selected are committee members. Some council members, though, say they feel the would-be appointees are part of a recreation board. They named their own members, rejecting the mayor’s recommendations.

To seemingly complicate matters, the difference between committee member and board and authority member is not defined in the city charter.

Williams has threatened litigation and has hired Maurice King of Albany as his attorney. King waded into the mix last week, furnishing The Herald a copy of the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission by-laws. He pointed to Section 2, which reads in part: “The regular members of the commission shall be appointed by the Mayor and City Council …”

King said the issue isn’t worthy of a lawsuit.

“The Mayor and council might be having problems, but taking this to court is going to cost money when what really needs to be done is for these people to get along and work together,” the attorney said.