From the #SAD teardrop flow chart to Tuesday night’s council member comments!, Kirby keeps reminding us to follow the money. He loves to throw around catchy sayings such as: “Everything’s for sale around here!” and “Gotta pay to play!” He also listed off a bunch of “suspicious” campaign donations that Jan has received. M.C. warned him that he may regret getting into the game of listing off campaign donations and to that we say: Oh we hope so! Here’s a sampling of donations that Kirby has received since 2014. Feel free to explore the list yourself at Maryland’s campaign finance website.
frederick local yokel 
The CE needs to get a lawyer that specializes in slander because the insinuation is that Jan is stealing money
or taking illegal campaign contributions. The dais should not be a platform for disinformation. I guess when you
have worked for a pro, you’re in the know.
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I’m no expert on the law of defamation but I’ve had the experience of being defamed in my capacity as an elected official. Jan has no judicial remedy. First, recitation of information found in public records, without more, is not defamatory. Second, even if Kirby’s statements were defamatory, for reasons that go far back to the time when English kings attempted to jail members of Parliament for statements made in debate, legislators ordinarily enjoy absolute immunity for statements made during a meeting. Third, even if there was no immunity, fifty years of US Supreme Court decisions effectively rule out a judicial remedy for false and defamatory statements made about a public official. The only practical choices Jan has are to do nothing or fight fire with fire. Jan usually chooses the former, I ordinarily choice the latter. Since she is County Exec & I am out of office, one can make a good argument that Jan makes the right choice.
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I think she ignores a lot of it, as it would be impossible to address every single one of their allegations. However, there are times you have to say something or they control the conversation. It’s hard sometimes to pick the right battle. Especially when there are so many.
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Discovered your blog thanks to a tiny card you left in the bathroom at Dublin Roasters. Enjoying this entirely. Have always debated with myself how to get involved with the local politics as a person totally empowered since Trump became our Tweeter-in-Chief. Do you plan to post and e mail boycotts/protests/petitions? I am always behind and missed the Parenthood protest. Would love to be more involved.
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Start here:
https://fredericklocalyokel.com/2016/11/11/how-to-become-politically-involved/
We can certainly look into possibly providing more awareness about protests etc going forward.
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