Well, well, well.......isn't this interesting. It was reported that the Wicomico County Council voted to drop the referendum relating to the Liquor Control Board. Honestly I didn't see this coming. I guess in retrospect it shouldn't surprise me.
A few commentors didn't agree with me some time ago when I brought the information forward relating to tax payers money spent at the MACO conference at the Hyatt in Cambridge. Some thought I was attacking Joe Holloway personally. One commentor flamed me and tried to lead people to believe that there was some personal gain I hoped to achieve by doing so. Not so. I opined on decisions he made and actions he took while acting in his official capacity as my Councilman. I like Joe Holloway and I agree with him on many, many issues but there are some fundamental issues on which we do not see eye to eye. His vote on the matter of the LCB referendum, as well as the vote of others on our County Council, reflects directly on one of those issues.
We all have the right - no, let me change that - we all have an OBLIGATION to speak out when we feel that things are going on in our govt. that are not in the best interest of our citizens. If we don't speak out we deserve what we get. Complacency and apathy are a death sentence to liberty and democracy.
I commend Stevie Prettyman for having the intestinal fortitude to stand her ground on the matter of a public vote on this issue.
The issue at hand relating to the LCB is extremely polarizing and has been intensly debated by citizens throughout the county. The matter should therefore be placed on a ballot for a vote of the citizens. The results of a county referendum vote on whether or not to abolish the LCB cannot abolish the entity. But the results would be a clear indication of what the voting citizens of Wicomico County want.
If the citizens vote to retain the LCB, it's over - with perhaps the addition by state legislators of a tighter system of checks and balances.
If the citizens vote to abolish the LCB, those results should be all that is necessary to convince our State Legislature to change the current law to reflect the will of the citizens of Wicomico County. Our council representatives should then move forward without delay and with all due diligence to convince our legislators to make those changes - REGARDLESS OF THEIR PERSONAL VIEW OF THE ISSUE AT HAND!
The referendum vote is an integral part of the County Charter designed to place the power of making significant and more important decisions relating to the operation of the local govt. where it belongs - in the hands of its citizens.
The fact that the majority of our council representatives voted against bringing a matter of such importance to a vote of the people portrays a council majority out of touch with the citizens. It portrays a council with no apprehension about circumventing the ultimate decision making authority - the will of the people. Some would consider that ......un-American.
What would we call a form of govt. that doesn't have adequate representation of it's citizens at all levels of govt.?
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
8 comments:
By the citizens right, we ought to recall them all with exception to Stevie.
To take this simple decision out of the hands of their constituency shows their disregard for the people in their respective Districts.
I say recall them all.
Great Post Bob!
I agree with you 100%. These Council Members are completely out of touch.
It's not that I'm personally upset there wasn't a win in the right direction here, that's not the case. They have plenty of time to bring this back up before 2010 anyway.
Nevertheless, your Council has spoken, in your name! They represent YOU and rather than giving YOU the opportunity to truly vote for what YOU believe in, they failed YOU!
Truthfully, the ONLY Council Member on the County Council you can depend on is Stevie Prettyman and that was clearly proven yesterday.
Oh, that's right, ALL of the others have nothing to worry about, since they just got voted in and are NOT up for re election. Make you wonder, eh?
Grand Dad & Joe:
Respectfully disagree with your spin -- it was democracy at its best, and your position did not prevail. Give it a rest.
Joe,
You're absolutely right. It wasn't (for me anyway) a matter of what I feel about the issue at hand. The issue relating to the LCB was of little consequence for the purposes of this post. My whole point was that the council majority is attempting to take away an opportunity for their constituents to have a direct voice on a matter of considerable magnitude. To me this is reprehensible. Any councilperson in touch with their constituents would likely know that a great many would like to be heard in the form of a vote on the matter. This isn't the first time this council (IMHO) has either disregarded the result of a referendum or has blocked one. The higher in govt. you go, the less in touch the representatives are with the constituency. We need to start at a grass roots level and replace the representatives with those who will stay in touch with us and carry OUR voices forward rather than their own. Anything else is something far less than "representation" and leaves the office wide open to corruption and misfeasance.
Isn't there something in your charter that allows the citizens to get enough signatures to get it to referendum? Or something in state law? If you're serious about wanting it to go to referendum, I think you still have some kind of mechanism to do that.
Out of Towner
I was highly dissapointed with the results of yeterdays vote by our "representatives". I am very disapointed in Joe Holloway as I felt we might just have someone still in touch with reality on the council. Obviously I was wrong. I will await making a final decision until watching the replay tonight. If it shakes out the way it appears, it will be time to apply pressure to investigate this as well as campaign to make sure those voting down the ability of the constituency to have a voice never serve again. As you have stated it is not about the win, simply having the ability to vote regardless of which side of this issue you are on. The money could easily be replaced. Give me 10 minutes with the budget and although some would not be happy it would be fixed.
Mike Ash
Once again the people are denied a chance to speak out by referendum vote, denied an opportunity to participate in local democracy.
just give me an adult beverage, hell ill start early.
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