December 6th, 2019 by WCBC Radio

The length of the term of Dr Ed Root has become a point of controversy. Root was sworn into office this week to fill the vacant seat on the Allegany County Board of Education-with the general consensus  being that he would hold the seat until the next board election which is set for next year. After being appointed by the governor last week for the seat that had been held by Wayne Foote- many people  were under the impression- including some board members- that Root’s appointment was to fill the seat only until the next election in 2020.  That is not the case as a spokesperson for Governor Larry Hogan confirmed to WCBC News that Root’s  appointment will cover from now until the end of 2022.  Allegany County Clerk of Court Dawn Lindsey, who conducted Root’s swearing in, confirmed to WCBC News that the official commission from the governor’s office indicates also that the action covers the length of the term in which Foote was elected to serve.  Foote was elected in November of 2018 and began his second term in office in January of this year.  The term runs through the end of 2022.  Foote  was removed from the school board  by the state in October for misconduct in office. There have been three board appointment processes in recent years following the deaths of board members Jane Dawson; Fred Sloan and Lorelee Farrell, While all of those seats were filled via the next election- those were all cases of a board member passing away while in office- as opposed to the current situation which involves a member being removed from office for misconduct. If it is determined that Root will now hold that seat for the next three years- there will be just two seats up in next year’s Allegany County Board of Education election: those seats currently held by Tammy Fraley and David Bohn.