Leonardtown, MD — It was thumbs up for term limits for the school board and making it a violation of the county open meetings law to leak information from a closed session. It was thumbs down on collective bargaining for deputies and correctional officers and a personal property tax exemption for businesses.
Those were among the many decisions made Dec. 15 by the Commissioners of St. Mary’s County on proposed legislation. The votes will go to the county legislative delegation as advice on what to introduce in the 2016 Maryland General Assembly.
Police collective bargaining was strongly advocated by Commissioner John O’Connor [R – 3rd District] and he expressed equally strong displeasure at the board majority not supporting him. “I just think this is a kick in the face,” O’Connor said after the vote.
O’Connor had argued that giving deputies and correctional officers collective bargaining rights through FOP Lodge # 7 would be one way to stem the tide of turnover in the sheriff’s department. He observed that many of the police agencies that the officers are leaving for, including Charles and Prince George’s, have collective bargaining.
Several of the commissioners questioned the process for collective bargaining–whether the bargaining unit would deal directly with the sheriff or the commissioners. O’Connor assured the board that the FOP members supported the proposal, and they would bargain with the sheriff, similar to what is now done with the school board.
Commissioner Mike Hewitt [R – 2nd District] said he didn’t believe the time was right considering the county was doing a salary study of the sheriff’s department. “I don’t think it is ready for prime time,” he observed. Hewitt added it wasn’t an issue on which he campaigned.
Later in the meeting, during commissioner time, O’Connor continued to criticize the decision. He said it was “pure ignorance” to be against it.
O’Connor noted that the sheriff and FOP could take the collective bargaining request directly to the legislators, and he hoped they would prevail in that effort.
O’Connor did prevail on his call to make revealing contents of a commissioner executive session a violation of the county open meetings law. A violation would be a misdemeanor. O’Connor and Commissioner President Randy Guy [R] had complained about leaks by an unspecified commissioner.
The idea was questioned by the legislators during their meeting with the commissioners. Del. Anthony O’Donnell [R – District 29C] warned, “Some future board may use this as a way to do political shenanigans.” He said an allegation of violation of the open meeting law against a public official could be devastating. “A political career could be destroyed.”
Morgan and Hewitt voted against the proposal that prevailed by a 3-2 vote.
There was no controversy over the idea of imposing a three-term limit on members of the St. Mary’s County Board of Education. The vote was unanimous. The commissioners are currently limited to three terms. The decision would term limit two sitting school board members–Cathy Allen and Mary Washington.
Last year the commissioners supported Delegate Matt Morgan’s proposal to phase out the personal property tax for businesses in St. Mary’s County. This year when Morgan’s request for support came up it failed to get the three votes for a majority.
Hewitt said he supported other forms of tax relief this year that would impact more people, including an elimination of the energy tax and lowering of the property tax rate to the Constant Yield. He called the energy tax regressive, affecting those least able to afford to pay it.
Jarboe supported Delegate Morgan’s proposal saying it would give a good impression on businesses considering locating in the county if the tax was off the books.
But Commissioner Morgan said he was concerned about the potential $2.7 million hit on the county’s tax revenue. He and Guy also said the commissioners should support Gov. Hogan’s initiatives for tax relief and economic development.
Contact Dick Myers at dick.myers@thebaynet.com