AFP meeting wrapup

Since the Maryland GOP made mention of various local chapters of Americans for Prosperity in their convention reports last week, this may perk up their ears when they find out what’s going on locally.

On Thursday the Wicomico AFP chapter met with about 40 people in attendance. They had a jam-packed speaker schedule which featured three men: Bob Behlke, Vice-President of Consumer Affairs for Choptank Electric Cooperative, John Cannon, president of Wicomico County Council, and John Palmer, the president of local government watchdog VOICE.

First, though, AFP co-leader Julie Brewington briefly went over the Senate’s health care bill, which was going to be a substitute amendment for a bill which had already passed the House (H.R. 3590). The 2,074 page amendment mentions the word “tax” 183 times and is only “deficit neutral” because it uses 10 years of taxation (starting immediately) to pay for six years of expenditures (beginning in 2014). One heckuva shell game you have going there, Senator Reid.

Turning to our scheduled speakers, Behlke began by praising the group, saying he’d “never seen this kind of interest” but wondered aloud where it was several years ago. Much of Bob’s discussion centered on the American Clean Energy and Security Act, better known as “cap and trade.” He pointed out that the 930 local electric cooperatives fought this bill, but could only get a few things in despite having a former Congressman, Glenn English, as their lobbyist in Washington.

One thing Behlke warned the group about was trying to be obstinate in opposition because if you lose, you forefit political capital – “that’s the real world” of Washington. Moreover, Nancy Pelosi “knows she has 40 votes to dole out” given the large Democrat majority in Congress. The goal of Choptank and other rural electric cooperatives: “we want a bill that’s fair” as well as affordable and achievable.

Bob also noted (and had handouts available for) the impact a carbon dioxide tax of $20 per metric ton would have on the region, as electric bills would increase 12 percent. Going to a $50 per ton tax would raise rates about 20 percent because co-ops would be forced to pass their increased costs on.

But the two biggest hurdles to stopping the bill are “ignorance and apathy” according to Behlke.

One thing I pointed out during a brief question-and-answer session is that Maryland already has a similar program in place called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. So far it hasn’t impacted utility bills to a great extent, but coupled with onerous regulations the impact will surely be felt in the future.

John Cannon then spoke to us about the county’s budget situation. In his introduction, Joe Collins, co-chair of the local AFP, asked, “does a good captain head into a storm or evade it…we don’t have to head into Rick Pollitt’s ‘perfect storm’.”

John didn’t relay a whole lot of new information to those who hadn’t attended the county’s budget meeting a week prior, although he revealed that the County Council was inclined to ask for more cuts and less reliance on reserve funds to make up the shortfall, which was $7.2 million ($4 million in revenue shortfall and $3.2 million in state cuts.) One positive was that the latest $360 million in budget cuts from the state did not affect county revenues.

Cannon did say that he was “appalled” with the goings-on at the federal level and believed that, in the future, the state’s “maintenance of effort” for education needs to be more easily waived to help counties in keeping their budgets balanced.

Local political gadfly and Delaware resident Joe Albero then asked once again about the prospect of a new main library in Salisbury. It was a request that, when originally presented to Cannon’s fellow County Councilman Joe Holloway inspired Holloway to ask the library board, “did you lose your mind?” Given the warnings we’ve had about the present financial crisis Holloway added that County Executive Rick Pollitt has been “asleep at the wheel.”

One “silver lining” which Cannon conceded was that the county is in a “stage of cleansing” its finances, but Cannon also warned that there’s pressure to repeal the revenue cap from without as well because the state regularly criticizes Wicomico County for having a “self-imposed” revenue cap in place. As we all know, Martin O’Malley would be lost with a statewide revenue cap but maybe Marylanders would have a little more money to spend on their own needs and wants.

Finally, John Palmer made a brief presentation which reinforced several of Cannon’s points and again went over a couple of charter amendments VOICE is considering asking to be placed on a referendum next year – one to reduce the County Council from seven members to five, the other to have large capital projects be approved by referendum. Palmer told the assembled group “the power lies in you” to get this done as petitions would require 10,558 signatures – or the County Council would need a 5-2 supermajority to place that on the ballot.

One good piece of news John Cannon could give Palmer is that an effort is being made to put the county’s budget online, since getting a copy is prohibitively expensive. (I think Wicomico County could do without that slight bit of revenue.)

The lengthy meeting was AFP’s last for 2009. Hopefully the e-mail problems which have plagued the local chapter and may have dampened attendance slightly will be fixed as AFP Wicomico begins its first full year.

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.

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