Whoever Charles County voters elect to the Board of County Commissioners on Nov. 3 will take the oath of office Dec. 1 in the auditorium at Thomas Stone High School in Waldorf, on a $25,000 budget that has not grown in four years.
County staff laid out the plan at the commissioners’ Oct. 6 meeting. Commissioner Ralph Patterson asked for the briefing; the item first appeared on the Sept. 22 agenda as a discussion of the oath location and prayer during the ceremony.
Three venues, one budget
A planning committee drawn from the commissioners’ office, county administration, the clerk’s office, media services and security looked at three sites:
| Venue | What staff found |
|---|---|
| College of Southern Maryland theater, La Plata | About 400 seats and a rental fee; the reception area had no room for seated tables |
| Thomas Stone High School, Waldorf | No rental fee; auditorium connected to two reception spaces with room for seating |
| Future sports and wellness center (former Sears building) | Plenty of space, but an empty building that would need major setup and furnishings |
The college was the committee’s first choice for its theater, staff said. It fell away over the reception. The top complaint about past ceremonies, held in the county government building, was that guests had nowhere to sit, and the college space could not fit tables. Staff even considered tables outside with heaters in December.
At Thomas Stone, guests will walk from the auditorium straight into a reception area with seated and high-top tables. Staff said the layout also simplifies security, since the rest of the building can be locked down, and that parking is better than at the college. Staff confirmed no other events are scheduled at the school that night.
Normally the ceremony would be held in the county’s own facility, officials said. But the county’s new auditorium is under construction, and with possible delays from tariffs and furniture shipping, staff could not count on it being ready in time to send invitations.
Tighter money this time
The $25,000 budget matches the one for the 2022 ceremony. Staff said it is “much tighter this time because of inflation,” and that the free venue helped. Three caterers submitted proposals; staff have picked a preferred caterer, and the reception plan includes a carving station.
Invitations have been printed and will go out after the Nov. 3 election, once the makeup of the new board is known. Acting County Administrator Deborah Hall is scheduled to give the welcome and closing remarks, the clerk of the court will administer the oath and the Thomas Stone JROTC will post the colors. Media services plans a livestream and a technical run-through at the school in mid-November.
Why it was public
Not every commissioner thought the briefing belonged on the agenda. One said the plans could have been handled in a conversation with staff and that the public presentation took the surprise out of the event. The same commissioner said the choice of Thomas Stone made sense, citing its location in Waldorf, where state officials had asked that it be held.
Patterson disagreed. “At the end of the day, we’re using taxpayer money,” he said, adding that he had heard “differing accounts” from staff about what was planned. Putting it on the record, he said, cleared up “a lot of noise that’s out there about what’s going on with this ceremony.”
