| By Kenneth C. Rossignol ST. MARY'S TODAY
LEONARDTOWN (Feb. 21, 2005) --- Every two years the St.
Mary's Board of Commissioners makes a pitch to improve the county's bond rating in order
to save money on the cost of borrowing. The usual way of doing so is to travel to
New York City to make a presentation to those who rate the bonds and then return
home. The normal contingent of officials to make this presentation consists of the
county's finance director, the county administrator and one or two of the county
commissioners. The staff, in the past, has simply provided a script for the
commissioners to read and the decision about the county's bond rating is made on the facts
about the county's financial health.
Fortunately, while we are in the general doldrums of winter, we have the St. Mary's
Commissioners around to write about.
Last week, FOUR of the St. Mary's County Commissioners traveled in style, business class
likely, up to NEW YORK CITY, on Amtrak. Commissioners Mattingly, Raley, Jarboe and
McKay. They took along four staffers and McKay's girlfriend.
Commissioner Jarboe even joked about whether it was safe to leave Commissioner Kenny
Dement behind to run the county single-handedly. Dement showed us all he was the
smart one to stay home.
Dement was recently the third vote to raise the 911 fee charged each month to every phone
and every cell phone to .75. This extra money was given to the 911 Communications
Department even though they squandered over $6,000 for jackets which no one would wear,
which were stored in a closet and demonstrated that waste and extravagance continues
regardless of whether the Democrats are running things or the voters choose the
Republicans. Republican Dement chose to raise a tax and fee which is felt by
everyone with a phone, each and every month. This is one time when it pays to be
Amish.
Well, back to the NEW YORK CITY JUNKET.
It will be a while before we find out exactly how much this trip to New York City cost the
taxpayers.
But nothing stops us from guessing at it.
Amtrak's fare for 8 people to travel business class round trip from Washington to New York
City is $2431.00. The cost of the commissioners to drive up in a county-owned
9 passenger van, would have been just for the cost of the gas and parking as the county
already owns the van and all those who went on the trip have drivers licenses and could
have shared the driving cost, like a local gospel choir would have done to save
money. Thus a van could have cost less than $500 for parking and gas. But not as
much style as a fancy new Amtrak train....
When they got to New York City, the commissioners elected to stay at the fancy Marriott
Financial District Hotel. This clearly is not the Motel 6 in the New Jersey
suburbs or even the Comfort Inn in Manhattan. The commissioners and county staffers
didn't bunk up two to a room, like a church group would do to save money. The
Marriott told ST. MARY'S TODAY that there are two queen size beds in each room, but, when
the taxpayers are paying for it, go whole hog. So each person, except perhaps Commissioner
McKay and his girlfriend, had separate rooms. The cost of each room is $329 per night and
they stayed two nights and the New York City room tax brings the total to approximately
$500 per night per room. That comes to about $7,000 in hotel fees.
Next is the matter of meals. Anyone who is familiar with the four commissioners
knows by looking at them that they never missed a meal. The first night they were in
NEW YORK CITY, the Board and the top members of their staff, plus McKay's girlfriend all
ate dinner at the hotel. They don't know what the bill was because the investment
banker picked up the tab and told them to not worry about drinks or wine showing up on the
bill because he would package it all together and submit a total bill to the county which
is designed to hide such expenditures. After all, it would be politically bad for
the board of commissioners to have widows who only order 1/2 of a tank of fuel oil at a
time in order to stay within their budget until their social security checks come in on
the first of the month and have to pay the county energy tax of another $15 bucks on each
delivery, to read in ST. MARY'S TODAY that the commissioners are using tax money to drink
wine and eat steaks in New York City.
So the investment banker picked up the tab at the restaurant in the hotel, which could
easily have been $800.
The next night the JUNKET BUNCH FROM ST. MARY'S COUNTY went to the ritzy City Hall
Restaurant, which is clearly not a cafeteria in the New York City Hall, but instead is an
exclusive restaurant that when it advertises a "special" it is at $75.00 a
person. In Lexington Park, one can get a "special" at Linda's Cafe for
about $7.95 and it is a very healthy meal. Dinner specials at swanky places like
Spinnakers in Ridge or at the places in Solomon's Island can run as much as $17.00.
If the commissioners, their staffers and McKay's girlfriend all got the
"special" at $75.00 per person and had a couple of drinks and perhaps they
shared a few bottles of wine, the bill could easily have soared to $1,000.
When families write out their checks for property taxes, increasing to new levels due to
the high assessments ordered around the state by the Republican Ehrlich Administration
eager to boost revenue in order to have money to spend on their pet projects like the
Inter County Connector in Montgomery County, these families never would imagine that
$1,000 of county money would be used to buy steaks and booze for county commissioners,
their staff and McKay's girlfriend. Especially county commissioners who preach
frugality and then live high on the hog when they think no one is looking.
While the St. Mary's Commissioners attempt to find ways to spin the county's bond rating,
remember the rating services base their decisions on facts, not homespun humor bloviated
upon by our politicians. All the board had to do was send four people up to New York
for a single day, leave early, get there in the city at 8 am on a choice of early trains
from Washington, make the pitch and have one dinner and take the 9 pm train back to
Washington. They could also have traveled coach instead of business class and
saved half the Amtrak fare. God forbid they could have driven up and back in a
county van.
The cost of this trip? We can estimate that they spent the following:
Amtrak: $2,431
Hotel: $7,000
Dinner for night #1: $800
Dinner for night #2: $1,000
Total: $11,231
This total does not include tax money spent for food and beverages on the train, breakfast
and lunch in New York, the cost of Broadway shows, limousines and taxi cabs or cocktail
lounges.
Of course, if the commissioners think that the public's knowledge of their junket spending
would hurt them, they could always reimburse the taxpayers for their hotel and food.
Let's hope that Tommy McKay pays for all costs for his girlfriend.
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The City Hall Restaurant in New York City
this is where the St. Mary's Commissioners, along with Commissioner McKay's girlfriend,
had dinner on one of two nights that they spent out on the town.
If you crossed the '21' Club with
Balthazar and threw in a bit of the Oyster Bar you would end up with something like City
Hall. No wonder everybody likes the place so much … you get the sense of being in the
exact center of the New York world.
- R. Reichl, The New York Times
City Hall brings a turn-of-the-century-chophouse feel and the finesse of French
technique to Tribeca.”
-G. Greene, New York Magazine
“It's a Hall for the City, a gathering place.”
-Chef/Owner Henry Meer
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