Jessica Fitzwater – Page 7 – frederick local yokel

What a week it’s been!!!

April 22, 2016April 22, 2016 fclocalyokel1 Comment

So much has happened this past week in Ye Olde Fredericktowne that your friendly Yokels have decided to do a weekly roundup. Let’s start with the County Council and happy budget fun time.

We’ve written two posts this week about budget talk. Read it here and here. However, we were very interested to find this in the Political Notes section of the paper this morning:

County Executive Jan Gardner’s budget announcement last Friday included a new little nugget. Well, five of them.

Gardner said she extended an invitation to all seven Frederick County Council members to talk about the budget, including a list of their priorities. Five members took her up on the offer: Democrats Jerry Donald, M.C. Keegan-Ayer and Jessica Fitzwater and Republicans Bud Otis and Tony Chmelik.

Gardner said she couldn’t meet all of their requests, but each was considered in her proposal.

Councilmen Billy Shreve and Kirby Delauter, also Republicans, didn’t take Gardner up on the offer, apparently.

It seems they have other plans.

Shreve, who is still upset the council doesn’t have a dedicated budget officer, gave handouts to his colleagues, showing that they are the only council in the state without such help. Nevertheless, Shreve said he was going to dig into the numbers.

“I’m going to work on this budget. Look at it. See if we can make some changes,” he said Tuesday. One major change he pitched included scrapping a plan to keep the county’s property tax rate steady — which will yield increased revenue — and instead lower the rate and cut spending.

“The easiest solution … is if you have the same amount of revenue as you did last year, you adopt the same budget you did last year,” Shreve said.

Kirby and Billy are fine sitting on the couch thank you very much!

So not only are they refusing the County Executive’s invitation to come discuss the budget, which really is a dereliction of their duty, but Billy is all fine and dandy with keeping everything the same. Why should we strive to improve? A real brain stumper!

Next on our wrap up is Sheriff Jenkins. As we are sure you all know our Sheriff testified in front of Congress this week about illegal immigration. Last night, Sean Hannity had the Sheriff and two other guests on for four minutes of the most exquisite fear mongering we have ever seen.

Look, we here at the Yokel do not want anyone, be it citizens, immigrants, or illegal immigrants, committing crimes. And if someone had hurt our kids, we cannot say that we wouldn’t feel the same way that poor woman who testified with the Sheriff does. However, this kind of sensational talk does nothing to bring about meaningful immigration change. What it does do is incite fear and discrimination against the Latino community. Not one of us wants criminals running around our community. Building a wall is not a realistic solution towards that goal. Also, it is a known truth that huge numbers of “illegals” arrive by plane and overstay an expired, once-valid visa, so wasteful government spending on a stupid wall is stupid and wasteful. But now we totally get why Fox News watchers are so angry and paranoid all the time. Jeeze O’Flip that channel! And we also didn’t realize how scary a place Frederick is to live, the internets must be wrong about us.

Who exactly is the beast in this scenario Gaston? — Who exactly is the beast in this scenario, Gaston?

Last on our roundup: You may have heard that a certain Presidential Contender was in town yesterday. Another nugget from the Political Notes section was this:

Apparently, that relationship stuck. Ahead of Cruz’s rally on Thursday, Hough picked Afzali to pick up the candidate from the airport. And if Cruz’s camp was impressed with Folden’s driving skills, they may have had a different review of the Afzali Cab Service. “My husband went slow, because I needed to talk to Ted,” Afzali said. “We had a lot to talk about.”

If Cruz wasn't so terrible we might have felt sorry for him. But since he is, we laughed and laughed. — If Cruz wasn’t so terrible we might have felt sorry for him. But since he is, we laughed and laughed.

If you missed our tweets about his speech head on over to @fclocalyokel and take a looky look. The most disturbing story to come out of that mess was the transgender student who was thrown out of rally. You can read the story here. But James, we would be remiss if we did not officially give you a Yokel tip of the hat:

Thank you for having the courage to stand up for what you believe in. Always be proud of who you are!

We really don’t get all this fervor over public bathrooms. Whether you like it or not transgender people have been using public bathrooms for years. And has society crumbled as a result? No! Because nothing bad has happened! You really should be more afraid of former Republican Speakers of the House and U.S. Senators. But if you can’t get past it, Kirby has a solution:

New fun time: Council meeting bingo

April 19, 2016 fclocalyokelLeave a comment

We thought we’d mix it up a little this week. Here’s your agenda. In case you do feel compelled to drink at any point, we’ll recommend you toss back an Alien Secretion and encourage Xenu to scamper on outta here.

Screen Shot 2016-04-18 at 10.41.11 PM — Click on image to open in a separate tab for printing!

Let’s take a break from the hard stuff-Your March 8th drinking game.

March 8, 2016 fclocalyokel2 Comments

Whew! With all of the meetings lately and St. Patrick’s Day coming up,we are going to go with an non-alcoholic version this week. Before you revolt, remember you can always add some Fireball, Vodka or whatever your poison happens to be. We’re just trying to look out for y’all. Grab your agenda and follow along.

This is soooo boring we know. But if Billy abstains from the consent agenda, again, mix yourself up a Banana Bonkers.

The next item is to just change around some dates for the bargaining for the Fire and Rescue union. Our First Responders’ unions are rarely met with the same vitriol that other unions face. But if someone uses this as an opportunity to go all anti-union on us slam back The Ghoul’s Green Drink.

Now it’s time for the public hearing on medical cannabis. We here at the yokel are for this. If there’s any talk about everyone turning into pot heads, sip gently on your Lean Green Smoothie.

All that’s left is public and council member comments. It’s the part of the evening where we usually get into trouble. So if you feel the need to pull out the booze we won’t judge.

Special Alert: Billy wants to hand all county taxing power over to Annapolis delegation!

February 16, 2016 fclocalyokelLeave a comment

Alright, we'll give you two. — Alright, we’ll give you two.

It’s very possible that we’ve broken Billy. Maybe it was those long, cold, lonely walks from the Church Street parking garage. Or perhaps, it was the endless scratching upon the windows of Winchester Hall for someone, anyone, to let him in. For we know not what to make of what happened here this evening.

Our frustration was at top peak at the start, for we know not how long this pervasive strategy to do nothing will go on:

Agenda vote-NO

Budget transfers-Abstain

Minutes-Abstain

Then old Billy boy wants to be a part of stuff and decides to vote Yes on appointments. Not the proper AYE mind you, he’s not going down without a fight. (Why does it feel as though we have written these exact words at least twenty times now?)

Now we’ve come to the part where we think all the stress may be getting to Billy. You see our legislators in Annapolis have decided to strip the county council’s ability to change the hotel tax. Some of the county council members were upset about local control being swept away, but not Billy. These words came out of his mouth:

I support the delegation taking all taxing ability away from this council.

You see Billy is a self proclaimed “big picture kind of guy” who sees the “end results”. So logically, he will vote to allow the delegation to take local taxing ability away because he doesn’t like one particular bill. That’s a mighty big picture there. There’s also some confusion about voting to vote on allowing Bud to speak on this issue, and Jessica has to tell Billy not to vote against his own motion. However, when it came time for the actual motion, Billy was left flapping out all alone. But not before he got one more zinger in aimed at Bud:

I would not have you speak on behalf of the council or for me in general.

What a hero. Good luck in Annapolis Mr. Otis.

How our hearts soared when we thought tonight would be the night this ethics nonsense would be put to rest. But curse you mystery letter sent in to the council at 3:00 this afternoon. The ghost of Antonin Scalia must have had something to do with this because all Kirby would allude to was that it was “unconstitutional”. We get a little more information from Councilmember Donald when he says its mostly the same old stuff again with the Kirby profiting from the county until 2018 clause still alive and well. And Sweet Sappho, Billy doesn’t even have the letter. So we must postpone!!! We disagree here, Billy should read what he’s given and Kirby doesn’t get to wait until the last hour to obstruct things. He’s had plenty of time. But alas, it is done. Another week…another dead horse.

Award winning council members also attended this week’s council workshop

February 11, 2016 fclocalyokelLeave a comment

That workshop was something to behold. As we try to figure out how to adjust our Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance so the schools aren’t so crowded, our major characters were relegated to supporting roles. Tony Chmelik took his soliloquy a bit too seriously. As we have previously noted, Chmelik could not provide us the courtesy of making any damn sense.

A couple of high points. Runner up for the “Best-Calling-Out-of-a-Smarmy-(but-Exceptionally-Loquacious) A$$ Award” goes to Councilmember Shreve for blasting into his microphone at Chmelik: NO. You cannot interject! You’ve done nothing but interject for 50 minutes!

We do love when someone up on the dais says exactly what we are thinking.

We have to promptly dissolve this alliance with Shreve, though, because he wants to shuffle the grades around. Maybe send some fifth graders to middle school, maybe some middle schoolers to high school, they aren’t crowded, etc. Whatevz. It’s hard to get good education policy enacted from experts in pedagogy and child development. Please tell us we won’t be entertaining harebrained schemes introduced by part time council act who does not have a child, but still acts like one himself.

As a warm up, Jessica Fitzwater laughingly acknowledged that Tony is never quick, when he pleaded for a couple of quick questions.

But the true heroism comes in when Ms. Fitzwater activates her superpower (that’s teacher voice) to get errant pupil Kirby Delauter back on track. He is disrupting the group by alluding to plans to solve school overcrowding (mysteriously, he cannot reveal any plans at the present time; he didn’t do the homework). Just at the moment we are saying, “Plans? What plans? We haven’t heard any plans?” Ms. Fitzwater seizes the teachable moment. The protocol for revealing one’s plans for the county is not The Tentacle. Much like a soliloquy–speaking to oneself without regard to the audience–it seems as though that website is not actually a recognized forum. More like a safety deposit box for nonsense (because these “ideas” Kirby has published so far are batpoo crazy). So it sounds like The Tentacle does not write legislation or even agendas for the Frederick County Council. Who? Knew? (????) And we are all like, “Nailed it!!!!” For bonus points: #KirbyDelauter was irritated, because he knows that they can’t retroactively place impact fees on Spring Ridge (or anywhere else) because there is no legal leverage to do this thing that was an idea originating from his own dim dome, so “they are wasting time…[discussing his stupid idea].”

We simply cannot wait to hear of the plan to address this that # and Tony Chmelik are percolating this week. It’s probably either send wishes to a fairy godmother or online schooling. Both seem about as reality based.

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.

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.

Who is calling the county council rudderless?

September 9, 2015September 9, 2015 fclocalyokelLeave a comment

We are all familiar with last week’s county council meeting’s outcome. The Monrovia Town Center process is starting over from the beginning. We wrote about it, the Frederick News Post wrote about it and today Billy wrote about it:

Great Gods on Mount Olympus hear our cries for mercy!!!! So many things to point out here folks. Let’s do a nice bullet list:

Why is Billy using the Fox News lie “Fair and Balanced”?
Paul Smith very specifically said in his letter that he WOULD not submit an affidavit. And refused to even talk about it with the Frederick News Post. Why would he come and testify before the county council?
Then there’s Blaine who said it was a “boldface lie” that he was invited. But somehow his fellow BOCC member, David Gray, was able to find out the day of the hearing and had no problem standing in line to testify. Maybe Blaine feels as though he needs a special engraved invitation to speak.
And Kirby…what the hell are you talking about rudderless? Perhaps he needs one of these:

Finally Billy uses this quote from the judge’s order:

Read the Judges instructions on page 3, the last 3 lines: “Therefore, this Court must remand the matter to the County for further proceedings, including testimony, to resolve the issues raised in this Opinion“http://www.frederickcountymd.gov/DocumentCenter/View/280736

I don’t see how this proves his point. In fact it seems to support starting the process over. This is how the council has chosen to deal with the problems with the record, these two need to get over it and get on board. The vessel isn’t rudderless. Just because you don’t like the course, Kirby and Billy, doesn’t mean it isn’t going anywhere.

Maybe these guys need to stop using social media. Then again, it provides us with an endless source of information.

Our High Sheriff of cognitive dissonance

August 4, 2015August 4, 2015 fclocalyokel1 Comment

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? — 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 article in 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. — 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 link to 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.

Best wishes to Mrs. Otis and Billy behave!

June 30, 2015July 1, 2015 fclocalyokelLeave a comment

On this last day of June, a fine, fairly mild summer day, the Frederick County Council convened to take care of the business at hand. Before we get into the nitty-gritty of tonight’s meeting , dear readers, we must start off with a message to our BFF Bud Otis. We here at the Local Yokel sincerely hope that your wife is on the mend. We are very glad to hear that our EMT and 911 services are top-notch. And we are sure that since the “everything must be privatized” majority is gone they will continue to receive the funding necessary to keep them so. Mrs. Otis please accept our virtual flowers and very real well wishes:

Now to the business at hand. If you were following our drinking game then you had a Stars and Stripes right out of the gate:

At the top of the agenda was Budget Transfers. A fairly common occurrence, quickly discussed and voted on. Should be no surprise that Billy was the main hold out. But that’s become boring to us so let’s go to the next item.

Approval of the Frederick Community College FY 2016 operating budget. Very nicely presented by FCC representative Dana McDonald I must say. She explains how the county contribution has helped the school. Most importantly, how the contribution has helped keep tuition increases low. I don’t know about you but I believe that FCC is a wonderful institution. It’s a great place to start college without the high price tag or to gain a certification or simply expand your knowledge. One would have to be living under a rock to have not heard of the crippling student debt that many young people carry. It would be very hard to imagine that an elected public official would be ignorant of the fact that the high price tag of a Bachelor’s degree is a real concern in these United States of America.

Just kidding, we totally can image who…Billy! Not only is he the only one to give this poor woman any grief, but he once again renders a presenter speechless with his inquiries. He wants to know why county residents can’t pay more in tuition if they want to! He wants to know why county residents are given any special “subsidy” at all, because folks he would love to charge them all the out-of-state rate! Every single meeting we are presented with more and more proof that Mr. Shreve is not a big picture kind of guy. I offer this article on the economic impacts of high student debt so Billy can come out of the darkness and into the light. Fortunately, the other council members see the value in an affordable post-secondary educational institution and the budget was approved 6-1.

Time for another item of common occurrence…County Executive appointments. All passed unanimously, except for the planning commission in which Billy is trying to make some point about Trout Run by voting no.

Earlier in the week we posted about item d. on the agenda. Local Yokel is not a fan of giving Mr. Smith any money at this point. Well, the only council member who agreed with us was M.C.. She argued that, “as a lawyer he should have known better.” But with 6-1 she was clearly in the minority and Mr. Smith will be receiving almost $12,000 in legal fees that he claims were associated with his duties as a former county commissioner.

A couple of items about plumbing code and an amendment to the moderately priced dwelling unit bill and then we are on to the big-ticket item: Monrovia Town Center. In short, no decision. Of course Tony would love to see this rushed through and at one point he became very agitated at Jessica for asking a question that he deemed irrelevant. Thankfully, because of the leadership of M.C. Keegan-Ayer, the council is going to review this information on the MTC dating from January 2014 to the present. The council wants to make sure they can make a thoughtful, educated decision about what has certainly turned into a nightmare for everyone involved. Even though Tony wanted a 30 day limit to this thoughtful deliberation, more reasonable heads prevailed and a decision will be deferred until September.

A few thoughts on public comment. It is very sad to us that people have to thank the county council for behaving in a thoughtful, deliberate manner. Shouldn’t that be a given? But that’s exactly what speaker after speaker did this evening. Whether Kirby or Billy want to admit it, the last four years of the board of county commissioners was a dark time in our county’s history. Citizens felt disrespected and it was really frightening to us that our county government was in the hands of a group of people who don’t really believe that government should exist at all. Billy gave us a flash back of this disrespectful behavior when he openly sparred with a member of our community, and then Jessica, over some concerns this community member has over Route 75. Billy was consistently rude and out-of-order during this whole interaction. As one woman stated, it is embarrassing to think this man represents our county.

Blaine's not there to back you up anymore! It's time to behave if you want to sit at the grown up table! — Blaine’s not there to back you up anymore! It’s time to behave if you want to sit at the grown up table!

Another point concerning public comments is that Tony took the brunt of the criticisms this evening. He was accused of not answering communications, not properly representing his district and the people are not happy! He tried to answer these accusations in his comments, telling people to stop smirking, but it’s fairly evident where Tony’s loyalties lay. He’s got a lot of fences to mend if he hopes for another shot at this council seat.

Not sure what’s going on with Kirby lately. He needs someone to fix his microphone because once again it was very hard to hear him. His comment at the end of the meeting was very strange. He announced that he received a text that a cement truck dumped its load on the side of a road and will someone look into it? This all seemed really out-of-place. Why is someone texting Kirby with this information? And why announce it at the meeting? Does he want us to know that people call him as well? Maybe he’s tired of Billy getting all the credit.

We will end this post with a Twitter update from Jen Fifield of the Frederick News Post:

What's this about? What is the developer getting a police escort? — What’s this about? Why is the developer getting a police escort?

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