Holloway: Call to end county executive form of government

I once voted for the County Executive form of government, I made a mistake.

Initially, the County Executive position was to run day-to-day business, collaborate with the Council to improve the flow of government and be transparent to the citizens. Governed by our Charter, Executives were to make the flow of government more efficient, not run roughshod over the Council, employees and ignore citizen concerns. Few restrictions on abuses of power or repercussions for unethical actions were put in place allowing “kingdom building” and self-promotion, instead of cooperation, which prevents the smooth running of our county.

Council members are restricted from interacting with employees, so all information must come through the Executive, allowing facts to be hidden or misconstrued. Without Executive cooperation, the council can be handicapped by the Executive when open communication is essential to making informed decisions. Executives may fire ANY county employee at will resulting in “yes men” fearful of losing their jobs instead of true advisors. No public meetings are required of the Executive, so transparency becomes a catch phrase and not a reality, opening multiple ways to benefit private concerns.

The Executive position has harmed, not improved, our way of life. Under this form of government, we’ve experienced deteriorating services, i.e. removal of recycling bins and roads, increased fees, increased employee turnover and more citizen complaints. This office continues to expand by adding multiple assistants, secretaries, lawyers, revolving office décor and high price vehicles. This year, costs skyrocketed when the Executive decided to sue the Council. All paid for by your taxpayer dollars.

The argument that we need the Executive for a “balance of power” is flawed. Our present system is not a “balance” but a dictatorship that ignores any checks and balances on abuse of power. Council members are from different areas of the county, with seven different life experiences, give a far better chance of a wiser decision-making process and are less like to be tainted by personal gain than with ONE person making decisions on their whims or on requests from campaign contributors.

The County Executives’ actions speak volumes on how little respect that is for taxpayers and our elected representatives. Therefore, I hope and pray citizens vote to delete the position of County Executive and return to the form of government that served Wicomico County well for over 100+ years.

Remove an unworkable layer of bureaucracy, vote “yes” for question A.

Faye Holloway
Parsonsburg resident

Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@ iniusa.org.