ELECTIONS REPLY--PART 1
PART ONE
First, let me thank the folks that had kind words to say about me and the job I did as county commissioner. I sincerely appreciate it. Secondly, let me respond to Demsformd's comments, as soon as I stop laughing hysterically. OK, that took some time but here goes!
Dems, since when does the national deficit control local government spending? It doesn't!
Dems, if tax cuts increase government debt, how do you explain THE FACT that from 1994 to 1998, St. Mary's County had 4 consecutive years of tax cuts, funded education and public safety at record levels, yet still managed to end up with a $13.8 million surplus ($19 million if you count the 5% reserve set aside for bond ratings), all under Republican control. The answer is simple but something you try your hardest to ignore. (Some) Republicans can cut taxes and spend responsibly. We prioritized our budget, funded those priorities, and cut spending on frivolous waste. Did we miss a beat? Did any government services get interrupted? NO!
As far as my "awful tenure" as county commissioner, that is a matter of opinion and I'm sure you're not alone with yours. However, for those that don't rely on the local (Good ol' Boy) controlled media to spoon feed them their mis-information, for those that know the truth, they realize the enormous accomplishments we made in such a short time, one of which was to eliminate the corruption that was so rampant in county government.
To borrow a phrase from your beloved Bill and Hillary Clinton, "I don't recall" saying that I didn't realize there would be a lot of reading involved. But considering the absolute mess we inherited...multi-million dollar lawsuits against the county, a Comprehensive Land Use Plan, zoning ordinances, illegal land deals that we discovered and had to be cleaned up, the fiasco at the Nursing Home and the tax fraud that past boards had committed, and on...and on...and on... it is possible I said those words. However, at least I DID MY HOMEWORK and read what I needed to be an informed county commissioner. I'm not sure you can say that about this board.
You state, "ethics violations, they always arise when a person in the power. She (Randall) is on top of the mountain and everyone wants her down. If a Republican was on the board it would be the same." This statement is factually incorrect. Under the all Republican board, there WAS NEVER ONE DECISION MADE BY ANY COURT OF LAW THAT STATED WE VIOLATED THE ETHICS ORDINANCE. In fact, the ethics commission, all of whom were appointed by previous Democratic boards of county commissioners, never once had to warn us of even the most remote possibility of an ethics violation. The same can't be said about this board. They were found guilty by a court of law, so you deal with it. Again, you need to do your homework before making such ridiculous claims.
As far as Julie Randall being on top of the mountain and that being the reason people want to knock her down, that is such a childish claim I don't know where to begin. The fact is that I offered my support to Ms. Randall when she decided to run against Barbara Thompson. In fact, I am now ashamed to admit that I supported Ms. Randall when she ran for school board. However, when she decided to run a campaign of lies, distortions, personal attacks, and aligned herself with the same corrupt good ol' boys that have ran this county for generations, that is all the warning I needed to change my position and withdraw my support of her. After Ms. Randall was elected, she rewarded that support with illegal, non-competed contracts for her friends, she voted to spend millions of dollars to buy land from the same Democratic land developers who bankrolled her campaign, and she led the efforts to rid county government of honest, hard-working, ethical department heads whose only motives were to make county government honest and more efficient. So you see, my criticisms are NOT motivated by blind party loyalty nor by personal political agendas, as yours appear to be. I'm simply speaking the truth and you can't seem to deal with it.
You also state, "Politics is corrupt, and you know it." I don't disagree with you at all. In fact, that is the main reason I ran for office in the first place. I never ran for ego, for power, for influence in the community, or for any of the reasons that so many people do. Have you ever stopped to think for one second why our Republican board was so severely criticized in the media and why the past and current Democratic boards seem to get a free ride with the press? Sure, we made mistakes, but so does every board. The truth is ugly, and I am ashamed to say this about Southern Maryland, but the fact is that our newspapers are corrupt. They are funded and controlled by the same good ol' boy network that fund the commissioner races, the same people who get sweetheart land deals, the same people who spend tens of thousands of dollars in advertising in the papers, and who sell hundreds if not thousands of these same newspapers every week in their establishments. There is in fact a collaborated effort to control who runs things down here. With our board, they could not control us, they could not influence us, and they could not call us and ask us for favors, and that drove them crazy. So they did the only thing they had the power to do...slam, slander and libel us every week. They created a perception that we were too busy fighting to get anything accomplished and I'm sorry to say it stuck with some of you.
In order to understand the deeper motivation here, please open your mind and think about this. How is major money made in St. Mary's County? We don't have oil, we don't have manufacturing plants, we don't have nuclear power plants, and we don't mine for natural resources. So how is it that the rich and "influential" people make all their money? LAND! Who controls the land controls the money. How do you control the land? Land use regulations. How and where a parcel of land is zoned can mean the difference between a few thousand dollars and a few million dollars. You praise Lexington Park and say the new contractor buildings are great for the county. I agree. But did you ever ask yourself who owns the property? Let's put it this way, some of the current and past owners are very influential in Democratic Party politics. Are you getting the picture? Now imagine if the county's zoning ordinance decided to dedicate that property as a non-development or limited commercial zone. Imagine the millions that would be lost. You honestly think that the good ol' boys that own this type of property want people in office who they can't control and risk this possibility? Of course not.
NAVAIR and the influx of new people to the county is St. Mary's (Southern MD's) modern day gold rush. This is the last great opportunity to cash in on the fortunes the base has brought us. With all the new people coming to the area, most of whom are registering Republican by the way, they will not be able to control and influence the elections much longer. This is their last great effort to cask in while they are still able to get away with it.
How do they cash in? Land! Sorry, but these are the facts my friend. They couldn't risk the Republican board passing a land ordinance that didn't benefit them, so they stalled it, they created a bad image through their newspapers, and they put their people in office to write an ordinance that would take care of the them...not the county, not rural character, not our farmers, not Joe Six Pack homeowner...them and only them! I'm sorry, but if these rascals were Republicans I would be saying the same thing. I don't blame all Democrats for this corruption; in fact, you are in some aspects the bigger victims because they are using your loyalty and good intentions to keep them in power. All I am asking is that you open your eyes and your mind and don't be so quick to believe everything they tell you whether in person or in the media.
--CONTINUED IN PART TWO--