"WILL RICK POLLITT FOLLOW MARTY O’MALLEY’S LEAD?":
The sad part (coming from a County employee) is that if/when Rick Pollitt and the County Council initiate a reduction in force it will more than likely be even across the board when it should not. They will probably layoff or eliminate jobs proportionally among every department in the County to make it "fair" when in fact it would not be "fair" at all. The problem I see with this is that there are a few departments are super efficient, but most are not at all! The departments that have and are operated very efficiently are going to suffer more because of this. The cuts should be made in those departments that have a surplus of workforce and thus cost the County more than what is actually neccessary. Personally, I feel as though my job should be secure because my director and his employees run a tight ship and we ALL have a full workload; however, I can never feel 100% secure because Rick Pollitt tends to want to cut the County equally across the board instead of concentrating cuts and potential layoffs in the departments that are truly costing the County additional money. He needs to look at each individual employee and their tasks and ask himself if that particular person is neccessary and/or can I consolidate that position with another to eliminate salary. It would certainly take time and effort to evaluate the entire county workforces, but the results would be highly beneficial and lucrative in the long run - the County would retain its most productive employees to maintain the highest possible level of service while maximizing the savings in annual salary costs. Its common sense, maximize efficiency and minimize cost! Any good business does this and if the County wants to run more like a business they would do it too! The only problem with this is that they would have to leave behind the "good ole boy network" meaning that people like Shea and Fineran could be eliminated or consolidated into one position... you think that Rick would or could do that? Unfortunately, I don't think he has the courage to do it.
We also have people that work for this County that make more than what they would in a similar position at major corporations, but are less qualified! ie: we have non PE engineers that make more than PE engineers at private companies! Where does that make sense? Re-evaluate individual salaries and official job descriptions and I guarantee that you'll save hundreds of thousands, in not over a million dollars each year! A lot of employees' qualifications don't even meet the qualifications on their require job descriptions! This doesn't fly in the private sector, why should it in the Government sector?
I will not disclose the department for which I work and I will not single out other departments that I feel should be cut because that SHOULD be Rick's job. However, I am 100% confident that, if our department was to be evaluated in this type of comprehensive reduction in force, our staff would ramain unscaved when layoffs come around. If only the public could be a fly on the wall in the GOB, Roads Division, BOE, Parks & Rec, Health Department, etc. they would see who TRULY works for their salary and who does not!
This is what the citizens should push for: High quality level of service at a discount price-It shouldn't even be called a reduction in workforce because the same about of work can be done with less employees; it should simply be called a consolidation of employees. We don't have to lose the quality and level of service to save money - remember that when future budget cuts and elections come around.
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28 comments:
I've noticed the lazy people in all dept. , when you drive down the road and see 6 people standing around doing nothing and one person working , it is obvious. Everyone jokes about it. It is no longer a joke. The county is a typical government agency that is truley operated poorly.
I've also noticed that the parks have someone working there everyday lately. This is because they are afraid of their jobs. They should have been concerned months ago. The grass is being cut when it doesn't need it. What goes with this crap? Again , typical government , right Gary? The building of houses has almost stopped. Why in the sam hell is planning and zoning operating with the same agenda? The health dept. is a joke! No comment , just go there sometime. We all see the things , why isn't something done about it. It's called progressive discipline , you talk about your fellow workers not doing their job , but nothing is done about it.
You write them up , you give them time off and then you fire them. very simple , you are helping them and the business or government. But , of course , you don't want to make trouble , so nothing is done. So, live with it !
As another County employee I can find no fault with 10:35's commentary. I would go a step farther though and push for a complete RIF for the whole county which would be a most logical time to consolidate ALL county functions from a "police department" to an "insurance" consolidation, etc. and then push like hell for the WCBOE to be part of the solution instead of most of the problem.
I will be candid enough to say that even though I have worked for the county for many years and take great pride in my work - others could do it as well. It is not like my position is indispensable. The county really could save some money by laying off some employees and asking the remaining employees to "pick up the slack". Fair? who gives a shi!. Fair isn't the issue here. Just one person's opinion
I agree 100% regarding the PE vs Non-PE. There are 'engineers' that don't even have their EIT.
I totally agree with this post. And thank you for pointing out the engineering issue. It makes me sick to think that a person like Joseph Arthur is sitting around collecting a fat paycheck for an "engineering" position. He does not have a PE, and more importantly he has yet to obtain his EIT, which is a prerequisite to obtaining your PE. It makes a mockery of the engineering profession. At least the County Attorney got involved and made him remove the title Engineer from his business cards. In summary, his salary is a perfect example of the exorbitant speninding which is crippling the County budget.
Excellent comment post. Gary Comegies is another one who prefers to do things by general numbers instead of looking at actual need.
It's people like Pollitt and Comegies that made me switch from Dem to Indy.
Great post. I know this is somewhat off topic, but this comment on the Daily Times seemed on target to me about officials who waste taxpayer money:
blipblip wrote:
City, you are a perfect example of the viewing audience of this DT article. You believe what they say regardless of the blatent motives they are using. That aside, the Cohen and Cambell shananigans were created by Chief Webster as a defensive tactic. He figured if he could portray Cohen, Cambell and the mayor as attacking him, he would be immune to any repercussions that were bound to come from his poor crime handling ability. Then the chief tried to literally attack them with a ten year old crime. He was reprimanded by Ireton for not letting this ten year old crime go. SA Ruark said that unless the accused party came forward with the tape in their hands, this crime is never going to bear fruit. Webster didn't let it go and he got reprimanded 4 times for it. When most people don't do what their bosses tell them, they get reprimanded, then perhaps fired. If Webster would just cooperate with the mayor and council to fight crime he won't get reprimanded anymore. Its that simple!
11/20/2009 9:26:17 AM
Anon 11:08 AM said, "The building of houses has almost stopped. Why in the sam hell is planning and zoning operating with the same
agenda?"
FYI, Planning & Zoning doesn't do a whole lot with the process of building houses. In fact, about all they do with in that regards are assist Public Works with subdivision reviews prior to building the houses and they have only one person doing that in their office! I assume that you are thinking that they do permitting and inspections, but if you had your facts right you would know that the Public Works department has 3 people in its Building Construction Division that do that. Maybe you should know what you are talking about before you speak so that I don't have to make you look stupid. The truth is that Planning and Zoning has not seen a reduction in workload during this economy.
Anon 11:24 AM is right though. Joseph Arthur is a P.O.S.
At least the majority of county employees in Wicomico arent related,as is the case in Somerset!
I applaud the author of the letter for recognizing internal issues and offering ways to rectify.
The County should be run like a business; Wicomico County taxpayers are the share-holder's, you own the County. It's your right to demand accountability and job performance.
With a 60% piggy-back tax rate, the highest in the State of Maryland, there is no reason that with proper management, focused direction, and strong leadership, that Wicomico County could not soon return to financial strength.
Run the County like any other business; if current management can't get the job done, replace them.
11:08 #1
Your hate for all Wicomico County employees is clear. There's not a single employee of Wicomico County capable of doing anything right in your mind. I am also an employee of a smaller department in Wicomico County and my desk is located just outside my department head's office and have never seen any anyone from VOICE, or the general public for that matter, schedule an appointment and simply ask my department head to explain the operations and costs of our department. You just assume that all Wicomico County employees are lazy without any evidence to prove your claims.
[from today's Daily Times]
On Tuesday, Nov. 10, I attended a County Council meeting at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center. The meeting was designed so the public could voice their ideas and opinions on the current budget. All the citizens who spoke at the meeting were serious and presented a lot of details I am sure had not been considered by the County Council.
I left the meeting feeling good about how the citizens of this county got together in such a friendly way to voice their opinions.
The next day I read the story in The Daily Times and discovered -- to my surprise -- that our county executive had been sitting in the back of the room through the whole meeting. Rick Pollitt did not find it necessary to even thank everyone for attending, nor for sharing their ideas and thoughts on his new budget.
To an extent, I feel insulted that our county executive feels it unnecessary to speak to us.
On excessive expenses by the county, a point brought up by one of the speakers at the meeting did not sink in until now. After Pollitt was elected to office, he hired, at county expense, a public relations man to speak for him. Prior to being elected, Pollitt spoke for himself. He stood before everyone and told us how he was going to reshape the county government and make it more accountable to the people.
Why has he now decided it is no longer necessary to speak to us at all?
Carl E. Blizzard Jr.
I can tell you first hand that many of the "real" manager's are afraid to enforce a work ethic because they do not know who really is related to who. We would not want to piss off the good ole boy network if one of their favorites were on the list. The administration is one big pile of waste. They worry more about bully power plays than doing a freakin job. This is Rick's problem. He doesn't want to take the proper measures for fear. How are those grape cluster's hanging?
Mr. Blizzard:
Since he now has a "public information officer" (that's Fineran) paid by the taxpayers Mr. Pollitt no longer needs to speak for himself.
It is not just "related". It has more to do with "membership" into local / national clubs.
The good ole boy network is code for club membership. It is much more than good ole boys . . .
I do not understand why anyone thinks that cuts will be made "uniformly"...that has not happened so far.80% of the budget is being left fairly well intact...BOE and public safety. The cuts are being made in the remaining 20% of the budget. However,simple math will tell you that you can't make up the shortfall that way.
When I see a powerpoint from the Executive that articulates the "pain" to be felt in finance described as "they will not be able to follow up as promtly on late payments" I realize that there is no serious depth of thought being undertaken....rather, sacred "turf" is being protected.
2:41~Agreed. Some women are the worst ones. Painfully Dispicable. 360 turn when added and you had better live up to the subliminal divide and conquer passive agressive scheme.
Rick you need to make the cuts now, because things are not going to get better and putting off the inevitable will only prolong the pain. We know you think the tax cap will be repealed, but this will not happen. The voters have spoken and if you want will cast their vote again and again.
As a county employee, I can agree that cuts will need to be made and some departments are more efficient than others, but to state that their is a "club" or "family" thing going on is simply ridiculous. No one wants to lose their job or be forced to retire before they are ready and let's face it, self interest plays a big part in these decisions not only at Mr Politt's level, but even the lowest guy on the totem pole. I agree that Mr Politt needs to hurry up and make some tough calls, but I don't think he's afraid of who knows who. You also have to remember who works for what department, as for Mr. Arthur, he works for the city-he's not on Rick's budget.
2:23.....why do we even need a information officer? Rick was hired to do a job and if he cannot do that job then its time for him to go and the time is now....vote his butt out! What will save us bundles is get rid of him and his croonies....Rick get some balls and do whats right for the people of this county...if not your fate will be sealed come election day! You WILL be fired!
Someone please answer this. Doe's anyone truly believe we have seen the worst of this? Do government leaders see a light at the end of this long, dark tunnel? Can anyone, anywhere survey the landscape and DO THE MATH? This is not a crisis, this is a clear and warranted lifestyle change for many Americans, and government employees will share in the pain.
1230 p.m.,
You constantly offend me. FYI, Wicomico County is Full of families working in the same department. You got the “Good ‘Ole Boy” system of things. That is the big family in Wicomico County. You got mothers and daughters, fathers & sons, sisters and brothers working along side each other in these departments. You got husbands/girlfiends and wives, aunts and uncles with their neices and nephews all working together in the same departments. Even lifelong friends are working in these departments. These are the people who do not have to worry about RIF/layoffs. The bottom line is, the folks that are not part of any clichés in these departments will be the individuals who suffers behind the layoffs. And, the sad part of it all is, these are your best workers. They had to work the hardest to keep their jobs against the odds. The “Good ‘Ole Boy” system, and the families working together in these departments will not have to worry about layoffs. Everyone else will have to hope and pray it doesn't happen to them. But frankly, I do not trust the Leaders of Wicomico County or the City of Salibury.
7:35~Good idea.
*:16-
What about Mr. Fineran?
Pollit does not want to "Cut the county equally accrross the board."
Remember, he cut budgets from all depts, except BOE who got an increase. He cut salaries from all depts, except, once again, the BOE who got raises, and did not take furloughs. This is never spoke of in the media. Whats the connection with the BOE?
5:45
Because the State of Maryland has enormous influence over all of Maryland counties education budgets. O'Malley has said, "Education is off limits." If Marylanders want substancial, State mandated, reductions in education budgets, then eligible Maryland voters better starting voting in anti-education candidates to Annapolis
anon 11.08 am your correct about seeing ppl working in the parks, thats what we do! as far as the grass cutting, we have a schedule to meet just like you. if you have a job at all if not, come by the owens branch road parks division and i am sure the supervisors would be glad to have you sit in on our morning game plan for daily tasks and you will be amazed at how a small team of guys can communicate and work together to get the job done. and yes we are concerned about our jobs just like the other county employees.
Anon 816
Why do I constantly offend you?I kind of agree with you although I was not aware that Wicomico had the same nepotism disease as Somerset.Must be a shore thing.
I happen to agree with you that the very best workers,those with no familial connections to fall back on,are the ones most likely to be cut.Ironically they ARE the best workers because they have to be to keep their jobs but they will be the ones scrambling.The lazy "related" employees will be parked behind a desk until retirement.
I will vote for people who are pro-education, anti BOE! How is it that Catholic Schools and private schools absolutely destroy public schools, with only a small fraction of the BOE's budget per school? Public Schools in this State are awful. I have to pay to send my children to private schools, and still pay outrageous taxes to pay for public schools.
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