Cecil County Government: A Change

On April 8, 2010, Mark Parker, P.E., Principal and John Gonzalez,P.E., CPSWQ, Havre de Grace, MD Branch Manager attended a Cecil County Chamber of Commerce Luncheon to listen to the proposed changes in Cecil County Government. John attended an event in Perryville today and got another update on the same. The following presents a summary of the updates:

In November, 2010, the citizens of Cecil County will be voting on a proposed change in County government. The issue regarding the proposed change will be whether the County government format should change from the Commissioner form of government to Charter government.

In 2009, the County Commissioners appointed a group of people to work on a committee to research and write a charter. This group of nine people was comprised of community leaders, businesspeople, and citizens. The committee researched charter government, charters of the counties currently operating under charter government, and gathered information from citizens of Cecil County to help structure a charter.

The current form of county government is by elected County Commissioners. There are five Commissioners, each representing a different District.

Under Charter government, there would be five elected County Council Members, and one County Executive elected at large. There is debate about whether the Council Members should be elected by District, or at large.

A question that has arisen is why Cecil County needs a change in County government. The public wants a better, more efficient local government, citizen representation by district, more public control over government functions, accountability from government to the citizens all the time, strategic planning for the County, and responsive elected officials.

Under the current Commissioner form of government, when a bill gets brought up to the Commissioners, the Commissioners take the bill to the State Delegates who represent Cecil County (among other counties). The State Delegates can decide whether the bill should be brought forth to the General Assembly. If the bill is brought before the General Assembly, the General Assembly can decide to act or not to act on the bill during their 90-day legislative session.

Under Charter government, when a bill gets brought up before the County Council, the Council can enact the bill, at which time the bill goes before the County Executive who can then sign the bill into law. If the County Executive vetoes the bill, the bill goes back to the Council, and if enacted by the Council, gets put on a referendum on which the citizens can vote. If the citizens vote on the bill, it becomes law.

In essence, Charter government “brings democracy home” to the citizens. Charter government provides the tools to give the public what the public wants from a government- responsiveness, accountability, and leadership.


The committee researched the costs of Charter government versus the Commissioner form of government. It was determined that Charter government can run at less cost than the Commissioner form of government.

The committee included a provision in the Charter for the Council to set out a strategic plan. The strategic plan will focus on issues the Council deems as priorities for the County, and how the County can work to meet the challenges imposed by these issues. The strategic plan is to be reviewed on an annual basis and updated/revised as necessary.

The outcome in changing from a Commissioner form of government to Charter government should provide the form of government Cecil County needs during these times where the County is experiencing growth and a change in demographics. More flexible government is needed for the County, and the decisions need to remain with the County. The County needs to wean itself off from the State Delegates and the General Assembly with regards to issues more at home. Charter government can do that.

The committee is on a mission to educate the citizens of Cecil County about Charter government. Several meetings have been scheduled, and some have already been held. More information on the Charter government process, along with a draft of the proposed charter, can be found on www.ccgov.org.

As always, Landmark/JCM follows these issues as they affect our clients and the future of development in the counties and states in which we all practice. Please call us so that we can make your next project the huge success you expect.