The Maryland Association of Counties summer conference in Ocean City next month could be a more sober affair than usual -- at least for Gov. Martin O'Malley's administration.
With both the state and Maryland counties facing hundreds of millions in budget cuts, O'Malley's chief of staff has advised the governor's office and his Cabinet members to send "essential staff only" to the annual beachfront confab.
And there's more. In letters made public today, O'Malley Chief of Staff Michael R. Enright encourages carpooling. And sharing hotel rooms. And he asks that staffers who slip out to the beach or golf course between conference sessions use comp time or take personal leave.
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10 comments:
how about just web conference and save more? seems like a waste of time and money anyway. couldn't they just email a presentation, or pdf outlining everything and then allow comments via the web? the only real reason anyone wants to go is to vacation on the state's dime anyway. i'm curious as to how many are actually bringing the family and expensing the cost to us?
Will any of Wicomico's finest be staying or wining/dining in OC on the taxpayers' dime?
9:58
EXCELLENT IDEA.
The state is still sending out training bulletins and scheduling training. For anyone from the shore that has to spend the night in Annapolis for training the state not only pays them mileage, but pays for their motel room and meals. In a time of economic stress like this it looks like they would do away with all non mandatory training.
anonymous 3:34, well, you know how the government thinks. You have to spend the taxpayers money to STIMULATE the economy.
If you wish to look over the conference schedule, you can find it here: http://www.mdcounties.org/events/sc_overview.cfm
Their crab feast is at 5 PM on Friday if you want to drop by. It's over at 8 PM and, since attendees get to ride OC buses for free, it's just a short free ride to Seacrets. You can probably meet up with some of your elected officials here. Some of them will be staying at the Best Western on 55th st. and the SeaBay which is only a few blocks from the Castaways where every friday is Bikini Friday. Woo Woo!
And they are requiring state employees to take furlough days while they take god knows how much money that could possibly prevent workers from having to take these days.
It's nice to know that these employees and people that get food stamps are getting free seafood on MY tax dollar. Wish I could afford some.
Don't forget that the Domino Pizza shop is across the street from the Castaway. It's a convenient stop to address the raw adult beverage lined stomach pains. Just don't get nasty with the Domino management as they are 1 block away from the OC cops and have the ability to "lock you in" while waiting for the fuzz.
The last thing we want is for O'Malley to call an OC cop "stupid" for arresting a Maco member that loses their cool while buying pizza. Maco may come back next year to find that George Thorne of OC's Transportation department took away their free bus ride privilege. :^)
Emo-web conference would be the frugal way to go but it would mean they have no excuse to go to the beach and party.
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