This is not to say I’m defending Holloway. First of all, if Maryland is anything like Massachusetts, a tax cut is a terrible idea right now. Revenues are down because of the recession, and so are salaries and everything else. Consequently, more people are using public schools, the library, and other public facilities. Because of economies of scale, a small amount in taxes can translate into a big benefit for the individual, libraries being the number one example—the slice of my paycheck that goes to my public library is much less than the amount I would pay for books if I had to buy my own. And the property taxes I pay to support the local schools (the biggest item in any municipal budget) are less than the cost of educating my children.

Finally, the way Mr. Holloway went about his challenge was just wrong. Ambushing an official in a public meeting is not how you get things done in government. It’s just grandstanding, and if he had any respect from his peers at all, he probably lost it that day. Those of us who are just trying to do a good job really resent people like him.

Thank you for taking the time to respond to this article.  As your columns were written in praise of local Republicans, I understand your desire to be supportive of Joe Holloway.  However, your statements above do not match with his public record on fiscal policy.

In my research I did not encounter any indications that Mr. Holloway ever made efforts to increase funds for libraries or their staff.  I only found his attempts to reduce them, under the rationale of saving money.  As I showed in this article by cross-referencing local articles and the Wicomico County Council minutes, Holloway has even gone on record in favor of tax cuts despite anticipating an imminent loss of education funds.  This directly contradicts your assertion that he “never attempted to de-fund either the public library or school libraries.”

The context of events is important.  The complaint about the manga (made by a concerned parent Mr. Holloway has refused to identify) could have been swiftly, honestly, and directly handled.  Instead, all available evidence seems to indicate that his highest priority was using this incident for political gain, and nothing you have presented above has challenged or even addressed this.