Blog: A Rose is a Rose by Any Name

I could have just as well used that more common saying, “that if it looks like a duck, waddles like a duck, and sounds like a duck, then it must be a duck.”

But I stuck with my first choice, for I’d rather smell the aroma of roses any day than listening to a duck’s loud quacking.

To begin with, I gotta give two of the commissioners-Howard and Rothschild-credit for almost getting away with what I call a political shell game, by doing one thing we could see and then another thing we didn’t see.

They were able to, not because they’re masters of illusion, or sleight of hand experts,  but rather because they counted on us being either unaware or indifferent to their hiring two people: one to work for Rothschild (at a salary of $25,000 for a 25 hours workweek), and a private lawyer, to work for Howard (at a salary of $35,700 for a 30 hours workweek). These figures were obtained from acting head of county’s Human Resources.

And therein hangs the tale. For while both their jobs are described as “Administrative Coordinator,” one would have to be living in a bubble not to recognize such a blatant act of subterfuge on their part, in order to avoid being accused of reneging on their word (as reported in a Carroll County Times article of 5/8/2011, titled “Cost of running board of commissioners reduced”) to “get rid of special assistants.”

It was purely by happenstance that I learned of their attempting to pull not only the wool but the whole sheep over our eyes.

And no, there’s no “mole” in any county office(s) keeping me informed of their latest bit of skullduggery. Best known as hanky-panky.

Quote of the week: “The secret of life is honesty and fair play; if you can fake that, however, you’ve got it made.”  Groucho Marks