Town of Preston, Conflict of interest

Can you believe that Preston has the husband of the Town Manager as her boss? Mimi Willis, Town Manger now reports to her husband, newly elected commissioner, Bill Willis. Talk about small town politics. wow. Guess she has job security.

this is not the first time shes had him as a boss he has served as town commissioner before in the early ninetys

Isn't it illegal to have such a conflict? How can he vote on a decision affecting anything the Town Manager does?

A lot of people are talking about this, but its not like Mimi has had to answer to anyone for a long time and I doubt it will start now. She is the reason the we lost the man running parks and recreation she never would approve giving him the money that he raised . So there are a couple of things that need to happen in Preston 1. Gotta take religion out of it yes that means Ellary has to go that is the number one reason we cant get anything for the kids in that town and also the number one reason why everyone is leaving. 2. Mimi has got to go she has to much power, how she got it I couldn't tell you but I do know there is no way she has worked a full week in years she is never in the office. And I can only guess that now that hubby is the new commissioner things will only get worse. Example of mimis power .. a couple of years ago when there was to be a Christmas tree lighting at the school yard they ended up with 2 strands of lights because she doesn't care for Christmas decorations, so the whole town had to be embarrassed with the two strands of lights on a giant tree because she doesn't like Christmas ... Oh well it is what it is for now maybe someday we will be able to get a younger generation running the town and hopefully bring it back TO WHAT IT USED TO BE .

To: I live there. You should run... Sounds like you have the town's best interest at heart.

I still wonder if it is legal? Most employers don't allow a relative to report to a relative. I have not looked this up on any MD or FED laws to know for sure. It certainlly is unethical, for sure. I think the right situation could cause them heaps of trouble.

Riding through, it looks like such a quaint town, a nice place to live but too much small town politics for me, I think. I know some people there but I don't live there. I read that they can't keep police and fire almost everyone they hire. What's up with that? Do they have any police coverage now?

Sam

We have 2 full time police officers now,and yes it is true we have had some bad luck with some of the other police officers, and the old commissioners both of whom were voted out several years ago at that time we had no police at all for about a year, with those two gone the town hired a new police chief and I am sure you have heard rumors on that one just like everyone else. I still say the main problem is the town manager and the religion making the decisions for the town but hopefully it will all be fixed sooner than later.

what is all this talk about taking religion out of the town of preston???? why do we need to do that?

That means religion should not be the driving force for decisions made," In the towns best interest " Oh and Separation of church and state!!! So Mr. Adams should keep his beliefs out of it and let the town grow and be what it can be .

THATS WHY

To the comment about religion, opening official town meetings, whether planning and zoning, or commissioners meetings with a prayer that includes the theme of "everything we do is in the name and glory of Jesus" is against everything that the Supreme Court has ruled in the past 200+ years. Additionally, the man calls himself the mayor, and the town has a three commissioner system with a commission president, not a mayor. I think Mr. Adams should return to school for a high school Government course to understand the system in which he works.
As to the comment about police, the town now has 3 officers,(a chief, another full time, and a part-time who is married to the full-timer) and is looking to add a 4th officer. In a town of roughly 400, that is 1 officer to every 100 people. Some may call this overkill for a town where the biggest crimes include speeding, loitering, not following protocol at public meetings, and other small things.I wonder what the ratio of prison guards to prisoners is at ECI? The town may be safer than that facility!

well yea we have 2 full time and 1 part time but it sure would be nice to see them spend more time on the streets than in the office

hear they lost 2 more police officers due to similar conflicts. Anyone know about this?

Not real sure. We had 2 officers about a year ago and both are no longer with us. The former chief was fired and the townspeople of course will never know why. The chief did have issues with the police station being run out of one of the apartments owned by the town commission president.