In this episode of Open Agenda, hosts Joe White and Joe Venosa discuss the August 6th County Council meeting, where the council voted 6-1 to override the executive's veto on the motorized events legislation—a law created in response to the unannounced "Safari at the Quarry" MOU. The main segment features an in-depth interview with Wicomico County Council President John Cannon. Cannon provides a detailed breakdown of the 2024-2025 budget, explaining how the council restored the revenue cap (which the executive had busted) and secured funding for Fruitland Primary School. He also clarifies misinformation surrounding the Salisbury fire service agreement and the separate funding for volunteer fire companies. Finally, Cannon explains his vote to put Question A (the Council-Manager referendum) on the ballot, citing a history of unilateral executive actions (like the recycling centers disappearing), missed charter deadlines like the FOP contract, and the need for greater transparency.
Open Agenda with John Cannon Episode 6
Show Transcript
Disclaimer: The following transcript was auto-generated and may contain spelling or contextual errors.
you're watching open Agenda here's our
host Joe White thank you for joining us
here at open Agenda I'm your host Joe
White I'm joined with our executive
producer Joe venosa thanks for coming
out today thanks for having me Joe so uh
in in this episode we're going to get a
chance to sit down with the president of
the County Council John Cannon uh we're
going to talk about uh the the the last
County council meeting but A lot's come
out with uh our County Executive just
had a press conference so we're going to
have a follow-up episode to this episode
a second part so to speak where you know
we're going to talk about all that so I
don't want anyone to think that we're
going to to miss out on on that news but
I think that that part of the news
deserves its own time and and and place
so the County Council just had a meeting
on August 6th um and at that meeting one
of the things that they had to do was
vote and which they voted six to1 to
override The veto by the county
executive
The veto was she vetoed the legislation
that they passed two weeks ago after
public comments after public hearings
that would put that Safeguard in check
about the motorized vehicles the
approval yes sir so I mean what what did
you see I mean you you were you were
watching on pack 14 um so the some of
the some of the council comments uh
particularly from councilman James W
about the the need to do this I mean he
he's the one person who voted against it
yeah it was a bit strange I thought
because um he made a comment that he he
felt it wasn't the role of of the
legislature to um
legislate and you know I have a
dictionary and you can look at history
and how government works and that is
precisely the role I I I would think if
there is a law or policy that a
legislative body wants to pass they have
every right to do so um and of course
the county executive in our current form
of government uh vetoed it and they had
the votes to override that veto so I
think in terms of the philosophy behind
it I didn't really get the logic of it
so you know the one of the things that
came up uh that has continued to come up
out of the County executive's office is
transparency but the reason why this
legislation was passed again after
public hearing after public input was
because there was no preemptive uh
notice that this mou with Livewire media
was going to allow them to to host this
event at Safari at the Quarry correct I
mean again let's understand this right
this legislation was created voted on
and then overridden through the veto
precisely because there was no oversight
public commentary or transparency on
that sort of situation with the Safari
at the Quarry so in a sense what the
council was doing was rectifying a real
problem uh for County Citizens and
taxpayers and it was through the
legislative process and you know clearly
uh six out of seven people could
understand that and so I think that's
commendable that when you have this kind
of government it responds to those needs
and concerns of citizens so uh you know
we're going to talk more in second part
of our of of this special episode about
the work session that that Mike Lewis
our Sheriff was at at the same August 6
meeting but again that the the purpose
of that work session was because again
another mou was signed
no public comment no public input and
again today the press conference that
memorialized the fact that this was a
mistake and she pulled that back and
let's be clear right this was involving
arguably the most important thing that
anybody in the county deals with which
is Public Safety right so it's not as if
we're talking about an obscure event but
now we're getting into an issue that is
lacking transparency on the most
important of issues well so so it's you
know in that same err transparency there
are a couple other committee meetings
that are coming up that I think are very
important uh in in order to promote and
provide transparency one is the natural
resource conservation advisory committee
they're having their meeting on August
13th at 2m it's in room 306 which is in
the government building it's not the
County Council room but it's
to the proposed legisl legislation that
uh came from Josh Hastings about bamboo
restrictions and that sort of thing it
sounds sound like through public input
through through cooperation they're
narrowing down that so it's not such a
broad uh piece of legislation but that
is where they would discuss it correct
correct correct and and we've seen the
sort of impetus of what was driving some
of those concerns so I think you're
going to see it you know much more
solidified at that point hopefully yeah
so uh Planning and Zoning meets on
August 15th at 1:30 in room 301 which is
the County council meeting I I looked
this morning there's still no agenda
posted for that um they at times can
have some very important uh matters that
come up through them uh sometimes
there's nothing then that may be why
there's no agenda but again I think
folks should continue to watch the WAMU
county.org website go to the agendas Tab
and you can look these up they go by
committee uh on Wednesday August 21st at
uh 6 PM is the uh agriculture land
preservation Advisory Board there is
some uh there is one thing on their
agenda talking specifically about a
piece of property uh again I think
anybody who would would would think that
whether pres agricultural land
preservation may impact them one way or
another should should keep an eye on
that but that again that meeting is on
Wednesday August 21st at 6 o'l and
that's in room 301 so our favorite room
yeah u a couple committees don't have uh
meetings this this month in August uh
one is airport meeting uh they're not
having one their next one's in uh early
September and there's not one in the
Parks and wreck theyve their last one
was in June they don't meet again till
the end of September um they kind of
take a summer recess and they're in that
now
so gonna get a chance to sit down with
um President John Canon and speak about
current issues the ballot initiative in
November to to vote for the charter
Amendment a uh and then we want to to to
take some time to review what Sheriff
Mike Lewis spoke about at the work open
work session on Tuesday night and at the
press conference that the county
executive had on Thursday August 8th um
Joe you have anything else I just think
um if if the if anything the last few
days have shown us the importance of
local government why it matters even if
it doesn't sort of come across as you
know the most um Dynamic thing sometimes
um but you really get to see why local
issues impact your life directly um I
would like to say uh from my own uh um
lens as a as a parent as as as the
father of an 8-year-old um this horrible
tragedy that happened to the two
children uh from East Salsbury um there
were two separate tragedies that have
affected um some families yeah it was
very sad it was it was incredibly sad
and awful um and I I um I I I uh I'm not
a praying man but but I I I I do extend
my deepest deepest uh best wishes and
thoughts to those families for what
they're going through yeah our our our
hearts are with those families um this
community has the ability to come
together for to fight bad and also come
together when something bad does happen
and um you know we're thinking about you
when we do come back after this break we
get a chance to sit down with president
of the County Council John Canon and
then later on we will discuss the open
work session with the sheriff Mike Lewis
as well as the press conference that the
county executive had today uh putting a
pause on theou that she signed with
easternshore Undercover we'll be right
back after
this one of the more interesting
festivals in wo county is the pton 24
Festival of 5Ks it's held September 20th
and 21st at the Historical Park in
pton there are 24 different 5K runs
going all through the day and night into
the next day make a team and you build
up points competing in some or all of
the runs and there's bonus points for
completing runs overnight and also for
completing all of the runs so it's a
team competition to get more information
into register you go to pton 24.com
thanks for joining us again here at open
Agenda I'm here today with our guest the
president of the Wako County Council Mr
John Canon pleasure to be here thanks
for coming out here sure thanks for
having me so I wanted to ask you what
motivated you originally to get involved
with Wako County Council and run for
elected office that was it was kind of
interesting um there was a period of
time where I thought I was going to do
it and I didn't do it and then I watched
how how things developed how it worked
out and I really wish I remember saying
I'm not going to pass that up again and
you know in these NE when the next four
years come so that's when I decided to
finally run uh some of his people asked
me are you going to run why don't you
run you know it would it would be a good
fit so peer pressure okay in a good way
so and uh I I will never forget that I
was talking with uh with Bill RI this on
the radio this morning about how he and
I both past JC's and when I was in the
JC's one of those president JC's I had
to go before the County Council we
decided to ask for money for fireworks
for the county and it was the first time
ever and just being in that environment
I was pretty much in all of it I thought
it was a really unique experience and I
thought well maybe I could aspire to
something that you know to that level
and um so uh when the opportunity came I
I threw my hat in the ring so H having
as much experience as you do what do you
think are some of the challenges you see
with the county in 2024 and in the near
future uh what I see right now as far as
the County's concerned I think we have
things in order Sheriff's doing a great
job with with Public Safety we know that
he's he's got that locked in and uh the
costs are are reasonable um Board of
Education we know we have the the
blueprint and but I don't think that's
we have a few more years we have to
worry about those costs I think the main
thing that my concern is the airports
also we've been made a lot of
Investments so that's going really well
um but my concerns mainly I think is
probably going to come down to uh fire
safety as far as our Volunteer Fire
companies we still have to finish
working out uh you know some type of
financial arrangement with the city of
Salsbury uh we actually did fund uh the
the volunteers were flat funded this
year and the County Council uh moved
things around to to put about 825,000
into the volunteers we thought we should
not flat fund them but we do recognize
the fact that sooner or later we have to
deal with
uh trying to uh
recruit uh new members and retention is
not really an issue uh the the big issue
is that with the volunteers they're sort
of um phasing out and it's becoming much
more difficult so we have to figure out
what type of incentives to create to
bring in new uh Cadets and things like
that and so let's talk a little bit more
about that I want to make sure we're
clear sure the volteer fire departments
this year did not get flat funded they
were actually uh given more money than
they were given in 2023 fiscal year or
2024 uh no they were flat funded they
were they were they were there was no
increase giving it was the same amount
as the prior year okay but the council
can't add to the budget but we can make
recommendations so what The Count
Council did we did a nu a numerous
things uh we we instituted Cuts in
several other areas some in Corrections
so that we could then go back to the
executive branch and say hey we're
cutting this which is our Authority and
now we're going to recommend that
825,000 of that go to to the volunteer
fire companies and did that happen it it
did happen yes um but what we're really
seeing is that um I I think with with
the city of Salsbury and with the county
volunteers uh we're being pulled in two
different directions I think eventually
the county has to if has to establish
how and if and how we're going to
establish an EMS uh unit around the
county itself just maybe just outside
the the city limits of Salsbury and that
way could take that that workload off of
the volunteers put it to a paid EMS um
and and solve the problem for both the
city of Salsbury and W Comico County
right now we're being asked to uh to put
millions of dollars into the city of
Salsbury I'd rather make those
investments in W Comico County and at
the same time solve everybody's problem
I think one of the the having been at
the meetings one of the biggest pieces
of miscommunication I've seen come out
is there's a lot of folks who have said
that you've cut the fire service
agreement with the city of Salsbury by
400,000 but in fact it did go up 1.6
million this year yeah and and that's
that's the trickery we've seen before I
know last year uh we gave about uh we
gave eight we we gave I think 800,000
the Board of Education the original
request over maintenance of effort so
the original request was like
1.3 and we had people come in and and
yell at the council because we cut the
Board of Education 500,000 I don't think
they had been told the the correct
information we increased it we actually
increased mum effort hardly ever done
but we only cut it back 500 from what
was recommended so they were complaining
about the 500 cut ignoring the fact we
just given eight and then this year you
you went to a million right this year we
went from we went from a Million last
year to 1.6 this year so the emphasis to
the public unfortunately through the
administration was oh yeah though the
the County Council cut the Salsbury fire
department by $400,000 well actually we
increased them by
$600,000 which was a 60% increase on top
of a 30% increase the year before I was
a witness at uh your your final budget
hearing where you're actually approving
this I I literally saw the County
Council go through line items and and
pick up extra little bit of here money
here money there and put into that fire
service I mean it was a lot of hard work
but it was open and out in the public
the work you were doing I mean every
Amendment had to be motioned seconded it
was uh I would say tedious it was
important but it wasn't from a lack of
effort no a lot you can't imagine how
much goes into it behind the scenes to
make sure you can balance everything out
because we also had to restore the
revenue cap the executive had had busted
the revenue cap which we've had in place
ever since it was implemented 18 years
ago we've never done that whether or not
you're allowed to or not for Education
it's not the concern the fact is we did
not want to lose that benefit to the
citizens of wono County so what is the
revenue cap Revenue cap is a very before
I say that I do want to say we are still
working towards some typ type of of of
compromise with the city of Salsbury
fire department they're not happy the
1.6 so we're not done yet as far as
talks with them okay okay so tell me
more about the revenue cap Revenue cap
is very interesting I I'm I've always
been a fan of the revenue cap the
revenue cap is actually relatively
simple the county uh this County
receives its revenue from two streams
one is from uh from uh income tax
receipts and the other one is from
property tax property taxes uh for the
most part the largest majority of
Revenue that we get uh the restriction
on W Comico county is only on the
property taxes and what that does is it
says there's a 2% cap on Revenue that
the county can receive from property
taxes over the year before so if if last
year we got we we got a net of a million
dollars from property tax revenues we
could only get a million 20,000 this
year so what does the where does the
extra money go so let's say with the
additional assessments it was going to
be one or say 1.1 million right what
happens to the the the difference well
that's a beauty of because assessments
always go through the roof the state of
mar is never going to leave us alone and
and they're they're they're increasing
assessments 30% 100% in some cases
that's a big number so when that happens
you know the assessments for white
Comico County the base goes through the
roof with the 2% Revenue cap the only
way you can counterbalance that is lower
the tax rate and it happened this year
right it's happened most most years yeah
so that's what we do and that's the
beauty of it the the the county lowers
the tax rate the rate uh that that's
implemented we lower that so that the
tax so that the property owners uh will
have less per hund $100 worth of square
foot they'll be paying less now in the
long run they could be paying more on
the property taxes just because the
assessment was so high but the rate that
wo County the burden of the rate wo
county is putting on them we have
reduced it and we recently in this last
year it was stated that the revenue cap
was busted uh they were given a new
school and they were their taxes were
lowered what wasn't said was that with
the busting of the revenue cap those
taxes were not lowered as much as they
could have been yeah and that's what the
council did we we restored we shifted
about $2 million around to restore the
revenue cap and to answer your question
that money goes into the pockets of the
citizens of ionica County they've said
before I've heard this so often my God
you know if we didn't have a revenue cap
we'd have 17 more million it's you know
something I said wait a minute you know
how I look at that that's $17 more
million we put in the the pockets of the
taxpayers of won County exactly and we
learn to live within our means and we
get to use that money to stimulate the
economy right here yeah right is that
yeah isn't that yeah isn't that odd so
that's not the only way the budget can
go up because the budget has gone up so
there's another piece of this pie or
another big piece of this pie and you
mentioned it a minute ago is that is
that from the income tax part yeah right
exactly so if our like our health
benefits for our County workers and the
raises I mean you all approve those sure
that money has to come from somewhere
but there are other revenue streams that
are adding to it that doesn't require us
to bust the revenue cap correct exactly
and also again you live within your
means if you have to make Cuts you make
particular Cuts uh I think we've done a
lot of spending we've also taken a lot
more in the last two years we've taken a
much more Revenue uh from our reserves
but we still do have a rather High
Reserve so I'm okay with that that's
part of what came in with the with the
uh with Fruitland Primary School the
council that that was the the debate
back in reference to that and that was a
big win I mean congratulations on
getting that approved for the for for
the students out on that part of the the
town but or the county right but as far
as you and you mentioned it before the
the potential to bust the revenue cap
there I was in a lot of the the budget
meetings the work sessions and you the
council in very open Forum talked about
how you could use all Reserve funds you
could use all bonded funds obviously
interest rates are really high right now
you came to a resolution
that was a compromise can you explain a
little bit about how you came to that
decision and why that's so important for
the county taxpayers and the students
and Fruitland yeah I mean originally uh
originally the um the 20 million is what
we're really looking for for this year
and then 20 million next year orally
that wasn't in the capital Improvement
program that wasn't in the budget either
and the council insisted that it be put
in the capital Improvement program and
we insisted that it go into the budget
uh $20 million uh originally members of
the council wanted to take that
completely out of reserves because they
felt that the reserves were too high um
the uh executive branch and finance
director said absolutely not we're going
to take 20 million out dollars we're
going to bond it and we thought why
would you want to bond it our reserves
are very healthy and this is in a period
of time when the interest rates are
higher than they've ever been probably
in the last 40 years so why in the world
would you want to you know subject the
taxpayers of white Comico accounting to
that type of a of a a debt burden so it
went back and forth there was a for
trading I guess and we came up with 10
and 10 and that's how it was resolved so
there's a lot of folks who said that the
the County Council is is unwilling to
compromise and work but this is an
example where you have right why why do
you think it in the original budget what
did the executive's office even put the
school funding in there it was really
odd Joe um they had had 1.4 million from
the year before uh after some
discussions after the uh the public
hearing and the Board of Education
talking to the executive they put 4
million in for this year but where's the
other where's the other 44 that's needed
to you know for the next two years state
of Maryland doesn't see that they're not
going to they're not going to want to
get in get into that funding so you know
in order to make it work you have to
demonstrate that you are committed on a
long-term basis to fulfill the needs of
the local of the local jurisdiction that
means 20 million 20 million nothing else
plus I had to ask what sense is there in
trying to do 1.4 last year putting
another 4 million in and nothing else
anywhere it doesn't make sense it's not
like you're going to spend 4 million now
and then delay it and spend 4 million
for maybe architectural engineering or
what and think that's going to be good
two or three years down the road well
and those those plans they expire after
you're right so listen if you if you go
to the work sessions you can learn about
how long these these plans and these
permits would even last exactly there
was a $1.4 million expense that was
hanging out there if this school did not
get funded at the time
then that would just go away we'd have
to do it again right well it would be
wasted money sure yeah so the and and
plus if you when you delay the costs go
up um exorbitantly they go up every
single year you're going to be you're
going to be facing uh higher costs no
matter what so why do you think that the
executives office used the funding model
for this school as such a a political
maneuver what what advantage would there
be to whether you it forced you to bust
a revenue cap because you you still had
a two
reduction in in the property tax rate
for the county despite funding this
school why why would there be a need to
to use a a a school for political gain
um well I I I don't understand why why
it would had never been put there when I
first went to the public hearing on the
budget and saw that because I'm on I'm
on the school building commission so I
knew they were asking for 20 and 20 plus
the capital Improvement program they
gave the county said we need 20 and 20
so when there wasn't anything there at
all I mean I initially there was
spending for HVAC units on three
different schools and I thought this is
so out of whack with what we're trying
to accomplish and we never really got a
good answer as to why it was completely
abandoned uh we just pushed as hard as
we could to and insisted that it's going
to go in you know one way or the other
we're going to we're going to insist
that this goes into the uh into the
budget well and and as a a private
citizen in this County a resident of
this County I can come to the County
Council meetings and express
my desire to build a school to not build
the school to delay building the school
but if the county executive's office has
so much power whether not this gets put
in where where do where does anybody get
a voice to to to share their thoughts
and feelings with that part of the the
the current government system we have
well that's true and I see so much so
much of that uh give and take um I've
seen it over the last several years
where you have to ask yourself where you
know we we've gotten into this this this
arrangement with an executive
legislative form of government in white
Comico County for about the last 18
years and from my perspective is sitting
in a Council seat for many of those
years um I thought maybe it might be a
good idea when it first was initiated I
was the first council president the
first year we did this but as the years
have gone by I've had to question I I
think you know efficiency of governance
and Etc I'm not I'm not convinced at all
that um that this is the best form of
government I think you have a County
Council and a council a form of
government that could be just as
efficient possibly more efficient at
much less cost than trying to continue
with the executive legislative form of
government seems almost inherent that
that you have uh Executives and councils
that uh are going are going to have some
conflict but I'm really surprised as to
how how deep that division has gotten um
not just in the last few years but in in
Prior years as well well and sometimes
this this has been characterized as a as
a character attack on the current
executive but in fact in the past with
other Executives we've even had times
where we couldn't even go to the bond
market to fund and and that was that was
you know done behind closed doors can
you speak a little bit about that it's
not about the current executive this was
this was a couple Executives goo but um
but can you speak a little bit about
that process the the person who was put
in place without confirmations and that
sort of thing yeah I mean you're you're
exactly correct uh it was very
unfortunate uh the executive at the time
very similar to what we've experienced
over the last year the executive at that
time uh put someone in place uh as the
finance director the council did not
approve it the coun did not want that to
happen there were many reasons for that
uh but at the time the executive refused
to remove that person from that position
so technically that person was actually
receiving compensation from the
taxpayers of w Comico County for a
position that they were not authorized
to be working in uh all good and well
for day-to-day in white comic County I
guess you know even though it's it's
it's not supposed to be that way but
what they found out I think when when
they really when when you really peeled
back the onion and realized just how how
how um off track everything was was when
we needed to go to the bomb market
usually we go every year most mostly for
school and for major Capital expenses
well I think they realized very clearly
that if they had gone to New York and
bonded let's say $50 million and this
individual signed on the dotted line to
authorize that as the finance director
of white comic County knowing that
legally that was not the finance
director of comical County right there
you probably I mean you have fraud and
that's a huge liability to those
individuals and the county as a whole so
it was just uh noted oh we're not going
to the bond market this year it's just
not going to happen you you have seemed
uh publicly and at meetings and and in
interviews I've watched of you to be a
staunch supporter of following County
Charter county code
the current executive has uh has had two
positions that that they put in place
that weren't confirmed by the County
Council many three dozen or over 30 that
were right there there see there was a a
lot of consternation about these two
right why is it so important that we
follow those rules and that in that
Charter uh I think it's just the basic
Foundation of democracy you follow the
law you do it what whether it's a stop
sign 10 miles out in the country when
nobody's looking and you do it when
you're in government especially when
you're in government and the people
expect you to abide by the uh by the
laws that are put into place so there
are Charters and and codes and deadlines
that we've missed we we we did miss the
the the original U deadline to negotiate
the fop contract that was a nightmare it
was um you had uh many extra special
sessions that you had to to draw from
yeah we had we had to have many special
sessions um then for the collective
bargaining agreement the negotiations
really should have started back uh in
October uh of 23 and but that didn't
happen there were there were delays I
know that the uh that the fop was
looking to begin that process didn't
start until January we didn't even get
it we had to demand it we had to
literally throw the gauntlet down and
say if we don't get it by this day it's
never going to get on the agenda because
we were that we were that close to
Serious deadlines we had already missed
the original deadline as established by
the Charter for economic accounting
which I believe was uh March 1st then
come in until April the executive says
well we've been L you know it's been
late before but that's you know you
don't set president on bad behavior you
you you Tred you follow the Law plus
that put us so far behind it only gave
us like a month and possibly only two
meetings two regular meetings to sit
there and go through this whole process
not only that but we didn't have any
actuarials not legitimate Bonafide
actuarials to state that a 2 and a half%
uh cost of living increase for the for
the retirees was going to be sustainable
for w Comico County in the long run and
we didn't have that we had some faim of
it but it wasn't the real Actuarial well
again at your open work sessions these
budgetary sessions I I witnessed uh the
finance director the current Finance
director uh explained to the County
Council that she refuses to to to share
that with you explain a little bit about
how that position answers to the
executive now and how maybe someone in
that position may be able to answer to
the county Council directly in the
future if we return to a council manager
former government that that that's
that's that's an very interesting
Dynamic I mean you really hit the nail
on the head um I found out that with the
executive and legislative form of
government I think that the the um the
the the power that's been given to the
executive over departments Etc I I just
don't I think that's more of a detriment
to the county than it is a benefit to
the county uh there are many instances
where I think um such as with and and
now even with with the law Department
right now it's you know Paul Wilbur
works for the executive so now we almost
have to have our own attorney for our
opinion because he's only going to give
us one if there's ever a challenge but
in reference to the to the finance
director I think all department heads
feel as if they have a first allegiance
to the executive because that is their
boss and a second allegiance to the
council now I'm not questioning any
ethics or standards any of that I'm just
saying that it's almost inherent that
that's that's a concern I I think when
you have a seven- member Council we are
the boss collectively seven of us in an
open session and and so when they do
come before the council uh I think there
would be less push back and maybe more
um things would would run Much More
cobly Much More sensible um the the
headbutting that we see now is I I think
it's just I don't think it's good for
the county as a whole I wouldn't
personally as as a resident ask for that
information to be public because there's
a lot of
there's a you you're negotiating a
contract you're you're dealing with with
folks retirement however having that
information in only one person's hands
who whatever that person is not the
current one could be the next one could
be one that was here before but having
all that information that important
information in only one person's hands
under one person's control uh would not
lend itself to transparency if at the
very least it was spread out over seven
people who are elected by the by the
whole count lot that the council really
can't say because a lot of it's done in
closed session so we can't really talk
about that uh During the period of time
I know that while we're in the middle of
this Collective bargain agreement uh and
we questioned well is this is this
financially sustainable the next thing
we know you know across Facebook across
social media press releases we're being
you know um demonized as anti-law
enforcement it's absolutely incredible I
mean with with my my you know uh
familiarity with the law enforcement
industry with Jeff merits associations
with law enforcement with Shane Bakers
how the heck are you going to say that
we're anti-law enforcement exactly I got
a lot of friends that's what I said I
said even you said I got a lot of
friends in law enforcement we're not
trying to beat you down we're trying to
make sure it's the best thing we can do
for the deputies and for the citizens of
w Comico County but when you get when
you begin almost immediately to engage
in this type of uh uh political back and
forth it's it's not good um I think when
you have a basic seven member of a
council you're all working and you're to
work in cooperation with each other I
never knew any Council in in white
Comico County ever to be in a situation
where they were ying and screaming at
each other you know and things just
weren't getting worked out at a table
never yeah I I've witnessed some of that
with you all with the executive
especially over the confirmations it
there was some times where it was
definitely hard to to keep the the the
decorum in the in the it's very
difficult and we don't like it we don't
like it you know I I want to go into a
meeting where everything's calm
predictable you know you know
everybody's in a mood of cooperation and
trying to get things done you know we
want to worry about airports education
Public Safety roads I don't want to
worry about a lawsuit as to whether or
not something somebody had had given you
know um gone through the proper
procedures or not so and if they don't
we we are the checks and balances of
white comical County and it's our
responsibility to call that out if we
see a problem and yeah and you're
required you're really requ to do it
yeah we're charged with that obligation
so you're you're part of the 5 to2
majority that did vote to add the
referendum to the ballot on November
this if if we vote Yes or vote to
approve the charter Amendment a that
would return this County like 84% of
other counties in this in this whole
nation to a council manager former
government why do you feel so strong
that that's the way we should go well
just based on history and how I've
witnessed it over the last 18 years you
know I I I worry about the costs it's
been about $10 million over the last 18
years total we have to ask well what do
we have for it what have we seen for it
I don't I don't really say where we have
seen anything substantially different
nothing that a seven member Council
couldn't and hasn't already done uh
you're looking at costs of about 800,000
a year and growing as each year goes by
to sustain the executive branch and
again I just am not convinced that
that's a necessary element anymore you
see efficiency of operations um there
are circumstances where I think when you
have a body of government where you have
one branch of government then acts so
unilaterally um I think that's a problem
we had recy recycling stations that dis
appeared overnight with no public notice
no public input no council notice
whatsoever I just get up one morning I
got a lot of because I use those ones
I've got a lot of recyclables and it's
gone yeah so that's not you were just
one of the other residents who was
looking for the recycl right yeah yeah
yeah so we saw that and we saw the same
thing with the Safari at the Quarry
where just no input from the public was
was was you know was uh sought no no
inquiries from the council the council
was circumvented and what does it do it
just shows you it just it's probably the
most counterproductive thing you can do
when you don't include the public in
your decision making processes I think
one of the most interesting aspects and
growing up here in my whole life is
before we had a county executive we
didn't while we were still in a County
Manager former government we were able
to get a a community college one of one
of the best yes here we have a nice
baseball stadium uh these things these
are major public Improvement projects
would you look at things even like you
were talking about the airport if it we
don't have a county executive you still
have a Tony Rudy you still have a
director of the airport going to go out
there and fight for it and you have a
seven member Council that has done this
many times before uh just as you said
it's a seven member County Council that
gave you shorb Stadium gave you Warick
Community College it gave you Henry
Henry Parker Sports Complex all of these
things so I don't see where you can say
well the council's not going to be an
effective form of government there
there's the thing you know some comments
made about well you know executive best
represents of white com County Annapolis
well that's not really true either uh
when I I went before covid I was in
Annapolis every week prior to um prior
to co when it became Zoom meetings and
things such as that we would go every
week during session and meeting with all
other members of the county of of the of
the other counties in in uh in Maryland
as well as being in the governor's
office or meeting with the delegate so
we're no you know it's not as if we're
unfamiliar with that that process well
thank you for coming in and explain a
little bit more about the current
politics in the in the government in the
County government and as well as uh you
some of the the the future challenges
coming up including this ballot
initiative sure uh if you'd stick around
with us we'd like to give you three
minutes just like any citizen can in
this uh County come to the County
Council we to give you three minutes at
the podium to speak about anything you
wish okay appreciate it we'll be right
back after
this whether you're a boater fisherman
or a land lber Cedar Hill Park in Marina
has something for everyone situated on
the Nanticoke River near the town of B
valve just 15 miles west of Solsbury
Cedar Hill Park in Marina provides an
abundance of water-based activities the
marina offers annual and seasonal boat
slip rentals as well as transient slips
if you're just passing through while
cruising the Chesapeake Bay not only
will you see a variety of recreational
motor and sailing vessels do at the
marina but also TR traditional workboats
that engage in crabbing during the
summer and oyster dredging in Winter the
marina facility is also improved with
two concrete boat ramps a soft launch
for kayaks and canoes public restrooms
hot showers and a pumpout station for
your Marine sanitation device the harbor
Basin is well protected by two long
Stone Jetties making it a safe Port when
those unexpected summertime pop-up
thunderstorms occur for which the
Chesapeake Bay Region is so famous if
you don't own a boat there's also a
small Beach area for swimming and if
you're willing to take a walk out onto
the stone Jetties you can do some
crabbing or go fishing for striped bass
white perch catfish cokers and sometimes
red drum but you don't have to be a
water Enthusiast to enjoy Cedar Hill
Park land-based amenities include a
pavilion for family gatherings picnic
areas with grills children's playground
and a walking trail if you enjoy Active
Sports you will also find softball and
soccer fields tennis courts and a
basketball court and from a top a wooded
Hill overlooking the natak co River you
can see clear across to Dorchester
County and view some of the most
spectacular sunsets the Eastern Shore
has to offer you don't want to miss
visiting this fantastic multi-use park
for more information visit the W Comico
County recreation parks and tourism
website thank you for joining us again
here at open Agenda
once again I'd like to invite council
president Mr John Canon to take three
minutes at the podium to speak about
anything you wish sure don't gab on me
please I will not yeah but I first ID
like to say Jo thanks for having me and
I really appreciate you taking the
initiative because it's something to you
know as as a citizen of the county to
talk about politics but then to
personally get involved in not only
politics but the community I have to
commend you for what you're doing here
well thank you there's a whole group of
us and we're very that's exate that uh
the only thing I would say is that you
know we've been through a lot of turmoil
in the last few years and and we know
that there's this issue coming up on the
ballot in November I think the people I
would ask the people to please think
about it care carefully you know and
consider it for what it is um I do have
a confidence in how this Council County
Council does run governance and I think
uh that you know if you look at it um if
you're really looking for I think a
stable form of government where you
don't have a lot of back and forth um a
catic form of government could go back
to doing exactly what we were doing
before it would be be reduced costs I
think there'll be more efficiency and I
think there certainly would be a lot
more
transparency uh with with a seven member
uh group working at a table in the
public on a regular basis well thanks
again thanks for your time sure uh we'd
love to have you back out and I hope you
will join us again soon sounds good
thanks for joining us today that's all
for this program we'll see you next week
we think Mark Carroll is the best editor
ever
Topics:
