Tag: Billy Shreve

Workshop Livable Frederick: Kirby is better than Billy

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Mr. Horne and friends came to visit the Council yesterday to discuss the comprehensive plan and the new approach under County Executive Jan Gardner. The plan needs revamping after changes to zoning in 2012. You may remember that a steering committee was established and the County put out a survey that solicited feedback from residents and the panel said that they felt very pleased with the rate of response and diversity of views represented in the information they have collected. This included 15,000 comments and responses to open-ended survey questions.

Good points were made, such as the need to be more proactive with planning for future growth, as we have been reactive in the past. Special concerns included anticipating a fairly dramatic increase in our aging population and preparing for future transportation policy needs.

Stupid points were made, too, and you get two guesses as to who made them. First one doesn’t count! Just as quick as they concluded, Billy had questions. His questions always seem to be of an I didn’t really understand what was going on just now, so I’m going to pick an argument over something trivial to make myself seem involved nature. Billy wants to know why the title is Livable Frederick when it is really the comprehensive plan. This went on in a hostile tone and for far longer than good manners allow. Namaste to the gentleman who seized upon the teachable analogy. Internal monologue something like:

I wonder what this guy already knows about that I can relate this concept to? Oooh. This is gonna be difficult. Not seltzer. That’s elitist like arugula. Aha! Big Gulp! He worked at 7-11. It says so in his bio. Thank goodness I did my research and knew to expect these hard hitting questions at a county workshop…

“It’s like…Coca-Cola. They don’t have to tell you it is a sweetened carbonated beverage, because people understand that.”

 

But, instead we have Billy.

You just made yourself look stupid!

We have no complaints about Kirby, for a change. He has to float criticism. It’s his way. But, thank goodness it was respectful and rant-free. In fact, we have been mulling over the several ways in which Kirby is actually better than Billy. For another day.

Shrelauter and the Sheriff were wrong? Volume: Elevenbillionity: Human Trafficking edition!

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More importantly you have annoyed us!

In this month’s edition of Baltimore Magazine there is a very interesting and horrifying article about the human trafficking problem in Maryland. Did y’all know that Maryland ranks fourth in the nation when it comes to human trafficking victims!?!? Also, this article points out that most human trafficking victims are: 1. U.S. Citizens and 2. Under the age of 17. The only failing of this article is that it left Frederick County off the list of Maryland counties that have formed a Human Trafficking Task Force.

We feel the need, at this point, to take a trip down memory lane to revisit the process that created this task force. First, kudos to Jessica Fitzwater for spearheading its creation and to Frederick Police Chief Hargis for recognizing the need for county services to be coordinated to help these victims.

What’s the opposite of kudos? Condemnation? Dishonor? Disregard? Because that is what Billy Shreve, Kirby Delauter and Sheriff Jenkins all deserve for being against this. Let’s first go back to our June 29, 2016 post when Billy said this about the task force:

“Billy then says that there are lots of groups both for and against this issue, at which point we have to feel so grateful to Jerry Donald for saying (in the appropriate appalled voice) what we were shouting at our screens, “THERE ARE GROUPS THAT ARE FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING?!?!?!?!?!” To which Billy mutters, “Well yah…depending on how you define human trafficking…” Good grief. The Confederacy lost, right? That passes 5-2 and we know you know which marionettes didn’t vote for that, right?”

Yes, you read that correctly, Billy said there are groups in favor of human trafficking. So, both he and Kirby voted AGAINST the creation of this task force. All this happened not too long after their buddy, Blaine, was arrested after using backpage.com to find his “masseuse” ( a website idenifited by the Baltimore Magazine article as being the Craigslist of human traffickers).

Let us not forget that Chief Hargis’ polar opposite, the High Sheriff, also spoke out against the creation of this task force. According to the FNP article covering this meeting Jenkins was quoted as follows:

“I’m always leery when the local government gets involved in something that really is not a local government issue. This is a national, regional issue and law enforcement at all levels are working on it. There are already state task forces, federal task forces,” Jenkins said.

He said his main concern is that he doesn’t want the task force’s work to veer into areas already being addressed.

“I don’t want to see it become a recommendation or a mandate for law enforcement to do certain things or [for the task force to] make recommendations that are unrealistic,” he said.

So, if human trafficking occurs in Frederick County, which it most certainly does, is it not a local issue?  So very confused as to why the Frederick City Police recognize the need for such a task force but our county sheriff does not!

 

If you missed the June meeting on this, it is worth watching, because you would hear all of the heart wrenching arguments for why this is necessary. You will also get to see good law enforcement at work when the Frederick Police department explains how they need additional resources to help people that they suspect are victims of human trafficking. Also, two of your Lady Yokels attended a lecture at FCC last year given by an actual human trafficking victim, please read our reaction to that here. Let us all remember, come next year’s election, what these guys stood for. Rumors are swirling that Billy has his eye on the Maryland Senate and Kirby on the County Executive office. Their voting record and words more than speak for themselves.

Who is the flip-floppiest of the flip-floppers?

fclocalyokel4 Comments
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Sorry Mitt, there’s  a new Sheriff in town!

We here at the Yokel headquarters value the past. You can acquire so much insight by  studying the choices made by those who came before us.  It’s also super enlightening to look back on an individual’s history. There are times when the change an individual makes, in let’s say 10 years time, can be startling.

Way back in the FNP’s archives, we found a fun little article from 2006 about Billy entering the political scene. It is chock full of good stuff, so make sure you read the whole thing, while we point out some of the juicier bits.

You may remember, back in December 2016, there was a ground breaking ceremony at 520 North Market Street for low to mid-income housing. C.Paul Smith wrote a nasty letter to three members of the council, that we picked apart here, in which he so eloquently stated:

“Those who don’t understand market and economic forces should avoid involving themselves in economic development projects.”

When it came to the vote on what to do with this property the vote count went something like this:

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So, Billy voted against the findings of the County Executive and then abstained on the selling of said property for $1.6 million! Despite the fact that C. Paul Smith told us that there were NO buyers for said property. For those who don’t remember, this property is being developed with teachers, police officers and other first-responders in mind. Fifty-nine units will be set aside exclusively for those who make less that $60,000 a year. Wait a minute, what say you 2006 Billy?

“Billy wants to introduce legislation giving preference in the moderate income housing program to school teachers, firefighters and police officers who are having trouble finding houses they can afford.” (FNP, March 22, 2006)

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Oh, we hear it loud and clear!

Wow! What the heck happened!? Oh, that’s right, a Democrat proposed it. Therefore, there’s no way in Poseidan’s blue seas that Billy could support it! Even if, at one point, he was all for it!

You may recall, that over the last couple of years, Shrelauter has thrown a lot of fits when Jessica and Jerry vote on the budget. Since said budget gives FCPS some of their money, but does not control or dictate how that money is spent, they are corrupt money grabbers. Not that anyone with a brain doesn’t see what their objections are really about.  A lame attempt, to be able to control and no doubt further strip, FCPS’ budget. Well, let’s pull this out as a refresher before we move on:

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We are going to have to make a new one of these for Billy!

Last week, there was a rezone application brought forth by the developer Natelli. Now, if the rule exists that if you have in any way, shape or form benefited directly, or indirectly from a vote made upon said council, then why didn’t Billy recuse himself?

“Billy has been selling commercial real estate with Tony Checchia at the Frederick Land Co. and also peddles houses and townhouses for Natelli Communities, which is developing a mini-metropolis in Urbana.” (Frederick News Post, March 22, 2006)

Well, well, well that seems looks a straight line from Natelli to Billy’s pocket !!! According to his county council bio, real estate is still listed as his profession. When is the last time Billy sold a Natelli property ? That should be something Billy should be able to answer rather quickly. Because if he has profited from the Urbana development anytime during his tenure on the BOCC OR the Frederick County Council, he needs to disclose that. If voting on a zoning change on a development from which he has profited isn’t a conflict of interest, we are not sure what is!

Happy to sad in less than 60 minutes -Your Yokel breakdown of the second half of last night’s meeting.

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The first part of our reconvened meeting is beautiful. The ever diplomatic and articulate Rick Harcum explains the bill that is up for a public hearing this evening. You see folks, back in 2010 the BOCC re-allocated the Recordation tax fees from agricultural preservation, parks and school management and put it into the General Fund. At that time, they added a Sunset Provision that said this would all end in five years time. Mr. Harcum praised this act as one was necessary in lean financial times, and as a result of having a Sunset Provision, also recognized that times wouldn’t always be tough.

Fast forward to 2014, the BOCC amended this bill to deter funds from the nursing home to the General Fund and according to the county attorney, wiped clean everything in the 2010 bill,including the Sunset Provision. This proposed bill will re-allocate those funds back into agricultural preservation, parks and the schools. Jerry later remarks in his council member comments, that he believes that all this was done so the BOCC could say they achieved the constant yield. The people who came to speak were in favor of re-allocating the money back. The only naysayer was Tony. He implied that Mr. Harcum was being dishonest in his characterization of these funds as since they were placed in the General Fund they could be allocated to parks, agricultural preservation, and schools if the County Executive so wished. Mr. Harcum then replied that puts them in competition with everything else in the budget.To which Tony still says is misleading. I think we all know that when money is specifically mandated for a purpose in the budget then we recognize as a community, how important that purpose is to us. But kudos Tony for trying to muddy an issue that was crystal clear.

Now it’s time for the sad time of the meeting…council member comments.

Lots of head shaking from Kirby tonight. It’s his Night O’ Apologies! He wants us all to recognize how sad it is to be in business in Frederick County. He tells the sad tale of a business owner in New Market,  salt of the Earth people, who after 27 years of selling mulch and top soil are having their lives ruined by the county. Just like the wedding venues and Mr. Natelli. RUINED. He also laments the fact that for the past 7 months or so the county hasn’t been able to find someone to fill the empty Emergency Management Position. “Everyday”, says Kirby, “things get worse and worse around here.”

Billy claims that there are billboards throughout Coal Country PA that state: “Thank you Frederick County for voting against Solar!”. We think this is probably a huge lie, but hey snap a pic Billy so we can see the evidence. We’ll admit it if we are wrong! If it is true, then the billboard owners have been misled as the solar bill has been tabled pending amendments. Billy also laments the sad state of affairs that business owners have to put up with in this county. He’s also sure that Bud is corrupt because he won’t fall into any of Billy’s question traps.

Jessica,after saying some nice things about the Girl Scouts and county staff, lists all the ways Frederick County has been friendly to business. Namely:

  1. The AstraZeneca deal
  2. Tax credit for manufacturers
  3. Small business tax credit

She also reminds Billy that we have not voted against solar power. Which is a curious thing for him to be confused about.

M.C. has to spend her time refuting the bookends. Says she would rather find the right person to fill the Emergency Management Services position then to just hire the first person off the street.  And that New Market business that Kirby is claiming the county has ruined?  Well, a neighbor of theirs filed a complaint with the county since they have been  operating outside of proper zoning. And when the county receives a complaint, they have to investigate and uphold county law. M.C. says that the county is looking for ways to work with the business. So perhaps things aren’t as dire as Mr. Negative would lead us to believe.  She also reminds us to lock our cars, as the police say most car thefts are a result of unlocked vehicles.

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A Shrelauter paradise!

M.C. ends her comments reminding the naysayers to respect their fellow council members. She gently tells them they we all spend a lot of time working on these issues and to disparage people just because they come to a different conclusion just isn’t right. While we agree with you M.C., we don’t see that happening from that bunch any time in the near future.

 

 

Let’s Yokelsplain how very bad the meeting went this evening!

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Right now our collective blood pressure is through the G.D. roof. If you were following our Facebook updates of tonight’s meeting, you would have seen that things were NOT going well.  Because of our collective parenting duties, we were not able to turn in until around 5:30, about thirty minutes in. The hour that we were tuned in for caused this Lady Yokel to have to pour a glass of wine.

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Not sure if this is big enough, but it’s a start!

So we joined the discussion about whether or not the application for the Urbana rezone should pass. Now, we did not hear some of the comments before 5:30, however, at some point Jessica used the word challenging.  The main problem some of the council members have is with the word contiguous as it applies to this property and the opinion that this motion should have been three separate applications instead of the one.

Billy, who was absent from the second hearing of this issue mind you, is trying, in his most condescending voice, to explain some things. He used the word “challenging” every time he got a chance just to try to stick it to Ms. Fitzwater.  Had the nerve to say that if this was “too challenging” for them to figure out then how would they construct a 20 year comprehensive plan? Went on rant after rant about how this council never does anything, he can’t get questions answered blah blah blah. It was horrible.  He even goes after the legal staff, deriding all their fancy law degrees since they can’t answer his leading, dishonest questions. And hey there Urbana parents, Billy claims y’all are just fine with the overcrowding in your district. Tis not an issue! Billy also tried to goad Bud into explaining his reasoning. To which Bud states, “I am not responding to any of your inquires.” You know what is challenging Billy? Having to listen to you!

Kirby, who was quiet for a very long time, tells us that the reason he is being so quiet is that if he said what he really thought he would be kicked out of the room. But please don’t confuse his silence for him not standing up for what he believes in!  That’s right folks, just because his fellow council members had a difference of opinion concerning some aspects on how this application was brought forth Kirby has to muster up all the stoicism he can to contain his rightful outrage!  How very brave of him! He does eventually succumb to his baser nature and calls his fellow council members corrupt! Billy then echos: Yeah corrupt!!!

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Wouldn’t be the first time!!!

To this Jerry cannot not keep quiet!! Nor should he!! We are all sick and tired and sick and tired of fools throwing out accusations without any proof. So our hero of the evening, the esteemed Mr. Donald, tells the idiots to define what exactly is corrupt. Because all he sees is people trying to make decisions based on their understanding of the law! He tells them to “back it up or stop talking!”

We then hear:

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Tony’s motion is voted down. M.C. puts forth a new motion stating why she’s against the application in its current form. States that she would like it to be resubmitted in three separate applications. It is at this point that we must address Tony’s behavior and tone this evening. He’s very upset that this application isn’t going to get approved and tries time and time again to pin M.C. in a corner. He calls her motion “convoluted” and says that the last time she made a motion it landed them in court. Real mature, huh? We think that Tony is really used to getting his way, so when someone challenges him he doesn’t know how to handle it in any kind of constructive manner. Kinda like the bookends. Great job Mr. Chmelik, you are now officially one of them.

We are going to have to watch the second half, which reconvened at 7:00, tomorrow. Those three have put us over the edge tonight.

A child’s view of rezoning applications

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We’ve been trying to follow this riveting rezoning application discussion (from yesterday) and the cross examination process. None of us live in Urbana, so while we sympathize BIGLIG with the concerns about adequate public facilities and overdevelopment, it has been difficult to stay awake.

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What we know is that 75 townhouses and 700 age restricted units and maybe an assisted living facility, too, plus some additional market place development are part of this rezoning application–and the estimated figures are that this will add 30 elementary school, 10 middle school, and 11 high school students.

To liven this up as best we can, we will tell you what observations were made by the children who were innocent bystanders during the viewing of this event.

  • They’re talking about bonds! We just learned about that at school! (ok, that was really during the first half, but how often do you hear a child get excited about a bond proposal?)
  • Wait, he doesn’t vote for the minutes. Why not?????
  • Look at Billy and Kirby! They are all slouched in their chairs!
  • Do you like her? She seems smart.
  • Do you like the younger lady? She seems smart, too.
  • What is he (Billy Shreve) playing with? Does he have yarn?
  • Why does that man with the sweater always have his hands on his face? Do you think he’s just really tired?
  • Ohmygosh! He (Billy Shreve) is such a BUTT!!!
  • How long do these last??????

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Mark Jafari gets our award tonight for asking good questions, especially the one about having the age restricted community and the high school traffic all concentrated in the same area. Like most good questions, the answer was something like, “Well, we deal with that kind of thing at a later phase.”

Wait up guys! Billy can’t keep up!

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First half of the meeting clocked in at just under an hour! Billy really had a lot of trouble tonight. Did his usual idocracy, abstaining on agendas and voting against minutes. He had a lot of trouble during his questioning of the finance people during the reassignment of bond talk. First, his gotcha question about Montevue/Citizens backfired. Then he misunderstood the dates of the bond repayment. Finally, he wanted an explanation on why the County Executive would have the power to buy and sell bonds. After some very good reasons, mainly boiled down to the fact that the CE can move more quickly in volatile bond markets, he capitulated and the motion was passed 7-0. It’s become more and more evident that Billy just can’t keep up!

Tony is rescinding his dueling tasting room bill…for now. He complained about how the County Executive wouldn’t tell him what she had in her bill. In fact, he had many, many words for the County Executive:

“It would be nice if the Executive would work with this council member”.

Huh, we remember a few weeks back when an email landed in the ole Yokel inbox. We were made aware that Tony was having a meeting with local winery and distillers. And guess who was not invited?! Anyone else from the county! In fact, we were told that when a county staff meeting caught wind of this “secret” meeting they were shut out! So, Tony can act the victim all he wants, but he hasn’t exactly been open with his bill either.

Billy ends this discussion by yelling that Bud could rescind the County Executive’s bill, but everyone ignores him. Which may be the best strategy.

Small business real property tax bill is passed 7-0. Not before Billy pipes up though! He just wants to let us all know that this bill should be for ALL small business owners regardless of how large they are and shouldn’t include any wage requirements. Well, we remember, from readings one and two, that these requirements were necessary because of Maryland law. Now, if we remember hearing that fact, shouldn’t Billy? I mean really. Stay tuned for our report on the Urbana public hearing.

 

Let’s bond authorize those bills into a public hearing! Your February 21st drinking extravaganza!

fclocalyokel3 Comments

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Sprinkles looks like he means business!
LOOONG agenda tonight! With this much on the the docket there’s little chance of emerging unscathed. You must really use your best judgment on which parts to follow or you are in extreme danger of sounding like Kirby does when he’s beating his dead horses all over the Facebook. Grab your agenda, click on over to Frederick’s best reality TV station, and get ready for your local government in action!

Every time Billy says YES before speaking, an annoying little habit he possesses, slam back your favorite shot. Think of this as free drink time!

All the budget adjustments, agenda and minute approvals and approval of County Executive appointments have become all so, YAWN!, boring to us. Just let your eyes glaze over a bit as Billy refuses to approve the minutes. Remember people, he’s bravely taking a stand against something  nothing!

Finance hero Lori Depies is asking for the council to reauthorize some bonds. She’s always so brave and calm in having to mire through the nonsense that is Shrelauter. If they give her any grief, ask any irrelevant questions or use this as an attempt to grandstand slam back a couple of Bad Hombres. They were the ones Trump was speaking of, right?

We have four first readings of bills and what in Zeus’ daylight is this?

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We appear to have dueling tasting room bills!!! Who will win the showdown, tis too early to tell. Knock back a couple of Dueling Banjos in honor of the show that will be laid before us. But hey, at least Tony is introducing some bills which is a lot more than we can say for the bookends.

Third and final reading on the Small Business Real Property Tax Credit. We’ve discussed, during readings one and two, how our friendly businessmen should be all on board with this. We predict not, since it’s their job to obstruct, not make things better. When this predictability ensues sip on your Slap In The Face. You know you want to!

Break Time! If it isn’t close to 7:00, Billy will complain and moan and nobody will care! Just smile at his childish antics and have a sip or two of your Raging Bitch. 

At 7:00 we reconvene for the Urbana Rezoning application. We talked a little of this when it came up at last week’s workshop. We predict we will see lots of friends of the Yokel up at the podium this evening. This is probably going to be a long hearing, so pace yourself with your favorite bottle of wine.

Council member comments AKA Where everything goes to hell in a hand-basket!  Let’s take a look into our crystal balls and see if we can make some predictions:

  1. Kirby will dead horse beat the issue of Jessica and Jerry voting on the budget.
  2. Kirby will say Jan’s unethical because she wasn’t on board with Hough’s unvetted, last- minute ethics bill. He’ll pull out some donations that Jan received that “proves” she’s a criminal. But hey, don’t forget what we found.
  3. Billy wants to have a whole entire workshop on why he can’t Skype into closed meetings.
  4. Someone will say Jan is grabbing all the land up.
  5. M.C. and Jessica will be forced to use their time to real time fact check Shrelauter.

Hashtag humblebrag and other local loco

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Have you asked yourselves what the local locos are up to lately? Are you sure you even want to know? Spoiler alert: probably not!

Oh you complete bumbling fool. This was not your shining moment, just like your idiot president.
Oh you complete, bumbling fool (but thank you, yet again, for proving it on Facebook). It’s kind of weird that you didn’t notice that this episode was not your shining moment, but having failed to realize what that was all about, it is less shocking that you failed to notice what the rest of us–even on Fox news–did about yesterday’s circus.

Today Kirby is posting on his page about how he attacked the media and afterward was trending higher than Kanye. Head, meet desk. WHAM. Would Councilman Delauter like to recall a couple of things? When this occurred, he was getting schooled for his First Amendment failure by the national media. Remember that time Snoop diagnosed Kanye (need we spell out that Snoop Dogg live reporting Kanye’s mental break is NSFW?) and it was the funniest thing evah! Wouldn’t we love to hear him weigh in on this situation…Councilman Delauter may also want to check himself, considering the fact that Kanye is also never trending for doing something right!

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Look! It’s Yeezus on a Cracker!

Speaking of delusional dolts on Facebook, there’s also this gem from Shrelauter’s other half:

Yes, all the media opportunities are surely drying up as Watergate Part Treason plays out before us. Once again with the not knowing any history and the repeating variations on themes.
Yes, all the media opportunities are surely drying up as Watergate Part Treason plays out before us. Once again with the not knowing any history and the repeating variations on themes.

 

 

#Adaywithoutanincompoop-It’s poll time!

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In case you haven’t heard, today was a day without an immigrant. Immigrants from all over the country stayed home from work and school to show us what the country would look like without their contributions. The FNP did a story about Sardis, an immigrant-owned local restaurant, who in a show of solidarity, closed their doors for the day. This day was in reaction to Donald Trump’s travel ban, which is  thankfully on it’s way to the shredder thanks to the one branch of our government that is still functioning properly.

As our faithful readers know, we like to keep an eye on what our local politicians are up to. What do you think our esteemed At-Large (but not in the right sense of the word) Billy Shreve has to say about shining the light on the contributions of immigrants in our society? You can be sure it ain’t good!

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Look at who likey liked! And didn’t Billy say we were closed for business in Frederick County?
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Music to our ears!

We need to have a Day Without a Nincompoop! With all the horrible national news, we really need a break from our local circus show for just one day! Let’s make it happen! Which one of these destinations should we send our local noise makers to so we can have a day of peace?