We derive no pleasure in bringing these stories to you faithful readers. Today, the Frederick News Post once again has shown us how the decisions of the former BOCC nearly brought this county to it’s knees. We wrote a story a few months back concerning the horrible decisions the Unfantastic Four made concerning county transportation. Now we have this sad report:
In the two years since a private company took over managing a long-term care center for Frederick County government, the quality-of-care rating at the center has fallen from above average to below average
Not that this is surprising to a single one of us here at the Yokel, nor to a majority of the commentators on this article. It still breaks our hearts though. The transportation fiasco was inconvenient, frustrating and expensive. This story involves the care of our sick and aging neighbors. Billy’s buddy, Mr. Snow, wants to throw the blame on the county for this rating. However, when the county was in control the rating was a 4. So what has been the change since then? That’s right Aurora. So even though a certain council member once told us that Aurora was like Disney World. Obviously that’s not the case.
Now let’s look into our crystal ball for a moment:
How are Kirby and Billy going to blame this on Jan?
We would like to make a prediction. Billy or Kirby will be a guest on WFMD and on that program they will blame Jan not paying the bill for this rating. Even though both Billy and Mr. Snow assured us that the level of care would remain the same. Maybe it has. And that level has always been pretty low.
We hear a lot of rumblings around town that Jan is on a vendetta to reverse the former BOCC decisions out of spite. We have another term for it: It’s called fixing things.
So last week’s poll, when we made you work so hard, is done. Here’s the results:
Now we want you to imagine that TLC has decided to do a reality show based on the antics of Billy and Kirby. Our question to you is: What should that show be called?
Kirby has a lot of complaints this morning. Try and follow his stream of consciousness rant. It gives us here at the Local a raging headache. Read the original post here. We will try to emulate Kirby with our own stream of consciousness post.
I’m sure no one on the Council has any vision for the future. That’s certainly why there will be a vote on repealing the County’s English only ordinance. Heaven forbid our little bitty county comply with Federal and State law concerning providing documentation.
And, sure there is no vision in offering up legislation regarding affordable housing. Why we would we want to get rid of ghetto areas and make sure all our our schools have a more equal mix of low income kids instead of them being concentrated in just a few schools? Surely, that is a very bad idea. Is low income catching? Shudder.
Let’s look at the list of new hires and their salaries. The first thing that seems like a giant waving red flag to us is Kirby saying he has a problem with Janice Spiegel being a liason to the BOE because we have two teachers on the council that could do the job for free. Wasn’t he just crying a few months ago that it was a conflict of interest to have them vote on matters relating to the BOE because he thought it was a conflict of interest? (It isn’t a conflict, is he suddenly acknowledging that?) Surely he doesn’t think Jerry and Jessica should have to do their day jobs, plus their elected Council jobs and then volunteer to be BOE liasons on top of that (for free y’all!) Maybe Billy can volunteer to be Fire Chief. He already gets all the calls from drunks needing rides. I’m betting being Chief could be just the new volunteer position he didn’t know he was looking for. Why not get rid of High Sheriff Jenkins while we are at it? Couldn’t his salary be used for something else? Maybe Kirby can take that position on as his volunteer job.
I don’t think anyone is under any illusions that Billy and Kirby will just go along and get along with anyone. (Unless directed to do so by Blaine). Maybe Billy could actually vote on something instead of abstaining all the darn time. Maybe, he will make a few phone calls to help get all the GPS companies up to date on that darn low CSX bridge in Monrovia. I do hope the all the voters are paying attention and hold their Councilmen accountable for all that they say and do.
The radio waves have been the gift that keeps on giving lately. Last week we had Billy pontificating on a variety of subjects on WFMD. Now High Sheriff Jenkins gives us the opportunity to learn how he doesn’t believe the English Language Ordinance is about illegal immigration. But then again it is, wait no it certainly is not, okay yes it is! It’s enough to make one’s head explode.
It feels good doesn’t it?
Both Jessica and H.S. Jenkins are guests on Sheilah Kast’s morning show that aired throughout Maryland on NPR. Here’s our breakdown.
First Jessica is allowed to speak. She tells listeners that she believes that the ordinance has been harmful for a variety of reasons. She explains that the ordinance doesn’t have any teeth because the county has to follow State and Federal laws. So basically the ordinance was symbolic, and the symbolism was this: STAY OUT!
Then it’s Jenkins’ turn. He once again informed us that the U.S. is about one language and that we are one culture (Really? Has he traveled anywhere in these here United States?) He continues:The ordinance never changed how we did business and we cannot go down this road because we are in severe danger of becoming a sanctuary county. Now this sanctuary county nonsense is what causes gentle Ms. Kast to ask Jenkins to clarify a point. “Is your reasoning for not wanting this ordinance repealed because you fear illegal immigration”, she asks. Jenkins insists that this ordinance is not about illegal immigration, but that doesn’t stop him from talking of his fears of Frederick becoming a “sanctuary county”two more times.
He also mentions a poll. This poll claims that 84% of Americans want English as our official language. Well, we did a little research and could only find one source of that poll: Rasmussen. A notoriously right winged, frequently used by FOX News, organization which happens to have a terrible track record. So get some more accurate data and then we will talk about this.
Now, let’s talk some more about the High Sheriff. Jessica is very clear to NPR’s listeners that Pro English provided the language of the 2012 ordinance. That the previous BOCC met with this group is no secret. And we all know by now that the Southern Poverty Law Center classifies Pro English as a hate group. Why you may ask? Well, for one thing, the group’s founder likes to talk like this:
“I’ve come to the point of view that for European-American society and culture to persist requires a European-American majority, and a clear one at that.”
– Dec. 10, 1993, letter to the late Garrett Hardin, a controversial ecology professor.
He seems nice! But, hmmm, this quote seems familiar to us. Really familiar. Oh yeah, we saw it in this articlein the Frederick News Post back in 2014. Remember when our High Sheriff took that trip down South to learn all about the illegal immigration? And remember how we were all up in arms about how it was financed by the Federation for American Immigration Reform? Well guessy who founded and funded both Pro English and F.A.I.R.? That’s right this guy:
John Tanton Founder of F.A.I.R., Pro English, and just about any other anti-immigrant group you can think of.
And there’s more. Click this linkto see all the other groups he has had a hand in. And click here for some more nice quotes. Because man, this guy is a peach!
We know that this ordinance was not passed because it was costing the county money. For no fiscal analysis was done. We know that the former BOCC met with Pro English and that our High Sheriff accepted a trip from another one of Tanton’s groups that is decidedly anti-immigrant. The supporters of this ordinance love to talk about how it didn’t change anything, so why do away with it? We would like to talk about the flip side of that question. If it doesn’t matter, if we are still required by higher powers to translate documents, then why have it? Why did a bunch of tea party conservatives spend time and money to pass an ordinance they knew didn’t mean anything? In reality it’s not only a message to illegal immigrants, but also to legal immigrants. Because please, please tell us how this ordinance differentiates between the two groups? This ordinance was the brain child of a hateful man and was passed in our county for no other reason than to “send a message.” It’s time for that message to change. And on August 18th, we hope that’s exactly what we will see.
We are all acquainted with the myriad of excuses that Billy likes to give for not voting. He doesn’t like the process, doesn’t have help, yadda yadda yadda. Yawn! In today’s Frederick News Post let’s add contacting the trucking, GPS, and railroad folks to that list of dislikes. In a discussion over what the county could do to help alleviate problems associated with a bridge on Route 75 this happened:
Md. 75 is a state highway, and the bridge over it is owned by CSX, so the ultimate responsibility for the structures lies with the SHA and the rail company. However, Councilman Billy Shreve recently made suggestions for what the county can do to help alleviate the situation.
Shreve, in an email exchange, forwarded a constituent’s concern about the bridge to the County Council and county executive. In that correspondence, he suggested contacting GPS companies to ask if they could include in their programs a low bridge warning for truck drivers. He suggested working with CSX toward a long-term solution.
Councilman Tony Chmelik concurred, and County Executive Jan Gardner responded by writing, “I say, go for it guys! These suggestions were looked into years ago but the players have likely changed, GPS has changed, so give it a go!”
In an interview, Shreve expressed frustration that Gardner suggested he make contact with the parties because he considered that to be an administrative function.
“The response from the county executive showed zero leadership,” he said. “If the county executive does not step up, then I will.”
So maybe we should amend our title to “Billy would like to abstain from any and all responsibilities except forwarding emails.” In response, this is what Jan had to say:
Gardner disagreed that is was an executive function, she said, because she is tasked with managing the county, and Md. 75 is a state road. She added that Shreve did not request assistance to make contact with the relevant agencies.
“It’s his idea,” she said in a phone interview, “so if he thinks it’s a good idea, I’m not sure why he doesn’t want to pursue that.”
The county has been involved with conversations between the SHA and police for several years, Gardner said. It has worked with Costco to distribute warning fliers to truck drivers and secured some funding from Costco for a yet-to-be built truck turnaround before the bridge.
We don’t know either Jan. It seems as though Billy’s only goal lately is to make Budand Jan look as bad as possible. To hell with the county and doing anything remotely helpful. He’s got his vendettas to run. And let’s envision, just for a moment, an alternate scenario. Let’s pretend that Jan went ahead and contacted GPS. Can you imagine the response? We certainly can, considering she’s been called both a dictatorand Queen Jan.
Imagined response:
“Queen Jan took my idea and is now passing it off as her own”, said Shreve in a phone interview. “She constantly bypasses the County Council and is running the county at her whim.” whined Chmelik. “When will she let us do anything”? the two sang in chorus.
At this point Jan and Bud can’t win. No matter what they do or what they say Billy will be there with some insult or wisecrack. This is no way for our county to be run. So Billy: Stop being terrible! Just stop!
Oh, readers what we endure for you! It has been awhile since we have had to put up with the auditory assault otherwise know as WFMD. Before I even start with the content of this of this hour (!) that Billy spend on the air with sycophant Tim May and Frank “how the hell can you stand this” Mitchell, a word about psychology. Back in college we all took Psych 101 and during this endeavor there was much discussion about how the individual sees his or herself as opposed to how others see that person. For some there is a huge disconnect. And just as we once diagnosed Billy with Oppositional Defiance Disorder, we must opine that the gap between how he sees himself and how most of the sane world sees him is about this big:
Hey, isn’t this the thing that Billy said would happen here if we just allowed erosion to take its course?
The reason for this diagnosis is due to an absolutely unbelievable statement made by Mr. Shreve this evening. Now brace yourself for this:
People tell me that I am too warm and fuzzy and don’t always get my point across.
That’s the problem!!! He’s not being a jerk, he’s just like a warm and fuzzy little kitten! And according to the four people who called in to this mess of a radio program it’s true! I think the best way to try to convey what was said this evening is to break this report into sections. The show was all over the place and if I tried to convey it to you in any kind of chronological order you may think I was having some kind of stream of consciousness fit.
On Bud:
I was frustrated at the last meeting because this isn’t Congress, This is Frederick County.
In the past, the BOCC took a bad rap because we allowed the public to talk whenever they wanted to. The current chair does not allow this.
We are going to reconsider Bud’s position. He has not only irritated me and Kirby, but also the citizens. My prediction is that there will be a movement to elect a new Council President.
You’ve made everyone mad, it’s a matter of time until you’re not president anymore.
On the new charter and accusations that he and Kirby cannot follow procedure:
I picked the people to write the charter.
This is Frederick County not Congress. (again)
I am never rude.
There hasn’t been any problem for me and Kirby in terms of adapting to the new charter
On Jerry Donald:
He’s from a very conservative district, so if he votes for the repeal of the English only ordinance, he won’t win re-election.
On Jessica Fitzwater:
She started all this stuff on the repeal.
The repeal is poorly written.
Whew! That’s honestly only the tip of the iceberg. It was sometimes hard to concentrate with Tim May’s constant yesssing all over Billy’s words. The only bit of sanity within this program is Frank Mitchell and he does attempt to take Billy to task on the English language ordinance. When Mr. Mitchell asks Billy if he learned (ha!) anything from the speakers at the hearing or changed his viewpoint in any way he responded:
The public misinterprets the information in front of them. We were actually protecting the citizens. It’s a protection.
Mr. Mitchell bravely pushes on, asking if in reality, was the ordinance more of a statement against illegal immigration than anything to do with fiscal policy.
Not for me. It was a fiscal decision. It’s not fair unless you have interpreters for every language. It’s a communication policy.
Once again we must refer to the psychological research on the gap between how the individual interprets a situation as opposed to the rest of the thinking world. During this whole program it seemed as though it was just one threat after another. Bud, we are going to depose you! Jerry you will not be re-elected! Jessica sought people out who were against this poorly written resolution, no one really wanted it! It’s really too much to take. And the people who called in! We here at the Yokel usually reserve our comments to those elected to serve us. But we will have to make an exception because what is wrong with you people?!
Bill (I can tell from his voice this is the same gentleman who coined the term “High Sheriff” when referring to Sheriff Jenkins during the last hearing) has some words to say about someone named Diana from Bud’s office calling people asking them to change their minds about the ordinance. He thinks this warrants an ethics violation against Bud. Now these alleged two incidents occurred to people who contacted Bud first. Something that even Tim May pointed out and said that he didn’t see anything wrong with contacting someone who contacted you first. Now, as to the content of what was said during these conversations who knows. But it all sounded a lot like Glen Beck’s just asking questions mantra. Billy is out for Bud and he will do it any way he can. Then there was some talk about Bud bringing a county employee to a Republican political event. Billy was speculating all over the place on this one. But the crafter of the High Sheriff title threw Billy under the bus when he revealed Bud’s reasoning. Bud was concerned that Kirby or Billy may be in attendance at the meeting thereby making a quorum. So he wanted her there to take notes so the public would know that nothing behind closed doors was taking place.
There were a few more callers who “appreciate Billy’s leadership”, and ask him “to keep up the good work in the face of adversity and incompetency”. Everyone is of course entitled to their opinion, but I really hope you four were put up to this. If you can look at all we have seen from Billy over the last few months and deduce that he is a victim who has shown courage in the face of adversity, well there really may not be much hope left for humanity.
We think we may need to update their bios to reflect the fact that if it is a day that ends in Y, Billy and Kirby are crying again. It was merciful of Tony Chmelik to refrain from comment on this story. Either that or sensible. As often as we disagree with him, he doesn’t seem like his primary motivation in holding office is attention seeking behavior.
This time Billy and Kirby are bent out of shape because the procedure with the council government is to consider comments made during public hearings and vote on related actions at a subsequent meeting, in order to think first about what the public has had to say.
Shreve complains:
“You kind of lose the flavor of the discussion,” he said.
The flavor is the same every time there is a discussion. Billy abstains, Billy complains. Billy is actually pretty dang boring. We try to derive some entertainment from all of this, since we will take laughter over tears any day.
’nuff said.
The “shoot-first-ask-questions-later” method that they prefer was used with the commissioner form of government. Readers may recall that at the time there was a common perception that four of the commissioners (R-idiculous) had already decided how to vote before they listened to the public comments. For some reason. Also, David Gray (R-ational) recently told us all in his public comments during the hearing about the Monrovia Town Center approval process that the other commissioners truly did not give a flying pizza crust about what the public had to say. Whaddaya know? The people were right about that all along. Could it possibly be that Bud Otis is sensitive to a need to change this perception?
So now that Bud Otis’s leadership is trying to present a friendlier approach to local governance, predictably the holdovers from the last BOCC are cranky about it.
“When I have an opinion, when I have a point, I’m going to make it,” Delauter said at the meeting.
Yes, we remember that about #Kirbydelauter…it’s kind of his thing.
Otis said he had no plans to push for any changes in the legislative process or schedule regular workshops at this point.
“We have just gotten started,” he said. “You need to see how the process works before you start changing.”
Interestingly, if you have some feedback you’d like to give on how the process works best now that you have this information, using Bud’s type of thinking you would be free to do so. And Bud can keep an open-mind about it until we see how it’s working and if people like it or not. Isn’t that nifty? Somehow, open-mindedness is still a partisan issue where we have the Democrats lining up in favor of it and talking about keeping open lines of communication. With Chmelik sensibly demurring it appears that our favorite band, Bud and the Democrats, are still together for the time being.
Quotes taken from the Frederick News Post “County council members at odds on when to debate, vote” from Tuesday, July 28, 2015.
Hello Frederick Local Yokel followers! We took a week off from our poll feature, but now we are ready and raring to go! Here’s the result of our last poll:
You’re all winners! Yes, Mr. Delauter himself not only used his lawn as a toilet, he took to social media to tell others why they should follow suit. Keep it classy #KirbyDelauter!
For this week’s poll we are going to make you work a little. It’s summer and we’ve all gotten a little lazy, so this will be a good chance to wake those brain cells up. In order to participate in this week’s poll you are going to have to put the words you don’t understand into Google Translate like if you live in Montgomery County, or click on the link from which we obtained our information. Happy choosing!
It took a few days, but the entire video of the July 21st hearing is up and running.Watch here.
We had to bail out after two hours and from our previous posts, you can see what we had to say about that. We had been waiting in intense anticipation to see the Council Member comments for ourselves. Let us begin with this gentleman:
Now Mr. Delauter thinks he’s being deep by quoting Theodore Roosevelt. And it’s a popular technique of those who think they are losing their privilege to scramble to the past to try to justify their feelings. However, Mr. Delauter does not leave it at the quote. He goes on to say that people in 1907:
…had more common sense back then on how to run a country.
Oh really! Shall we talk about America in 1907? You know that time before women had the right to vote. When Jim Crow reigned. A time when child labor was the norm. That America? Oh, Mr. Delauter you really are going to have to get with the times.
It is also during this rant in which he proves he is the King of the Slippery Slope argument. He, in all earnest, asks if we should allow people from England to drive on the left side of the road so they can feel at home. Once again, I believe he really misses the point on what this whole discussion has been about.
One more quote before we move on:
The only fear I have is the country is being torn apart and we are all going to be speaking another language.
Then there’s this rude fella:
What?
So Billy of course has many, many complaints. He belabors one of his points about how Jessica discovered that people may not have been so into his English only ordinance. Belabors to the point that Bud feels the need to interject. This fine gentleman’s response:
I am not finished. I will go at my speed and when I am done I am done and I don’t need you to help me.
Wow! Yes, you people are going to sit and listen to all my blubbering and complaining but I am going to sit up here and do absolutely nothing. So there!
Now he’s also upset about Kirby not profiting off the county:
It’s not fair! Our country was founded by people who have jobs. It’s unfair to his spouse, parents and children.
And then to Bud:
The public is seeing a different side of you and I don’t think it’s favorable.
First of all, Billy, I don’t think Jefferson, Franklin, Washington and Adams were bidding on U.S. contracts while forming this new government. But if they had, it would have been a conflict and the newspapers of their time would have torn them apart for it. And secondly, we happen to like the side of Bud we are seeing. And we admire his restraint in having to deal with someone such as yourself.
With all grace, Bud ignores Billy and goes on to talk about the wonderful Meals on Wheels program we have in this county. Hats off to you Bud.
Last night’s meeting is not yet in the video archives on FCG TV, so the many of us who were unable to tolerate another moment of the nastyfest are not yet able to catch the rest of the train wreck. In the meantime, some thoughts are restlessly flipping around here.
It is obvious that almost none of the people who oppose this repeal or initially favored the language ordinance have ever learned a second language. It does not happen overnight. Many people who are relatively fluent in a second language can spend all day speaking it without needing help, even though it may not be flawless (if you’ve been paying attention to these jokers who love English above all reason, we don’t have to tell you that people who speak English as their first language don’t speak it flawlessly either). That doesn’t mean they have achieved a level of comfort allowing them to use it conducting legal affairs. Those who insist that they assimilate and become good citizens have to admit that this means giving them the tools to do so, not insulting them because they aren’t perfect.
It wouldn’t hurt to admit that this legislation was only passed in the spirit of meanness in the first place. Blaine Young did.
“I believe that it sends a message that we’re not a place that condones or embraces illegal immigration,” Young says.
Newsflash: legal immigrants also speak other languages. It’s a whole process, learning. We’ve said this before, but some don’t seem to get how learning works, so repeat ourselves we will.
Furthermore, places along the border already use dual languages, whether it’s French/English up near Quebec, or to a much greater extent, Spanish/English to our south. Those with a shred of sense will learn the other languages around them, because it is a good business opportunity. All of this talk of assimilation is a bunch of garbage in real life. We will *ALL* be assimilating–immigrants and natural born citizens alike. It’s just a matter of time. History has been through this before. It’s not even vaguely mysterious.
Happy July 4th Chez Nous: frankfurters, pizza, brie, salsa and chocolate. How do you translate this into American? Let’s ask a Wampanoag descendant…
A few notes on linguistics might be illuminating. Our own Germanic language changes all the time. Not a one of us could even understand Old English without a college professor available to translate. Roughly 45% of our English vocabulary–again, a Germanic language–is of French origin. This is largely due to the Norman invasion in 1066. Exactly how far backwards is Frederick County hoping to go? We also have many words in our vocabulary that are taken from Spanish. Lots of them are used all the time, especially for the weather and in ranching. Unlike the French, we don’t have a language academy attempting to replace words like tornado and derecho and rodeo and buckaroo (our Anglo screw up of vaquero). If we’re going to stamp out all of these outside influences and make them conform to us, we’re going to have a lot of studying to do.
Don’t believe us. You try reading Beowulf on your own then (or give a listen).
frederick local yokel 