The 6 Plank Platform: Seejay Gupta's Wicomico Executive November Political Race 2006 Election Platform.

1. The First Plank Of The Protest Platform

I'm going to take issues in the Protest Platform one at a time. My brain won't allow for anything else.

No more growth in Wicomico County. An indefinite moratorium. The existing infrastructure can't handle it. Plain and simple. The only real difference in infrastructure since I moved down here 16 years ago is that Route 13 was widened from Zion Road north to the State Line (so that only motor vehicles could use it) and the bypass was put in. Aside from that, nothing. Salisbury's growth is out of control with pipe stem annexations and politicians lining their pockets. Many housing developments have been completed with the same roads, same babysitting service centers, and for the most part, the same essential services or, in the case of public safety, it has grown but lagged behind.

With Pollitt or Ollinger/Alessi, the entire County will look like the Delmar-Salisbury-Fruitland corridor. They want the East-West corridor to look exactly like the North-South corridor. They both have cronies in Salisbury City government and have observed how powerless the people have been to stop the runaway unplanned growth.

Once the infrastructure is upgraded so that we can drive safely, be safe in our homes, offices, and babysitting service centers, and flush the toilet with confidence even when it rains hard, then we can start talking about building more homes. Yes, this will take years because the County Council will not have a blank check. Yes, Alessi will be in a nursing home by then and Pollitt will be the next Circuit Court Judge by then but that's too bad.

And when that time comes, the developers will pay for everything, including a waste water treatment plant in every development over a certain size, and upgraded roads. Trees, grass, open spaces, must be maintained. No more knock everything down in sight to put up as many homes as possible. They don't like it, too bad, go somewhere else.

Wildlife conservation will be a high priority in my administration. There will be more emphasis on growth for ducks, geese, and swans, than there will be for people. We got too many of the latter and too few of the former. I have to go to Somerset County to hunt ducks; this shouldn't be.

Farming is still a large part of business in Wicomico County and that has to be encouraged, not discouraged. The selling off of farm land has to be stifled. Family farms have to grow, not retract. We need the State and Federal governments to send back all that subsidy money we keep sending away every 15th of April. Farmers need to have a seat at the table in all County functions. They are to be an integral part of the process, not cast aside in favor of the developers.

Jack Lenox wears too hats, one for the City and one for the County. If I'm elected, he's history in the time it takes for the New Guy to take over. The New Guy will have a sign on his door that will say "NO!".

Ok, now tell me where I'm wrong.

2. The Second Plank Of The Protest Platform

A moratorium on consult with anyone employed by the Carroll Street Disgrace [The Daily Times of Salisbury, Maryland]. They have to get their fodder from the other MSM outlets. If they start reporting truth, however critical of me it may be, and they start wearing press badges that say "Carroll Street Disgrace" or "CSD", they'll be allowed back in.

3. The Third Plank Of The Platform

Reform of the Wicomico County Babysitting Service. Firstly, I realize that the County Executive doesn't have enough authority to do what I'm going to suggest should be accomplished, however, there is enough authority to get the ball rolling in the right direction.

The school system is abysmal. Teenagers are dropping out at an incredible rate and it is churning out graduates who can't read or write well enough to a) get a meaningful job or b) get started in a college or university outside of the mid-Atlantic region. I regularly have local graduates come through my office, e.g. charged with criminal activity or involved in a custody dispute who can't convey a story to me; they can't tell me what happened and why it is they think they need an attorney. Moreover, their parents can't tell that their children are deficient because they are deficient themselves.

If the Wicomico Board of Education was a private company, the unemployment rate in this County would be measurably increased overnight. Product failures should not be excused because the money supply is unlimited and the government runs the show.

The abysmal performance of the school system is not the fault of the teachers. Teachers are frequently the victim of threats, assaults, intimidation, and the unrealistic expectations of parents. Who in their right mind would want to keep a job in such an unsafe and hostile environment?

First and foremost, all public schools must have mandatory uniforms as a dress code. The schools are an hourly fashion show. The lower income kids spend a great deal of time trying to keep up with their peers. Way too much time is spent by students being concerned that they are wearing clothing that is acceptable to their peers. Uniforms bring discipline.

Secondly, schools must be closed down to unruly students. Expel anyone who doesn't conform to minimum standards of conduct. Teachers shouldn't have to be exposed to students who aren't interested in what they have to say and other students should be able to find that the classroom is conducive to learning, not cutting up.

Thirdly, there is way too much money spent in this County for the school system and too little of it trickles down to the classroom, including teachers' salaries. If we all agree that the final product is lousy and the amount of taxpayer money is too high to support the effort, then the system is too top heavy. I would lop off high administrative jobs. Spend those salaries on something else, e.g. supplies, teachers' salaries, maintenance of the schools. There is no justification for top administrators receiving high level salaries if the product is poor. The administrators, not the teachers, are to blame for the malaise. Can you imagine how things would shape up if some of these high level fat cats thought their job was at risk if the schools didn't perform? Sounds like a private school to me.

Otherwise, you could vote for Pollitt or Alessi and keep everything the same.

4. The Fourth Plank Of The Platform

Public safety. IMO, there is no greater issue facing thie citizens of this County, whether in an election year or not, than the providing of competent policing and law enforcement on a 24 hours basis. This issue comes before growth, schools, lying politicians, and revenue caps.

Anyone who reveres basketball stars before police officers and teachers need not read further. As far as I'm concerned, the entire Country has its priorities askew. We fail to adequately pay and recognize the most important public servants while we idolize and make rich people who play games for a living. Any public servant who puts his or her life on the line every single workday is a hero in my book and should be paid accordingly. They are doing a job I am not qualified to do and wouldn't do for fear that my children could at any minute grow up without a father.

And the liklihood of that event or one similar to it grows in this County everyday. Law enforcement is so hamstrung with issues that the local politicians have created and perpetuated that less and less time is allocated to real policing. Criminals don't have the distractions that the average law enforcement officer has in this County. Criminals have the advantage when the average police officer comes to work worrying about paying the bills, whether or not he or she should buy that house, not knowing how to provide for retirement, and speculating about who is going to take care of their children if they are incapaciated or killed in the performance of the job.

Firstly, if the Sheriff's Office or Local F.O.P. wants a pension system, how can it be justified to not provide it to them? It is a slap in the face of every officer to say as Marvin Long said publicly that Deputies can't have a pension because other County employees don't. What other County employee risks their life in the performance of their duties? Before we go spending money on projects for the future we have to improve the resources of what we are using right now.

Secondly, the Salisbury City Police Department needs to be abolished and all assets consolidated into a Countywide police force run by Mike Lewis. I would say this even if the City Police Department wasn't a sinkhole. The Salisbury City Council (not just this one put Councils of the recent past) have neglected the Department from a business standpoint. Their neglect has snowballed to the point where the City would have to stop essential services in other departments to adequately compensate its police officers to the point that turnover would cease. The crime statistics show that the criminals in Salisbury are gradually succeeding. It is time to use revenue from all County taxpayers and put it all in one Department. The truth is that Deputies are already patrolling City streets and assisting City police officers. We need to admit the mistakes, have everyone wear the same uniform, be led by one Sheriff, and do it before a police officer is killed in the line of duty.

Thirdly, adequate pay means less turnover; less turnover means more community policing. I know countless law enforcement officers because of my job. I never come into contact with them at my home or neighborhood. That's plain wrong. Police officers need to know who lives in the neighborhoods they patrol. I know there are exceptions; it seems that everyone on the east side of the County knows J.C. Richardson, for example, however, that's because he is an exemplary police officer and he has risen above the restrictions placed on him by administrative types back at 411 Naylor Mill Road.

Fourthly, everyone runs code, all the time, anytime they want, without having to ask. We need less chiefs and more indians and we need the input from the guys and girls in the trenches. The ACLU and the U.S. Supreme Court has done enough to hamstring the patrol officer. We don't need everyone above Sergeant who forgot what's its like to backup restricting fundamental police tactics. Let them do their jobs and if they can't do their jobs, if you don't have enough confidence that they will do their jobs, get rid of them.

5. The Fifth Plank In The Platform

Business Not As Usual.

IMO, Wicomico County is in an unique and very precarious position with respect to business. It is unique in the sense that no contiguous County has quite the same history and presently finds itself in quite the same predicament.

Firstly, a little background. I loaned out and lost my copy of Mr. Cooper's book on the history of Salisbury and the surrounding area, however, there are significant and telling facts that I can recall without referring to it. For a great portion of this area's history, the businesses which thrived were logging and agriculture, especially peaches. This area was the largest peach producing area in the Country until a frost wiped out a crop and the industry located to Georgia.

We all know what is happening to our agricultural industry. Despite the fact that it has been the lifeblood of this region for decades, we are literally watching it disappear before our very eyes as produce farm after chicken farm is being sold to make way for housing developments.

What is left of the logging industry in this area has been crying poverty for so long that many people don't even know a friend of a friend of a friend who is in the business.

All of our core business industries are slowly disappearing and are being replaced by the service industry. The service industry is all the retail shops that line both sides of Route 13 north of Zion Road. In Ron Alessi's and Rick Pollitt's world, they would also line Route 50 from Mardela to Willards. They would call it progress and and silver shovels would fly off the shelves.

The service industry has historically been a guarantor of two things. 1. Mostly low paying, low skilled jobs, with high turnover. There are some that provide stable managerial positions with benefits, however, the bulk of the workforce consists of people who are either starting out, stagnating, or retired. That's fine unless it is, as in Wicomico, developing into the majority workforce. 2. It is highly susceptible to regional and national economic upswings and downturns. Retail businesses do not sustain themselves and they don't adapt well to changing market forces. The primary reason we are inundated with a plethora of retail outlets is that the national economy has been robust for the majority of the past 25 years especially in the technology and housing sectors. But once the bubble bursts as it always does in a market driven society, the first industry to go is retail. Consumers have to pay the mortgage before buying a third 52" TV for the master bathroom. Parent companies located outside the region have no reservation is abandoning poorly performing stores because there usually are no consequences other than rent. And, retail has historically shown to be susceptible to the domino effect. Once two or three fall, the whole house of cards comes tumbling with it. The Old Mall is a good but not best, example.

Wicomico County has not been encouraging anything other than the establishment of retail stores in the past 15 years. Oh, to be sure, a lot of lip service is paid every so often to attracting light manufacturing and small businesses but nothing is said when those leave town, reduce, or close up. See, e.g., K&L Microwave, Lorch Microwave.

Wicomico County desperately needs to attract and sustain decent livable wage providing industry. BJ Corbin would have performed this with one eye tied behind his back. Ron Alessi has no incentive to do it and Rick Pollitt doesn't see the need.

All around us, real self-sustainable businesses are being attracted by a) a large semi-skilled and skilled workforce pool, b) high quality of life standards, and c) tax advantages. Look at Talbot County, for instance. They have a real industrial park that businesses are jockeying to get into and when they get there, they stay.

So, if I was elected County Executive, I would immediately put into place whatever mechanism would be necessary to create a tax free enterprise zone. It has to be located in an industry friendly area that is far from residential areas, unlike the ill fated Czarina/Doody residential and commercial twin debacle known as Sassafras and Westover. Other communities have tax free enterprise zones; that's what relocating and established businesses looking to expand look for first.

The second thing they look for is a safe, peaceful environment for their employees. The election of Mike Lewis as Sheriff is already being closely watched by business and insurance types. Something has to be done to offset the skyrocketing crime rates in Salisbury. Consolidation of the two police forces into one would have an immediate positive effect on the business climate. Perpetuating the status quo would lead to more stagnation and more businesses resorting to self policing and increased insurance premiums, expenses that are passed off to the consumers. Electing Alessi and Pollitt is maintaining the status quo. Throwing out Alessi's Dream Team on the Salisbury City Council next April is a vital step in the right direction.

Lastly, the workforce pool in this area is our greatest challenge. Brain drain is an epidemic. The Carroll Street Disgrace recently published a few articles about this and wholly missed the mark. The schools in this area are not doing anything to provide a workforce pool that is conducive to industry in the area. To the extent that they are producing employable graduates (which, in itself, is debatable), their skills are best suited to other areas, especially metropolitan areas. Local schools (high school, vocational, college, university) must work with local industry to produce what it is they need to thrive and succeed. When a potential employer looks over the currently available workforce pool of boobs, functional illiterates, and semi-skilled laborers, they start looking elsewhere.

Ask Ollinger, Bellacicco, Pollitt, and Alessi before they read this post about this issue and you'll get a lot of doubletalk, sound bites, and blank faces. They know nothing about the history, symptoms, or the cure. What a selection.

6. The Sixth Plank Of The Platform

I will immediately name BJ Corbin as Director of Administration.

I am running as a write in candidate because Ron Alessi is unelectable and because the Republican Central Committee failed us when it got behind Alessi's campaign before first discovering its inherent weaknesses. The Central Committee should have embraced BJ Corbin as its premiere candidate when a) Corbin declared his candidacy and b) the blogs exposed all of Alessi's faults.

BJ Corbin is not only the only candidate who could have defeated Rick Pollitt, BJ Corbin is the only person available who could lead this County out of its malaise.

I'm not stupid. This County needs BJ Corbin. Elect me and you'll get him, through the back door, yes, but as Director of County Administration, at the head of the table where he belongs.

I know for a fact that BJ is available come this November.

Viva la Revolucion!

© 2006 Seejay Gupta, All Rights Reserved