The flier, placed on each of the 40 chairs at the Forest Heights Town Council meeting last month, read: "Is She The MAYOR OR MAYHEM?" It was a brazen public condemnation of the short, turbulent tenure of Joyce Beck.
The mayor, 56, walked past the chairs, past friends and foes, without casting a glance, according to those at the meeting. She had bigger problems. Beck had to preside over a meeting that would be, like so many others recently in this town of 2,600, loud, unruly and blatantly hostile.
"Sometimes I wonder how she holds her cool like she does," said Anne Reifsneider, a friend of Beck's who was at the meeting. "You can get pushed to a point until you explode."
Last week, Beck's problems worsened. The town's police chief, Michael Eubank, filed assault charges against her for allegedly slamming a door on the arm of an officer last month and for allegedly knocking over a former council member less than two weeks ago.
The day after she was served with the charges, Beck fired Eubank and appointed herself chief of the four-member force. For many residents, the stinging question on the flier had been answered.
Small-town politics can be intense affairs, involving strong personalities with deep roots in the community. For decades, Forest Heights managed to avoid that kind of turmoil and at least some of the ills of Prince George's County, which has struggled with crime, drugs and police brutality.
A town of tree-lined streets, manicured lawns and Cape Cod-style houses tucked between Indian Head Highway and the District border, Forest Heights was the sort of place where an expired tag on a parked car would prompt a knock on the door from a police officer and a gentle warning to the owner.
Now longtime neighbors are turning against one another. Council meetings have collapsed into verbal dogfights, stalling even minor decision making. Threats to shut down trash collection and police patrols have been used as bargaining chips to pass the town's budget.
"We've never had nothing like this before," said Cecelia Benton, 84, a resident for 37 years.
Beck denied the assault allegations Friday and said she has been advised by her attorney not to speak with journalists because of the charges.
Hardly anyone expected her tenure to be smooth when she was elected in May in a landslide. As a council member and longtime community activist, she had made many enemies on the council. The members found her abrasive and uncompromising and from the start challenged her ability to lead Forest Heights.
An anti-Beck Web site follows every step and every blow in the political soap opera that consumes daily conversations.
