O'Malley liberal leave plan puts state workers at risk

On Monday morning, less than 48 hours after Gov. Martin O'Malley declared a state of emergency in Maryland, where many counties received over 30 inches of snow, my husband was expected at work. He is considered an essential state employee, so even when liberal leave is called, he is expected to be at work without question. On Monday there were over 200 local closings between schools, businesses and government buildings. I even heard some branches of local federal buildings were shut down. My husband, being the conscientious worker that he is, arrived to work on time after facing treacherous road conditions. Eighty percent of his co-workers called out that day, and the majority were considered essential like him. The few co-workers who were there with him walked to work that day since they lived only a mile or so away. It just so happens that we were lucky enough to have had our road plowed on Sunday, so we were at least able to leave.

The point is that Governor O'Malley made an extremely negligent call in not shutting down the state buildings. If he expected employees to actually make it to work safely on Monday, he would truly need to have investigated the roads and routes of all of his employees or provided a four-wheel drive vehicle for transportation to work. As I realize these were not possible, the only other solution would have been to shut down the buildings. I guess Governor O'Malley is simply more concerned about fiscal matters than the safety of the people.

A concerned citizen

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