Throughout this spring’s budget process involving the Worcester County Commissioners and the Worcester County Board of Education, a takeaway for me has been how openly outspoken many educators have been. It’s a major change from previous years when teachers typically refrained from airing their views into the public arena. Safe to say those days are no more, as teachers have sent letters to the editor in recent weeks, openly weighed in on traditional media pages with scathing comments and even posted on their own personal Facebook pages. It’s a good thing they are willing to express their views with passion.
What’s clear throughout all this is the damaged relationship between the school system and the commissioners needs mediation. The state of the relationship between the commissioners and the school board was debated among Commissioners Joe Mitrecic and Chip Bertino this week. It was interesting considering Mitrecic was the former commission president, who was replaced by Bertino after the consequential election last November tipped the scales of power and ultimately led to this new scrutiny and calls for budget detail transparency.
Mitrecic said the budget process has caused “irreparable damage” to the relationship between the commissioners and the school board and school system employees, adding, “This is the same budget book we’ve gotten for nine years and all the sudden it’s not the right thing. I have concerns with that. I have concerns with the future of our children in this county.” On the flip side, Bertino said he disagreed with the characterization. “I think the relationship is a good relationship,” he said. “We just don’t see eye to eye. I do believe moving forward that the efforts that were made this year will put us as a county, and the taxpayers, in much better stead when it does come time to handle the mandates incorporated into the Blueprint for Maryland. We don’t know what we don’t know. As a county, and as stewards of the taxpayer money, we can’t manage what we can’t measure. This year we’ve asked to measure so that we can manage better in the future.”
As a result of Tuesday’s vote, the school board will be holding an emergency meeting today to adjust its budget to reflect the funding decision. In reality, Tuesday’s vote by the commissioners has been expected. There should have been little hope any major changes would take place at this week’s meeting. For at least a month, there have been numerous indications the school system would be getting the Maintenance of Effort level of funding. The school board should already have a plan in place to reconcile the differences between what was sought and provided. The challenge will be whether it can still commit to the already negotiated teacher raises.
It continues to be baffling why roadwork is taking place currently along Route 611 between the bridge to Assateague and Route 376 (Assateague Road). It’s understandable for residents and business owners to be upset over the project’s timing.
Assateague Island Surf Shop and Café owner Denny Riordon represented the views of many in an interview this week. He said, “They basically shut me down. I lost $30,000 or $40,000 in four days. It snowballed to the point where people didn’t want to go down to Assateague … People didn’t even want to take a chance. It’s almost done, but the damage has been done … We have three months to make it and they are down there at the beginning of the season.”
The project began the week before Memorial Day weekend and is expected to be wrapped by the end of June. Though the concerns were understood, SHA said this week timing of the project involves contractor schedules as well ensuring temperatures are warm for resurfacing. Once complete, though it has come with major headaches, a nice new road surface will be in place as well as a needed three-way traffic signal at the corner of Route 611 and Assateague Road.
The Berlin Bathtub Races is a tremendous success story. What it is today is much different than it once was 20 years ago.
There has always been the unique nature of the event, but it’s popularity today is far greater than years ago. I can remember in the late-1990s coming to Berlin on Saturday afternoons in June to cover the bathtub races, which was part of the Berlin Village Fair back then. I came across some photos this week from 1998. Dozens of people would watch the races, while taking part in other aspects of the event. The only question back then about the bathtub races was how easily Jesse Turner’s team from the Berlin Shoebox would win the top prize. In the early days, only a handful of teams would go to the trouble of building their bathtubs and then exerting the effort required to participate.
Today, the event involves closing Main Street for hours to set up the course. Strawbales are placed along the road and people begin reserving their spaces with chairs hours before the event. The Berlin Chamber of Commerce even sells advertising space along the racecourse to help raise money for its efforts. This year more than a dozen teams are expected to compete for a new trophy designed by Jeffrey Auxer. It’s an exciting event, one that personifies the changing times for Berlin.
