Board reorganizational matters, typically decided at the first meeting of a new year, tend to be fairly mundane, but the Orange Town Council’s proved contentious.
During Tuesday’s meeting, council members were to select both a mayor and vice mayor from among themselves, something the council has done every year for decades usually to little fanfare. However, the audience was nearly full as council members tried to come to a consensus. Ultimately, it was the newcomers who were selected to fill the two roles.
A nomination made by Delmer Seale, Jr. to select Donna Waugh-Robinson as mayor was seconded by Waugh-Robinson, but failed 2-3 with council members Jason Cashell, J. Harrison Cluff and Jeremiah Pent dissenting. Waugh-Robinson has the longest tenure on the council, having served since 2018. A nomination made by Waugh-Robinson to select Seale as mayor, seconded by Seale, also failed 2-3 with the same members dissenting. Following a brief silence, town manager Greg Woods made it clear that council members had to make a choice.
“This is in the code,” he said. “We can’t get past this point.”
A nomination was then made by Cashell to select Cluff as the mayor. It was seconded by Pent and passed 3-2 with Waugh-Robinson and Seale dissenting. Pent then nominated Seale to serve as vice mayor, seconded by Waugh-Robinson and approved unanimously.
Both Cluff and Seale are the council’s newest members, having been elected in November. The meeting marked the first for both.
Prior to the selections, council heard comments from the public with one focusing on the residency of two council members. The matter isn’t new as questions have been raised about the two men both prior to the election and after it. Cashell and Pent own large estates with Cashell and his wife owning Mayhurst, which is outside of town limits, and Pent and his wife owning Arcadia at Edgewood, located in Madison County. Both also own commercial property in town and list Main Street apartments as their residences.
Town resident Sara Jaegar said the two men should be removed from office due to the residency concerns. She also said Orange County Commonwealth’s Attorney Paige Higginbotham should recuse himself from the matter since he has a familial relationship with Kent Higginbotham whom Jaegar said publicly supported the candidates during the election, collecting signatures for them. She also suggested the town create an ordinance requiring campaign donation transparency for council candidates.
Meanwhile Marsha Jacobs encouraged council members to work together as a team. She said a progress report released by Cashell and Pent on their site, https://cashellandpentfororange.org, makes reference to issues worked on longer than the two have been on the council, although Jacobs said the report makes it look as if the progress on those matters is a reflection of the two working on promises made during their campaign. She said the town manager should release a complete report.
Balancing the scales, John Murray said he and his wife had the pleasure of meeting Cashell and Pent and said the two were wonderful people. He thanked them for their honesty and integrity.
The appointment of council members to individual boards and committees was delayed until the February meeting.
