County Council – Page 3 – frederick local yokel

Drinking games and FNP editorials–Soothsayers or Self-fulfilling prophesies? Take your pick.

December 15, 2015December 15, 2015 fclocalyokel5 Comments

Fellow Yokels we can sum up tonight’s meeting with this:

Everything started out per usual. Billy voted no on the agenda, abstained from some consent items and, for some reason, voted against the appointment of the Chief Information Officer. Kirby started to act up a little bit when the talk turned to developers. He wants to make sure that all you people know that his precious little BOCC did not “give away the farm” to developers. We know Kirby! It was farms with a capital S on the end. Thanks for clearing that up!

Things got about as testy as we’ve seen them during council member comments. It was bad folks, like Civil War bad:

caning — We wonder if Bud thought of doing something like this with his gavel.

First we will start with Kirby. Because, believe it or not, he was the tamer of the two tonight. Right out of the gate, he suggested that we Jiffy Lube the FCPS custodians. Why you may ask? Because the private sector is always better! How many times does Kirby need to tell you idiots that before it sinks in? Then he starts in on Doug. It’s so mysterious that the FNP is only accurate when it prints stories that suit Kirby and Billy’s purposes. Every other time it’s an extension of the left wing media machine.

Next it’s this one’s turn:

Oh, isn't that cute? Billy has learned how to use visual aids. — Oh, isn’t that cute? Billy has learned how to use visual aids.

Billy goes full force into Doug’s character. Now Billy has been waiting a long, long time for this opportunity. Doug has had to put Billy in his place many times over this last year. And old Billy is not above slandering Doug’s character and making accusations based on a case that he will never, ever know the details of. We all know that one of Billy’s strong suits is rambling on about things he knows nothing about. He makes us aware of the fact that since the insurance company “convicted” Doug the council should right now this very second go on a witch hunt to remove him from his position. That’s right, there should be a full investigation into whether or not the County Executive is harboring known insurance company convicts in Winchester Hall. And it’s at this point that we wish we had a mad cat at our disposal.

200w — Here kitty, kitty. Wanna snuggle Uncle Billy?

Isn’t it interesting, folks, how Billy and Kirby are always complaining about how things are politically motivated when the former BOCC’s legislation is overturned? How many times have they moaned and groaned about that? Yet, here we are. One accusation in the newspaper and they are ready to blow up the taxpayers money to open up some kind of investigation so they can get rid of one of Jan’s appointees. Well, Doug is not going to take this lying down.

Doug informs the two gentlemen on the dais that they do not know what they are talking about. (Durh!) Doug goes on to say that these two do not seem to be confined by anything, let alone the truth. (Sing it!) He then goes on to say that he is going to sue them for defamation of character. Now that is a trial that we here at The Yokel would want a front seat to. Bud ends this exchange, because it’s going no where and a county council meeting really isn’t the appropriate venue for this discussion. While the grown up side of us agrees, we would have really liked to see how the rest of this discussion played out.

With Doug out of the line of fire, Billy turns his ire on Bud.

What have we told you about treating Bud this way?

Billy has lots to say. And instead of ending this talk about Doug, he tries to act as though he’s not really talking about him by bringing up the FCC case. Bud throws down his gavel and calls Billy out of order. Billy waahhs, “Isn’t [he] allowed to talk about whatever he wants to during comments?” Is that a real question? The answer to that has to be a resounding: NO. Then the fight begins. In the left corner we have the embarrassment of Frederick County, and in the right, the voice of sanity.

Poor M.C. and Jessica, caught in the crossfire of this hot mess. — Poor M.C. and Jessica. Caught in the crossfire of this hot mess.

Billy questions why the council can’t have their own budget officer. Bud tells them they will. “When”? Billy demands. It will be on the January agenda. And does this guy read anything that is given to him? It gets worse folks. Billy and Kirby put forth a name for the council’s budget director. And we here at The Yokel knew exactly who it was before her name was even mentioned. And we bet you do as well. So these two lap dogs of Blaine decided to name his girlfriend. The same girlfriend with whom Blaine was having an affair while she was his subordinate. But to Kirby this is no big deal at all. He tells Bud that he’s going to have to fire a whole bunch of people in the county because this is going on everywhere. That’s right people it’s all kinds of sexytime in the Frederick County government. Who knew!?

Thankfully Billy’s time is up, but he tries to interrupt Jerry, who in turn yells at him,”I’ve tried sharing a microphone with you before and it’s like sharing a steak with a pitbull!” Bam! Jerry then goes on to thank anyone who will be willing to work with a group as dysfunctional as this council. Everyone else was a grown up this evening. And it’s sad that they don’t often get the recognition they deserve. So we here at the Yokel would like to issue this award:

This evening's honorable mention must go to Jerry Donald for his "Best and Most Truthful Zinger" in snapping that sharing the microphone with Billy is like sharing a steak with a pit bull. — This evening’s honorable mention must go to Jerry Donald for his “Best and Most Truthful Zinger” in snapping that sharing the microphone with Billy is like sharing a steak with a pit bull.

Well done, Jessica. Folks, the only way this is going to get better is if Billy and Kirby are off that dais. There’s no fixing this. There’s just no way.

After tonight we won't be letting our kitties watch anymore council meetings. — After tonight we won’t be letting our kitties watch anymore council meetings.

Notes from the desk of Local Yokel: Dec 1 meeting recap

December 2, 2015 fclocalyokel1 Comment

If you were to be a F.L.Y. on the wall at the fredericklocalyokel last eve, this is what was getting swatted around here. We know we take a little too much care with the side show at the expense of the sensible discussion, but other than the man whose legislation was being voted on, there was a whole lot of talk concentrated in that one arena.

Do consent agenda items usually take this long? No; but if someone in the construction bidness would dig it, voila! This is fascinating stuff, and suddenly government is not just a thorn in your side, but something to hold and caress with tender loving care.

Billy. Always trying to be in “Gotcha! Mode.” Also, Shreve sounds * just like GWB when he does it.

How is a subdivision different than an easement? Is he for real? Oh, and he assumes King George didn’t just give us Pinecliff park. So he’s right about something! Congrats. It came about in the 70’s, apparently, and the sled run was popular back then, “When we regularly got snow in the winter.” But who cares about the environment, right?

Poor Jerry Donald. He is going to have an aneurism trying to make a grown man understand that the properties of liquid are commonly accepted. He doesn’t teach first grade science, does he?

Kirby either has no clue or is deliberately obtuse about the concept of a grandfather clause (or perhaps didn’t read this “ACA like” legislation and will find out what’s in it after it passes…spoiler alert!). LOLs for Jerry telling Kirby he has to introduce his own legislation to make it retroactive.

Kirby: I don’t want to do anything. (Nuff said.)

Why would Kirby want all the emails? He didn’t read anything before he got here (for a duration of decades, possibly). What difference could “all the emails” possibly make?

Preview — Oh, Kirby, you should have all the email. Just read them BEFORE the meeting, mkay?

Fun fact for another #kirbydelauter talking point (people at Yale want free education): Yale is the least likely place to have angst over free education, whether you are in the science department, or not. Know why? At Yale there is 100% tuition guarantee for demonstrated need.

Cheers, Councilman Donald! Everyone does want free beer!

Let’s talk about boat ramps and rafting tours? Do you need a boat ramp to put a raft in the water? We should ask those guys who went on that whitewater adventure with the cooler full of whiskey sours during Hurricane Sandy. Does anyone know…Oh man, did we accidentally elect them to our County Council?

Tony. Tony? Tony!!! He has seen environmental science first hand and just thinks the concerns, which he finds understandable, are being overstated. (That happened! Tip of the Hat for Council Member Chmelik! Tony probably did not get invited out for Fireball shots with the friends after that.)

Tip of the hat to Council Member Chmelik.

Poor Doug Browning. (Disco Doug!) Can you guys imagine if part of your job description involved showing up on a regular basis to be publicly flogged by Billy Shreve? (NO! We are so lucky! We don’t even have to talk to him, ever, if we don’t want to!)

Council comments include a smallish Delauterburst, and Billy chastising everyone for the dysfunctionality of the council after this first year, largely caused by the fact that despite being an incumbent county office holder he (and his like-minded, similarly experienced, and comparably cranky friend) seemed the freshman. Also not helping: Billy tries to impede functioning at every opportunity. Especially if you can make the meeting drag on so long that members of the public go home/tune out.

Happy anniversary, charter government!

Water buffer zones? Not on Kirby’s incremental watch!

December 2, 2015December 2, 2015 fclocalyokel1 Comment

It’s the one year anniversary of the County Council!!! Has it really been a whole year already? Tonight’s anniversary meeting, friends, was….let’s say something to behold. At the very least it’s a prime example of why obtuse people who refuse to read shouldn’t have any political power. The prime offender this evening:

I'll listen to your scientific data as long as it's easy and it's not written by that socialist scum at Yale who dare to dream of free college educations. — I’ll listen to your scientific data, as long as it’s easy and it’s not written by that socialist scum at Yale who dare to dream of free college educations.

It should come as no surprise that Kirby doesn’t want to extend the water buffer zones. If you read our drinking game we practically predicted it. What was surprising was how many times your faithful yokels messaged each other with this line: “OMG, is he really this dumb? ” First off, Kirby, here’s a really easy picture to help you along your journey of figuring this whole bill out:

Kirby either didn’t read the water body buffer bill or doesn’t know what is going on. The bill applies to future properties that are going to be subdivided. Get that? Future properties. Well no, no, no, Your Govern Like A Taxpayer Today Councilman is not going to let you liberal witches tell him how close to the water he’s allowed to build his outhouse. (Just kidding…Kirby is just fine with using the yard). He starts in with some strange rant about Pinecliff Park and the pavilions and how they all need to be ripped out because that’s the only way to get clean water. And, if we are going to get clean water we better do it right. In full schoolteacher mode, Jerry Donald asks Kirby if he would like to introduce a new bill to remove all existing structures that are in the 150 foot water buffer range. To which Kirby replies, ” I don’t want to do anything.” Kirby then insists on “easy to read scientific data” that proves this buffer zone will help clean the water. Well, too bad I didn’t save the water aquifer my son made in kindergarten, because I really think that will help in this case. Because Kirby is not going to listen to any stinking report from those Commie loving Yalies or the Army Corp of Engineers (those libtards). It’s more than obvious that Kirby is on some property rights mission from Donald Trump this evening. We would really like him to really consider what happens when property owners are allowed to do whatever the hell they want to.

Regulations exist for a reason right? If you said yes you must be one of those Democrats. And we all know what Kirby wants to do to Democrats.

Nice Councilman Delauter! — Nice, Councilman Delauter!

Your October 20 drinking game: Libraries, Agriculture and Marijuana oh my!

October 20, 2015 fclocalyokelLeave a comment

And that's not how you read! — And that’s certainly not how you read!

If you had to drink copious amounts of wine to get over this past weekend’s Letters to Editor extravaganza, you may just want to observe this week’s game. What LTE’s ? Well, Blaine’s of course, but that’s par for the course. The one that had us all in a tizzy was the “letter” that waxed nostalgic about the good old days when people formed posses and kicked everyone’s butts. You know, the days of milk and honey when your friendly gun did no harm and certainly way before that devil Obama taught all our sissy children to run and hide from gunfire instead of charging the gun man head on. Man those were the days!

Sorry Snickers! We will try to be better!

If you were blissfully ignorant of all that apologies, apologies! We’ll get on to the game. Grab your agenda, DO NOT call Billy (unless you have something funny to say) and remember this is all in good fun. Click here to watch it live.

Consent agenda looks really interesting. Lots of Billy’s pet causes: Library, Family Partnership, Parks and Rec, Housing and Community Development. Will this all pass without a hitch? Of course not. If Billy tells us to go the now defunct Borders to buy a book or in any way decides to criticize the purchase list of the library slam back a Ernest Hemingway Special.

Next up we have the first reading of an amendment to appeal the Agricultural Rights Transfer Ordinance. If there is any complaining, even a sigh, about overturning another Blaine deal drink some Bitch Juice!

Time for Public Comments! For everyone that decides to complain about the county taking back the nursing home, take a sip of your Zombie, since that’s what that kind of talk makes us feel like.

Whoop Whoop! Council member comments! We hear that Fireballs are popular with some of the members. Therefore, if anything untoward should happen, slam back the Fireball shots at will!

Last item is a hearing about the growth of Medical Cannabis here in Frederick county. So far we seem to be aligned with Billy on this issue. (Not sure if our motives are the same, but hey, we’ll take what we can get!) Also, not sure how the other members feel (looking at you Tony), so if there’s any dissent on giving sick people the relief they need, have a shot of some cannabis vodka.

Tony’s Brave New World. No, wait this sucks!

September 23, 2015 fclocalyokel2 Comments

Why do we keep having to talk about this ?

In this morning’s Frederick News Post we have more evidence of just how important the teaching of history is in our schools. Here’s what County Council member Tony Chmelik has to say about Maryland’s prevailing wage:

Councilman Tony Chmelik said he wants to reverse that change altogether. He said the change was a “political boondoggle” meant to please labor unions.

Deep breaths! Count to 10! Repeat! Seriously folks, if one is not able to see how the labor movement has benefited this country we really, really question that person’s ability to govern our fair county. This whole Republican attack against the labor movement and fair wages is so reminiscent of how rich plantation owners manipulated the poor whites of the South into supporting a system that was against their own economic interests. I think it’s time for a nice Upton Sinclair quote from his book, “The Jungle” about conditions in the meat packing plants in Chicago:

Here was a population, low-class and mostly foreign, hanging always on the verge of starvation, and dependent for its opportunities of life upon the whim of men every bit as brutal and unscrupulous as the old-time slave drivers; under such circumstances immorality was exactly as inevitable, and as prevalent, as it was under the system of chattel slavery. Things that were quite unspeakable went on there in the packing houses all the time, and were taken for granted by everybody; only they did not show, as in the old slavery times, because there was no difference in color between master and slave.

Sound even a little bit familiar to some issues we may be having today? So please Mr. Chmelik do go on about how giving people a living wage is a boondoggle. Please feed us more rhetoric about how labor unions are ruining this country and how rolling back the prevailing wage will solve all our school construction woes.

There couldn't be any reason to set wages could there? Won't corporations just do the right thing on their own? — There couldn’t be any reason to set wages could there? Won’t corporations just do the right thing on their own?

We like our readers to be informed so we want to talk a little about the prevailing wage here in Maryland. It was first enacted in 1945. Yes, that’s right 1945. It’s not a new thing at all. What does change is the numbers. The State now requires that if a public project costs more than $500,000 and they contribute more than 25% of the costs, the county must pay the prevailing wage. In 1999, Prince Georges County asked Mark J. Prus, Associate Professor of Economics at SUNY Cortland to do a cost analysis of the prevailing wage and school construction costs. Read the whole study here, and let us highlight some main points. First of all, why historically do states (Maryland is not the only one) enact prevailing wage laws?:

Prevailing wage laws emerged from a concern that cutthroat competition over wages in construction would lead the industry down a low-wage, low-skill development path. This was said to put the quality of construction at risk and lead to an itinerant, footloose, low-wage construction labor force. Poor construction workers would make poor neighbors and potential burdens on the community. Reasonably paid construction workers, on the other hand, held out the possibility of being solid neighbors, good citizens and productive members of the community. Government, by the operation of prevailing wage laws, was supposed to get out of the business of cutting government costs by cutting the wages of its citizens. Whatever labor standards had been established, whatever wages prevailed in a local community; that is what the law said government should pay on public works.

Hmm, so the goal is to make sure that good work is done, people are skilled and are paid enough to become economic participants in the community in which they live. The horror! So what was the conclusion of this analysis? (We know it’s an older study, but it’s still relevant):

A “here-and-there” linear regression model was developed to estimate the effect of prevailing wage regulations on total construction costs for schools, controlling for other factors. This model controlled for the type of school, the size of the project, and building characteristics. It also controlled for general differences in construction costs between states with and without prevailing wage laws and general differences between the cost of public and private construction (whether or not done under prevailing wage regulations). Controlling for these factors, this model could find no statistically significant impact on total construction costs due to prevailing wage requirements.

In comparison with states that did not have these laws, there was no statistical difference. Now, in the study, it did show that there was an increase for high schools as compared to elementary and middle, mostly because they are bigger and more complicated structures and therefore take longer to build.

We are quite aware that Frederick High’s construction costs are well over the estimate. And yes, some of that cost is due to the fact that in the original estimate this wage increase was not factored in. But that is not a reason to fight the prevailing wage law. We need to have the governor release our funds. And perhaps we need more help from the State in general when it comes to school construction. The answer does not lie in a cheap labor force. It never does.

We will leave you with this nice poster that we got from our Republican Rebel friends:

Board of Education meeting (FYI: our community is awesome)!

September 10, 2015 fclocalyokel1 Comment

publicschool — Psssst…it should have the contraction “it’s” instead of the possessive “its” here. We didn’t make it. Education matters, evidently!

We were afraid that last night’s Board of Education meeting was going to turn into an ugly us vs. them shame fest.( If you want to watch the meeting, click here to get to FCPS’s TV channel). Thankfully, we were all so very wrong. First off let’s give an old yokel tip of the hat to Board of Education President Brad Young for setting the tone of last night’s meeting:

There has been a misrepresentation that this is an either/or situation. I don’t want to see this as one vs. the other. Both schools are needed.

This entire board 150% agrees that both schools are needed.

Just for you Mr. Young. Thank you for setting the tone for what could have been a very contentious meeting.

County Executive Jan Gardner also spoke:

We need to advocate together for our community’s needs. We are all in it together.

The Frederick News Post also reported that the speakers also kept that tone of togetherness. At the end of the meeting, it was reported, that the PTA Presidents exchanged contact information. Way to go ladies!

Brad Young, and others, have told us the main reason that we have these money problems is due to the prevailing wage. Back in 2014, the State passed a law that if they provided more than 50% of the school construction bill, wages need to be set at a certain level. This is why Frederick High’s costs have skyrocketed and also why these construction projects are in jeopardy. Now, before anyone villianizes the prevailing wage, let’s all remember to look at the big picture. We have a huge problem in this country of good folks working hard and not having enough money to pay their bills. If the prevailing wage measure helps with that, then it’s a good thing. We need to find a way to pay people well and get what our school system needs to educate our children properly.

So what can we do?

As we reported yesterday, we can petition Governor Hogan to release some of the education funds that he’s been holding on to. Click here to get to the petition.

Jan said she is going to work on raising the impact and school development fees so the developers pick up their fair share of the price tag. These builders shouldn’t be allowed to come into our county, make huge profits, and then leave us with clogged roads and overcrowded schools. When her bill comes to the county council, make sure they hear your voice. We suspect there may be, umm let’s see, at least three people who will be against this.

Email, call or visit our state and local officials. Here’s a nice list of all of them. Make sure they know how you feel about school funding in our county. Because……..

Follow up en retard (no that’s not an offensive term, cultural purists)

July 22, 2015 fclocalyokelLeave a comment

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. Which is American? Let's ask a Wampanoag... — 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).

The water vapors are weighing the council down

June 16, 2015 fclocalyokelLeave a comment

I do declare the humidity must be affecting some members of our esteemed county council. Tis the time of year when it is common to fall out from the stickiness that surrounds us like mud on a hog. Mr. Shreve in particular was a tad testier than usual. Makes us want to pull him under the shade of an old Magnolia that our great grand pappy planted back in 1907 and give him a good talking to. Alas, what difference would it really make?

Our first point of bewilderment with Mr. Shreve is this:

Why every week, before the pledge, does he do this? And notice he’s the only one. Does he not want to face the public? Does he worship at the altar of the American flag? What in a donkey’s backside is the meaning of this?

Now particular to this week, Billy goes right in for the no when voting on whether or not to approve the consent agenda. On the consent agenda this week were various budget transfers for departments such as: The Child Advocacy Center, Agricultural Preservation, Housing and Community Services, Planning and Development, Fire and Rescue and Community Development. His particular beef, from what we could tell since we cannot fathom getting in that head of his, was he was really bitter about the council not approving Trout Run and still not getting his budget liaison. Logic of course dictates that he then mess with everyone else’s budget. Thankfully, Billy has no one else on board with his interesting style of governance and all budget transfers were passed 6-1.

Moving on to the approval of minutes for the last three meetings. A unanimous vote! Still Billy cannot bring himself to say Aye. Must be that oppositional disorder rearing its ugly head again. A note to be made about Kirby. He did not seem to want to turn on his microphone this evening. We later discover it’s working just fine. But through all the votes we can barely hear his little “aye”. What’s up with that?

On to everyone’s favorite commission: Ethics. A motion is put forth to appoint four new members. Of course Billy isn’t going to let this go without making some kind of declaration. “It’s sad that 3 of the 5 members of the ethics commission resigned and we are in this position.” Really, really sad.

6-1 approved! Even Kirby. Billy seems to be losing all his playmates. On to Jessica and M.C.’s bill to repeal the English only ordinance. We heard some nonsense earlier in the week about Billy going on WFMD and saying this:

“You either have to stay all English or not all English. And as soon as you open up yourself, you have to provide absolutely everything. If you have someone from the jungle of Brazil from some tribe of 20 people, and they come in and want a document translated, you have to be able to translate it for them.”

With great poise Councilwoman Fitzwater introduced the bill and we know, just know he’s going to say something and of course he does! He insisted that we don’t have to throw out old Blainey boy’s ordinance, we can just modify it. Jessica then snaps at him (Oh the humidity, but how can we blame her? I mean really.). If you have something in writing, she quipped, you can share it with me. Right now all we are doing is reading the bill. Properly chastised he shuts the microphone down.

The next order of business is something we have wanted to see happen for quite sometime. We here at the Local Yokel love our festivals. The 4th of July, In the Streets, special events at Rose Hill Manor count us in! What we do not love is seeing the mountains of trash that are full of recyclables. Our fair State passed a law requiring that all counties pass ordinances that require event organizers, within certain parameters, to provide recycling. Yay!!! Now keep in mind THIS HAS TO HAPPEN! It is a State law and Frederick County must comply. The Department of Solid Waste Management presented a lot of information to the council. And they underlined the fact that THIS HAS TO HAPPEN. Well, looky over to the left, who is going to make this difficult? That’s right Billy. He tries to make the poor solid waste people give him an estimate as to how much recyclables would be generated at a picnic or a soccer tournament. And these poor souls. Silence falls and then a response of, “There is really no way we can estimate that.” He then wants to know what private companies charge to haul this stuff away. They don’t know. His point, I suppose, is that he thinks this will put an unfair burden on people. But hey, this isn’t for little outings. It’s for events that are expecting over 200 people and take place on public property. Why can’t this man see the big picture on this or anything else for that matter? Thankfully passed 6-1.

Next oddity on the agenda. Kirby wants a lobbyist. What for? To send to Annapolis, because according to him we are missing out on millions of dollars that are either sitting in some secret bunker or being distributed to other counties. Bud rightfully asks if this is not the job of our elected delegates and state senators. Aren’t they not the ones elected to bring back money to the county? And if Kirby’s contention, for which he has no proof, is correct, then we have a problem. It was agreed that they would meet with the delegation to see if they were in fact missing out on this secret stash of cash.

It was within this conversation that our good buddy Bud almost gave us a fainting spell. He called Kirby Congressman Delauter! And oh my stars do not even joke about such a thing Bud! He quickly and quite loudly added: “Sorry about that”! Wouldn’t we all be sorry indeed?

Hey folks our county is in The Washington Post! Oh wait, it’s about Kirby. :(

May 29, 2015May 29, 2015 fclocalyokelLeave a comment

Who is responsible for Frederick County government's latest spiral of shame? — Who is responsible for Frederick County government’s latest spiral of shame?

We have to wonder if Kirby and Billy set up a schedule of which one of them is going to embarrass the county each week. On Sunday afternoons do they sit down with their Champibbles and Fireball shots and decide whose turn it is? Can you picture it? We certainly can:

Kirby:” Well, Buddy you did go on the radio and claim that everyone in the county calls you when their loved ones have a drug problem.”

Billy: “True enough, but let’s not forget you submitted an unbalanced budget to the dictator in hopes that she would consider it.”

Kirby: “Yeah, that was a doozy, but you’ve refused to vote on budget issues or follow Robert’s Rules of Orders.”

Billy: “True that! But I can’t think of anything new to do this week, so can you help a brother out?”

Kirby: “10-4. I’ll think of something good. Why do you think Bud and Tony don’t attend our little get togethers”?

So Kirby it was. And we all know the story of the ethics decision, the WFMD interview and of course the contentious council meetings. But guess what?! Now everyone else does as well! This morning The Washington Post ran a little story about our most esteemed council man’s latest behavior. A paper with a circulation of over 400,000 and a website with over 50 million readers. GREAT!

He refused to be interviewed for said piece but we did get this nice little quote.

“I haven’t bid county work in four years, but I think I should have that option like everyone else,” Delauter said.

And now we are going to have to read this book:

How can we keep doing this week after week? Are Kirby and Billy ever going to get it together? Kirby brought us all a little bit of infamy back in January with his “suing the newspaper for using my name antics” and we really hoped he learned to tone it down. But no, now he’s a celebrity and not in a good way. Therefore, everything he does is going to be considered newsworthy. So until he’s finally taken his leave of the council we suspect we are going to have many more national embarrassments to endure. So Salut Billy and Kirby, this one’s for you!

This Bud’s for the people!

May 28, 2015 fclocalyokelLeave a comment

Great Falcon-Headed Horus!

Are we still talking about this (it's never going to end, is it)? — Are we still talking about this (it’s never going to end, is it)?

At this point it feels like we’re beating a dead horse with all the coverage of our new favorite band, Bud and the Democrats, as they rock out on their Government of, by and for the People Tour. Since the FNP is covering it today, when in Rome and all that jazz.

Bud Otis’s predilection for distancing himself from a few lippy jerks is not the same thing as distancing himself from the entire local Republican party, but some of the people interviewed for this article aren’t getting that point. County Executive Jan Gardner got elected with the support of a group called Republicans for Jan Gardner, proving the County Council President who ran for an At-Large seat’s voting habits may align with a number of other Republicans in Frederick County. Beyond that, to have won an At-Large seat indicates that Mr. Otis appealed to and represents some Democrats as well.

With any luck they will pay no mind, and the remaining at large council seat will allow the band to take in new members in the next election cycle.

Saying it again for the sake of an engaged electorate, if you like your Bud, email him and let him know! You can find his county council page here, links to email in the sidebar.

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