Special Message From Wicomico County Councilman Joe Holloway

County Administrator tries to hide County vehicle across the street from local Bar.

First and foremost, I would like to thank the voters of Wicomico County District Five for their support during the past eight years. I look forward to serving the next four years with the same level of service for all of the citizens of Wicomico County. And hope that the citizens I represent will continue to keep me informed on County issues that are important to them.

However, I do feel the need to address some of the disappointments that I have witnessed during my service on the Council. One statement many have heard me say is simply that “IT NEEDS TO BE DONE RIGHT.” By that, I mean all actions of our government should be done correctly both legally and morally with the goal of doing right by the taxpayers of our County. Unfortunately, much of what I have witnessed in the past eight years has fallen short of that goal.

Rick Pollitt's answer for many of our County issues is to spend and tax. He seems to have a love of high taxes and fine dining. His attitude has nurtured an air of arrogance and privilege within the upper levels of our local government bureaucracy and a lack of consideration to the taxpayers of our County.

Six years ago, when I brought forth some of the outrageous spending habits of the Board of Education, Mr. Pollitt not only didn’t question this, his response was to increase their budget. Earlier this year a State audit condemned many of the items I had uncovered those many years ago. Only this year did Mr. Pollitt commission a yet to be released study on the BOE’s spending habits. Think of the monies we could have saved if this were done earlier!

When Councilman Bob Culver (remember he is an elected at-large member) tried to get an answer for one of his constituents about our bidding process for the new State’s Attorney’s office, he was accused of a breach of confidentially by Mr. Pollitt‘s office, our legal department, some fellow Council members and staff. Ironically during a closed Council session with these same people, County Attorney Ed Baker admitted that there was no real basis for the accusation and that Bob had done nothing wrong. To Bob’s credit, he was simply standing up for his constituents in a flawed process.

Since only the accused party can make the discussions in a closed session public, Bob wanted to make the proceedings public to clear his name and to show that the accusation was flat out wrong. Not only did Bob receive much support from the community, other attorneys involved in the bidding process believe to this day that County officials were not truthful to them. Mr. Pollitt, who positions himself as Mr. Integrity, made an unfounded and untrue accusation as ultimately supported by the legal department. Many believe Bob didn’t want the State’s Attorney to have a new office, when in reality what he was questioning was how the bidding process was handled, which he had every right to do.

Mr. Pollitt also likes to brag about transparency. But when the Daily Times requested information about our Corrections Department, Pollitt claimed Executive Privilege in an attempt to withhold that information. When council members or citizens try to question some of the actions of the Executives Office, they are stalled or worse yet ridiculed.

By charter, our Council duties are described as legislative. However, nothing in our charter states that a Council member cannot step up to the plate and try to right a wrong when they see that taking place. Hopefully, we will see a new County Executive elected on Nov 4 so that we can bring trust and integrity back to our County government. The days of backroom deals, or should I say bar room deals, in Wicomico needs to end. It’s very simple, our government just “needs to do things right“.

If there are any questions concerning statements made in this letter, please feel free to contact me. 443-880-3082

Respectfully submitted,

Joe Holloway, Wicomico County Council, District 5