This evening, May 2nd, 2023 was the Commissioner's Budget Hearing. This was my public comment made:
(All my thoughts stated tonight are mine alone, and not on behalf of the Board of Education, but as a taxpayer of Worcester County.)
Throughout history, the power of change always starts with one person. Every period in history that involves monumental change, good or bad, has always begun with one person taking a stand.
Across the country, authority no longer seems to reside with ‘We the People’ but instead amongst unaccountable officials. I don’t say this statement lightly, as I am now an elected official for the county.
The budget should not be a partisan issue. Instead of worrying about party lines and whether we are all on Team Blue, or Team Red, we all need to start agreeing that we are on Team-America, Team-Maryland, and Team- Worcester.
When we have Commissioners who are actively trying to be accountable for the Budgets of Worcester County, we should be applauding their desire for transparency, not condemning it because it’s never been asked for before.
As we all know, elections have consequences, and We the People have elected a set of commissioners who are no longer satisfied with the status quo of categories and summaries without a breakdown of each line item for the Board of Education Budget. I myself, am not satisfied with the lack of transparency within the Board of Education budget either.
Many people of power want us all to forget that free speech and citizen participation in government is what this country was built on. Thank God our founding fathers were loud, passionate men who called out our British leaders with free speech. Thank God they didn’t cower in the corner and beg to know the truth. They DEMANDED it.
It’s ok for our commissioners to demand to know how many vehicles are in the BOE fleet and who they are assigned to and whether or not they are taken home. It’s ok to Demand all central office and school-based staff salaries for the last 5 years. It’s ok to Demand how much funding per school, per year is spent on Technology. Bottom Line: It’s ok to demand a Detailed Budget from the Board of Education, just like every other department in the County.
Change will not happen without movement, and when we’ve been comfortable for a very long time, movement is uncomfortable. As a tax payer of this county, I applaud the commissioners for demanding transparency and urge them to stay the course of moving forward.
As Samuel Adams said: It does not take a majority to prevail... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.
