Most dramatic month-to-month increase in unemployed workers among Maryland’s 24 jurisdictions
Unemployment data for the month of February for Cecil County is showing a dramatic increase in unemployed workers — the most dramatic increase month to month among Maryland’s 24 jurisdictions.
See the map after the link…
While I realize a lot of the root cause for this dramatic increase should be blamed on Washington DC politicians, there is clear call to hold our Economic Development department accountable for this unacceptable report.
Why is Cecil County suffering the effects of the bad economy worst that other counties? What is the Cecil County Office of Economic Development doing about this? I’d be glad to publish (unedited) any response submitted by Office of Economic Development Director Vernon Thompson for the informing of County residents.
Cecil County Spending is still waiting to hear back from Mr. Thompson on the questions posted earlier. In light of this recent bad news, I’m specially curious about the following:
- Please explain the line items that are included under “Advertising”? Are we measuring our expenditures in advertising to determine if they result in an appropriate return on investment?
- For tourism, please explain the line items that are included to make up the total spending for the category? Considering we are spending money on promoting tourism, what sort of impact is it having? Again, is the Office of Economic Development measuring our expenditures to determine if they result in an appropriate return on investment?
- Special projects: please provide detailed explanation on spending in this category. Specifically, what are the citizens of Cecil County paying for with “Cecil Night in Annapolis”? Please define all of the sub-categories alluded to on the right hand side of the spreadsheet (SBDC, EAGB, CLI, NMTC, Army Alliance, etc.)
Cecil County residents are invited to email Vernon Thompson with questions about his department’s expenditures and results at vthompson@ccgov.org or thompsonvj@gmail.com.
Unemployment Rates by County in Maryland, February 2010
First of all I do not think it is the county’s jobs to provide economic development. The way local government can help, is by getting out of the way, not by trying to control business by over regulation. It is not the county’s job to decide who wins and who loses. If you want to see more jobs in Cecil County than we must provide a friendly business environment. This means less taxes and less regulation. It is time we look to the private sector to find answers for unemployment. We need to follow the lead of Kent County and Annapolis and cut the Economic Development department.
Chris, you make a good point. Just look at the numbers–every time that Annapolis raises taxes, the tax revenue ends up going down (and good tax paying residents move to other states with less tax burden).
Why is it that Annapolis and the County Commissioners don’t seem to get that basic economic principle?
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