Today's "Times-Record" announced that the Ridgely town election filing deadline for candidates and voting times are "to be announced". Hmmm...our Charter is very clear on the filing deadline. It's 10 days before the election. This year the election will be on April 27th. In recent elections the polls have been kept open longer than the Charter prescribes. I'm not sure how this came about but it's a good idea. The Charter, however, does say that the polls are open between 9 and 5.
I have to wonder about all this "to be announced" confusion so near to an election. As many of you know, a few weeks ago the town manager presented some proposals to change the Charter election rules. The proposals raised suspicions among many and nothing more was done. It would now be impossible to make any change before the election.
This year I will not let the whispering campaign that emerges every Springtime here in Ridgely go unanswered. I've heard some whoppers over the years as election time approaches. My first BULL BUSTER concerns the strange story that Ridgely's financial woes (which preceded the global economic crisis) are the result of some "snitch" calling the Maryland Department of Environment (MDE). This "call" supposedly stopped our Ridgely Park development. First, even if there was a "call", MDE can't withhold permits without good cause. They had plenty of cause with or without a "snitch" since the town already had to use stream discharge at times when our waste water treatment plant (WWTP) couldn't handle the load. We simply could not handle a new development and the town has now embarked on a $1.5 million WWTP upgrade to accommodate future development.
MDE saved the citizens of Ridgely from a massive sewage spill. MDE also saved us from the massive fines that accompany WWTP failure. If there is a "SNITCH", he or she is a HERO who saved the town citizens from management miscalculations. But I think the whole story is BULL. MDE was just doing their job. They deserve a thank you.
BULL BUSTERS will always ask these questions. Who would start such a rumor? And, who might benefit from such a story? In this case, all signs point to a town manager and his allies trying to explain away the town's abysmal financial situation.
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6 comments:
Toby,
I would like to take this time to remind everyone of the "dirty tricks" used to try and discredit people who are not of the same persuasion as some.
Last year, if you remember, I was asked and appointed to be an election judge. I was also aksed to campaign for Kathy Smith.
BEFORE I accepted the campaign work, I checked with the rules concerning doing that, if it was legal. And it is, as long as I wasn't' handling the money and as long as I removed campaign signs in my lawn the day of the election.
The Commissioners and the Town Manager KNEW this was not illegal for me to campaign for my candidate, yet I was told the Ethics committee was asked to check into it as well as the County Board of Elections by one of the Commissioners.
Seems if you are not supporting their candidate, they will try to discredit you. There were lots of dirty tricks last year, like all the Kathy Smith election signs being removed in Lister Estates. We know who was doing it, but we just kept putting them back.
I hope you can report on tricks, rumors, etc. that may be employed by ANYONE this election.
And, for the record, I will check with the Commissioners and find out about posting the election date and times on the Ridgely Web site. If someone is going to change the rules, I for one would like to know how and why.
To clarify, the Commissioner who called the Ethics Committee and the Election Board said someone complained to him about me being an election judge and openly campaigning for a candidate. That is why he called.
He could have, and should have, told that person that it was checked into and that it was perfectly legal for me to do so.
He knew it but chose to make it look like I was doing something wrong. There was NO NEED to call anyone about it.
Where have you heard the MDE rumor? Also, weren't you for Ridgely Park too?
The MDE story comes straight from the town manager. He's repeated it several times at planning and zoning meetings. The developer for Ridgely Park even repeated the "somebody called" story two meetings ago.
I was and still am a supporter of Ridgely Park. What was proposed was a smart growth traditional neighborhood design to continue northward with what makes Ridgley look so good. If, they stick to what we already have approved, everyone will be happy. Otherwise, it's back to the drawing board.
However, before anything can happen, MDE must approve. We have to have sewer capacity. We pay the town manager a hefty salary to let us know whether or not we have such a capacity and if a development can proceed. MDE said he was wrong and the rest is as they say "history". Someone "calling" isn't the issue. As a town we shouldn't be trying to pull a fast one and get around state requirements. They are what they are and we didn't measure up.
When is this Town Manager going to be given his walking papers? He's a dud.
And now town officials are in talks to let the new Regional Landfill tie into the Ridgely wastewater treatment facility? A 2,500 holding tank.
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