Stroech
SHEPHERDSTOWN — On Wednesday morning in Town Hall, the Corporation of Shepherdstown’s mayor and Town Council members were officially sworn in. Those who were sworn in, had been officially identified as the winners of the June 7 Municipal Election on Monday night, during a special Town Council meeting.
A total of 842 Corporation of Shepherdstown residents voted in the Municipal Election, according to the election results revealed on Monday. Mayor Jim Auxer (148 votes) and Town Recorder Lori Robertson (149 votes), who had both been unopposed in the election, were reinstated in their roles for the next two years. Unlike with the mayoral and town recorder seats, the five Town Council seats had been fought over. The confirmed new Town Council members were: Jenny Haynes (107 votes), Marty Amerikaner (120 votes), Chris Stroech (109 votes), Cheryl Roberts (126 votes) and Leah Rampy (124 votes), with write-in candidate James Vigil losing the race (61 votes).
According to Robertson, 76 community members participated in early voting. No Shepherdstown residents voted by absentee ballot.
Due to the swearing in not taking place until the morning after the regular Town Council meeting was scheduled to be held, which is the second Tuesday night of every month, former Town Council member Jim Ford had the opportunity to give his voice in one final meeting, before handing over his seat to Rampy, his incumbent.
The first new item in the meeting, focused on the appointment of a successor to Shepherdstown’s last Historian Laureate.
Haynes
“On behalf of Historic Shepherdstown, I am very pleased to nominate Doug Perks as the next Historian Laureate of Shepherdstown,” said Historic Shepherdstown Commission President Donna Bertazzoni. “Doug is a worthy successor to Dr. James C. Price, who was the first Historian Laureate, and who recently retired from the position. Doug was a good friend of Dr. Price, who schooled him about Shepherdstown’s history.
“A resident of Shepherdstown, Doug has been a member of the museum committee for Historic Shepherdstown, and he and his wife, Sherry, have both served as docents. He’s also a director and historian for Elmwood Cemetery Association,” Bertazzoni said, regarding the former Jefferson County schools teacher of 30 years. “He’s currently the historian of the Jefferson County Museum and is a Harpers Ferry certified park guide. Doug is the historian for the Jefferson County Historical Society, a director of the Harpers Ferry Park Association and cofounder of the Charles Town Library Civil War Roundtable.”
According to Bertazzoni, Perks frequently gives lectures on and writes for periodicals about Jefferson County’s history.
“In 2017, he was named a West Virginia History Hero, and in 2018 received the Preservation & Conservation Award, from the Two Rivers Giving Circle,” Bertazzoni said. “For these reasons and more, Historic Shepherdstown believes Doug would be an excellent choice as the next Historian Laureate of Shepherdstown. We fully and enthusiastically recommend him for this decision.”
The Town Council unanimously approved Perks as Shepherdstown’s Historian Laureate.
Amerikaner
Chief of Police Mike King then spoke to announce that the Shepherdstown Police Department, with the help of the town Grants Committee, had been able to purchase enough automated external defibrillators (AEDs) for each of the department’s vehicles.
“Not too long ago, the police department had requested some AEDs and we requested the help of the Grants Committee. They were successful and were able to obtain six AEDs, which we will put in each police car,” King said. “So, we no longer have one to share where, if you forget to take it out, it’s a bad thing.
“Each car now has an AED. Like most of our equipment, it’s something that we hope to never use, but . . . we will probably have to use this equipment in the future,” King said, mentioning the AED the department had before will now be housed at Town Hall, for emergencies taking place nearby. “The police department just wanted to say ‘thank you’ to the Grants Committee, for everything they did for us. It’s an expensive piece of equipment.”
Roberts
Rampy
