The Potomac Highlands Dispatch - the online newspaper

'There was nothing being hidden'

Haven't we heard that before?

Commissioner's explaination of process by which potential legislation was discussed and consensus reached leaves room for improvement - again

An editorial by The Potomac Highlands Dispatch
Jan. 9 -- Still less than a month into the new administration, Allegany County Commissioner Bill Valentine said "there was nothing being hidden" in the process of all three commissioners' discussion and subsequent decision to send a letter to the District 1 legislative delegation about the proposed Allegany County Neighborhood Public Schools Act of 2011.

The proposed bill, submitted on a regular basis by Westernport resident Tom Marsh, pushes for a referendum to allow Allegany County residents to vote whether they want up to eight schools in the county reopened.

Those schools include the now-closed high schools in Mount Savage, Flintstone and Oldtown. Marsh has waged a similar battle to keep community schools open since Bruce and Valley high schools were consolidated in 1986.

The process by which the commissioners reached a decision to write Senator George Edwards, delegation chairman, is the third time in as many weeks the newly installed commissioners - at least two of whom campaigned on open government and a greater degree of transparency - have been questioned about those campaign promises. Those promises separated the successful candidates from the incumbents, who, it can be said, somewhere along the lines forgot to gather public input before taking action.

First, there was the commissioners' first public meeting after Dec. 17, the night they were sworn in. On Dec. 18, all three commissioners met with Sheriff Craig Robertson in an executive session. The Dispatch has filed a complaint with the state of Maryland's Open Meetings Compliance Board, alleging the reason given for the closed meeting was incorrect and that commissioners Valentine and Mike McKay, board president, seemed inconsistent with their reasons for holding the closing meeting.

Shortly after that, there was a reorganization of the county's Department of Public Safety and Homeland Security. There, part-time Director Gary Moore appointed Dick Devore as acting deputy director, Susan Lee as acting chief of emergency management and Roger Bennett as acting chief of the emergency dispatch center - DeVore's old post. Thing is, the commissioners didn't seem to know anything about the reorganization.

In this case, there is no known public discussion of Marsh's proposed legislation. Valentine said Edwards mentioned it at the end of the Dec. 11 delegation meeting with the commissioners-elect. Valentine said the commissioners then met individually with Marsh. Then, with "a couple of phone calls between commissioners," it was decided to draft the letter to the delegation.

"Mike will be addressing the board of Education and discussing this on Tuesday," Valentine said. "That's the way it was supposed to be brought to the public."

That letter said, outright, the commissioners supported Marsh's bill. The letter suggested a modification to any referendum language to inform voters of the potential costs of referendum approval and subsequent school construction. That is the creation of policy, which is defined as "a plan of action adopted or pursued by" government.

Valentine doesn't see it that way.

"We did not set any policy. This was just communication between the commissioners and the delegation," Valentine said. "No official act has been taken yet. It will be discussed further. Chances are, (the delegation) won't even enter the bill."

We at the Dispatch - a small staff, sure, but we try to pay attention to these things - feel otherwise. The commissioners have miscalculated again and should have had this discussion in a public setting.