So, this isn’t exactly breaking news at this point, since everyone who cares about local politics has been gossiping away about it, but OMGeeeeeee.
Blaine’s ex…no, not his ex wife, his ex-fiancée, the one and only Regina Williams, who hitched her wagon to this sinking cinderblock post-Black-Book drama and contemporaneous with his last marriage…is running for County Executive.
The back and forth in our quarter upon learning was something like: I feel drunk, but I’m not drinking. It’s just all the blood rushing to my overactive brain. This is just too crazy. Is this her way of showing him up? Her way of showing Jan Gardner up (for the demotion she received when her boyfriend wasn’t in charge anymore)? A two birds with one stone maneuver? And very most importantly, doesn’t she know that all anyone will talk about now is how she got involved with the married boss rumored to be into hookers, and then he got busted for solicitation? Just check the comments section of the FNP for proof. Things don’t change! And foresight ain’t her strong suit!
Ordinarily we would say a person’s private life doesn’t have anything to do with public office, and we really don’t know anything about her opinions on the issues, but we feel the same way about this dramedy with Blagina that we do about Anthony Weiner. At a certain point your judgment is just so unreliable that we are left to wonder: what other probably terrible decisions should you not be trusted with? We’re thinking, “All of them, County.”
And yet we have to kind of root for Ms. Williams here, given who her competition is. Because # is involved, so we have reason to rejoice. What kind of position does that put her habitually disgraced ex-fiancé in when the primary involves his obnoxious bestie and his former honey? The very idea is squeeeeeeee!
So at current count we have three candidates in the clown car, all very worthy of the clown status designation, including #Kirby Delauter and Kathy Afzali. And remember Afzali and her text spat a la teenager with Sheriff Jenkins? Because he (clearly accurately) called her juvenile names! Folks, we are–all of us–too old for this crap! Where are the grown people? This is going to be one interesting election. We have been of the mind that Frederick County is actually ahead of the national curve with regards to electing a buffoon and then collectively realizing oopsy-daisy-this-guy’s-crazy. Hopefully the sun is setting on the “any old fool will do” dreams. Remain vigilant (and remember: friends don’t let friends vote for looneytooneys).
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!
Poor little amendments never had a chance!Some highlights from that discussion:
-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!
These poor amendments did not fare any better!Highlights from this part:
-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.
Grab your agenda and brace yourselves. As always, you play this game at your own risk. Certain Council Members want to slash the Fire/Rescue budget so don’t count on anyone coming to save you!
Will there be public comments? Assuming proper procedures won’t be followed regarding the budget adjustments, help yourself to a hole in the head. Might as well have a second one when Billy abstains from voting on the budget items. Double up if he actually votes yes or no. Robert’s Rules are still so hard.
I’m just not sure how much more nonsense we can take.
There are 2 meetings worth of minutes to approve. Flip a coin to see how Billy behaves here, too. Drink a tapeworm. It matches the intellect of the I won’t do my job to make a statement be the council’s fool mentality.
More housekeeping to attend to with the approving the County Executive’s appointments. Don’t drink anything but water, here, because there’s plenty to take on later and you are certainly already staggeringly intoxicated due to Billy’s obstinance alone. And this brings us right up to…
…the Kirby Mistakenly Believes he has Big Boy Ideas (Again) section. You will recall that we still have these budget amendments to consider. If any of them pass, put on your thinking cap.
You will need it, because up after the break is the solar bill. The efforts to pass any legislation regarding solar facilities have also caused a ridiculous amount of histrionics, disingenuous grandstanding, and flat out stupid accusations, mostly from Billy. However, his buddy–you know the one–is not blameless here either.
If you are still conscious, keep something good in your hat holster, because The Second Reading Calendar includes Jerry Donald’s Dog Tethering bill, and Jessica Fitzwater has a bill about moderately priced dwelling units. This means our two infamously scholarly council members (just ask Kirby) will need to school the, um, less academically inclined. We thank them for their good service on this Teacher Appreciation Week. A teacher’s work is never done.
Sorry!!! There are many more amendments to the budget that we have to sit through!
ICYMI Danielle Gaines left us a gift earlier this week. It’s a complete list of all of Tony and Kirby’s amendments. If you remember from our post earlier in the week, Tony was only able to get through 10 of his proposed changes (all shot down), before the council had to move to the public hearings that were on the agenda. Therefore, this Tuesday, the council will decide what to do with the rest of this mess list. Let’s highlight what changes Kirby would like to see made to the budget first.
We need to put these books on Kirby and Billy’s reading list!
Kirby has close to 30 budget amendments. On his chopping block are funding to the County Executive’s Office, Line Highway Operations, Environmental Sustainability, Office of Economic Development, Permitting and Inspectors, and the department of Planning and Developing! He also wants to cut $808,816 from our public libraries!!! The Severe Weather Contingency fund gets chopped down by $200,000, he removes the entire county workforce allotment and there are 3 separate amendments to strip the Family Partnership of money. He doesn’t want the Solid Waste department to replace their old tub grinder or get a new UTV. He removes $50,000 from the Frederick Arts Council and totally eliminates funding for a Maryland Ensemble Theater (MET) partnership with Waverly and Hillcrest Elementary Schools. What’s most curious of all is that he wants to totally remove the $100,000 allotted for Thurmont to put a sidewalk on the south side of Moser Road!!! In his own district!
Kirby once again exhibits his ignorance of the county charter. His last two amendments add money to Fire and Rescue (which he cut by $521,000 in another amendment) and FCPS (so he can soapbox that he tried to increase FCPS’ budget). What’s the prob you may be asking? Well this:
Whoops!
Tony still has some amendments left. He wants to eliminate Community Partnership Grants and he doesn’t want Animal Control to hire any new people. More with less people! He’s not quite as big a scrooge when it comes to The Frederick Arts Council as he only wants to cut $10,000 of their budget. Man, Tony and Kirby make quite the budget cutting team!
We are sure that we don’t have to lecture you, gentle readers, of the importance of the arts, libraries, animal control and sidewalks. It does seem as though some of our council members sure need one though. Maybe if they engaged in more stimulating activities than hanging out in bars and growing their beards out we could get through to them. However, it seems the only way we are ever going to see some change around here is in 2018.
Truthfully folks, we’ve been getting a little bored with these meetings. We have been able to predict, with 99.9% accuracy, how Shrelauter was going to behave before a meeting even begun! Tonight, however, we witnessed something we have never seen before. And while we appreciate the break from the boredom, this new development does not bode well for the future of our county government.
From the top:
Billy votes against the agenda. Six well-spoken, intelligent public speakers attested to the fact that we need a good ethics bill and expressed concerned over the music allowed in the distillery/tasting room bill.
Budget adjustments and minutes are passed 7-0, and again folks, we are so confused. Didn’t Billy say that he abstains from all budget issues because he doesn’t have enough information?
The Urbana rezone is re-opened to allow the amended application from the applicant. Vote count was 7-0. Another public hearing is in our future.
The Distillery/Tasting Room bill was passed 5-2, with Jerry and Bud dissenting. Jerry is concerned about the amplified music. M.C. sympathizes but thinks the provision allowing the zoning certificate to be revoked should the venue violate the noise ordinance will be sufficient. If not, she promises to be the first council person to put forth an amendment stripping music from the bill. Billy makes some noise about how this isn’t a burden on the police since they wanted the noise ordinance. It is pointed out that the noise ordinance was passed mostly due to concerns over ATVs, but whatcha gonna do?
Ethics bill is next on the agenda.
Settle down Kirby!
Instead of Kirby reacting to this bill, Tony decides he needs some attention. First of all, anyone who didn’t know that men were a part of the League of Women Voters is a bigot. Next, he doesn’t like that people who are in politics are considered less than ethical. He’s taking issue with the fact that you cannot be on the ethics board if you have been involved in partisan politics or held an elected office within a certain time frame. Not exactly saying that people are unethical if they are in politics, but okay. We also learn that Tony’s kids are being discriminated against in college. They’ve been told, very unfairly, that if they cannot prove their conservative viewpoints they will receive a C. No word as to if students of other political persuasions also have to prove their viewpoints for a good grade. We’ll be waiting for word on that one. Bill passes 4-3.
Who would have thunk that a solar panel bill would afford the opportunity for idiocy that it did this evening.
M.C. has a couple of amendments. The first is a language clarification and the second is a grandfather clause. Both pass.
Then Kirby has some, and what is wrong with him tonight? He starts out mumbling, almost as though it’s the first time his eyes have seen these amendments. The first amendment has to do with the 2 mile ban from Route 15. It is pointed out to him that the Mt. St. Mary’s solar field is already grandfathered in. M.C. also points out that this provision was put into the bill because of various concerns from the public. She also thinks its important to have this rule in place for future companies that may come into the county looking for places to set up shop. Plus, the bill allows for landowners within that 2 mile zone to apply if they can prove their solar panels will not be visible from Rt. 15. So was this really necessary to bring up? Fails 4-3.
He withdraws Amendment 2 because it was very similar to M.C.’s grandfather amendment. His 3rd amendment deals with the acreage restrictions in the bill. M.C. says this was hashed out with the farming community and she refuses to budge on this part. Jessica also points out that Kirby’s land characteristics are too broad. Fails 4-3.
His 4th amendment wants to take M.C.’s grandfather clause and extend it not only to those who have received approval, but to those people who have filed an application. M.C. explains we cannot keep walking this provision back. Fails 4-3.
Now it’s Billy’s turn, and OH PEOPLE, this is where the fresh incompetence comes into play.
Billy’s 1st amendment has to do with visual impact of the solar panels. In the bill they have to been hidden by trees or a fence. Billy thinks this provision is redundant and unnecessary, but when pressed, cannot explain why. Tony steps in and we once again do not care for his tone when he speaks to M.C.. But anyway, he changes Billy’s amendment from getting rid of the shields to not stipulating exactly what those shields should be. Passes 7-0.
His second amendment changes the length of time that a landowner has to tear down a dormant solar panel field . He wants the 6 months of non-use changed to a year, and the 90 days to tear it down to another year. So basically two years to have an unused solar field just sitting there. Fails 4-3.
Here’s where it gets nutso!! Billy’s 3rd amendment is the same as Kirby’s 3rd!! The SAME. So they are both either getting fed this stuff from the same person, or their brains work in the same way and Billy just pays NO attention to the meetings. Jerry calls out, “Didn’t we already vote on this?” Billy tries to defend him self by saying that M.C. didn’t talk to the right farm people. And then folks he says this: “I didn’t write them. I didn’t compare them side by side.”
His amendment is called out of order, because, you know you can’t propose an amendment twice. So we move on to the next amendment and guess what? Except for some language at the end, IT’S THE SAME AS KIRBY’S 4TH AMENDMENT!! That’s right he did it again!!! Can you believe this? I mean this two have set a pretty low bar these past few years, but this is just too much! His amended amendment fails 6-1.
You would think he would give up, but no. He’s got five more amendments. Including one that would totally gut the entire bill! They are all super dumb and fail to pass so we aren’t going to spend any more time on them.
The new solar bill, with the amendments that passed, will go before a new public hearing May 9th.
Bud then tells us that between two council members there are 45 amendments to the budget!!! That’s right folks 45, with Kirby being responsible for 28 of them!!!
Tony asks to go first and launches into this long, self-aggrandizing soliloquy about why he wants to gut everything. Bud steps in to ask him to hurry it along since we have 45 AMENDMENTS TO GET TO, to which Tony does not respond to very nicely. Tony presents 10 of his amendments which are all along the lines of: No new positions, people need to do more with less, and government should never get any bigger. ALL are struck down, with a lot of good justifications from his fellow council members. At 7:00, Bud cuts this all off, because there’s two public hearings to get through and we don’t have time for all this nonsense tonight. So, yes, we have to sit through the rest of the budget amendments, including Kirby’s, next Tuesday.
First public hearing is about zoning map amendments during an election year. Curious as to why it may be necessary to restrict voting on the zoning changes before and after an election (cough, Blaine’s BOCC, cough!). Billy freaks out saying that if we aren’t going to do any work for 20% of our term then we should give back 20% of our salary. M.C. calmly points out that they do many other things besides voting on zoning changes. Kirby jumps in asking what other improprieties we are trying to fix, because look at these teachers voting on their salaries.
Kirby made us do it folks!
Second public hearing has to do with keeping the tax rate the same. Many positive speakers share their views, except one, whose point escapes us. Both of these issues will be decided at a later date.
During public comment Billy expresses a concern over our Senior Citizens. And how refreshing! Claims that instead of creating a Department of Aging, which they don’t really need despite the fact that Frederick County’s Senior population is growing faster than the nation’s or the state’s, we should be allowing them to age in place. Jessica then does an epic troll of Billy when she says that she looks forward to his legislation on the Senior tax credit!
You’ve been trolled Billy!
Before Bud gets a chance to speak both Billy and Kirby take their leave. Bud says that Frederick County is growing at an unprecedented rate and we have to be prepared. Nothing is free in this world!
We will return next week for the rest of the tax amendments. Zeus have mercy on our poor little souls.
You may remember when a certain council member who does not like his name used without his permission, posted a photo of a Catoctin High Booster request for donation form.
Don’t remember? Good thing we do. Read all about it here.
Well this time the CHS art department is trying to win $50000. Yes! $50000! And all you need to do is vote!
Poor Big Bird. He should count his blessings that Shrelauter can’t cut PBS’ budget.
It’s been awhile since we’ve done one of these. Today seems like the perfect time to speculate wildly on what Billy and Kirby want to cut from the budget. Vote for your favorite and we’ll see who is right come meeting time tonight!
Sorry Tiger, if we have to live through it so do you !It’s that time of the year when everything gets all cray cray! For it is time to discuss the budget!! Last week, Kirby did a repetitive dead horse beating tome on The Tentacle (and only the Tentacle since he’s apparently been banned from everywhere else!). We are naively holding out hope that he will heed M.C.’s pleas and won’t come up with an alternative budget this year. However, disturbances in the force tell us some non-sensical amendments are sure to be proposed. Hold on to your hats, grab your agendas, and remember that this game is just for fun. If you follow it verbatim, you will die.
An ordinance will be proposed soon that will cut down the number of budget adjustments that come before the council. Oh, how we hope that comes to pass. For we are sick and tired of Shrelauter (and on occasion Tony), arguing over already approved funds being moved to a different category. Should this occur this time around, throw back a nice tall Captain Hurricane.
It’s a toss up on whether or not Billy will approve the past minutes. Then we are on to some post-decision wrap up on the Urbana rezone decision. If “anyone” tries to re-argue this application slam back a Hell Freezes Over. Since that’s apparently when all this nonsense will finally end.
Three council decisions on the docket tonight. Farm distilleries and tasting rooms, ethics (uh-oh that’s a Kirby trigger word!), and solar panels. We know folks, Billy told us that solar panels were dead in Frederick County. He also claimed that billboards in Central Pennsylvania were thanking us for murdering them. Alas, he was wrong. If any cross words are exchanged during these votes, make a whole thermos of Jamaica Me Crazy!
These are the times that try men’s souls AKA budget amendment time!
Now this could go one of two ways; 1. Amendments are proposed that are based on good research with the goal of making Frederick County a safe and vibrant community OR 2. Outlandish amendments are proposed that reflect a misunderstanding of the county charter and the function of county government in general. We predict more of number 2 will be in store for us. If we are some kind of soothsayers, have yourself a pitcher of Angry Possum. If an alternative budget is proposed, mix up a barrel of it!
Well, how about that? It rhymes!There is to be a break until 7:00, but somehow we don’t think there will be one. When (if) the council reconvenes, there is a 2nd reading on a bill to discuss zoning map amendments during an election year. Then there’s a hearing on the constant yield. When the dead horses are flogged on this being a tax hike, sip upon thy Horse Feathers to get yourself through it.
Hopefully the council members have said all they need to and we won’t have dramatic council member comments like we commonly do. Take this time to get yourself a big pail of ice water to stick your head in. Hopefully our new budget will be passed on May 16th.
Why is everyone in the media against #kirbydelauter?We must admit that we were on the floor LOL as we read this. If you aren’t familiar with the Woodsboro Times or the Emmitsburg News-Journal, we can tell you they are ANYTHING but left leaning. Everyone in the country knows that Kirby had a run-in with the Frederick News Post a few years back, but we could not have anticipated this break!! Seems as though the only “news” organization willing to print Kirby’s tomes is the noodlely appendage. What a distinction it must be to be the only place willing to post Kirby’s “false claims”!
Speaking of the Frederick News Post, if you haven’t read this outgoing editorial by Patrick Pexton it is a must see. We can’t help but wonder if Shrelauter has already contacted the new owners of the paper asking for that “fair treatment” that seems so elusive to them.
We are so glad we are not the decision makers here.
We know our readers are just as keyed into local education as we are. Our friends over at The Frederick Extra posted an update this morning on the latest FCPS redistricting news.
frederick local yokel 