I would be the first to admit
that I've been a little remiss in writing some personal opinions about the
political events occurring in our county lately. At the last County Council
meeting, Mrs. Elmore's presentation reawakened my drive to search for facts that
I'd like to present to the taxpayers in my own opinions. In this manner I hope
to encourage people to do some research on their own to find the facts and not
just listen to the misinformation and outright lies put out by local media. So
Mrs Elmore, Thank - You.
The first remarks that I would
like to comment on is Mrs. Elmore's presentation itself. It appeared that she
was trying to present some information that she felt would stop the people's new
County Executive from investigating a way to save the taxpayers money by
re-purposing all or a portion of the old Bennett Middle School . While it
appears that the information was not pertinent to the facts she was trying to
convince us about, as pointed out later by the County Attorney, her effort did
encourage me to look into other areas. Since everyone was trying to convince Bob
Culver he couldn't do what he wanted to investigate because this money is bond
money we are talking about, I decided to look into the bond Language itself. Now
if you've never read the language of one of these bond bills I suggest you get
a cup of coffee, some writing paper and find a quiet spot. On page 15 - I found
something interesting and I would like to know how others would interpret what's
written. It's really not hard to get to on the computer. Go to Wicomico County
Government, hit Transparency Portal, then Bond Sale Official Statements, finally
hit 2013 Bond Sale OS and you will get the $12,500,000 Wicomico County General
Obligation Bond. It states that:
" any surplus funds not expended at the
completion of all projects listed in the enabling legislation must be credited
to the capital program for the fiscal year next succeeding the year in which the
surplus is ascertained or used for payment of debt service''.
So how could this
benefit the entire county? Well it seems to me that since no contract has been
specifically signed for the demolition of the buildings that the CIP can be
signed with a hold on the demolition until a feasibility study is completed to
investigate the County Executive's Re-purposing Project. The funding is still in
the project. There is no rule that says that money has to be used in three years
or loose it and the taxpayers could benefit tremendously if Mr. Culver's ideas
are feasible
So what is the down side of
giving time to check out Mr. Culver's plan?
The down side is that the School
Board, Mr. Federicksen and Mr. Foret will not get exactly what THEY want exactly
WHEN they want it. As Greg Bassett's protege, Kim Hudson, would say," Ever
experienced deja vu?", meaning experiencing something that we've seen before.
Well here it is again. These people don't get exactly what they want and it's
"Dog and Pony" time again and that Mrs.Hudson is exactly what is causing that
divide or rift you have been talking about. At the last election the voters made
it perfectly clear that they were tired of how this county is being operated and
run by special interests. The voters want change and voted in Mr. Culver to
think outside the box but the BOE simply refuses to change the way it does
business. I want to caution you that when the voters get behind a cause that
they can make changes. For instance, BOE borrowing is placing the county in
jeopardy of meeting other critical services for the entire county and that BOE
borrowing should be limited to X percent of the county's borrowing power. Voters
could petition to do what Delaware does and let the voters vote on CIP projects
for the BOE. And there are more initiatives then those I just mentioned.There is
one initiative that I could suggest that you wouldn't believe was coming from me
but for now I'm not going to mention it. The BOE has got to recognize that they
are not the only entity in this county. Without improving the economic
conditions of the ENTIRE county we're on a steady downhill slide. No jobs no
kids. Mr. Culver is at least trying which is more than I can say for a great
number of people at that council meeting.
I would like to comment on just
one other item that stood out at that meeting. When Mr. Culver was asking for
time to check this re-purposing idea out there were those of you on the council
saying;
"the horse was already out of the barn", "we need to pick our fights", "
it would have been nice if you could have present more of a plan when you come
here".
I want to remind each of you that when you were campaigning for your seat
that all I heard was how you were going to get jobs back and improve the
economy. Well, you've been in there almost as long as Mr. Culver so where's your
plans? How many jobs and businesses have you brought to the county so far? So
how about stop throwing out obstacles and telling Mr. Culver what he can't do.
That's the old way of doing things. Think outside the box.Tell us what you can
do. You are going to need time and the voters, including myself are willing to
give you that time. Now how about giving that time to Mr. Culver. That's all he
is asking for. Again Mrs.Elmore Thank You.
John Palmer, Delmar, Md.
