Frederick, Maryland’s board of county commissioners has run full-tilt into the maw of local opposition in its wishes to outsource county jobs en masse to private contractors – and this in a county with no structural deficit or pending fiscal crisis. Two nights of public hearings allowed an array of articulate and impassioned testimony on the matter.
The most recent hearing on July 26 provided a window into the civic process of local government at its best. There was informed and spirited participation, and the recently elected board of commissioners had the chance to learn its mandate did not include a blank check to impose its ideological agenda on the electorate. And I had an opportunity to photograph some of the drama.
The story was carried by media in Washington D.C. and Baltimore; at Tuesday’s hearing Washington’s WJLA cameraman picked up a brief glance of me photographing near the front of the chamber, which can be seen in their story here. Some of my own photos are below.
