Watch out for code home rule that st. Mary's county wants

B

BernieP

Resident PIA
LightRoasted said:
If I may ...It was good that O'Donnell did that. But let's remember that that word "bond" is another word for "debt" very similar to another word, "mortgage". Calvert is over $250 Million in debt "bonds", more was not better then, and still is not now.
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you do realize that most school systems and governments in the modern world use bonds to fund infrastructure. It's not like they have $50M around for a capital project.
But before they sell the bonds they determine over how many years they will operate what ever capital improvement they are building, then allocate those operating costs, including the bond retirement to the budget for those years.
 
B

BernieP

Resident PIA
vraiblonde said:
I don't know as they really do express the will of the people. If you did a man-on-the-street asking what our Commissioners are up to, I'll bet you most people wouldn't even be able to tell you who our Commissioners are, let alone what they've got up their sleeve.
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goes to the word, "education". If they picked up the paper twice a week, takes all of 5 minutes to read, they would have some idea of what was going on in the county.
 
glhs837

glhs837

Power with Control
I am interested in the "voters may veto commissioner actions" part. Wonder what the rules are for that.
 
awpitt

awpitt

Main Streeter
glhs837 said:
I am interested in the "voters may veto commissioner actions" part. Wonder what the rules are for that.
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If you look at the link, you'll see that a petition signed by at least 10% of registered voters will put a commissioner action up for referendum at the next election. That's what they mean by "veto".
 
glhs837

glhs837

Power with Control
awpitt said:
If you look at the link, you'll see that a petition signed by at least 10% of registered voters will put a commissioner action up for referendum at the next election. That's what they mean by "veto".
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I thought that was for the referendum to enact code rule, not for local proposed laws, but it could read either way. It says "10% of signatures required from voters". Could be my English is bad, but that seems to not be as precise as I would like it to be. Does it mean 10% of voters, or is it 10% of the population?
 
awpitt

awpitt

Main Streeter
glhs837 said:
I thought that was for the referendum to enact code rule, not for local proposed laws, but it could read either way. It says "10% of signatures required from voters". Could be my English is bad, but that seems to not be as precise as I would like it to be. Does it mean 10% of voters, or is it 10% of the population?
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Actually, looking at it again, you might be right. But in either case, the veto option would require a certain number of signature to bring a law, passed by the commissioners to referendum. Just like what happens for a state wide referendum.
 
glhs837

glhs837

Power with Control
awpitt said:
10% of registered voters.
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Now why doesn't it say that? Might be me being overly picky, but I get a frown when what should be a simple statement isn't simply stated, especially when lawyers or govt (usually just large groups of lawyers in formation) get involved. and it might be selfish, but I'm all for it, I'm pretty sure such a process could make stomping automated enforcement into the ground a bit easier.
 
So_what

So_what

Yes I'm an MPD, But who's
Can anyone give me an example of something the commissioners passed and had to get approval from Annapolis recently?
 
awpitt

awpitt

Main Streeter
So_what said:
Can anyone give me an example of something the commissioners passed and had to get approval from Annapolis recently?
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Their entire legislative package that was submitted last fall and went through the state legislature earlier this year.
 
glhs837

glhs837

Power with Control
awpitt said:
10% of registered voters.
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Ah, here's the rub. So, unless I misread. They have 45 days to get five people to agree to make a law. I, as the opposition, get only 40 days to round up 5% of the registered voters. If I make that, I get another 45 to gather the other 5%. Seems a bit lopsided.
 
awpitt

awpitt

Main Streeter
glhs837 said:
Ah, here's the rub. So, unless I misread. They have 45 days to get five people to agree to make a law. I, as the opposition, get only 40 days to round up 5% of the registered voters. If I make that, I get another 45 to gather the other 5%. Seems a bit lopsided.
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The County Commissioners would be allowed 45 legislative sessions per year. The state legislature gets 90 days per year. If the County Commissioners enact a new law that someone doesn't like, that someone can start a petition. They then have 45 days to gather 10%. If they're up to 5% by the 40th day, they then get an additional 45 days to gather the remaining 5% for a total of 10%. If they achieve that, the new law that was enacted by the Commissioners will be on the ballot during the next election.
 
3

3CATSAILOR

Well-Known Member
I believe the main reason they want Code Home Rule is to increase the infraction "fee" to anything they want. You will notice that Code Home Rule allows them to do that. They home to push Red light cameras and even radar cameras down our citizens throats, whether they like it or not. And don't forget, it's always about "safety". Its never about revenue. They figure the more they can increase your ticket, the safer YOU will drive. However, the primary reason the State has decided thus far to keep the fee low for automated enforcement is to discourage people from taking the day off from work and going to court to contest it.
 
3

3CATSAILOR

Well-Known Member
Since our current form of government has worked for nearly 200 years by our County Commissioners own admission, it seems foolish to change it.
 
T

tblwdc

New Member
3CATSAILOR said:
Since our current form of government has worked for nearly 200 years by our County Commissioners own admission, it seems foolish to change it.
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Your statement is based on the premise that you believe it is working. I don't. I don't believe that a democrat in Baltimore should decide what is best for me in St. Mary's County. I don't think it's good to have Mike Miller and Mike Bush decide what bills should concerning St. Mary's County should be brought for a vote. If you think that St. Mary's matters to Bush or Miller, or if you don't understand that those two people CONTROL what is voted on in Maryland, than you don't know how things work.

St. Mary's County has some pretty intelligent people. I think as a whole we are much more capable of caring for our county than someone like Martin O'Malley.
 
awpitt

awpitt

Main Streeter
tblwdc said:
Your statement is based on the premise that you believe it is working. I don't. I don't believe that a democrat in Baltimore should decide what is best for me in St. Mary's County. I don't think it's good to have Mike Miller and Mike Bush decide what bills should concerning St. Mary's County should be brought for a vote. If you think that St. Mary's matters to Bush or Miller, or if you don't understand that those two people CONTROL what is voted on in Maryland, than you don't know how things work.

St. Mary's County has some pretty intelligent people. I think as a whole we are much more capable of caring for our county than someone like Martin O'Malley.
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I tend to agree. Why should some state senator or delegate from Washington County have jurisdiction over laws that are made solely for St. Mary's County. They have no accountability to the voters of St. Mary's County.
 
L

LtownTaxpayer

Active Member
But our current form of government is restricted by the schedule of the General Assembly. If the commissioners feel like they need to make a change, it would have to wait for the next session of the General Assembly - or hope that the governor would call the GA in for a special session (hint - not going to happen for St. Mary's County business). We did have an instance of the Senator from our district not presenting the St. Mary's County Commissioners legislative issues at the General Assembly. That is an example of one man gumming up the works. He is no longer senator, but it could happen again.

Did anyone else find it interesting that Deb Rey is opposed to the change in county government? Kind of made me chuckle. She railed about how Annapolis not listening to us, but she doesn't want this change to our county's autonomy. Hmmmm.
 
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