Today the Wicomico County Council voted NOT to pass a budget. The only council member voting to pass the amended budget was John Cannon. The three Democrats voted against the budget because a majority had amended the budget to take $60,000 out of County Executive Rick Pollitt’s office and they (the Dems) had a hissy.
While I understand the reasons given by council members Gail Bartkovich, Stevie Prettyman, and Joe Holloway for their problems with the budget I still do not understand the reasoning for voting against the budget. Now Pollitt’s budget (with all of its faults) become law (unamended).
More to come once I get a better grip on this move.
9 comments:
The budget proposed by Pollitt may be illegal because it needs new but at this time hypothetical revenue to balance -- in other words, at this date it is actually unbalanced. Unless the Council votes for new fees and charges, it will remain unbalanced. Plus, it is rumored that the State is going to reduce income tax and other funding flow to the localities in a month or so, which will also result in an unbalanced budget.
I think that the three Republican were concerned about what could be seen as an inappropriate, if not unlawful, act if they voted for the budget even after it was amended to remove the salary stipend of James Fineran, who is Rick Pollitt's mouthpiece ("PIO").
On the other hand the 3 Democrats made clear that they were voting against the deletion of the $75,000cost to taxpayers (if benefits are included) of Pollitt's mouthpiece (public information officer).
Correction, I watched it this morning. All the amendments that corrected the mistakes in the origonal budget(some of them)were approved. Baker explained all of them and the 7 council voted for each one. The democrats said they had problems with the budget too but they voted against it because of the $60,000.
Joe Ollinger:
Your silence on the budget is deafening.
Rick may have lost the reelection war by winning his budget battle.
Hey Rick, how did you make out getting the 3,000 BOE employees to take some of the budget heat off the other 550 county employees so the smaller number doesn't have to bear the burden of your incompetence? Answer it or better yet get your POS, oops, PIO to answer the question - isn't that what we pay him $60000 for?
4:35 - I'd vote for you before I'd vote for Ricky....and I don't even know you!
But don't they have to adopt the budget "as amended" for the amendments to "take"? I watch a lot of city council and that's how it works there.
People in Wicomico County talk against bigger government, but vote to add a layer of government, by voting to add an Executive Branch of Government. Do you realize this cost the county about 3/4 of a million dollars annually, and we are no more efficient now than before. Stop blaming things on Rick and blame yourselves. Crazy and Stupid.
Rick got a "vote of no confidence" on his budget yesterday. Don't understand him claiming victory.
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