AFP Turns Out for County Council Meeting

July 22, 2009 by Cato  
Filed under Maryland, Wicomico Politics

While the agenda for yesterday’s Wicomico County Council meeting may have been light, about 15 members of the Lower Shore chapter of Americans for Prosperity turned out to let their elected officials know that the time has come to make government accessible to the people.  Kudos to chapter co-chairs Joe Collins and Julie Brewington, along with Sally Rogers for speaking up.

As I have mentioned before, this issue (which is near and dear to my heart) has finally been moved to the fore.  Brewington and AFP deserve the lion’s share of credit for this.  We need more citizen participation in our local government.  The best way to get that is for ordinary citizens like you and I to attend city council, town commission, county council or commission meetings, planning commission hearings and BOARD OF ED meetings.  Sure, federal and (to a lesser extent) state issues get all of the media attention.  They’re the ones that tend to get our dander up.  However, it is the local issues that can have the most direct (if not greatest) impact on our lives and the lives of our families, friends, and neighbors.

The proposal I proffered to the Wicomico County Council was fairly simple.  I believe that at least 50% of all regular council meetings plus ALL important or controversial public hearings should be held in the evening.  IF the council decides to move forward on this proposal, they need to commit to do so for at least one full year.

The reasoning behind this is simple.  One of the primary arguments against evening meetings is that when they are held at night, the meetings are just as sparsely attended as daytime meetings.  Fair enough!  However, after untold decades of daytime meetings, the public needs time to become aware of a change to evening meetings.

Here in Wicomico County, it’s time for our county council to make a decision.  It doesn’t need to be studied.  It doesn’t need to be polled.  Decide!  Are working men and women going to have the opportunity to see their local government in action or not?