Leader of the Pack

Today's Capital reports that County Executive candidate, George Johnson, put forth his environmental program in a press conference in Annapolis this morning. The Sheriff re-affirmed his support for the stormwater utility fee and offered his intention to create the position of environmental ombudsman in his office.

The Capital article quotes each of Johnson's Democratic and Republican opponents, but I think Republican Tom Angelis said it best: "I don't think any one of the seven of us would deny this something necessary to be done." You know what Tom, I don't think so either. I think anyone with a functioning cortex realizes the scale of the problem, making it all the more pathetic that every other one of the County Executive candidates wants to dance around the problem, proposing "creative" (read "imaginary") solutions, or none at all (see Phil Bissett).

Some may think Johnson is putting himself out on a limb, after all his craven opponent in the Democratic primary, Dennis Callahan, is calling the Restoration Fund a "property tax", even after the Office of the Attorney General issued a decision to the contrary. The truth is, effective leaders do what they need to in order to get the job done, and leave the mealy-mouthed whiners wondering in confusion after the election's dust has cleared.