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DELEGATE SHERBOW: Mr. Chair-
man and members of the Committee of the
Whole: I urge you to vote for this amend-
ment so that the state treasurer remains
a constitutional officer. I know that my
good friend, Delegate Adkins, indicated
that 116 years for the office of comptroller
may seem rather aged, but the office we are
talking about today is even older than the
Maryland Constitution. It is 190 years old.
It began in 1776 in the first Maryland Con-
stitution and it was carried over into 1851,
1854 and 1867. There is a very strong bur-
den on anybody suggesting that it now be
taken out of the constitution.
You have before you what I believe to
be an approach of a practical nature to
give the people the right to see and to
know. I do not care whether you call it a
Board of Public Works or whether you call
it a board by some other name. It follows
exactly what Governor Agnew had sug-
gested except that he included the state
treasurer. But now if you seek to include
the state treasurer but if you write him
out of the constitution, I do not think you
have to be one of these constitutional law-
yers nor do you have to be just a plain
housewife to read section 4.23 without
realizing that what it means is that if you
do not make him a constitutional officer, he
is under the control of the governor of
Maryland, under the proposal of the Execu-
tive Branch Committee, and he may be re-
moved by the governor. It is inconceivable
that under such circumstances the one
office that is time-honored for 190 years
without a blemish, under men of outstand-
ing competence, would not be able to hold
membership on the Board of Public Works.
Now, you say what are his duties? I do
not believe in being so prolix that you get
tired, so take a look yourself when you are
getting a little bored with what is going
on, and read the Commission draft and you
will see in pages 370, 371 and 372 without
even considering the Board of Public
Works they have spelled out in the earlier
constitutions what his duties are.
They spell them out because they think
there ought to be some of these safeguards.
You will have before you in a very few
moments what I hope will take the heat
and fire out of much of what has hap-
pened and bring in a great deal of light,
and that is a proposed amendment, which
I understand has been adopted by the Ex-
ecutive Committee by a vote of 15 to 5.
In that Committee Report they are going
to say that we should adopt a proposal for
an interdepartmental board of review, call
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it that instead of board of public works
and it shall consist of the governor, a
principal department head named by him
and an individual appointed by the Gen-
eral Assembly.
I say to you unless you name the state
treasurer in the constitution, beware of
what happens when you come to section
4.23 lest the governor have all three ap-
pointments which obviously he does not
want, and which was never contemplated
by those who draft these proposals which
come before you.
It is important that we continue having
men of outstanding public ability for men
in public office. I want to tell you that one
of the greatest recollections any man or
woman in Baltimore City can have is the
knowledge and the acquaintanceship of
great men like John M. Dennis, when he
sat as state treasurer and Hooper Miles.
Do not ask how much time he gave to the
State Treasury, think in terms of how
much time he gave to the State of Mary-
land.
THE CHAIRMAN: Your time has ex-
pired, Delegate Sherbow.
DELEGATE SHERBOW: Thank you.
And the same thing is true of the present
incumbent and I urge you to vote for the
amendment.
DELEGATE BOYCE: Does Delegate
Sherbow yield?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Boyce.
DELEGATE BOYCE: The Interdepart-
mental Board of Review specifically says
that an individual is appointed to the
Board by the General Assembly. How could
that possibly give the governor three
choices?
DELEGATE SHERBOW: Very simply.
The governor, or whoever names the per-
son who will have the job of being the
state treasurer, give it another title, if you
will, will have the position with all of the
work and responsibilities of the state treas-
urer. He will be under the executive de-
partment. Under section 4.23 he will be
removable by the governor and he will be
the governor's choice. You make it certain
that you cannot name the state treasurer
by the man who has the state treasurer's
duties as the Board of Public Works.
DELEGATE BOYCE: You keep avoid-
ing my question. I am not talking about
section 4.23. I am talking about the new
interdepartmental board of review. It says
that one of the three members shail be an
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