On January 24, during a special meeting, Greenbelt City Council voted to appoint Amy Knesel to fill the open council seat. Interviews with five candidates for the seat had been held the night before. Knesel has lived in Greenbelt since 2013 and been an active volunteer in the community since then. She spearheaded the Greenbelt Pumpkin Festival from 2017 to 2022 and has served on various boards, including Greenbelt Nursery School, Greenbelt Elementary, Greenbelt Soccer Alliance and the Labor Day Festival Committee. Her full statement to the News Review is on page 6 of the January 4 issue. Knesel joins Councilmembers Kristen Weaver, Jenni Pompi, Silke Pope and Danielle McKinney in Greenbelt’s first women-majority-led council.
Division over Process
During the special meeting council voted to enter executive closed session to discuss candidates’ qualifications. “I’m not going to get into discussions about people’s qualifications in an open public session. I think that’s just inappropriate,” said Mayor Emmett Jordan, at the start of the meeting. “There could be some liability issues,” he added. Weaver noted there was not agreement to move into a closed session and said McKinney had a proposal for the process that Weaver said she’d like to hear. Jordan responded saying he wanted to make a motion to go into executive session. He asked Weaver, who traditionally makes such motions, to make the motion and she responded, “I would prefer not to because I don’t think we should.” Jordan noted that the document had to be read to make the motion, they could have a discussion and the motion might fail. “Can’t Ms. McKinney also make a motion, though, if she wants to make a motion that’s not that?” asked Pompi. Jordan responded by asking Pope if she’d seconded his motion, which she said she had, and then proceeding as if there was a motion already on the table. Jordan noted he didn’t read the “proper documentation” and suggested a friendly amendment to the motion that hadn’t been read, to read the appropriate motion. A frustrated Weaver handed her device to Pope and asked if she’d like to do that because she’d rather not. Ultimately Jordan withdrew his motion, asked Pope to withdraw her second and Councilmember Rodney Robers said he’d like to hear from McKinney.
Motion for Vote Without Closed Session
McKinney suggested each councilmember vote for an applicant and if none received four votes then council move into closed session for discussion, focusing on deliberating on the applicants who received the highest votes. Jordan said he’d prefer to hear from his colleagues in closed session before making any vote. McKinney moved to take an initial vote and go into executive session if there was not consensus. McKinney, Weaver and Pompi voted for the motion and Jordan, Pope and Roberts against, thus the motion failed without a majority (3-3).
Closed Session
City Manager Josué Salmerón stressed that their solicitor had advised them that council could not discuss their preference for a candidate in closed session but solely applicant qualifications. “It never happens like that,” argued Roberts. “I think those directions are ridiculous,” he said, reflecting that he just wanted to vote and perhaps should have voted differently on the prior motion. Satisfied McKinney had had the opportunity to speak, Weaver agreed to make the motion to move into closed session but return to open session afterward. There were repeated shouts of “Mr. Mayor,” from resident Bill Orleans, who was not recognized. The motion passed 5-1, with Roberts in opposition.
First Round
Council returned to open session after approximately 75 minutes. They immediately held a vote by secret, paper ballot. The first round of voting yielded three votes for Matthew Inzeo, two for Amy Knesel and one for Kevin Lockhart. With no candidate securing a simple majority of four votes, Jordan suggested that council could take another vote or go back into executive session. Roberts proposed they vote again, Weaver concurred and Jordan agreed. Pope queried why they couldn’t simply accept the first vote with the greatest number but was informed of the need for a vote from the majority of council, which would be four.
Knesel Appointed
In the second vote, which followed immediately, four voted for Knesel and two for Inzeo. Council then voted unanimously to appoint Knesel and she was sworn in at the meeting.
In a press release on January 25, Jordan said he welcomed Knesel to council. “She is very active in Greenbelt and we felt she best fit the position. This entire process has been bittersweet, as we all have recently lost Ric Gordon, one of our beloved members of the Greenbelt community. Today, we welcome Amy and look toward working together to help meet the needs of our residents, stakeholders and partners in local and state government.”