Times are very tight for everyone. Now is the time for all public leaders to be fiscally conservative. Time to show real leadership and cut back on spending. In 30 years I've never laid anyone off. But in these hard times I'm afraid I'm going to need to. Almost all businesses are off by about 25%.
Why is it that almost all public officials don't feel they are doing their job unless they are giving raises or doing feel good projects ? Now is the time to do neither. Doing either of these shows the public you are out of touch. Shows you have no idea the pain they are experiencing.
There is not 1 County department that could not operate with a 10% cut. I'd say almost all departments would operate fine with a 15 or 20% reduction in their budget. Make these dept. heads earn their money. Make them operate efficiently. None of the departments are run anywhere near as efficient as a private business needs to operate. Show the citizens of Wicomico County you hear them. Show them you understand what they are going through. Show them you know how to cut government spending and cut waste. Show them you remember why you were elected.
Don't be confused...
Spending money does not make you a good leader. Raising taxes does not make you a good leader.
Problem with all branches of government is in good time with money flowing in they spend , spend, spend. Leaders think the gravy train will never end. Then it does as it always does. There is no money in reserve for bad times. No savings. Uh oh ! Now no one knows what to do....except RAISE TAXES. This is not good leadership. No business can operate this way. Why does our government think it can ? Show real leadership. Run our government like a real business. Efficiently!
The Daily Times refused to publish it.
Instead they replied by saying the following:
I could print Pollitt's comments alone if they were re-written in third person, and if the issues raised in the original comments could be made more explicit in the response. But it would seem easier for our readers to understand if printed in a
question-and-answer format. I had hoped for more distinct questions that Rick would be answering, but this communication would not lend itself well to that kind of breakdown. So I am appealing to (not sure whether one or both of you is actually the author) the author of this communication for permission to print (preferably with name, or it will have to be heavily edited) this along with Mr. Pollitt's responses.
I look forward to hearing from you on this matter.
Susan Parker
Community Conversations Editor
The Daily Times
Editors Note: The original message was sent to the County Executives Office and forwarded to the Daily Times. Let me state for the record, my hat is tipped to Rick Pollitt for being so open as to forward it to the Daily Times in the hopes of allowing the citizens to know their concerns are exposed to the public. My disappointment is within the Daily Times for refusing to publish it unless it fit their criteria/agenda. It should also be noted that I have removed the names of the individuals involved in this correspondence.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
4 comments:
Rick said this?
Wow, I like it....
I didn't have him pegged for a conservative.
Cool!
Ok, let me start off by saying that I am County employee. I can proudly say that the department I work in (unfortunately I feel as though I cannot reveal myself or the department I work for, but most should know which department I am speaking of) has an extremely high efficiency rate and does not spend the tax payers' dollars frivolously. We could possibly cut back one employee and still get the same amount of work done, but it is not certain.
Now I know that there isn't a sole out there that wants to get laid off in these times; however, I feel as though cuts could be made elsewhere in the County's spending to reduce the number of lay offs. Is Mr. Pollitt going to be able to eliminate the need for furloughs and lay offs? Absolutely not, but it was the Council that removed the previous furloughs from the budget-had they not done so we would still be facing financial troubles, but at least it would have been a start. These things can't be completely pinned on Mr. Pollitt- council is equally responsible as well. Even though it directly affected me, I was disappointed in Council when they voted to remove the furloughs out of the budget. I knew that the next step would be more servere and lay offs would be more probable.
What bothers me the most is that nobody wants to touch educational spending. Education budgets CAN take a hit (within reason) and still provide a good quality education. Now I'm not talking about cutting teacher's salaries because I feel that they should actually be paid more, but the larger spending can be cut out. For instance, Bennett Middle and High Schools are situatated on an approximately 65 acre lot(s). Why acquire new land for the new Bennett Middle School? Why spend the extra money to purchase land when there is an ample amount of land along the newly redesigned East College Avenue? They would also have the old Bennett High to temporarily relocate the students while the new building is built. In addition, if the school is relocated, it is not only going to cost more to acquire the land, but the logistics involved with transporting students are going to be more costly (and that will be an on-going cost as well). Currently, many buses easily service Bennett Middle and High with the convenience of simply driving across a parking lot. As proposed, buses will have to drop middle school students off in Fruitland and then head on over to the new Bennett High to drop the high school students off OR have completely separate buses serving each school.
The Westside Collector is another frivolous decision. But don't worry, "it's bonded." It is still maintainence and effort that this County does not need! Not to mention is will serve a very specific portion of the County's population and not benefit the County as a whole.
Now, I know the comments are going to come in saying "oh, you're a County employee that doesn't want to lose your job." Of course I don't want to lose my job-I absolutely love my job and I have a wife and child at home too, but I don't want to lose my job because of some stupid decisions that much better, more economical alternatives (and trust me, my salary will not even come close to helping the budget-I don't get paid that much!). Cuts need to come from everywhere, even education (where appropriate) and the stupid pet projects of the upper echelon of the County.
I'm interested to see what happens. I'd like to see both, lay offs and cut spending, to show the residents of the County that adminstration can actually do something right for the people.
You ever ask J.B. for a copy of the reply letter he got?
Sorry, I meant D.B.
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