WCBOE – The Big Field Trip (Part I)

Junkets to Disneyland.  Junkets to Las Vegas.  Junkets to DisneyWorld.  These are just a few instances of where Wicomico tax dollars go thanks to our infamous Board of Education (WCBOE).

Oddly enough, I don’t believe that junkets such as these are the worst examples of the WCBOE’s travel / entertainment profligacy.  I don’t doubt that many of these trips afford some marginal benefit to our public schools.  Some may even be necessary.  Some examples, such as employees going to Hooters on the taxpayers dime are actually amusing.

No.  What frustrates me most is the attitude shown by superintendent John Fredericksen and his merry little band of bureaucrats towards the taxpayers of Wicomico County that I find most disturbing.  To Fredericksen, et al, we are a giant cash register; nothing more.

Eating out at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse.  Fredericksen going out to lunch with county parks director Gary Mackes or county executive Rick Pollitt and then charging it to the taxpayer.  The response is that this is allowed in the private sector.  This is true.  However, the private sector does not take funds from citizens by force.  Those same people in the private sector don’t have lifetime job security or a retirement package like WCBOE employees.

HIDE THE EXPENSE ACCOUNT

What is even more despicable is Fredericksen’s belief that he can hide this information from the public.  Last summer, Wicomico County councilman Joe Holloway requested information on the WCBOE’s travel expenses for the last two years.  Here is Fredericksen’s response.

Note that Fredericksen (in his most obtuse bureaucratic lingo) says that he would love to comply, BUT, before he could “assist our County counterparts”, Fredericksen must explain that it’s going to cost a small fortune to provide the information to Holloway.

Now, that might be a valid concern – EXCEPT …  Fredericksen wasn’t being exactly truthful with Joe Holloway.  Holloway is tighter with the taxpayers’ money than he is his own (and Joe can pinch a penny).  So, after receiving Fredericksen’s response he didn’t push the matter any further.  Until … at a council meeting in the Fall of 2009 the usual suspects from the WCBOE showed up for a budget transfer.  WCBOE comptroller Bruce Ford had a printout of some expense categories.  Holloway asked Ford how difficult it was to get that information.  Ford replied that all you had to do was enter the account code(s) and the time period and VOILA!

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Rick Pollitt Dances the Night Away for UMES

While this isn’t exactly the social / gossip column, I’ve had quite a few people point out that Wicomico County Executive Rick Pollitt attended the recent UMES Gala and a question arose as to who bought the somewhat expensive ticket.

I’ve never backed off from Pollitt if I thought he was wrong, but the taxpayers of Wicomico County DID NOT foot the bill for Rick to “trip the light fantastic”.  Either Pollitt’s campaign chairman, Connie Strott, or Pollitt’s campaign paid for Rick’s attendance at the posh soiree.  I haven’t been able to determine which.

However, it doesn’t really matter.  To the best of my knowledge, this would be a legitimate campaign expenditure (all of those potential donors don’t you know).  If Mrs. Strott purchased the ticket, that should be fine too; whether it’s declared as an in-kind contribution or not.

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Hoyer Claims To Be “Playing It Straight”

If you think you’ve heard them all, try again.  House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) claims that the Democrats are “playing it straight” regarding their possible attempt to sleaze ObamaCare into law without making House Dems actually vote on the matter.

I’m pretty jaded, but this one takes the cake:

"We are playing it straight," Hoyer insisted. He said American voters would not care what process Congress uses to enact a sweeping health care overhaul and would focus instead on the merits of the new law.

At the same time, he defended the use of the procedural sidestep, which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday that she was considering employing. He cited statistics that, he said, showed that Republicans had used "deeming" process about twice as often as Democrats over the years.

Hoyer did not specify what period of time or what types of legislation were approved using the procedure.

When, exactly, did the House Republicans ever use this tactic?  Honestly, I’d like to know.  IF – and that’s a BIG IF – Hoyer is not lying, I want to know if any of these GOP pirates are still in office.  If they are we should find primary opponents for those guys.  Proposing to pass legislation without actually voting on it is UNCONSTITUTIONAL.  It doesn’t matter if the GOP did it in the past, it’s WRONG.  But even IF Hoyer is telling the truth, I guess his Mom never taught him that two wrongs don’t make a right.

I’m a conservative, not a radical.  However, if House Dems actually use this tactic of “deeming” a bill to have passed to force ObamaCare on an unwilling electorate it’s time to take to the streets.

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Why Does the WCBOE Protect Criminals?

Harken back to the days of the great landfill scandal.  After Sheriff Mike Lewis caught the criminals and States Attorney Davis Ruark sent them to jail it was discovered that the miscreants would be collecting full county pensions.  Shame on us.

By law, nothing could be done about the problem at hand.  However, Wicomico’s county council did take steps to make sure that such an event wouldn’t occur in the future.  If a county employee was found guilty of defrauding or otherwise stealing from the taxpayers they would forfeit the county’s contribution to their pension.

Last year it was discovered that a Wicomico County Board of Education (WCBOE) employee was defrauding the taxpayers (or if you are a lefty – “stealing form the children”).  I’m sure it wasn’t the first time; nor the last.  Assuming that this woman is convicted and sentence to jail, she will be eligible to receive her full pension.  Shame on us again?

Maybe.  The WCBOE bureaucrats read the paper.  Hell, thanks to their “special relationship” they practically run it.  But, I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt as to why they didn’t pass a resolution similar to the county’s soon after the county passed their new pension rules.  However, in early December of last year the Wicomico County Council sent a letter to superintendent John Fredericksen asking that they adopt a similar resolution.  Almost four months have passed.  NOTHING.

If the WCBOE doesn’t act, then the next time an employee is discovered stealing from the taxpayer, the fault will lie squarely on Fredericksen and the board.  Perhaps Fredericksen, et al, will argue that their collective bargaining agreements wouldn’t allow them to pass such legislation.  But wait, I thought that it was all “FOR THE CHILDREN”.

Tomorrow – Part I of The Big Field Trip, our expose of waste, fraud, and abuse in the WCBOE Travel Budget

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Democrats Dance As Your Power Bill Increases

Back in the early ‘80’s, I remember my Intermediate Macroeconomics professor wasting half of a semester extolling the virtues of Marxist economic theory.  One day, I simply had to ask – Does anyone, even YOU, actually believe this nonsense?  His response?  “Well, it’s a valid economic theory”.  Well, I have finally come across someone who actually seems to believe that nonsense.

cassandra_m, over at DelawareLiberal, extols the virtues of Cap and Tax by claiming that Delaware has made over $2 million from selling “carbon credits”.  Sorry cassandra, Delaware TAXED power companies an ADDITIONAL $2 million.  You can call it whatever you want, but IT’S A TAX!  It’s a transfer.  It produces NOTHING!

Here’s how it works in the real world (vs. the imaginary, Marxist, MoveOn.org world):

Power companies are TAXED $2 million for “carbon credits”.  One of three things occur.  One, your power bill rises to make up for the lost $2 million.  Two, instead of raising rates the power company simply takes a reduction in profit.  This means that money will not be returned to shareholders to be put to a PRODUCTIVE use or needed capital upgrades will not occur.  The capital expenditures actually CREATE WEALTH and help to GROW THE ECONOMY (so does returning the money to shareholders).  Three, there is some combination of one and two.

Something tells me that cassandra sat in on the same economics class as WCBOE superintendent John Fredericksen.

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AFP Causing Ruckus About Baltimore County Pensions

Baltimore County councilman Kevin Kamenetz (D) is leaving the council to run for county executive.  If he is successful, and serves two terms as county executive, he will leave office with a pension of at least $108,000!  Perhaps that is why he is pleading with Baltimore County AFP co-chair Steve Bailey to quit talking about the pensions paid to members of the Baltimore County Council.

They say that timing is everything in politics.  For Kamenetz, the old adage is proving true.  No one seemed to whine when former county exec Dutch Ruppersberger bolted for Congress, taking a sizable pension with him.  Unfortunately for Kamenetz, what was once a hypothetical outrage has become real – and the public ain’t liking it too much!

Last fall, councilman Vincent Gardina announced that he would not seek a sixth term.  Gardina, 54, will leave council and collect 100% of his $54,000 annual salary for the REST OF HIS LIFE!  Now, incumbent councilmen like Kamenetz are taking heat for a pension system that was put in place back in ‘50’s (when council pay was $3,000 / year).

Tonight, the Baltimore County chapter of Americans for Prosperity will host a Town Hall forum on pension reform for our county council, county executive and general assembly.  The forum is from 7-8:30 p.m. at the Towson Library, 320 York Road.

Sorry Councilman Kamenetz!  This is an issue that needs to be talked about.  Kudos again to AFP for facilitating an event where average taxpayers can learn more about their government and how their hard earned dollars are being spent.

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Who Are the Democrats’ True Masters?

As if there was ever any doubt, the answer is …

BIG LABOR and the LOONEY LEFT

“Unstable Isotope” (and appropriate name if ever there was one) over at DelawareLiberal tells all how it really is in the world of Democrat politics:

The party has united behind the bill. 83% of MoveOn members support its passage and organized labor has threatened to primary Democrats who vote against reform. At the same time, the opposition to the bill is weakening and is less organized. The Democratic party’s fortunes in 2010 and beyond are tied up in this bill and I think most Democrats know this.

That’s right folks!  America is OVERWHELMINGLY opposed to ObamaCare; but that doesn’t count.  No – 83% of MoveOn.org members and the SEIU want it.

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Boucher to Vote Against ObamaCare?

The Weekly Standard reports that Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) will vote against the Senate ObamaCare bill pending in the House.  However, a close read of Boucher’s statement leads me to believe that he is still straddling the fence:

“I am very concerned about a number of things. First, we do not have a text of the legislation before us. That is still being discussed and negotiated. Obviously, I will withhold any judgment until I review it very carefully. I do have concerns about a number of matters I anticipate being in the draft, however,” he said.

Steven Osborne, over at Bearing Drift, asks an important question – What will Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA) and Rep. Glenn Nye (D-VA) do?  Personally, I would rather see both Perriello and Nye wait and take a definitive stand than what we are seeing from the likes of Boucher and Maryland First District Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-MD).

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Fredericksen Needs A Little Economics Lesson

It’s pretty obvious from yesterday’s Daily Times op-ed that Wicomico County schools superintendent John Fredericksen never bothered taking an economics class during his many years of post-secondary education.  Fredericksen seems to be under the delusion that the Wicomico County Board of Education (WCBOE) is somehow an “economic engine” that grows our local economy:

The Wicomico County school system is one of the region’s top three employers, an economic engine with 25 schools and more than 2,500 employees. Our employees support the Wicomico County economy and the communities where they live, magnifying the effect of dollars that are spent on public education.

While I certainly don’t expect Fredericksen to grasp Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, he should at least take the time to tackle Henry Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson.  Government spending CANNOT CREATE WEALTH.  Wealth creation is what grows an economy over the long term.

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Ireton’s “Slumlord of the Week” – Policy or Sham?

Today’s front page story in the Daily Times regarding Salisbury mayor Jim Ireton’s new “Slumlord of the Week” policy fails to answer several questions:

1. Is this “policy” meant to accomplish anything?
2. Why doesn’t Ireton actually do something to fulfill his campaign promise “to ‘close loopholes’ in the city’s municipal codes and get crime out of neighborhoods”?

IF Ireton was actually doing something to close these loopholes and to actually enforce the spirit, as well as the letter, of the city’s zoning laws that would be one thing.  Instead, we have seen one woman loose her rental income because of zoning (last Sunday’s DT), but we’re not seeing any progress in taking care of the scores of non-conforming uses in the city.

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