Dropping Delaware

It was a tough decision, but today I decided for space reasons to drop the links to Delaware political races.

Not counting party offices, in Wicomico County we are affected by four statewide races (governor, comptroller, attorney general, and U.S. Senator), two State Senate races, four races for Delegate, and contests for seven County Council seats, County Executive, Sheriff, State’s Attorney, Register of Wills, Clerk of the Courts, and three Orphan’s Court posts. It’s over 20 races for which to post candidates and links so something had to give.

Perhaps a blogger across the line like Chris Slavens or Elbert Collins can take up my slack and try to keep my Delaware readers informed. (Lord knows Salisbury blogger Joe Albero – who actually lives in Delaware – won’t do so.) Similarly, there should be a blogger or two in each county who aggregates the links for their home county and tries to keep readers informed about the political races. It could even be a job for the local hometown newspaper given the power of the internet and their presence there.

I don’t know how many local politicians read my site (my guess is most GOP officeholders do – Democrats, not so much) but if you have an event for my upcoming Political Calendar I’d appreciate a shout out – e-mail me or leave a message on my Facebook page. The better my calendar is the more readers, and the more readers there are the more people know about the event. And I won’t bury it among press releases, old jokes, and stories which are disproved by Snopes.com. Hey, I’ll even take advertising from the right people.

So again, I apologize for disappointing my First State readers for needing to be more Maryland-centric but this is the year to change Maryland’s policies. Your chance comes in two years.

Two planks to question

On Wednesday I announced that Joe Ollinger had entered the race for Wicomico County Executive, with a followup post on Thursday regarding his platform. It’s a platform which dealt extensively with the subjects of fiscal responsibility and education and included two interesting planks:

  • Empower the County Executive to appoint the county’s school board, which is one of the few remaining with members appointed by the governor. Most Maryland counties have adopted an elected school board.
  • Create one county-wide law enforcement agency, consolidating the efforts of the existing Sheriff’s Department with existing municipal police forces in Salisbury, Fruitland, and Delmar.

As you may or may not know, the Wicomico County Republican Party (the one Ollinger is supposedly a part of) has made its case for electing (as opposed to appointing) the Wicomico County board of education; a case similar to one I made back in March.

Yet Ollinger is trying to shift a system which depends on input from a Governor’s office generally at odds with the people of Wicomico County and artificially rigged to reflect a majority of the party holding that office to one which would perhaps better reflect the will of the people based on who they elected County Executive but still not directly accountable to the electorate – sort of a half-step solution which combines the worst of both worlds. Perhaps it’s a plank which Joe can be made to reconsider if and when he’s elected because, while he may hold conservative educational values, it would certainly make the teachers’ union more of a player than it already is for the County Executive race – they would have a direct stake in the outcome.

As a Republican Party we believe an elected school board is the way to go and, unlike a GOP Congress which was forced to carry water for some of President Bush’s ill-considered ideas, neither our central commitee nor Republicans on County Council (or outside conservative groups like AFP) may sit quietly and allow Ollinger to proceed with his scheme.

Similarly, the fiefdoms which are the various local municipal police departments may not be willing to have themselves absorbed into the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Department. While these departments work together on a regular basis, the logistics of such a change need to be studied carefully and most likely placed on a timetable beyond the term of the County Executive – I think such a process if undertaken would take at least five years to adopt from initial planning to final outcome. There’s also the risk of alienating bargaining units like the Fraternal Order of Police and assuredly the Maryland State Police may have to have some say as well.

In truth, we may find that the assumed efficiencies in combining departments are outweighed by unforseeable costs or a lack of coverage of rural areas as municipalities would be especially cognizant of reduced patrols and complain if the crime rate increases.

I know that there are already shared resources between local law enforcement agencies, and perhaps Joe will elaborate further on the subject as the election draws near. But it’s a plank certain to draw as much attention as his educational ideas, which can be taken at face value for what they are worth. There’s little doubt who the educational lobby in this county will support so Joe needs to take his case above them and to the people.

Library proposal put on shelf

This just in from the Wicomico County PIO:

Wicomico County Executive Richard M. Pollitt, Jr., announced today that he has received a letter from Valerie Murphy, Chair of the Wicomico Public Library Board of Trustees, in which the trustees recommended suspending consideration of a site for a new county library headquarters in order to concentrate on the delivery of basic library services.  Ms. Murphy stated, “With great reluctance, the Library Board has voted to withdraw from its $375,000 site acquisition grant award from the state and allow the funds to revert while reserving the right to reapply in the future. The Library’s 39% cut in County Operating Funds has created a crisis which makes even this preliminary step toward construction of a new Main Library impractical and inadvisable at this time.”

Mr. Pollitt reacted to the statement by saying, “Under the circumstances, I agree with the Library Board’s position and understand our immediate priority is to continue to make our county library viable and accessible to our citizens. I see this not as abandoning a noble cause but, to use a sports metaphor, it is a ‘rain delay’ until the project can resume when economic conditions warrant.  I applaud the hard work and dedication that has brought us to this point and I continue to strongly believe that it is our duty to develop and work toward a vision that improves the quality of life for our residents.  That part of the effort will continue.”

Pollitt stated that he will not pursue acquisition of a site for future library operations at this time but will work with the Library Board to make short-term improvements to the existing facility.

Obviously that will come as a relief to those who try and figure out our capital budget, but it would also be worth following up as to what the library and county consider “short-term improvements.” I have the question in to Library Director Tom Hehman regarding this priority list.

On the other hand, I could’ve done without the complaint about a 39% cut in county funding since everyone needs to tighten their belts. I don’t think anyone is going to get their full wish list in this county budget, and the library likely has pondered several areas where it can cut back or raise a little bit of revenue. You might have to wait a little longer to borrow that best-seller and I wouldn’t hold my breath on a fine amnesty, that’s for sure.

So it looks like local fiscal conservatives have carried the day on this front. While the Wicomico Library may need a new facility sometime in the future, the future isn’t now. Of course, I’m sure the state doesn’t mind getting back $375,000 in the short term either. In a time when priorities are the key, having an older library isn’t going to tip the “quality of life” scale all that much to the negative.

Pollitt warms up the local campaign

You wouldn’t expect Wicomico County Executive Rick Pollitt to be a “one-and-done” termer if he could help it, so this news is not unexpected. From Progressive Delmarva:

Rick Pollitt will kick off his re-election effort to return as Wicomico County Executive with a fundraising dinner this Saturday.

The beef and dumplings dinner will cost $30 a ticket at the Pittsville Fire Hall from 5 p.m.- 8 p.m. Entertainment will be provided by Mat Creamer. Tickets are available at the door.

Rick has started a Facebook page, a Twitter profile, and a website with donations accepted by PayPal.

That scant description by “Duck Around” (who I presume is one of Pollitt’s 80 or so Facebook fans, since two have the surname “Duck”) is pretty much the whole post, and there’s little to Pollitt’s website yet either. It’s a shame, because I’d love to see what Rick thinks are the issues facing Wicomico County and what he’s done to recommend a second term.

However, if any Republicans are seeking the seat they are keeping their cards close to the vest. (Then again, Pollitt was first to file in 2006 and it was right about this time on the calendar.) Conventional wisdom holds that the leading contenders to make such an announcement would be County Councilmen John Cannon or Joe Holloway, but as I recall none of the three main GOP contenders last time came from an elected background (nor did Pollitt, as it turns out.) We could see a local business leader step into the ring once again, on either side.

Depending on your perspective, it’s either fortunate or unfortunate that I’ve been through this rodeo once before and my archives go back beyond the 2006 election. Here’s some golden oldies where Pollitt spoke during that campaign, like the NAACP forum, the Pittsville forum, and his response to my analysis. As an added bonus, I have an overview of the 2006 CE race and its key issues, and how he did his initial budget. Maybe if he’d said “no” a little more during the fat times the lean times would have been easier to deal with – in other words, a little “proven leadership” would have gone a long way.

But we can change the leader, and perhaps this November is a good time to do so.  (Or even September – wonder if Tom Taylor will run again?)

Wicomico County can do better. Being first to hold the County Executive’s seat is certainly an honor but it’s not a license to remain there for life.