On Tuesday, May 3rd, the Wicomico County Council held their public hearing for the county’s FY 2012 budget. The hearing wasn’t as well attended as in years past; nor were there as many speakers. I would love to objectively say that I was the most profound, or most informative speaker of the evening. Of course I wasn’t. That honor went to a retired nurse living in the Newtown section of Salisbury – Kay Gibson.
One of the first speakers the evening, Mrs. Gibson explained that she was retired and living on a fixed income. Despite those challenges, she stated that she wouldn’t mind paying a higher property tax rate IF she believed that the county government was acting as a good steward of her tax dollars. Unfortunately, Mrs. Gibson did not feel that the county was a good steward and proceeded to list several examples.
I believe that many of us feel much the same as Mrs. Gibson. In just the last week or so some glaring examples have come before the public (thanks to the county council’s budget sessions) that force us to ask the same question. These examples include:
- The Board of Education’s (WCBOE) reluctance, and resentment, to provide requested financial information to our elected representatives on council.
- The admission by the county’s library director that at least one person on the library’s payroll is unnecessary.
- The discovery that the Wicomico County Humane Society is distributing money to another local non-profit while receiving tax dollars.
- The Wicomico County Public Library spending money to underwrite the activities of Delmarva Public Radio.
There may be sound reasoning behind SOME of these actions. However, with many of our neighbors unemployed; with many of our neighbors having to make do with less; we are forced to the conclusion that the Wicomico County government is not being a good and faithful steward of the taxpayers’ money.
I hope that I can be proven wrong.
11 comments:
The BOE entity is a lot like the county's Liquor Control Board (Sales.) They both sandbag questions made by council like they are above being questioned by a county council member.
They look down their noses at the council, who was elected to represent the voters.
If you ask me, the voters here have little to no say in education choices because their representitive's hands are tied.
Your conclusion is the county government is not a good steward of the taxpayer's money and maybe that is true, but none of the examples given are part of the county government, not the humane society, not the library and not the board of education. Yet you give credit, sort of, to the county council for asking questions of those who receive money from the county, bringing to light the things you mentioned. It sounds like the council is asking questions that need to be asked. You also mentioned a Mrs. Gibson and that she is a retired nurse. Does she,or did she recently, have children, or grand children in the school system? How does she know whether the school system is doing a good or a poor job? Maybe she just likes to complain.
Public hearings are a little like blogs, anybody can say anything they want, as long as it's about the purpose of the hearing. They can't say things anonomously, but they don't have to know what they are talking about, same as on blogs.
So let me get this right - you want the library to lay off one of your neighbors because too many of your neighbors are out of work. I believe your reasoning is flawed.
thank you for trying to keep us informed as to how our tax dollars are being spent. i know it's a huge undertaking but so needed.
again; thanks.....
Anon 1722 -
While it's not my place to discuss Kay's business, it is my understanding that none of her children nor any of her grandchildren attended school in Wicomico County. However, she has had experience with school systems both in and outside of the US.
I can only speak for myself, but it's not about the quality of the product. I will admit that I am not in a position to judge the quality of education given in our county schools since only one of my children attended a Wicomico County public school. My concern is whether or not the funds being appropriated are being used efficiently to provide those children an education. I think that the answer to that is a big NO! The very fact that the BOE obfuscates every attempt by the county council to get meaningful financial information is testimony to that.
Yes, it is true that neither the BOE, the Humane Society, nor the library are county departments. However, the county is the primary funding agent for all three.
It is also true that the county council has been attempting to be diligent in their pursuit of good stewardship. Unfortunately, they are not afforded adequate information to do as good a job as many of them (and many of us) wish to do.
That said, what is your evidence that neither Mrs. Gibson, nor this this author, know what they are talking about? I have laid out the information that I have available to me. Do you dispute it? Do you disagree with my conclusions? If so, how?
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Anon 2047 -
By your logic I should be satisfied if every person was given a government job. That is not the case. If that individual were necessary I would be supportive. By the library director's own admission, they are not.
I am sorry; but it is your reasoning which is flawed.
Wow. I can't believe some of the arguments against G.A.'s post. I don't always agree with G.A., but no organization primarily supported by county tax dollars has any business transferring those dollars to another agency. If the sheriff's department wanted to "help out" public works, they'd have to go through a process with oversight. These "side agencies" like the library, Humane Society and Board of Ed all walk around like they own the place and don't have to answer to anybody, nyah, nyah, hyah.
This is a recipe for hanky panky and they need their wings clipped.
As for Mrs. Gibson, don't know her, but how is she wrong? Thanks to the reckless government before, there is now a revenue cap, which the government groans about. Wouldn't have happened if that previous council hadn't spent like Girls Gone Wild.
Now this is what I am talking/thinking about!
Thank you GA!
Anon 522 is just plain crazy. The only question to be answered... do these institutions receive funds from the County, aka the people of this County. And if so how are these funds spent? Yes we have EVERY right to ask this question. EVERY RIGHT!!! Answer the question and we will move on.
you wanted a govt job,now you have it.now that we all understand that you are not retired or self employed,turn it inside out and shake it out.if it requires a state license or cert.you are not above being personally evaluated for your performance or exactly what you spend your time doing all day.
Mrs. Gibson has been a frequent speaker at both County and the City meetings. Her comments and her opinions are very consistent. The problem I had with her comments s when she started to add so called facts into her arguments. Comparing the ranking of US schools with Korea and Canada to aid in proven her point. I guesss she was hoping no one would check to see if tis was true and why. Fortuanatly someone from the BOE did bring to light more information on those rankings. My point come down to credibilty, if she would use statments like that what about her other so caled facts. Anyone can justify anything if they ignore the facts and or people do not listen.
Anon 1126 -
That person from the BOE who "brought more light" to her comments was John Fredericksen. He seldom "brings more light" to anything. The only thing he said that came close to refuting Mrs. Gibson's comments was that Korea (like many other countries) has a track system in education (similar to what we used to have in this country). Fredericksen implied that if kids weren't on the university track, they would have to be farm laborers. This is not only a lie, but a damned one.
Many of these countries have apprentice systems. Kids go to school and work. When they complete their secondary education they are prepared to be journeymen in a field that typically pays well.
Not all kids should go to college. It should be a privilege which is earned rather than considered a right. This is not only better for the economy, but better for the child.
Instead of a system which has been proven successful over the centuries, our current system leaves us with kids with diplomas which are not worth the paper they are printed on. If they go to college they have to take remedial courses. An immense increase in Federal aid has turned students into customers and inflated the cost of education through the roof because there is too much money chasing a given commodity.
Nice try though.
Anon 0908 -
??????????
Was this directed at a particular comment?
We need a little context here.
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