There is currently a process underway to gather information on the various forms of local government available to Maryland counties and for the group that is conducting that effort to make a recommendation to the St Mary’s Commissioners.

There have been several meetings held by the group and some of those who have attended as guest speakers have given valuable suggestions.

One elected official said that a change to code home rule should not be sought because some don’t like the way the county is run now; it likely won’t change.

Another said that while there are always going to be people who are unhappy with the way elections turn out, that simply changing the form of government won’t mean that different people will participate in elections.

An Assistant Attorney General said that the counties, including this one, which have the commissioner form of government, work pretty good and have no reason to change.

A group of minority businessmen said that they would like to know how things would be different for their group and want to know what the change would look like before they would support it.

Others worry about the change in government leading to more spending. Educators say that a change which would cost more to operate county government would mean less funds would be available for schools.

Some say that the only way a minority can be elected is to have small districts. That issue is a non-starter as there are no districts which could be drawn to impose a minority district as the county is completely and totally integrated with all races living in all areas. The only way to have a black commissioner seat is to require that a candidate be black. Fortunately the voters have in the past seen fit to elect a black candidate over a white candidate simply because they wanted to, not because they had to, and in all cases, the black population was small compared to the number of voters who were white. The black who has been elected twice to the Board of Education is so popular no one even bothers to run against her.

The liberals in the county like the idea of a having an elected county executive that they could cultivate. The business crowd and the good old boys like things the way they are because they have invested so much in the current commissioners, two of whom can’t run for office again.

While more information is gathered on this proposal and the debate increases, voters should require reason and facts and look for ulterior motives for this in order to avoid the chicanery which lingers below the surface.