Praises Awwad

I have meant to write this letter for a long time. Now it seems to be too late. For many months I have corresponded with Ramzi Awwad, the county highway supervisor who just announced his resignation from the job.

During these many enlightening communications I have come to conclude that I surely wouldn't want this man's job - not given the complexity of Carroll County's road problems. He tried to maintain roads that never had a proper road base. He tried to maintain hard surface roads for us when he wasn't given the funds to do it with. Yet I, probably just like every other county resident, wanted the smoothest roads all over the county. With his hands tied by the lopsided state laws that allocate funds based on passenger cars, not all registered vehicles, he didn't have the funds he needed to satisfy our modern expectations.

I also feel that Mr. Awwad was hamstrung by the apparently ludicrous separation of responsibilities in county government, that of having a council and then commissioners. Having lived in many other states, I learned that a single set of county commissioners, totally responsible to the citizenry, is all that it takes and then there wouldn't be the shouting matches we read about between those two bodies and there would only be one place where the buck ultimately stops.

My wife and I regret that Ramzi is leaving Carroll County for "greater challenges" because I think he really had the challenges here. His work was just not properly funded and his efforts were not recognized or rewarded. We also wish him well in the pursuit of his aspirations. His leaving makes Carroll County the loser.
Dieter Hantschel
              Delphi