Suburbs

The Germantown Board of Aldermen meeting was supposed to be the final reading on the city’s financial future for the coming fiscal year.

In a surprising move, the meeting, instead, ended with the city’s long-time mayor announcing the end of his political career in the suburb.

Before Mayor Mike Palazzolo announced the meeting’s adjournment, he read from a prepared letter saying he was stepping down from Germantown service, effective in December when he ends his 22 years in public office, including three terms as mayor.

Wait. What?

That was the reaction from many people in the suburb. After all, the incumbent mayor had announced almost a year ago that he planned to run for the office again. In fact, he chose another Germantown term instead of his consideration to seek the county mayor’s office.

Things sure changed a lot over nine months.

Palazzolo, who was unopposed four years ago, had drawn opposition — a significant challenge from freshman Alderman Tony Salvaggio, who holds name recognition as the son of former mayor Charles Salvaggio.

Then there was the ill-fated May referendum regarding the full-time mayor’s office, versus the part-time designation under which Palazzolo had served. Palazzolo backed the idea — brought forth by former Alderman Jon McCreery — campaigning in favor of the referendum at the early voting location in Germantown.

And, to be fair, Palazzolo and other mayors, and probably aldermen, dedicate at least a 40-hour week to the job between meetings, phone calls, dealing with problems and studying agendas, a dedication that equates to a full-time job.

But the full-time mayor’s idea faced staunch opposition and was tied too closely to Palazzolo, who endorsed the change. Voters may have thought the full-time designation was fair but saw it as a referendum tied too closely to the incumbent mayor.

Even if the full-time status was embraced by Germantown voters, Palazzolo would have to win in November to benefit from the change. Full-time status wouldn’t apply until the next mayoral term.

In essence, I think the 75% rejection of the full-time mayor played a key role in Palazzolo’s decision. Not because he needed to have the job change, but because the referendum became tied to the incumbent mayor. The overwhelming defeat provided a glimpse of the future.

Look, the rise of social media provides a platform for opponents to point out all the problems. Many were not pleased with Palazzolo’s direction, whether it was the handling of the water crisis three years ago or the recent spike in collection fees tied to the new sanitation service contract.

The keyboard warriors made sure the criticism of those shortcomings was kept at the forefront. And, such scrutiny is part of public office, even if when viewed in total, Palazzolo did a good job of running the city during his time in office.

An elected official, especially in the mayor’s office, can’t serve that long without a good helping of criticism — deserved or not.

Palazzolo said the right things in his goodbye speech at the end of Monday’s meeting. He noted that it was time for new ideas and a younger direction for Germantown. He recently noted as much to a Leadership Germantown class.

But if you read between the lines of that speech, there seemed to be some carefully worded parts of the statement. Palazzolo said it was “the appropriate time for me to announce my retirement from public service in the City of Germantown”.

The City of Germantown.

That certainly left the door open for another office.

County government? Maybe.

State representation? That seems like an avenue for the retiring mayor to consider. After all, District 31 senator Brent Taylor is seeking a U.S. congressional seat.

And Germantown is part of District 31.

I guess we shall see if Palazzolo’s next move ends up about 200 miles east on Interstate 40. - Suburbs editor Clay Bailey

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