The Town of Elkton: The most dysfunctional town in the Commonwealth?

Ok, the Town of Elkton probably isn't the most dysfunctional Town in the Commonwealth, but I'm sure it would qualify for the most dysfunctional local government in the Shenandoah Valley - hands down. It seems that every week to 10 days some sort of controversy or "dirty laundry" concerning the Town's elected or professional leadership makes its way into the local paper of record.

Therefore when I picked up a copy of today's Daily News Record, it was hardly a surprise to read that the current Mayor of the Town, and a council member are having a "war of words". It appears that Councilman Randell Snow, and Mayor Wayne Printz are at odds because Snow would like to see the Mayor be elected by the Council (thus a sitting member of the Council would become Mayor), rather than being popularly elected as the Mayor is now. Of course Wayne Printz is vehemently opposed to this type of arrangement.

Cities and Towns throughout the Commonwealth use both of these systems to elect Mayors, and I don't know that one is inherently better or worse. But in Elkton it sure does give a good reason to roll up the sleeves, and fight it out! I've only lived in the Valley for just over two years, but from what I've heard this latest "controversy" is small beans when compared to the donnybrooks that have taken place in Elkton over the past few years. Here are just a few that I can recall in my short time here in the Valley:

• A married Elkton police officer's pregnant girlfriend mysteriously goes missing and to this date has not been found. The police officer is under a heavy veil of suspicion, but as in the case of most missing persons "no body, no case."
• Since the retirement of a long serving Town Manager approximately 6 years ago (correct me if I'm wrong) the Town has been through NUMEROUS Town Managers. Most have lasted only a few months. The present Town Manager has been on the job for less than a year, and he too has been the subject of numerous highly publicised fueds with some of Elkton's elected officials (namely Mayor Printz). Considering the fate of the past few Town Managers, it's hard to imagine the current Town Manager's fate being differnt from his predecessors.
• The Town approved Angler Development's proposal to rezone hundreds of acres within the Town's corporate limits with (what appeared) little concern of the impact that 1,400 additional residential units would have on the County's school enrollment in an area already in a pinch for classroom space. This contentious issues was not resolved until a recent ex post facto offer to the County's School Board by Angler Development. (Call me crazy but maybe the Town could have examined this issue before the land was rezoned?)

Please if anyone knows of an Elkton related controversy that I've overlooked that has taken place within the past two years, or if you have an even better Elkton controversy that you would like to share, I'd love to hear about it. When you consider that Rockingham County has seven incorporated Towns (including Elkton) why is it that Elkton is the one Town that seems to receive the most negative attention on a consistent basis?