Published on: Wednesday, November 04, 2009

By Brian J. Karem

According to recent figures released by our Armed Forces,

more than 75 percent of America’s

military-age youth are incapable of serving in the military.

They are either overweight, too stupid to pass an entrance

exam, have dropped out of high school, or had run-ins with the law.

Thank you George Bush for “No Child Left Behind.”

You’ve hobbled the country.

Much like Kathy Bate’s 

portrayal of Annie Wilkes in “Misery” old Georgie Bush just whacked us

up and made us all crippled.

Avoidable yes. Sad definitely. Reparable – without a doubt,

but you must have some real change to accomplish that laudable goal.

With that said, on a local level, it was nice to see some

real change sweep into Rockville

this week.

Mayor Susan Hoffmann, while an admirable mayor, had presided

over the sideshow circus of Rockville without

effectively eliminating the chicanery that has come to dominate Rockville and make it a

laughing stock of the D.C. suburban area.

When people in Virginia

are making fun of your city government, well it’s definitely time for a change

– a breath of fresh air – a new face.

So, Rockville

has opted for Phyllis Marcuccio. She’s been around city politics for a while,

so she may not be the freshest face around – but she is a breath of fresh air.

Will she be able to pull off everything she promises?

She’s a politician, so maybe not.

It remains to be seen if she can win over enough council

members to put to rest the shenanigans that have come to dominate Rockville government.

Her goals are worthwhile however, and I for one certainly

hope the newly elected council members and the incumbents who are returning to

the city decide to work together rather than tear each other apart.

There are serious problems facing the city.

The economy has forced a hold on construction efforts in the

city. Town Center is still under occupied. The big

grocery chain that was supposed to anchor business there has never shown up and

shop keepers and restaurant owners are worried – and rightly so – about daily

foot traffic and the high price of parking in the center.

Transportation, garbage collection, the future of a local

golf course and various other mundane and seemingly trivial needs will take

much of Marcuccio’s time.

But the big 800-lb. gorilla in the room that no one wants to

talk about is the City Manager. Routinely reviled or praised, there seems to be

no middle ground of opinion on Scott Ullery.

The rift in the city council caused by the variety of

opinions on Mr. Ullery’s usefulness have bogged down the city in solving problems

as members of city government routinely castigate and praise the man.

Marcuccio will have to get a handle on this issue above all

others as she takes office. Should he stay or should he go?

It’s more than a lame quote attributed to an old “Clash”

song, it’s at the very heart of what Marcuccio must decide as mayor.

If Ullery stays, then she must down play and work hard to

ameliorate the feelings of despair by those who believe him ineffective – at

best – in doing his job.

If he goes, then she must find a city manager capable of

working with the entire city council and not just some semblance of a faction

of the council.

It isn’t for me to say whether he should stay or go, but

it’s obvious that this is an issue that must be dealt with quickly and

decisively or else the council will continue to degenerate into nothing more

than a sideshow riddled with fodder for certain questionable weekly newspaper

editors.

I’m sure Marcuccio has the best intentions and we wish her

the best of luck as she takes over. But we will remind her that George Bush had

the best intentions when he launched “No Child Left Behind.”

We all now know how that turned out.