Harford County Council Member Robert Cassilly will not resign from his council seat despite his deployment to Iraq, according to an e-mail he sent county officials.
Cassilly, a Republican representing Bel Air and a member of the Army Reserve, was recalled to active duty February. He has since been sent to Iraq and expects to be there for at least a year, he said in an e-mail.
While no one will serve in Cassilly?s place until after the November elections, Cassilly said his constituents in District C would not go without a voice on the seven-member council. County Executive David Craig and Council President Robert Wagner should both be responsive to residents? needs, he said.
However, his absence could lead to less decisive action in the council and a less powerful voice for the district, said Bel Air Mayor Terence Hanley, who was elected to the town?s Board of Commissioners the year Cassilly was elected to the County Council.
“Right now, the council is very divided,” Hanley said. “Bob neutralized a lot of things.”
“I am myself disappointed that he did not resign when he was recalled to duty,” said Councilman Richard Slutzky, District E. “The three-three situation is not a healthy or a positive one for [the] council.”
While Hanley felt the seat should have been filled, he said he understood Cassilly?s reasons for retaining it. Had he resigned, a replacement would have been appointed by the council instead of being chosen by voters.
Hanley said he had not heard complaints from residents? in Bel Air about the decision.
“People haven?t really been uptight about it. … They respect him for his decision to serve,” he said.
Cassilly?s absence led to the defeat of two major bills: A comprehensive rezoning bill and a bill for at-large elections came to tie votes in the council, resulting in their rejection.
Cassilly said he would have voted against both bills and the resulting defeats would have been the same. An appointed successor might have voted differently, he said, so the district?s interests were served better by his absence.
Slutzky said the comprehensive rezoning bill would likely come up at another council meeting and would miss Cassilly?s input again.
“There are many issues still on the table that we have to decide, and three votes don?t cut it,” said District B Councilwoman Veronica Chenowith.
Because military regulations prohibit him from filing for re-election while on active duty, Cassilly cannot run and his term will expire in December.
Cassilly also said he has stopped cashing his paychecks from the county since reporting for duty, leaving that money in Harford?s coffers.
“My only public service can be as a soldier,” he wrote.
