Question A forum held by local groups with Maryland leaders at Salisbury University
SALISBURY, Md – Wednesday night at Salisbury University’s Guerrieri Academic Commons, a forum was hosted collaboratively by The Greater Salisbury Committee, The Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce, and SU’s PACE.
A panel of leaders from across Maryland discussed and took questions on the difference between an executive and a strictly council form of government, a choice that will be on the ballot for Wicomico County voters this November with Question A.
“[In] the Council-Commissioner form, they are both executive and legislative bodies, whereas here right now in the current setup, you have a distinct executive branch and a distinct legislative branch,” said Weston Young, Chief Administrator Officer in Worcester County.
Weston Young has experience in both systems, having served as the Assistant Director of Administration in Wicomico County’s executive system, and currently serving as the appointed CAO in Worcester County’s commissioner system. He offered that the council form of government can help prevent hasty legislative decisions.
“It slows things down a bit because you need at least four voting in favor of something and twice a month, whereas with the executive form, you know, for better or for worse, you can get decisions done a whole lot faster,” Young said
Cecil County Executive Danielle Hornberger pointed out that many council members and commissioners are only part-time legislators and work other jobs, while the county executive is able put all their energy toward their office: “The county executive has just that one mission, is in the trenches, and still has a team of very experienced, knowledgeable folks.”
The panelists observed that population is often a determining factor.
“If you look across the state of Maryland, the larger counties based on population or based on the size of their budget, they trend executive. The two outliers are Cecil and Wicomico right now,” Young said, continuing, “As you get larger, you know, to be more flexible, be more responsive, it helps to have the county executive office. But when you’re smaller, you know, your council members or commissioners can actually reach the citizens.”
Hornberger said that having a county executive makes it easier to work closely with the office of the governor: “They have that direct line to the state administration, to the governor, to the secretaries at that level. They are often times calling, texting, not going through all of the bureaucratic steps to set up a meeting. It is much more streamlined and it does make a difference.”
Another point of discussion was the idea of accountability, with the executive being elected–and potentially voted out–directly by residents, while a council-appointed administrator is only directly accountable to the council.
