In Prince George’s County, are our elected officials really accountable?

In Prince George’s County, state elected officials, once elected, are rarely challenged in elections. And, in large districts with multiple elected officials elected together as a “group”, a single candidate opposing the ‘group’ is virtually assured of losing any election due to the expense of outreach to a large, wide scope of voters. So, without term limits, incumbent elected officials are effectively in office “for life”. Otherwise, to whom are they “accountable”?

     Well, you might say, what about those legislative reports and townhalls conducted by “life-term” elected officials? Sadly, these gestures at discussion with citizens amount to clever marketing and promotion of their own position. When a citizen seeks to question the report or offer alternative positions in a townhall, there is hardly any effective listening to the citizens or even any discussion of the issues involved.

     As a personal example, I wrote back to a delegate who sent me her “legislative report” of the last General Assembly session. In my letter (copy below), I asked for discussion and clarification of some of the issues she raised. In response, she replied: “I am not going to get into a disagreement with you. We will agree to disagree respectfully.”

     So, for this delegate, a request for discussion was simply heard and dismissed as “disagreement” and then brushed aside. See the issues I raised in my letter below. Many other citizens have the same concerns on these matters. Don’t you think elected officials owe PG Citizens more accountability for their positions than to just dismiss these types of citizen questions and concerns as “disagreement”?