Mean-spirited setup goes down in defeat

“Here’s a lovely parting gift,” Worcester County Commissioner Chip Bertino might as well have said Tuesday when he tried to saddle the incoming board of commissioners with a choice between making a deeply unpopular decision or creating a $15 million hole in the county’s bank account.

Bertino, who lost his reelection bid in the June primary, seemed determined to leave office on a sour note in December by proposing that the staff investigate the legality of giving the $15 million sitting in the county’s budget stabilization fund to resident homeowners.

His proposal failed  by one vote after District 1 Commissioner Caryn Abbott withdrew her support because, as a returning commissioner, she had to consider her district’s long-term financial future.

Supporters of Bertino’s motion, on the other hand, had nothing to lose. District 2 Commissioner Ted Elder lost his reelection bid in the primary, and District 6’s Jim Bunting is retiring from politics.

But District 7 Commissioner Joe Mitrecic recognized that Bertino and friends wanted to put the incoming commissioners in the position of having to deplete the budget backup account or explain to 12,000 homeowners why they wouldn’t be getting “free money.”

The level of insincerity on display is breathtaking. Bertino and the backers of his idea were loath to spend any of this budget stabilization money on schools, law enforcement or fire and rescue needs in the past. So suddenly and inexplicably they’re ready to give it all away?

Of course not. This was strictly a matter of Bertino wanting to put the screws to the incoming board. It’s not surprising given the rising level of vindictiveness in politics these days, but it is unfortunate. At least now Ocean Pines voters can see that they made the right decision in June.