We have to say gentle readers, listening to the meeting tonight was very hard. There was so much bickering, condescension, and rudeness, it was almost too much to take. However, we want you to stay informed in this election year so here goes!
The first discussion focuses on a resolution that M.C. has put forth to alleviate some of the concerns that residents, The Farm Bureau, and the planning commission brought up with regards to the river plan that was approved back in August. Let’s present the facts first before we get in to the hullabaloo that took place there after!
FACT ONE: These recommendations come from a state mandated board that is tasked with preserving the river for future generations. You know so we can live,..because without clean water that is impossible.
FACT TWO: This plan and the accompanying resolution is not a land grab. This point is reiterated by pages 4-5 of the resolution before the council:
We do find it sad that the county government has to take the time and energy to combat all the misinformation that has been spread by people like Kirby. I guess they have to do what they have to do though.
FACT THREE: These recommendations are voluntary, not compulsory. There are no fines or other punishments for not following them.
FACT FOUR: The resolution M.C. brought before the council this evening is to simply allow the resolution to go before the public in order to hear what people have to say. It is not voting to implement the plan, just suggesting some changes.
Well, well, well, some are not going to let go of the land grabbing narrative. Kirby smells a rat! He believes that since there are some new members on the river board we should just wait, who knows how long, to see what they have to say. Tony agrees and thinks this has to do with politics. Kirby claims the cart is before the horse(?), and Billy claims that all the landowners are unhappy because that’s the emails he received. Because, we all know how people love to write their legislators when they are happy about something! Kirby also claims that nobody is going to die and there hasn’t been any flooding! (Where the hell has he been the last week ?) Billy gets super insulting and tells M.C. that she just took orders from the top! M.C. and Jessica are both outraged at this because M.C. spent A LOT of time talking to people on both sides of this issue to come up with this resolution. Will it make everyone happy? Of course not, but that doesn’t mean that a GOOD legislator doesn’t try. This conversation goes on and on and it’s entirely unproductive to the point that M.C. says that we’ve beaten this dead horse to the point it’s bloody and lying in the gutter. And you know what that means!!! We get to bring this classic back:
Motion passes 4-3, the resolution goes to a public hearing on June 5th.
The last part of the evening is to discuss three additional charter amendments to be sent to public hearing. The first one is proposed by Shreve and has to do with what happens when a councilperson has to vacate their seat. Billy thinks that the party should get to decide who either gets appointed or nominated. Jerry agrees with Billy, Kirby, and Tony that this should go to public hearing.
The next amendment is put forth and then quickly taken back by Tony. No one is sure what he intended to do here. Everyone, including the county attorney, argues that the council already has the ability to do this during budget season if they would, you know, just meet with the CE and talk things through. Tony doesn’t even seem to know what he wants to do, something about not giving non profits money? Anyhoo, we won’t waste anymore of your time because it’s a moot point anyway.
The last amendment is also brought forth by Shreve. We are honored to hold witness to the Dunning Kruger effect in real time:
Billy wants to mandate that the budget be presented to the council 30 days earlier than it is now. M.C. brings up the point that the county doesn’t know what money we will get from Annapolis until the beginning of April, so this is impossible. Rick Harcum and Lori Depies also make a special trip to tell Billy how: a. very unnecessary this charter amendment is b. how they could never have the numbers ready this early and c. don’t you think some thought went into the date before it was put in the charter dummy!? (the dummy is our nice edition, but hey they were certainly thinking it!) This doesn’t deter Billy from arguing his moot point, even though he clearly doesn’t understand what it takes to form a budget. All come through in the end though. Voted down 6-1! Isn’t it astounding that after all of his years as a legislator, Billy still doesn’t know how things work? We still can’t believe that he thinks anyone should vote for him to represent us in Annapolis!!! Dunning-Kruger strikes again!
We get a break next week! Yippee!
frederick local yokel 