John Cannon's Speech On Tuesday Referecing Collective Bargaining & Council's Decision

I’m going to try to keep this very simple. Our legal counsel's opinion confirms that if the County Council were held to collective bargaining with binding arbitration as this bill in its original form proposed, would we as a council be in violation of our County Charter if, during this collective bargaining process with the union, we attempted to negotiate by proposing to add, or reallocate, as well as subtract items from the Executive’s budget.

It is for this reason and this reason alone that this Council felt, and still feels, compelled and bound to amend Bill 2007-03 to authorize collective bargaining with binding arbitration in Wicomico County and to do so within the authority on the Executive Branch alone.

It wouldn’t be fair to this council or future councils to hold ourselves to collective bargaining with binding arbitration knowing we are forbidden by Charter to go into any negotiation process which would require us to add and subtract line items from the budget.

Union representatives for the deputies have stated that Council has been disingenuous but it’s quite the opposite. These gentlemen have known all along where we stand. It actually takes integrity for the seven members of this Council to take this position.

Actually, it would be disingenuous for us to ignore the will of all the voters of Wicomico County and lead them to believe this bill would not compromise the integrity of the checks and balances system they chose to establish when they voted for the Executive/Legislative form of government we now have today. The same form of government that allows our Executive Branch the veto power.

Yet we understand how the union feels. They say that our position on this bill compromises the collective bargaining process… but we didn’t write this bill. We didn’t write this bill, nor were we the ones who drafted the referendum, nor the amendment to the Charter.

And I say here today, this bill as we've amended it and as we enacted it, may not be the perfect bill and it may not fit as neatly as everyone would like - within the structure and framework of our new form of government. Yet, it is what we have before us and what we have to work with for the benefit of all citizens of Wicomico County.

All this aside, this bill as we pass it today in its current form, will allow for collective bargaining with binding arbitration within Wicomico County – and that’s a good thing.

I think, as a seven member Council, we’ve dealt with it and we’ve done so in a way we consider to be fair to all parties involved and to all citizens in Wicomico County – those who voted for our new Charter and Executive/Legislative form of government and those who voted for collective bargaining in Wicomico County. It’s the best solution within the parameters of our existing laws and the form of government by which we’re bound today.

Now, one point in particular - and the most important of all. This issue is not and never has been about the Council versus the Deputies or the Deputies’ benefits or pensions. I consider Sheriff Lewis a good friend. I consider Chief Baker, Captain Elliott and Lieutenant Wilson good friends as well as many of the other deputies very active in this process. And this Council has been nothing but supportive of the Sheriff and every one of the deputies in this entire county.

This issue has been about one thing and one thing only: The Charter and Procedure - the Council’s role as bound by Charter within this county’s new form of government.

Collective bargaining will be successful in Wicomico County. It will be successful for the deputies and their representatives through the Executive Branch and the Legislative Branch working together while adhering to their respective responsibilities as dictated by the County Charter.

The union representatives will have the right to collective bargaining when the Executive prepares the budget and the Council will still maintain the integrity of the checks and balances system established under our new form of government. Similar processes are already established and working successfully in Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Harford County and Howard County - Counties with Executive/Legislative forms of government working hand-in-hand with their deputies’ representatives.

This is fair to the citizens of Wicomico County. It’s fair to the Sheriff’s deputies in Wicomico County.

I’ve said it before; we have full faith in our new form of government and we have full confidence and support for the Sheriff and deputies who represent and protect Wicomico County and we’ll do all we can within our power to demonstrate our support.