I write this at the risk of offending many people. So here goes. Cassilly should give up his seat on the council. He should write a really nice letter about how great it is to be serving his country and that he can no longer in good conscience leave his seat vacant. In the amazingly selfless act of serving our country in a time of war he is committing an amazingly selfish act by not fulfilling his duty to the citizens in the Bel Air area. We are in the middle of the most hotly contested zoning disputes this county has ever seen and thousands of people have no voice in the process. Some say, “He would vote to uphold the veto so it does not matter.” However, right now the system is broken. We have 7 elected councilmen and only 6 are fulfilling their role. No I am not saying that Cassilly is a bad person and no I do not hate our troops so don’t use that demagoguery. What I am saying is that thousands of people are being silenced by Cassilly’s absence. The people have a right to be heard through their representative and that is not happening. Cassilly will return to Bel Air in shining armor, riding a white horse and will be swept back into whatever office he wants to take. He could come back and beat Craig, he could replace Bob Hooper, he could go to the House of Delegates, whatever he wants. But for right now we need a Councilman. I doubt there is a law preventing a soldier who is an elected official from writing a resignation letter.

That being said, the veto override looks unlikely. We have Miller and Slutzky as definite overrides. Stepp and Guthrie are maybes. As for “Vote Switchin” Veronica or “Rescinding” Roni, I am sure she will stick her finger to the wind and vote whichever way the wind is blowing at that moment. I guess those horses and chickens on Main Street scared her last time; Wagner being the only definite “No.” The District C Councilman could be an extremely important vote but unfortunately there will be no vote from District C.

I know that Cassilly would not have voted to override Craig but my point is that we need someone to step in and fill the void. The people of Bel Air deserve better than silence on the County Council.

Mr. Cassilly, thank you for serving our country honorably. Please serve our county and the people of Bel Air by resigning your seat on the Council.