Elkton’s search for town manager continues

ELKTON, Va. (WHSV) - The search for a new interim town manager continues in Elkton after Mayor Josh Gooden announced at an emergency meeting that Bob Holton has decided not to assume the role after he was appointed to the position at the July 18 meeting.

“As everyone saw on the memo that was sent out last night, [Holton] has withdrawn his interest from serving the town, so he will not be proceeding with us,” Mayor Gooden said.

He said he does not know why this decision was made, but “[Holton] may be sharing more information later.”

Elkton has not had a town manager since June 20 when council members voted 4-2 to fire former town manager Greg Lunsford.

There was no mention of how the council plans to proceed with finding a new town manager.

The meeting also addressed a number of access and security issues within the Elkton Area Community Center.

Councilman Troy Eppard proposed a motion to remove the surveillance camera and fax machine from the director’s office and place it behind the front desk to give “all staff at all times” access to it. That motion passed 4-1.

“It’s not a fix. It’s a tool, and there will be many other things we will be assessing to make it a safer place,” Eppard said. “This is not a situation that’s all-of-a-sudden or spur-of-the-moment, some impulsive, mindless decision. This has been a discussion for quite a while now.”

Workman stood alone in opposition questioning how the surveillance camera will be secure if everyone has access to it.

Another item discussed at the meeting was re-establishing an advisory board for the community center. Vice Mayor Randell Snow moved to re-instate it and automatically add a list of nine people to the board.

Mayor Gooden fought back asking if the positions were “advertised for anyone interested.” They were not.

Councilman Rick Workman thought the motion was too hasty, and the committee should have had a discussion about it first.

“It alleviates a lot of redoing things because we do it in haste without a full discussion. We get all the issues out the way. Then we vote on it and there are no issues involved because we’ve already got them out the way. If we do this impromptu like this without discussion, issues come up later,” he added.

The council members decided to table this discussion until the next meeting, which is scheduled for Monday.