Commissioners exclude public from retreat

Friday, Nov. 14, 2008

Unlike their overnight retreat to Frostburg's Savage River resort in January, the commissioners met for a one-day closed session at historic Maxwell Hall in Benedict, which the commissioners purchased a year ago.

"We didn't have anything to see out of town," said commissioners' President F. Wayne Cooper (D), explaining that the commissioners held their January retreat in Western Maryland in order to see an example of an ecotourism resort.

According to a notice posted on the commissioners' scheduling Web site, Wednesday's retreat was held to "continue to build an effective and cohesive leadership team that will move leadership to the County Commissioners' goals and objectives."

The commissioners have issued a list of goals and objectives for each of their last two years in office. The 2008 list contained 50 bulleted items that the commissioners agreed to pursue regarding economic development, infrastructure, government efficiency, land use planning, education and public safety.

A large portion of the 2008 list contained outlines for new legislation, the development of which the commissioners are required to discuss in open session under Maryland's open meetings law.

The commissioners' agenda for Wednesday's retreat included development of new goals and objectives, yet the notice for the retreat stated that "the retreat will not include matters constituting the legislative, quasi-legislative and advisory functions of County government." The notice further stated that the retreat would "solely concern the executive function of the executive branch of County government."

Two items on the retreat agenda — County Attorney Roger Fink's presentation on the role of the board and County Administrator Paul W. Comfort's presentation on effective communication with employees —appeared to conform to the board's executive function.

However, the agenda also included two vague items — "general discussion" and "round table discussion."

Cooper said that the discussions were held before and after the drafting of the new goals "to see if we've basically accomplished what we tried to do."

Cooper said he did not intend to exclude the press from all of the retreat, adding, "Some of it could have been open. … I've tried to be so transparent since I've come into office."

Cooper said he believed the commissioners accomplished most of the list they drafted last year. The board, he said, met early for this year's planning so that their new list of goals could be published and ready for action by the first of the year.

jfriess@somdnews.com