In their first debate last night, county commissioner candidates Thomas Gorman, a Dedham Republican, and Michael Walsh, an independent from Westwood, agreed there are fundamental flaws with county government, but disagreed drastically on how to fix it.
Both Gorman and Walsh, who are looking to unseat Democrats John Gillis, from Quincy, and Francis O'Brien, of Dedham, noted the incumbents' absence at the Medfield High debate. They said their absence reflected the two Democrats' lack of availability and concern regarding their jobs as county commissioners.
Gorman, who is running for the position for a second time, charged the two as being "career politicians" who are vastly overpaid - making $30,000 a year to attend one meeting a week.
The Dedham Republican is once again running with the sole purpose of dissolving county government entirely.
"I'm not your typical candidate," he said in his opening remarks, explaining he's been a "man on a mission" for the past 12 years in filing legislation to cut wasteful spending by eliminating the branch.
Walsh has taken a less drastic approach to his candidacy, saying Norfolk County was not dissolved in the early '90s because of its relative success in keeping a lid on spending.
Towns are paying upwards of $90,000 a year to a government that could easily be transferred, like others have, to state control, Gorman argued.
Gorman accused Walsh of being interested in the $30,000 a year salary, but Walsh countered that he runs a successful law firm and doesn't need the money.
If he doesn't accomplish his goal of eliminating the system immediately, since it would require legislative approval, Gorman said if elected he would "put his money where his mouth is" and establish a college scholarship fund with his county commissioner salary that would benefit two students from each of the county's 28 towns.
Walsh was for saving money as well, arguing that the county should begin buying items in bulk, like oil and other items, so they could turn around and sell them to towns at a discount.
He also advocated for bolstering the engineering corps at the county level to save towns on consulting costs.
