Rick Pollitt – Let’s Drag Our Feet

In Thursday’s Daily Times, an op-ed by Wicomico County Executive Rick Pollitt attempts to argue the County Council should not make any hasty decisions about the WCLCB. Unfortunately, Pollitt’s arguments are so one sided that they infer a position that he claims not to take – namely keeping the dispensary system intact.

Pollitt opens his argument by applauding “open government”. Well, I wouldn’t expect Rick to oppose Mom or the flag either. It is irrelevant to the piece, but Pollitt needs to be careful of throwing stones in his “glass house” of transparency. The current handling of future funding for PAC-14 (a subject of a future post) is one example his administration not operating in a transparent manner.

From here on, Pollitt attempts his famous fence-straddling act:

If the information requested by the County Council of the Liquor Control Board is, in fact, public information, it should be provided fully and immediately. Why add to a climate of acrimony and mistrust by stubbornly clinging to a no-win position?

IF? No Rick, there is no “if” about it. The WCLCB is a public agency. As such there finances are open to public scrutiny. Your own county attorney says so.

Pollitt then hedges his bet’s further. He’s against the government being in the liquor business but… We shouldn’t make any hasty decisions …

First of all, this is not an issue of whether the government should be in the liquor business. This is an issue with two primary components:

Government should not by in ANY business. Government cannot perform most tasks as well as the private sector. If we want government to control the wholesale and retail distribution of controlled substances, such as alcohol, why don’t we shut down all of the pharmacies and let government handle that as well?

The second major component is one that is particular to Wicomico County. The WCLCB is cheating the taxpayers. While the WCLCB claims to be the friend of the taxpayer, we already know that the Wicomico taxpayer is being cheated out of tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. Every dollar spent on their political advertising is money that should be going to the taxpayer. Why are two board members receiving contracts from the WCLCB? Why is money that ultimately belongs to the taxpayers of Wicomico County going to sundry non-profit groups? If I want to donate to the Boy Scouts, the Leukemia Society, or some social club then I will. Who gave three non-elected appointees the authority to give away the taxpayers’ money?

Pollitt is a Democrat and a nice guy. Therefore he would be loathe to address either of the main arguments for dismantling the dispensary system. If he publicly agrees that government should not be in ANY business, he may well be kicked out of his own party. Being a nice guy he doesn’t want to address the second argument because it may offend some folks.

Pollitt’s main argument is that we shouldn’t be hasty. He’s right. However, I don’t remember Pollitt saying that we “shouldn’t be hasty” when he was shilling for Gov. Martin O’Malley’s tax increases.

The County Council is not being hasty. They are being deliberative. If this matter goes to referendum in November, that is but one step in a multi-year process.

Such a referendum, assuming that it passes, is non-binding. The county government would then need to formally petition the legislature to dismantle the WCLCB. The legislature would have to pass such a measure and then O’Malley would have to sign it. There is plenty of time to explore zoning and other issues.

Pollitt argues that dismantling the current system be revenue-neutral. Yet, that is exactly what the Council is attempting to do with their study committee.

Pollitt is not a stupid man. Therefore, when he argues that we need to prevent “new liquor stores from cropping up on every corner” and that we need to preserve “the integrity of our neighborhoods” we have to infer that his is being disingenuous about wanting to end this antiquated and corrupt system.

Wicomico County’s Liquor Licensing Board will ensure that there won’t be a liquor store on every corner. Even if they didn’t, the market would. Even if the market didn’t work, as far too many Democrats seem to believe, the county and municipal governments can insure that the integrity of our neighborhoods are preserved. Of course we can only hope that Salisbury’s government would do a better job with this than they do in regulating the city’s slumlords.

If Pollitt was genuine about these concerns, why isn’t he taking the lead on issues like impact fees and an adequate public facilities ordinance that would have a lasting impact on our county? Instead he is trying to drag the feet of county government on this issue and wailing about the revenue cap the rest of the time.

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