What’s Wrong With A Council of Governments?

In two words, it depends. Unfortunately, as in all governmental matters the devil is in the details. If done properly, this idea could be a boon to Wicomico County. If done improperly, this could easily be just another waste of time and taxpayers’ money. It could also mean that Wicomico County residents would be governed by a non-elected body.

If you read the article in Monday’s “Tilghman Times” you are lead to believe that this is a wonderful idea and the only people who oppose it are a few malcontents on the Wicomico County Council. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Many local citizens oppose the idea simply because they distrust their local government.

If Mr. Pollitt and company truly want an entity that works and serves the needs of all county residents they will structure the COG in a manner similar to this:

• There will be no by-laws or any other type of formation documents. They will operate according to Robert’s Rules and have a simple and brief set of Standing Rules to supplement Robert’s Rules.
• All meetings will be well advertised on the respective entities web sites and all meetings will be open to the public.
• They will be relatively informal in nature.
• While the COG will be an excellent forum to air problems or disagreements and a place to seek advice from other local government leaders, the COG will have no policy making power. The COG will be able to make recommendations to the various governing bodies within Wicomico County, but they will have no power beyond presenting their recommendations.
• There will be no staff. If the mayor and/or council of X-Town want to present something, they (or their staff) can prepare any necessary supporting materials. Without a staff, there is no need for any complicated agenda setting. If one group wants something on the agenda and there isn’t enough time to prepare, it can merely be moved to the agenda of the next meeting.

The best solution for such a body was the one presented to me by County Councilwoman Stevie Prettyman. The Council of Governments should simply be “a willingness to have a meeting and have everybody come.”

With formation documents, positioning over who gets how many votes, and non-advertised, closed meetings Mr. Pollitt and Mr. Cannon are falling into the trap of behaving as if their names are Tilghman, Dunn and Comegys. Contrary to what was reported in the Tilghman house organ, the COG is already off to a bad start. If they feed the beast, it will only want more.

Technorati Tags: Wicomico, Salisbury, politics, wicomicopolitics, salisburypolitics, RickPollitt, JohnCannon, SteviePrettyman, BarrieTilghman, DunnDeal, GaryComegys, TilghmanTimes, Gannett, CouncilofGovernments, COG, secret, opengovernment

powered by performancing firefox

Sphere: Related Content