County Executive Matthew Ossenfort said today that he has issued a veto of a resolution passed by the Montgomery County Legislature last week which approved a personnel policy for non-union employees which included additional benefits for legislators. The policy included stipends for legislators who serve as chairs of committees, as well as extended health insurance benefits to part time employees and the legislators.
Legislator Barbara Wheeler, who was responsible for writing the policy, removed the two items from the policy before the legislators’ vote at a special meeting on October 14th. Chairman of the Legislature Thomas Quackenbush introduced an amendment at the meeting which put the items back in. Wheeler joined legislators Joe Isabel and John Duchessi in voting against the amendment and the policy as amended. The resolution passed by a 5-3 vote.
Last week, after the meeting, Ossenfort said that he was “neutral” on the two issues and that he believed the issues were “primarily legislative.” Today he said that after talking with legislators and residents, that the policy “missed it’s mark.” Ossenfort said the policy, overall, is a good one and that he hopes to resolve the issue with the legislature quickly so that they can move on to more important issues.
