Attorney General Says
Commissioner Government
Works Fine
By Kenneth C. Rossignol
ST. MARY’S TODAY
LEONARDTOWN --- “There
is no reason for any of
the eight commissioner
counties to change their
form of governments,
they all work well,”
said an assistant
attorney general of
Maryland, who came to
the special task force
set up by the Board of
St. Mary’s Commissioners
to examine if a change
is needed in the county.
The AG
representative explained
the various types of
county governments in
the State of Maryland
and what powers and
authority that the types
of form of government
give to the local
elected officials.
Since 1970, there have
been two unsuccessful
attempts to change the
form of government with
both moves to charter
government defeated by
wide margins by the
voters.
At last
week’s session, the task
force heard from St.
Mary’s School
Superintendent Dr.
Michael Martirano, who
noted that whatever form
of government is in
place, what matters most
is keeping open the line
of communications
between the school
system and the county
government, which funds
much of the budget of
the schools.
Martirano
said that when he worked
in Montgomery County
that the school
superintendent, the
county council president
and the elected county
executive worked
together well in order
to maintain a good
working relationship and
as a result has kept
Montgomery in the top
ten percent of school
systems in the nation,
despite having 130,000
students in an urban
type system.
“From the
fundamental approach, no
matter what kind of
county government is in
place, good lines of
communication must
exist,” said Martirano.
“St. Mary’s County is in
a very good position
with our school system;
quality educational
systems come with a
price tag, especially
when it comes to teacher
salaries.
School
Board President Dr. Sal
Raspa also appeared
before the group. “In
the past couple of years
we have had good
cooperation with our
government, its all
about communication to
work together to solve
problems, that’s what we
have been doing,” said
Raspa.
Raspa told ST. MARY'S
TODAY that he worries
that competing demands
for larger government
will mean less funds
available for schools.
Discussion about the
types of charter
government versus county
commissioner government
continued to show the
deep divides among the
task force members who
at the end of each
session take straw
vote. Last week’s vote
was held with two
members absent, two
voting against any
change, five favoring
charter with an
appointed manager and
three favoring an
elected executive.
Former
St. Mary’s Commissioner
Ford Dean told the group
two weeks ago that the
charter bid he was a
part of in 1972 failed
as voters didn’t view
that county government
was in crisis and he
still believes that is
the way most people view
things.
Former
State Senator J. Frank
Raley, a strong
proponent of past
charter attempts, said
that 80 percent of
America lives with
charter governments.
Charter
failed in both the 1972
and 1988 elections.
Each of
the present
commissioners have
appointed several
members to the panel.
At a
session two weeks ago,
one of the panel
members, John K.
Parlett, said that the
county needs an
executive so the county
can have all the
advantages that come
from having a
“benevolent dictator”.
