The St. Mary’s County Board of County Commissioners faced a reminder of the weakened economy Tuesday morning. The Human Services Council offered the board a report on the Dept. of Human Services and what Director Bennett Connelly calls “the significant, painful cuts we’ve had to endure”.
Connelly, who postponed his retirement to support the struggling department, said $1.8 million in cuts so far had created a lot of adapting to keep these programs available. He supported the recommendation from the Council to privatize Human Services. Social Services Director Ella May Russell said, “We have reinvented ourselves a lot.” Russell and Walden Sierra’s Dr. Kathleen O’Brien agreed that privatization would offer the flexibility necessary to continue providing services through more available grants and private funding. O’Brien stated, “We’re trying to be good stewards of the public dollars,” explaining she and those supporting the alternative model for Human Services are looking to spend money on services rather than administrative costs.
Commissioner Mattingly called the change “extreme” and Raley said it was “going backward”, but thanked the council for coming forward with options, adding, “We all want the same thing”. The board requested more information from Connelly and the Human Services Council. Raley said he hoped to make a decision on the future of the department before budget planning, “shooting for January.”
The BOCC approved resolutions transferring the state-mandated functions of the Drug and Alcohol Abuse Advisory and Mental Health Advisory Councils to the Human Services Council, allowing them, as Connelly said, “to be efficient in our work.”
The board approved a Land Use and Growth Management request to provide grandfathering of TDR’s in the Rural Legacy District, but expressed concerns over a Forest Conservation Text Amendment that restricts tree-cutting throughout the county. Commissioner Jarboe called the piece of legislation “scary” and said, “I think this opens a can of worms that I don’t think the county should be involved in.”
Commissioner Mattingly stated, “The folks in Annapolis that voted for this didn’t understand the impacts.” The board moved to send the state-imposed regulations before the Planning Commission, but several commissioners warned that they do not support the amendment.
County Administrator John Savich presented several items, “with the theme of pluses and minuses” to the board. They approved several budget adjustments for the Board of Education, authorized and accepted a $40,000 grant for the Rental Assistance Program, and amended the Sheriff’s Dept. budget to reflect the loss of a $195,000 grant.
Director of Public Works and Transportation George Erichson gave the board an update on the SMC Regional Airport and renewed the lease with the Civil Air Patrol which conducts various search and rescue and emergency response operations. Erichson reported, “The terminal has been getting a lot of use,” a
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