July 18, 2011 at 12:21 PM

The Frederick County Democratic Party stands in firm opposition to the current efforts by the Board of County Commissioners to privatize Frederick County core services.

Private businesses do not exist for the same purposes governments do. A local government is, by definition, a nonprofit entity, and its role is to provide the local citizenry with basic services. A business on the other hand exists to maximize its revenue; the provision of goods or services is merely a means to this end. Contrary to the dubious, unsubstantiated claims of the recently released PPP report, the privatization of core government functions would create a new middleman for the provision of services, a middleman with the sole agenda of turning a profit. And these profits will be pocketed by a company with no roots in the community and no ties to the county -- Frederick County's wealth will be siphoned off to Wall Street.

The creation of this new, "private" middleman also greatly reduces transparency in government and opens the door for unrestrained corruption. This is already happening -- the contractor that provided the report stands to gain financially from the implementation of this privatization scheme. The BoCC's attempts to trivialize this glaring conflict of interest does not bode well for the sound and clean administration of these contracts in the future.

The BoCC's insistence that this privatization plan be fast-tracked, with limited opportunities for public discussion of the plan, also raises enormous red flags. If this plan is truly in the best interest of Frederick County, it should be able to withstand independent scrutiny. The BoCC is acting in a way that suggests that the public will turn against this plan if it starts looking at it too closely -- and for that reason alone, we should all be skeptical of the BoCC's agenda.

This plan will also destroy many of the middle-class jobs that are essential to maintaining Frederick County's high quality of life. These hardworking county employees raise families, shop, dine in our local restaurants, and purchase homes -- all fueling the Frederick County economy. A sharp decrease in many of our hardworking citizens' purchasing power is the last thing our local economy needs. The savings to the consumer from slashing these jobs will be minimal at best -- county residents will be subsidizing CEO salaries through their taxes, as well as paying off their new separate bills for services that used to be provided directly by the government. As anyone who has paid $5 for the privilege of sitting in Dulles Greenway traffic can attest, privatization means the taxpayer pays more and receives less.

It is significant to note that one of the Georgia prototype communities for this privatization scheme has decided not to renew its contract for 2012. So why the rush by the BoCC to import failure into our county?

Economic hard times require thinking outside the box, but rushing pell-mell into wholesale privatization that will cost us in the long run is not the answer. Let's take the time to carefully evaluate each of the county departments, seek genuine employee and citizen input and consult independent experts on city planning and public policy. We will live with the decisions made now for years to come, so let's do it right. Our government exists to serve the citizens of Frederick County, not to serve an ideology.

Myrna Whitworth is chairwoman of the Frederick County Democratic Central Committee.

Published on July 17, 2011, Frederick News Post