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It's been a tough week for Rick Pollitt, the County Executive for Wicomico County, Maryland. One could say that the next few weeks will be serious leadership challenge for the small-town City Manager turned County Executive. And the decisions he makes over the next few days will determine without question the course of his term for the next three years until the next election.
First, there were the charges of smuggling and theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars in diesel fuel, parts, and inventory out of the County landfill to Ray Lewis in Delmar. That cost lost Pollitt both his landfill supervisor and deputy supervisor in terminations and criminal charges, and the county's head of Public Works in Rai Sharma. Sharma is not implicated in any of the specific wrongdoing, but his failure to notice hundreds of thousands of dollars of county money walking out of his department does not say much about his management or leadership skills.
Then we find out that the County has been without its charter-mandated Internal Auditor, whose job it was to uncover this type of abuse and theft. It turns out that Pollitt has never filled the position, which is supposed to work as a watchdog for the council.
Last week, we also found out that Wicomico County Liquor Board member Ron Alessi has been getting under-the-table, no-bid, no-look contracts for renovations at the county liquor dispensaries, again in direct contravention of County law. All of this on top of revelations that the County has been competing against private sellers of beer and wine, and that the Liquor Board has an inventory problem that its own accountants are trying to sweep under the rug.
And then on Friday night, the Assitant States' Attorney for Wicomico County -- Davis Ruark -- was pulled over heading east bound on Rt 90 heading into Ocean City for suspicion of driving under the influence. We have since found out that he blew a .15 on the brethalyzer AND that he was in possession of a handgun at the time. Properly permitted, he is, to carry a handgun. But Maryland law has this little quirk that makes it illegal to posses a handgun when drinking or under the influence of drink.
What is a County Executive to do?
Well, first, he needs to kick some ass and take some names. If Rick Pollitt ever wants to be more than just a good ol' boy from Fruitland, he needs to pull out that man card and get the county in line.
Step #1: Put the fear of God in Public Works employees. Announce that first off, there will be a seven-day amnesty for any employee who comes forward with word of any theft or misuse of county funds. After that, every employee who is found to have known or was involved will be terminated, charged with Grand Larcey, conspiracy to committ Grand Larceny, and obstruction of justice. Furthermore, announce a freeze on county salaries for Public Works employees for one calendar year starting March 1st. Finally, announce a freeze on the accrual of leave time for Public Works employees above two weeks starting March 1st. Send a clear message: we will screw with you six ways to Sunday if you all don't come clean.
Step #2: Call Doug Gansler, and tell him Davis Ruark has to resign, or the county will put a hold on his paycheck and benefits and force the issue with the Maryland Courts. Davis is already taking time off-- the length varies between 30 and 60 days -- so he can give notice "for family reasons", or because he found out the moon is made of green cheese, or because he wants to seek other opportunities. But he has to be gone. And gone fast.
Step #3: Clean house with the Wicomico County Liquor Board. Ask for their resignations immediately. The County Council will undoubtedly back you up on this. I can GUARANTEE that Stevie Prettyman will. And I will also bet that if it goes to the courthouse, the judges will too. That board has been dominated by liquor nazis lining their own pockets OR feeding their own egos for too long. And the big question you should ask yourself: why should Wicomico County residents have to pay 30% more alcoholic beverages than their counterparts on the Western Shore? All that for a measly $400k a year?
Step #4: Hire a non-local forensic accounting firm to scrub the county's books going back to 2004. Give them six months to account for any and all transactions and reconcile every agency's books. Tell each and every agency the county funds that they will held accountable for any and all expenditures that cannot be explained. Get a CLEAR and CONCISE picture of how the Public Works theft went undetected for so long. Have that firm begin interviewing Internal Auditors and recommend five people with this type of experience to you and the Council. DO NOT JUST HIRE SOME LOCAL ACCOUNTING FIRM THAT SPENDS ITS DAYS DOING TAXES. You need to LOOK for activities done by people who were trying to HIDE what they were doing.
Step #5: Retire Ron Alessi from any public boards and involvement. Thank him for his long years of service, but tell him the time has come for fresh blood.
Once Rick Pollitt has taken these five steps, he then needs to turn his attention to important things.
He should report on each of these initiatives to the council until ALL issues are resolved.
The Wicomico Neighborhood Congress is a nice PR gesture, but it is clear that Rick has been letting too many things slide while he has been off pulling for O'Guvnah and trying to work the PR angle with the county's often fractured neighborhoods. Put that ball in the court of the elected representatives of those communities.
Rick Pollitt needs to focusing on managing and leading the county. That means looking into the operations of every department and agency under his fiscal control. That means setting goals for every department head and holding them accountable to those goals.
If Rick Pollitt wants to understand why Wicomico County residents love their revenue cap, he need look no further than the last week. County residents have zero faith in County Government to effectively manage what taxes they collect. This past week should give every elected official pause to consider that. Those concerns have been vindicated. County Government does not have control of its finances when Public Works employees are stealing supplies willy-nilly, and no-bid, no-look contracts are being given to Liquor Board members for Liquor Board contracts.
If Rick Pollitt wants to reverse that trend, he needs to make some strong moves and take very strong measures to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that he understands its not the GOVERNMENT'S money. Its the PEOPLE'S money. If he doesn't, he surely stop leading the government, and start being one of the people again.