How long can we afford to stand by and watch all of our Democratic ideals be thrown out of the window? What is truly alarming, are that the ideals that pertain to open and honest government, are trivialized and demeaned. Our Allegany County Commissioners show a blatant disregard for accessibility to government by the citizens of this County. First, they continue to exclude the hardworking people of this area by maintaining morning meetings, and they regularly meet in secret sessions that the public is not made aware of.
 
 The practice of using morning meetings to conduct the people’s business is exclusionary on two fronts. First, it makes it incredibly difficult for most people to attend the weekly meetings that are held on Thursday mornings. Not everyone has the luxury of making their own schedule, or being in the position to take a break whenever they want to attend a meeting. It hushes the mouths that most need to be heard, and it is time that we demand an end to this practice. Those of us who work are the ones that have the vested interest in the decisions that are being made on the County level, and we should have an avenue that is convenient to us in order to participate. After all, the County Commissioners are our employees, and they need to do what we ask. They have made an attempt to move one meeting a month to the evening, however the amount of work that is done at that meeting is miniscule compared to what is done at all of the daytime meetings. The meetings need to be consistent, and they need to be in the evening. Secondly, morning meetings exclude people from running for office. Someone who is retired can easily fill the job, however the working people do not have a voice. If we had an Administrator that did his job properly, he would then be used to keep the Commissioners up to date on what is going on in the County. The Commissioners do not have to sit in on all of the meetings. If they have questions about what is being reported to them, then they should be able to have the Administrator clarify the issues for them, or pick up the phone and call staff people. I am not sure that this system would work with our current Administrator, because I do not think that he can be trusted to carry out the people’s business fairly and ethically. Evening meetings would allow for a lot more qualified candidates to run for office, because they would be able to serve at the people’s will in the evenings.
 
 The County Commissioners also blatantly violate the “Sunshine Laws” every Tuesday morning at 9:30 am. They participate in a meeting that is not open to the public, however they often discuss public business during that time. There are items that they have every right to exclude from public observance, but they are also required to vote to close the meetings in a public setting and let the people know why they have closed the proceedings. They currently do not follow these procedures, and therefore are meeting illegally. There are several key points in which the County Commissioners have violated the Open Meetings Act. County Attorney William Rudd informed me that Commissioners have the right to meet without public knowledge, because it is similar to the Governor meeting with his Cabinet. The Act clearly states that this exemption only applies when the County Commissioners are the legislative and executive heads of the County. In Allegany County, we have a County Administrator and that title gives him the executive reigns of the County. Therefore, when he meets with the Commissioners it requires a public meeting, and the public should have input. After all, it is the Tuesday meeting where most of the issues are flushed out, and the Commissioners simply vote at the next public meeting. The public is also entitled to hear the deliberation that leads to the Commissioners final actions. In the City of New Carrolton vs. Rogers, the Maryland Court of Appeals, opined that “it is clear that the Act applies, not only to final decisions made by the public body exercising legislative functions at a public meeting, but as well as to all deliberations which precede the actual legislative act or decision, unless authorized by the Act to be closed to the public.” If they have reason to close the meeting, fine. However, there are steps that need to be followed in order to close the meeting from public observance. They must post that a meeting will be held (including time and venue), vote publicly to close the meeting, a written statement by the presiding officer must be presented to the public expressing the legal background for closing the meeting, minutes must be taken at the closed session, and the public must be notified of items discussed, votes taken, as well as all of the aforementioned procedures. Allegany County does none of the above, and they never have.
 
 So, the question must be posed, how long will we stand and watch this happen? Everyone that is interested, should plan to attend the May 17, 2001 County Commissioners Meeting at 6:00 pm at the County Office Complex. A presentation will be made at that meeting to encourage changes to the County’s exclusionary policies. Make your voice heard, and let them know what you think.