Howdy Yokels! This drinking game is going to have a punch theme. First of all, punches are refreshing during really hot weather and secondly, well…we all know the other meaning of the word. Grab a copy of your sacred agenda, tune in your FCGTV and get ready to slam back the punches.
One person has chosen to take advantage of the pre-meeting public comments so far, if anyone shall share their thoughts mix up some jam juice.
If Billy should shriek no to any of the budget transfers slowly stir a pitcher of lights out punch.
Next up we have some appointment confirmations to take care of. It any of our “friends” shall throw a fit have yourself a tall hurricane punch.
There’s been a lot of discussion on charter amendments these past few weeks. They’ve been work shopped and discussed to death. We still imagine there will be a rumbling here and there. When there is, have some pom pom planter’s punch in order to keep one’s spirits up!
We have three first readings up. Zoning, cannabis, and hotel tax are all up for some changes. This is supposed to only be for informational purposes. Just. An. Introduction. So if any of our council members, who seem to have trouble following procedure or understanding simple directions, decide to sound off mix up a whole giant bowl of Adult Life Saving Drench punch.
Lastly, there is a public hearing to extend the expiration date on the ordinance that allows applicants to pay a fee in lieu of constructing Moderately Priced Dwellings.
We end, as always with public and council member comments. Grab some sparkling water and try to sober up!
Dear friends, we have noticed a petition circulating on Facebook whose subject is yet another wedding venue with zoning woes. We are very surprised that we have heard nothing about the issues facing this vendor at any recent council meetings.
We are going to admit that when reading this we had a few thoughts about why Shrelauter hasn’t brought this to the council’s attention. Keep in mind these are just guesses and as far as we know they are not facts.
Complaining neighbors are friends with # and/or Billy
Owners of said venue are not registered Republicans
Maybe Billy and Kirby just aren’t aware of this issue
We really don’t know much about this whole thing, but it seems unusual that they haven’t brought this up as a shining example of how the county is closed for business. Seeing as how #Kirby has been actively advocating that businesses sue the county for unfair treatment this silence is puzzling. Of course, it seems like this issue predates the charter government so perhaps that is the real issue. Or is this a real issue and they are only the champions of the lost cause? Enquiring minds want to know.
So, dear readers, it seems that Kirby’s next public tantrum will involve the fact that he can’t ban Democrats from public functions:
Sorry kids, history is cancelled!
This week we are going to try to dig deep into the depths of the mind. Are there depths? That remains to be seen. Local control is a bizarro word (s) being thrown around like crazy in this year’s BOE race. It’s a pretty nebulous term. Does it mean the same thing to you as it does to me, or your neighbor or your BOE candidate? Hmmm.
Back in 2014 we saw a lot of these signs floating around:
We giggled because, well, it’s a pretty dumb slogan. However, we did think it probably had something to do with #kirbydelauter’s low cost bargain government philosophy. So we were a tad confused upon reading this section of the Political Notes in the FNP:
Frederick County Councilman Kirby Delauter encouraged a local business to file a lawsuit against the county — and he volunteered to testify against the county if a case is filed.
Delauter (R) sent an email Thursday morning to other council members, the media and J&J Trash Service.
The message was addressed to a J&J staff member.
The trash company, you’ll remember, is at the center of a debate over the county officials’ interpretation of “out-of-county” trash. The company has been told that certain truckloads it wishes to dump through the county’s landfill and transfer center are prohibited.
The council discussed the issue at a meeting last month, but didn’t resolve anything.
The county interprets the loads — surplus government furniture or parts of surplus government furniture processed by a second company — as out-of-county waste, believing it is originally brought in as potential refuse.
Delauter said he agrees with the businesses that the furniture is brought into the county under the premise that it is a purchased product and not waste.
On Thursday, Delauter said any effort at changing the county’s position through legislation may be futile since it is an issue of interpretation.
“I would say your only recourse is to sue for damages. … Good luck, I hope you win a big payday from the taxpayers since they elected people who can’t stand up for what is right and just. Let me know if you need me to testify on your behalf,” Delauter wrote to J&J.
So instead of writing the necessary legislation to correct this problem (if there is a problem), Kirby instead encourages this business to sue the county. Not only sue, but sends out good wishes for a huge payout!? Where is our steward of our precious tax dollars today?! It must be dependent on who he’s mad at that day. Not sure how this all fits in for him running for County Executive in a few years. It’s an interesting strategy, that much is for sure!
Today Shirley McDonald announced she too is dropping out of the race. Details can be found here.
It is sad to see another qualified candidate remove herself, but it is clear there is a strategy in place. And any strategy that ensures that Joy Schaefer, Ken Kerr and Michael Bunitsky are the ones on the BoE in the Fall, is a strategy the Yokel supports. Take a minute and click on their webpages and learn a little bit about them and their educational philosophies. We think you’ll like what you see! Let’s ensure that education in Frederick County stays on a positive track!
We are sad to see Lois Jarman drop out of the BoE race today. She’s a wonderfully qualified candidate and we hope to see her on the board in 2018. Like the classy lady that she is, she gave a very classy statement that summarizes her reasons for not going forward:
As a public school educator having served seventeen years in the classroom, I wanted to do more for my students and colleagues to improve our public education system after my retirement. I filed my candidacy for a seat on the Board of Education in December of 2015. I would like nothing more than to continue serving the students and staff of Frederick County Public Schools.
This year, there was a tremendous wealth of wonderful candidates entering the race, and I was extremely proud to be among the top six to go on to the general election. I feel honored to be among such an impressive group that counts education as a top priority for our county. It was a close, hard-fought race, but the bottom line is that I finished last among the top six candidates. Historically the person in last place after the primary has never been elected in November.
For that reason, I firmly believe that my time, energy, and effort would best serve the students and citizens of Frederick County by working for and putting my support behind some of the other fine candidates who are continuing to the general election, one of those being Joy Schaefer.
I have just yesterday contacted Stuart Harvey at the Board of Elections and requested that my name be removed from the ballot for November’s election.
Under other circumstances, I might consider staying in the race even given the odds; however, there is one candidate who I believe is dangerous and could change the direction of the Board of Education and put it on a negative trajectory. I do not want to take a single vote from the other highly qualified candidates if it means risking the election of this person.
It is important that we come together to elect the three who will be best for our students. There is much at stake, and we need to ensure that the three open seats go to advocates who will work for the good of all our students this fall. I look forward to running again in 2018, when I intend to fight to win a seat and work alongside these excellent candidates.
Oh, who could she be speaking of? We’ll let you light up the comments section with your guesses.
This evening the county council is having a workshop. The main item on the agenda is the discussion of two options that will allow nongovernmental solar panels. Read through the two options here. There will be some discussion of new business and then the council will go into closed session to discuss possible litigation.
It’s our favorite time. Well, besides drinking game time, and picnic time and family time, and well, anyway. Let’s close out our last poll in which we asked you about Billy.
Hey, just like Kirby! Coincidence?
Since Kirby just pitched a huge fit again about Jan, we figured it would be fun to speculate on the subject of his next tantrum. It will happen before you know it.
We don’t know if the regular video person at FCGTV is on vacation, but whomever is doing it this week gave the Yokels a heart attack. After pouring a much needed cup of coffee one of your brave Yokel ladies clicked on the video archives. She was very dismayed to see that last night’s meeting registered at 6 hours long! Now we love our readers and want to keep y’all informed, but we have things to do! Thankfully the time stamp was wholly inaccurate and we came in at 45 minutes.
We start off with the agenda vote with our favorite useless at large council member voting no.
We finally have a pre-meeting public commenter! It’s Patrick! If you know Patrick, please invite him to like our page. He congratulates Jenkins on the large heroin bust. He is very pleased with the new council form of government. He wants to refresh everyone’s memory of what it was like during the dark days of the BOCC. He very specifically tells folks to delve into the November 24, 2014 meeting to see how they operated. (Look away folks!) We love his final suggestion. Anyone who has been found to have engaged in human trafficking should not be eligible for election to county offices. We are behind that 100%!
Budget adjustments- 6 for 1 abstain. (Guess who!)
No comments on the police grant.
Approval of past minutes by all.
Resident agent designation will officially be the county attorney. Billy interjects by asking how will the council will be notified of lawsuits since it hasn’t been in the past. There is some discussion about how most of the lawsuits don’t have anything to do with the council and those that do are forwarded. Somehow we don’t think this will be enough.
1st readings go off without a hitch. 3rd reading is put aside until later.
Public hearings on Spring 2016 and Sewage Plan. No public comment and it’s approved.
Three proposed charter amendments:
Notice requirement shrunk to 2 days from 2 weeks to change a bill.
Notice requirement shrunk to 2 days from 2 weeks to make a change to the budget.
Council given until May 31st to review budget.
No one came to comment. July 19th will be the third reading and then it has to be sent over to the Board of Elections by mid August to be put on the ballot for November. Citizens can also propose amendments. Mid August date still applies. Check with the BOE for the petition process.
Votes to go into closed session to interview County Executive Appointments. 7-0. This is new since Billy usually votes against it. We still haven’t cracked the code when it comes to his voting process.
Then here we are folks. Council Member comments. It’s a mixture of all we have to be proud of in this county and also our greatest shame.
Jerry goes first. Announces that the Frederick Food Bank is in desperate need of donations. Walking trail through Middletown Park will be officially opened on July 12. Brunswick has officially been designated an Enterprise Zone by the state. Reminds people to support their fire companies by attending carnivals and thanks county employees for helping him work on bills that he will propose in the future.
Jessica thanks Angela Spencer for her work on the Human Relations Commission. Encourages the public to follow all their local boards and commission.
Kirby remarks on the heroin situation here in Frederick. Another young person has succumbed to this drug.(Yokel aside- We do need to do something about our heroin problem (NOT NARCONON) and it’s going to take the whole community to brainstorm some solutions to this problem. Hopefully community involvement in tackling the heroin problem will not involve the toe stepping on law enforcement as Kirby claims studying human trafficking will do.) He then talks about three bridge dedications to our military heroes. One that recently took place and two that will occur in the future. We lady Yokels are 100% for honoring our local service people. We did see some disturbing intel on what took place at the first dedication. Some folks only wanted to invite people who were of their political persuasion and were miffed when those of other political philosophies showed up. FOR SHAME! Hopefully those involved in this disgusting behavior will not repeat it at the upcoming dedications. Then there’s the predictable rant against County Executive readings in which M.C. will address in her comments.Now it’s time for the wedding venue debacle. So Kirby’s argument is that since some county facilities aren’t up to code (his words) then what’s the prob? Why can’t private businesses violate them? From what we understand the buildings are being demolished because the actual owners of the land wanted them torn down. We don’t know what kind of government official advocates that a business continue violating safety laws because no one has been hurt yet!
He’s having a meeting today at 1 pm with the BOE and Rick Harcum to talk about his public funding idea of schools.
Tony is going to have a Town Hall in Urbana in the next 2 weeks. Date to be determined.
Shreve wants to know what kind of venue the council will have to address public needs. This is because of his complaints about the landfill. We thought it was adequately explained to him that he needs to address the public concerns by writing a bill and then having public comment on said bill, but he sat up there and called that process elitist again. So we don’t know what else to say. He then goes onto congratulate FCPS for winning a public relations award and we can barely believe our ears. But the award was partially given because of the Classmates for Life video competition. So that was really just about him.
M.C. Keegan-Ayer wasn’t going to comment, but Kirby’s statement changed her mind. She points out to him that the council has a workshop on each of the County Executive’s proposed bills before they get on the agenda. So that would be the appropriate time for him to voice his concerns. Kirby tries to argue the semantics of this, is quickly shut down. Because big surprise he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
Bud talks about a brainstorming session about the new Veteran’s treatment court and reminds everyone that Frederick will have a fireworks show on July 24.
July 12th is a workshop and July 19th is the next legislative day.
We are sorry to have to start every month off like this, but it appears that’s when Kirby’s “Guest Columnist” rant is unleashed on the world. (Question: How often does one have to write for the noodlely appendage before a guest columnist turns into an actual columnist?) Curiously this same column(with a few minor edits) also appears in the Emmitsburg News Journal.
The theme of this month’s list of complaints is how horrible Jan is. He refers to her as a “citizen activist”. If you haven’t heard Kirby has his sights on the CE office and he’s already started campaigning. As usual, it’s hard to follow. We’ve heard him complain that we’ve been talking about school construction for 40 years. But in this column, it’s 30 years, wait no it’s 20, but maybe it’s 22. Who knows? He wants us to know that Jan has ruined education when she took back the county’s nursing homes. But never fear, because Kirby is here to rescue us! Even though his last workshop on his school construction idea would cost the county tens of millions of dollars he’s still sticking with it. How does he answer his critics? Well, in his special Kirby way of course:
Executive Gardner says this won’t work, that it’s too expensive, that something could go wrong, that the sun got in her eyes, and that it’s Blaine Young’s fault.
Any other questions folks? He’s going to waste everyone’s time with another workshop. Where he will attempt to manipulate the numbers and we are oh so curious to see how he can possibly sell this idea as economically viable. One question has really bothered us here at the Yokel. If these projects are privately funded does that mean Kirby’s company will be in the running to do the excavation? Or will he remove his company from consideration since he’s the one pushing forth this idea and it would seem as though it’s a giant conflict of interest? We think Kirby has his own self interest in mind. What do y’all think? We’ll let Kirby’s own words answer that question:
We all know that it is insane to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different result each time.
frederick local yokel 