Business and civic leaders have politely thanked the delegation in public, but privately they have issued a vote of no confidence by stepping up talk of home rule. Charter government is salt to the delegation snail, because it's an end run around local lawmakers' power. Supporters will have an uphill fight. Critics add that administrative duties placed in the hands of an elected executive as opposed to a hired professional is not necessarily a good thing. If Washington County had home rule, that wouldn't guarantee us someone like the acclaimed former Montgomery County executive Neil Potter.
Voters tend to elect similar types of candidates.
Look at our current elected leaders, and that's pretty much a template for what kind of executive me might vote into office. Another concern is that elected panels can change and, while our County Commissioners are currently superior to our state lawmakers, there is no guarantee that will always be the case. No one was talking about home rule 10 years ago when the delegation contained names like Poole, Stup, Taylor and McClellan and the commission had names that are best left to the dust of history. Not to say there wouldn't be a tremendous potential upside. County executives tend to carry much more weight in state government than, say, a County Commissioners president.