By Apurva Mahajan

The College Park City Council approved May 6 as voting day for the special election to elect a new mayor during its weekly meeting on Tuesday following former Mayor Patrick Wojahn’s resignation and arrest on 56 child pornography charges last week.

Election day will be on Saturday, May 6 at City Hall from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and early voting will be Tuesday, May 2 at Davis Hall from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mail-in voting will also be available with drop-off boxes across the city.

If a mayoral vacancy occurs 180 days or more before a general election, the city charter requires a special election within 65 days of the vacancy. College Park’s next general election is on Nov. 5, so this rule went into effect last Thursday when Wojahn’s resignation was effective.

Mayor pro tem Denise Mitchell will lead the council until the special election.

“There were very few options really,” said John Payne, chief of the city’s Board of Election Supervisors. “It’s just difficult to squeeze in an election like this in an election year, and we have a lot of planning to do.”

District 1 Councilmember Fazlul Kabir raised concerns residents may have with the proposed date for the special election as it falls on the same day as the annual College Park parade. Voters trying to get to City Hall will not be able to use Rhode Island Avenue because the street will be blocked for the parade.

College Park Communications and Events Manager Ryna Quinones said it would be difficult to change the date of the parade as it has already been heavily advertised, acts have been booked and road closures have been approved. Moving the election date earlier, however, would also conflict with other events, she said.

“Moving the [special election] date would be difficult in other ways because the weekend before is flanked by Maryland Day on campus, which is a huge event,” said Quinones. “The weekend after is final exams and students are already leaving, so we are trying to capture student involvement and UMD involvement.”

For mayoral special elections, candidates have to receive 15 signatures from all four districts which takes longer compared to single-district special elections, and the reliance on mail-in ballots only adds to the time needed to receive all of the votes so the election needs as much time as possible, said City Clerk Janeen Miller. 

“Normally for an election season we have about 110 days. And in this case, we have 65 days, and the 

clock started ticking last Thursday,” Miller said. 

May 6 is the last possible day the special election can be held. 

The special election could potentially result in a vacancy on the council on May 16, when the new mayor is sworn in. Since this would be less than 180 days before the general election, that position would be filled by a majority vote appointment by the mayor and council within 30 days of the council vacancy, or it would remain empty until the next election if an appointment is not made.

This was the first regular council meeting after Wojahn’s resignation and the emergency meeting last Thursday in response to his resignation and arrest. 

“The news has shocked our community but we must remain strong and persevere through this difficult time,” said City Manager Kenny Young. “As we grapple with the news we must ensure that the city government continues to work uninterrupted for our community.”

The city has encouraged staff to seek mental health support through its employment assistance program, Young said. The city will also provide up to $5,000 per household in approved mental health expenses either through reimbursements or by directly paying mental health providers.

“This is a demonstration of how the city just, you know, continues,” said District 3 Councilmember John Riggs. “We’re bigger than one person, we’re bigger than one issue, we’re strong and we’re strong together.”

Featured Image: The College Park City Council on March 7, 2023 as seen on Zoom. Photo by Apurva Mahajan.