Wow, what a tense first half of the meeting we had! Started up nicely!! The mayor of Thurmont, John Kinnaird, came to tell Kirby, “No, don’t you cut that sidewalk money!!!” (Which worked because Kirby withdrew it!) Some other nice folks asked the council to take a look at the new cell tower applications, as they feel some proposed ones are too close to their houses.
Budget adjustment, minutes and county appointments all pass 7-0.
There is a very nice presentation from Budget guru Rick Harcum, about the Budget Adoption Ordinance. They want to bring the language of the ordinance more inline with the language of the charter. Will be decided upon when they vote for the budget.
Next, it’s time to finish Tony’s amendments. And, oh boo-hoo, they were all defeated!
-Tony works harder than anyone, so no new positions!
-No money for non-profits because it isn’t the role of government and it isn’t fair to those who don’t get money!
-When Jerry wants to ask a question of staff, Billy interrupts like the nitwit that he is, and gets called a nitwit!! (Our most favorite moment ever!)
Kirby’s turn to introduce all the amendments is next!
-Even though Kirby agrees with some things, it doesn’t have to be now!
-The county will be fined very badly if we don’t comply with state environmental regulations. But Kirby doesn’t believe the science!! He does think we should be smart about the environment. So that begs the question: Kirby, what is your smart way to clean up the environment? Please enlighten us!
-Kirby says Jessica is right (!) in that some of his amendments are very similar to Tony’s. The council finds it easier to just vote them up or down then to try and parse through Kirby’s language.
-We’ve spent enough on libraries, the world won’t end if we don’t spend anymore! Especially if you don’t read!
-Inspectors should be outsourced.
-We had a good winter, and if we do have a bad one the state and federal government will reimburse us anyway!
-While he respects Fire and Rescue, he thinks they asked for too many positions just so they could get the minimal amount that they need. So next year, Fire and Rescue, ask for 1,000 positions and we’ll see what Kirby lets you have! He does allow, however, that maybe he just doesn’t get it.
-Kirby is very concerned with people walking up to him on the street asking him budget questions.
-Too much is allotted for dues and subscriptions, even though he doesn’t know how much these things cost, it’s too much!
-The economy is not so great, so we should withhold the COLA raises.
-Because terrible Jan got rid of the English Language Ordinance now we have to pay all this translation money! English is the language of America!
-And we are now distracted because Trump FIRED Comey!
-GAME OVER. We’ll get back to you after we process our new totalitarian reality.
frederick local yokel 
One thought on “All the pretty dead amendments”