In your June 20 news article, “Incumbents confident of re-election,” Norfolk County Commissioner John Gillis, ironically, did a good job summarizing exactly why it is that his board, and the executive branch of county government, is no longer needed.
According to Mr. Gillis, the board’s top accomplishments over the past couple years include new windows in the county courthouse, renovating the Registry of Deeds buildings, and placing registry records on microfilm. For this work, he says the board has done an “exceptional job.”
Personally, I call these types of projects “basic, required maintenance.” Should we give the county commissioners laurels for trimming the grass and replacing light bulbs, as well?
While I’m sure the employees at the courthouse appreciate having new windows, I still don’t understand why we need to pay three county commissioners $100,000 in annual salaries and benefits, plus a county administrator, plus a host of support staff, just to oversee the installation of new windows or the transfer of files onto microfilm.
There is no reason why this work cannot be handled by the state, which already performs similar tasks in the seven Massachusetts counties that have already ditched their antiquated and unneeded county government system.
Whenever Mr. Gillis or one of the county commissioners speaks to the media, they attempt to justify the existence of their shadow bureaucracy. In fact, Mr. Gillis’s comments suggest he is out of touch, especially since he works part time, about two hours per week, and earns $30,000.
Candidate, Norfolk County Commissioner
