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Hello Lee,
In PG County, are our elected leaders really accountable to ordinary citizens? Do our periodic "elections" really matter? Where is the accountability?
Here, 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 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".
Well, you say, what about those reports and townhalls conducted by "life-term" elected officials? Sadly, these gestures at discussion with citizens is essentially a means for clever marketing and promotion of their position. There is no real listening to the citizens or even any discussion of the issues involved.
As a personal example, I wrote back to a delegate, asking for discussion and clarification of the "report" she distributed on the latest General Assembly session just ended. 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 dismissed as "disagreement" and then brushed aside. I've included here a copy of my letter to her.
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