Stop A Ridgely Financial Fiasco Before It's Too Late

It's like watching a wreck about to happen. Ridgely's finances would be precarious even without the growing international financial meltdown. However, with the news today that American and world markets have put into question whether or not the bailout passed Friday will work, there is talk of complete collapse. We the residents of Ridgely will be hit with a double whammy if we go through with plans to build a new waste water treatment plant for the Ridgely Park development. We are depending on the developer to pay us back for this project. Does anyone really believe that there is now going to be a Ridgley Park?

We don't have to keep the $1.5 million loan and we don't have to continue soliciting bids for the work. And whatever the town does, it should not sign a contract for the work. We will be saddled with huge water bills and higher taxes as the world enters a time of financial meltdown.

I've sounded the alarm about how wrong this project has been from the start. A town should NEVER pave the way for development with tax dollars. The justification for it all came after the fact, after the letter from Maryland Department of Environment arrived, stating that the Ridgely Park project could not proceed until the $1.5 million portion of a waste water treatment plant upgrade was finished.

You don't have to take my my word for it. Read the report below. Of all the towns in Maryland, we are among the 6 listed with problems. The problems that the Auditors have pointed out can't be hidden with a smoke and mirrors budget. And, what does fiscal 2008 hold? Wake up Ridgely and make our elected officials take back the town government!

http://www.ola.state.md.us/Reports/Performance/Article19-2008.pdf

Political Prophets And The Bailout

Three former American Presidential candidates have consistently warned of the impending financial disaster facing America, Ross Perot, Pat Buchanan and Ron Paul. Only Buchanan grudgingly accepted the President's now defeated plan. In a September 23rd article titled "An Amnesty For Stupidity" he writes: "Paulson may be right. To save the sheep who might have been wiped out in a general financial panic, we may have to save the pigs." Ross Perot has submitted his own plan to the public and Ron Paul, a Congressman, has voted against the bailout.

I'm one of those who grudgingly accepts the need to do something ASAP. No matter who is to blame, if the "machine" grinds to a halt, it will never in our lifetime start again. We only have one shot and time is rapidly running out. Hopefully a new plan can be brought to the floor by Friday. Otherwise, it really will be the "end of the world as we know it".

The Blame Game And Great Depression II

There are plenty of reasons for the financial mess we are in. There is a long history behind the crisis with plenty of bipartisan blame for all to share. Hearing Nancy Pelosi blame the whole thing on the Bush administration is a dangerous lie. She was spinning away Wednesday before the particulars of the bailout were put forward casting Bush in a Herbert Hoover redux role.

The immediate cause of our slow moving collapse, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the sub-prime mortgage crisis, can be laid directly on the Clinton administration's doorstep. It was that administration who through bureaucratic fiat, changed mortgage lending rules to the extent that they became non-existent. Race instead of credit worthiness became the top priority to qualify. The only good that might come from the massive sub-prime crisis will be that using race to qualify for a mortgage will now be discredited.

Also, on Capitol Hill, Republican Phil Gramm and his globalist, deregulation uber alles approach to markets opened the door to the gambling man ethic that seized Wall Street. And yes, John McCain, went along with him on this too(only the grace of Sara Palin and Obama's extreme Left record will protect him on this one come November).

All the above, doesn't let us off the hook. We the people are to blame for electing the leadership of this country. And, there have been voices crying out in the political wilderness. Ross Perot, Pat Buchanan and Ron Paul have certainly been sounding the alarm for years(yours truly is now quite proud of himself for voting for each of them). Unfortunately, the fate of the old Biblical prophets was usually death, and in the modern political arena, all three of our contemporary political prophets have also met with the equivalent of political death.

Meanwhile, back in Ridgley, we at least won't all continue fighting over development. What's starting to look like Great Depression II will take care of that problem because there won't be anymore development. We will, however, have to figure figure out how to pay back all the money we just borrowed to pay for the ghost of development past, Lister Estates, as well as for the ghosts of the now dead future developments. Yes sir, I can hear it resonating in my mind like one of those commercial jingles that won't leave you alone: " we promise that the the taxpayers will never pay for development". Yup, and I have a "bridge to nowhere" to sell anyone who believes that one.

Frank Gearhart

Frank Gearhart walked this earth from 2/16/1924 until 10:00 PM 9/9/08. He was something. My father loved us and loved America. Every day there are fewer and fewer of this greatest generation left among us. He accomplished so much that I don't know where to begin -- from father to provider to patriot. He lined up to enlist the day after Pearl Harbor and fought for our country during the Second World War from D-Day to the liberation of Dachau. He never let me forget that our American freedoms were earned at great sacrifice, and always encouraged us to keep on fighting for the American dream. This Christian soldier is now with the God he served so well.

A memorial to my father is linked below right on my "Links To The World".

The Complete Cyber Gaming Parlor Story

I don't expect the "Times-Record" to take our side, but I do expect that the residents of Ridgely get the WHOLE story about a proposed cyber gaming parlor. Both recent articles in the "Times-Record" have missed huge parts of the story, making our Planning Commission look unreasonable.

First, the proposal for the parlor was received (via our meeting information packets) a couple of days before our July meeting, in the form of an advertisement for a business that was to open August 4th -- a done deal! The Planning Commission never heard of the proposal and the Town Manager has since said that he didn't see any problem with it. The ad was for a 24/7 cyber gaming parlor aimed at getting customers here from the Western Shore. A 24/7 ANYTHING would be controversial, but a cyber parlor where games might be played including virtual rape, and other extremely violent themes, would be about as welcome as a strip club or a toxic waste dump. Again, we knew nothing about the proposal or the businessman, except that he was the grandson of a developer who has been operating in Ridgely for about a year. The Town Manager does NOT have the authority to approve such ventures.

Second, this area in question is not your usual industrial zone. It's an area for light industrial activity that has been grandfathered into the surrounding residential area. This is why the planning commission has authority to regulate any activity that would do harm to the surrounding neighborhood. If we fail to do our jobs, our neighbors will suffer because of a diminished quality of life and declining home values. The Planning Commission members are members of the community and take their responsibility seriously. The developers and their administration supporters aren't from Ridgely; those of us who live here, and are real stakeholders in our community, need to be heard.

Because of the Planning Commission, community concerns have been heard. The original proposal has been altered. It is not going to be a 24/7 operation and violent sexual content will not be allowed. A security plan will be outlined so that our taxpayer supported police aren't stuck with babysitting this business. The proposal was tabled a second time because we want the business proposal in writing. This is normal procedure. Our town attorney and the developer's attorney are to get together and put together a written proposal that will address the legitimate community concerns. From this, the Planning Commission will have something concrete with which to work. We are simply doing our jobs on OUR community's behalf.


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Stop The Spin -- Save Buck's Stable/Carriage House

Photo by Abigail Gearhart

This building is all that remains of Buck Herzog's Ridgely estate. A former Ridgely resident, Buck was a champion baseball player (career 1908 - 1920) playing for the Giants, Cubs, Reds and Braves. As many of you know, the building must be either moved or demolished to make way the planned Ridgeway Estates development. The building is in great shape and can be moved.

When the development was being planned, then commissioner, Nancy Gearhart, approached the developers(July 2007) about preserving the structure and they committed $8,000.00 to the effort. This amount was included in the Public Works Agreement approved by the Ridgely Planning and Zoning Commission. A place has been found for the building in Ridgely's railroad park and J.O.K. Walsh, Caroline County Historical Commission Chairman, will be able to secure additional funds for the move and maintenance.

Everything, is just hunky dory, right? WRONG! Once again, our Town Manager playing the role of Ridgely's very own "decider", has committed the money to fixing his budget instead of Buck's stable /carriage house. Nowhere in the agreement does it state that it may be applied to the General Fund. Further more, the Town Manager has been quoted as saying that without the $8,000.00 in the General Fund, he could be forced to go to the Commissioners to ask for a tax increase. I'm as against a tax increase as anyone. However, the $8,000.00 wasn't HIS to USE to fix the budget mess to begin with. And, since this $8,000.00 isn't tax money, using it is not the kind of spending that should lead to a tax increase anyhow. If there is a tax increase needed, it's because of the $162,716.00 that our budget is STILL off as result of the money "borrowed" from water/sewer for the General Fund last year(it's been carried over to this fiscal year).

It would seem to me that the reason that the Town Manager is fighting moving the stable is because he needs the money. I certainly agree that he needs some money! However, he alone isn't the "decider" here. We need to do all that we can to hold on to this piece of Ridgely's past.

Let's deal with this issue honestly and stop the spin and save the stable/carriage house for our "heritage park" in the railroad park.

Ramblin Blog

Here are two American classics -- a 1931 Davenport locomotive and a 1966 Coronado II Fender guitar -- brought together by yours truly. (Do I count as a classic too? I'm certainly old enough.) I did every railroad song I know while staying in a nearby caboose during our vacation in Catawissa, PA. The Catawissa Railroad Caboose hotel is a great get away and it's near Knoebels amusement park.

Meanwhile, Obama marches on. He looked very "Kennedyesque" speaking before swooning Berliners. In his very BEING, he represents an America that has finally come together. As Bruce Springsteen recently said: "He speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years". OK, Bruce, I'll grant you that. I too, want to finally put to rest our sad racial divide and Obama is a physical manifestation that we are becoming one people. YET, no matter how much my HEART may find this candidate the fulfillment of an ideal, my HEAD won't have any of it. Obama's positions on the issues are the classic 60's liberalism, which TIME has thoroughly DISCREDITED. It's as if the "Great Society " hadn't crashed and burned. It's also as if Ronald Reagan hadn't come along to lead us down a more Constitutionally correct road.

2008 is even made a more difficult choice by the very flawed Republican nominee. John McCain seems to flaunt his contempt for traditional conservatives and certainly has been wrong on so many issues from immigration to "free trade". The only thing his candidacy might offer is a Supreme Court justice.

Certainly, this is the strangest election during my lifetime. The conventional wisdom that Obama was a political light weight was wrong. His political skills are excellent, he is charismatic, and looks like the probable winner. What a shame for America that ideologically he stands for the policies that gave us dysfunctional families and cities, as well as our globalized "McEconomy".

1968

There is plenty of analysis and even nostalgia for the for the year that for better AND worse set the West on its current path.

As I think of times and places of importance in my life, 1968 ranks high. I was 14 and living down the road from the very counterculture dominated Guilford College. In the middle of the then very traditional North Carolina, this "hippie freak show" was a sight to see. See it, I did. Daily, I would bicycle there to hang out and listen to local bands such as "Electric Lather" as they did their renditions of "new" songs such as "Happiness is a Warm Gun" or "Stray Cat Blues". It amazed me that anyone had the audacity to play the sacrosanct songs of the Beatles or Stones.

For my 1968 birthday, I was given my first guitar, a "Silvertone" (Sears) acoustic. I'd haul this instrument of torture with strings that seemed to be at least an inch above the fretboard everywhere. One friend, Alan Thornton, who later would become a guitarist for "Nantucket", taught me my first riff, "Wipe Out". Later, when I brought over an amazing sounding 45, "Sunshine of Your Love", he figured it out and taught it to me too.

It was the politics of the time and place that also caught my attention. Guilford students were routinely protesting in the streets of the small town of Guilford (now part of Greensboro). Vietnam was, of course, the main issue. However, even our local barbershop was the target of a protest when its barbers said to a reporter that they couldn't and wouldn't cut a black man's hair. The barbershop was boycotted for weeks. However, the impact a bunch of longhairs boycotting a barbershop was minimal.

It was the quest for individual freedom (you know,"life, liberty and the pursuit happiness"), the anti authoritarian and decentralized vision of the "good" government, that appealed to me then and now. This was the more libertarian and even conservative side of the counterculture. The term "conservative hippie" is appropriate and not an oxymoron within this context.

On the other hand, the counterculture collectivists and cultural Marxists (who would spawn political correctness)of the hard left, held no promise to me. When Johnny Lennon sang "if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao, you ain't going to make it with anyone, anyhow", it was "alright" by me.

It was McGovernite liberalism AND elements of countercultural libertarianism that held sway in my mind for years.

In another time and place, Philadelphia, 1988, the liberal part of my 1968 weltanschauung was shattered. I had moved back to Philly, and my wife and I were renovating a boarded up graffiti covered house. There, in my grandmother's old neighborhood, Kensington, which once proudly boasted the moniker, "workshop of the world", reality collided with liberal theory. There, the liberal political policies and programs that I thought would usher in the "new age", had wrecked the old neighborhood. Drug dealers and junkies "did their thing". And, each new government program delivered by parasitic ward healers, seemed to eat away at what was left of the neighborhood's social fabric. Even worse, a de facto coalition of liberal activists, real estate brokers and drug dealers,(each pursuing their own very different agendas), were united against people like us. We were to them, "evil gentrifiers", to be stopped no matter what. They won.

As for the legacy of '68, I've kept a guitar as a constant companion over the years. In yet another time and place, Washington, D.C., 1985, a guitar even played matchmaker when I met my future wife while playing it in a park.

Politically, the more libertarian conservative side of the counterculture still remains with me. I strongly oppose creeping authoritarianism in our government and the increasingly centralized bureaucratic control of our lives.

Many other aspects of the '68 social and political revolution, however, did serious damage. Much of the pre-1968 American tradition that I grew up with, is gone forever. Now, as a father struggling to keep the more insidious spin offs of '68 away from my daughter, my nostalgia grows for a time and place before 1968.

Political Commercials Go To The Dogs

Mark Funkhouser, mayor of Kansas City, is no stranger to controversy. The developers love to hate him and the International County/ City Management Association (ICMA -- basically a town manager union) has profiled his conflicts with the Kansas City town manager -- rooting (surprise) for the town manager. He's an interesting pol who just might be doing what he was elected to do.

He used this great commercial during his election campaign which is linked below. (It's set up a bit different and you just click on "menu" at the right bottom of the video to start.)
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid595556248/bclid596410507/bctid595138480

A Wake Up Call From Ross Perot

If you are like me, you are very worried about where our country is headed. Ross Perot was right back in the 90s and much of what he warned about has become true. We should listen to him now for a change. He is back with his charts at: http://perotcharts.com/