This came to my e-mail box today and I’ll dutifully report it too. But then, as a value-added service, you get insight and analysis.
Wicomico County Executive Richard M. Pollitt, Jr. will deliver his fourth “State of the County” address on Friday, December 18th, at 10:00 A.M. in the Council Chambers of the Government Office Building. The speech will be covered live on PAC 14. The presentation is open to the public.
Under the new Wicomico County Charter, the County Executive is required to issue a report annually on the state of the county’s financial condition. Besides commenting orally on the economic situation, Mr. Pollitt will distribute a written report on the county’s accomplishments and financial activities for Fiscal Year 2009.
Mr. Pollitt said, “I eagerly anticipate the opportunity to share the difficult challenges and great opportunities that we have had and will have as our county moves forward through this time of economic crisis.”
The most glaring oddity about this presentation is that, for the first time, the SOTC address comes before Christmas. Over the last three years it had been in the news dead zone between Christmas and New Years’ Day. Maybe one announcement is that the county is bagging its affairs during that week as a long series of furlough days.
But I anticipate more of the same musings as he had last year, couched in a manner to promote himself to voters. (Bear in mind, the possibility exists where this could be Pollitt’s final State of the County address as he faces re-election next year.)
It’s unfortunate that this isn’t a true press conference, though, because it would be worth questioning whether Pollitt has given any thought to starting the FY11 budget from scratch as he promised to do four years ago and whether the numerous commissions and groups he’s created have truly accomplished anything. Certainly the full-color glossy report sure to be handed out will ignore the problems and focus on the accomplishments, and that’s fine.
The question voters will decide on next year, though, will be about leadership and whether the direction Pollitt is taking us is the one in which Wicomico County wishes to go. Perhaps the handout is the first piece of Pollitt campaign literature for the 2010 election, done at taxpayers’ expense.
