Wicomico County Meeting Time Moving to Front and Center

July 13, 2009 by Cato  
Filed under Maryland, Wicomico Politics

Thank you Julie Brewington.  After lobbying for the Wicomico County Council to move its meeting times from 10AM to the evening, the issue is finally getting some traction thanks to the co-chair of the Lower Shore chapter of Americans for Prosperity.

Ever since December of 2006, when the current council was sworn in, I have lobbied for evening meetings.  Councilman Joe Holloway (R-5) has been attempting to get a majority of his colleagues to agree.  Thanks to Brewington’s statements at last week’s council meeting, the issue has received multiple mentions in the Daily Times.

The argument given against moving the meeting time, which would allow more working citizens to participate in their local government, is that citizens don’t turn up WHEN meetings are scheduled at night (except for controversial public hearings).  Fair enough, EXCEPT …

Holding the occasional meeting in the evening simply won’t help.  If all of the meetings, or even half, were moved to the evening AND done so consistently for about a year, the public would then get used to the fact and hopefully start attending.  Salisbury council meetings, though poorly attended, still tend to outdraw county council meetings.

Another argument is that requiring department heads to attend evening meetings would cost the taxpayer more.  Sorry.  Department heads are on salary and shouldn’t be paid more for doing part of their job.

Thanks again Julie.  Hopefully, you’ll be more successful than I have been.