Fredericksen’s Follies at County Council

The scene was something out of a French absurdist play. After weeks of budget deliberations and an attempt to keep county spending under control, the Wicomico County Council met for a regular session on Tuesday. The regular session went relatively smoothly. Two members of the County Health Department showed up to discuss their budget immediately after the regular session. Then the council broke for lunch. End of Act I.

Before we move to the second act, we need a little context: The county council has been struggling to cut spending. While they have not sought to cut jobs, they have not shirked their duty to the taxpayers either.

ACT II

After lunch, Wicomico Board of Education Superintendent John Fredericksen, several board members, a full complement of more than adequately-paid bureaucrats, and most of the School Building Commission strolled in to meet with the county council. Given the county’s current fiscal problems, you would think that the WCBOE would send a tight contingent sans entourage. If all of those BOE employees have time to hang out in council chambers we have to ask – are these people really necessary to the education of Wicomico’s children?

First up, the School Building Commission. While spending almost 45 minutes claiming that they didn’t want to discuss funding for the proposed Bennett Middle School, the message was clear – We need to build the school because costs will just continue to rise.

One of the more disturbing, and absurd, segments of ACT II came when the chairman of the School Building Commission (after repeatedly arguing that the school met the “reasonableness” test, whatever that is) told council that they should give the WCBOE a dollar amount that they want to spend on a new school and that the WCBOE would work towards that number.

Think about this for a moment. If the BOE can shave $1 million, $5 million, etc. from the proposed school’s cost, why don’t they? They should proposed to build what is absolutely necessary to educate kids rather than attempt to defend the bells and whistles associated with this homage to the WCBOE’s collective ego.

The commission’s chairman belittled the council’s attempts to spend tax dollars wisely by asking the rhetorical question:

We could put up a pole building, but would it be optimum for our students?

Former councilman, and current commission member, Marvin Long later made a similar, and equally insulting, statement:

I would hate to see us build a warehouse.

To these attempts to portray the council as the “bad guys” who are denying little school children a safe, secure, and productive educational environment, Councilman Joe Holloway stated:

I’ve been disappointed. This building has over 60 corners. I don’t think anyone is calling for a pole building. We all agree that we need a new school. It will be easier to get it if it costs less. The bottom line is can the cost be brought down by simplifying it?

Bizarrely, this segment of our little play was civil and intelligent compared with what follows in ACT III.

ACT III

Several weeks ago, the county council forwarded a series of questions to the WCBOE. Their hope was to receive responses in time for the council to study them prior to their meeting with the WCBOE on Tuesday. When did they receive them? Late Monday. The council received one copy, so that it was impossible to have the bundle of documents copied and distributed in time for Tuesday’s meeting. In addition to the requested documents and answers were two sheets. One contained the following memo from Supt. Fredericksen to the council:

As we prepare for Tuesday’s work session with the County Council, we hereby request that you provide responses to the attached list of questions. We believe that a give-and-take approach to solving the many issues of Wicomico County would lead to a fruitful discussion. Please contact me if you have any questions.

Thank you for your cooperation.

The second sheet contained nine questions which we will publish later.

Presumptuous? Oh yeah! Arrogant? Beyond words.
While the idea may be sound, there is little doubt that the intended spirit was not one of a genuine desire to fix problems. Last year it took the council four (4) weeks to receive copies of travel expenses. To add insult to injury, a member of the WCBOE staff admitted that it only took pressing a few buttons to retrieve the reports. If you are a member of the public, forget about receiving information about board spending.

Councilwoman Stevie Prettyman opened up the discussion by bringing up the questions submitted by the WCBOE. BOE member Ron Willey went ballistic. He argued that the council had no right to demand the information they periodically seek:

“We’re getting grilled. I feel like you are just looking to put your finger on something. You asked for travel last year and now you are asking for them again. You asked for salary information again.”

When it was explained to Willey that every county department had to undergo the same type of scrutiny, BOE president Michelle Wright piped in – “We’re not a county department!”

Technically, this is correct. However, the county’s charter states that the county council has a right to financial information from any department, agency, or organization which the county funds, or partially funds.

Councilman Joe Holloway made this observation:

“This is public information. What’s the beef with us asking these questions? We get this same information every month from other county departments. It took me FOUR months to get that information.”

While our elected officials have to fight to retrieve information, the BOE simply does not feel that they owe the taxpaying public either fiscal restraint or simple transparency. When Fredericksen stands before the county council, or any other group, and states that the BOE wants to “work with you”, or claims that the BOE will provide whatever information is requested, he is simply being disingenuous. If he wasn’t, the county council would not have to wait months for information that is readily available. While it took four months to deliver a computer report of BOE travel expenses to council, it was only the actual receipts which took time to copy. However, that request wasn’t made until AFTER the original report had been delivered to council and they combed through the report and specified which receipts he wanted to see.

One of the day’s highlights was Wright’s claim that she did not believe that they were there to discuss the budget. Either Mrs. Wright is too obtuse to serve on a school board, or she was attempting the usual BOE bait and switch. Council president Gail Bartkovich pointed out that it was the BOE’s office which determined that Tuesday would be the day to discuss the budget because the other dates offered by council weren’t convenient.

While Tuesday’s display saddened just about everyone there (except for the BOE employees, I’m sure), this should serve as a warning to the hard working taxpayers of Wicomico County. If the members of the county council won’t stand up to these wanna-be bullies, the taxpayers could well wind up paying more for a service that continues decline in perceived quality.

Citizens need to stand up now!