Eldersburg Is Under Attack by Ugly Lights!!!

Change is inevitable. New businesses are created and they want new signs. Over the last couple of years I've noticed that a LOT of the new signs around Eldersburg are those red or orange LED lights or even worse those scrolling LED signs. In my opinion, these are ghetto. If I can see them from a mile away - I'm in the ghetto. It was bad enough when the "Liquor" store at the intersection of Oakland Mills Road and Liberty Road went with one of those signs. Seriously - between that and the giant stadium lights that they use to light up their parking lot. I thought we lived in the outskirts of the suburbs.

Now these unattractive and distracting signs are showing up at every new business across our town. Check out how many I have (and I'm sure that I'm missing some).

Here is the sign for Susquehanna Bank in the Eldersburg Market Place just off of Route 32 (with the Kohl's, Home Depot, and Martin's). It's not terrible as it is off of the road, but scrolling LED nonetheless.


This is one of the first scrolling LED lights that I recall showing up in our once classy town. This one scrolls messages about God and shows pictures, plus gives important dates and information about the Church as you drive by at 70 mph.


Here at the former Crown station, former Texaco station, current Shell Station at the corner of Ridge Road and Liberty Road, you can determine the price of gas from 2 parcecs away. On a related note - you guys need to trim the bushes around your sign!


Across the street from the ghettoesque Carrolltown Center, which I might add has no scrolling LED lights (but on the other hand they have no real businesses there either), there is the Oklahoma Center. They just renovated this strip mall recently and it looks really nice....except for the scrolling red LED lights.


Here's another LED at the Eldersburg Market Place. This is one for Martin's gas station. Why a grocery store is selling gas is beyond me, but they no doubt are also using the sign. Did you hear the astronauts talking to Houston on their latest shuttle mission as they passed over Maryland? "What the hell are all of those red lights?" No, they weren't even over Baltimore City yet. They were flying over Eldersburg.


Like the ugly fat sister, Jiffy Lube was late to the game. But not to be outdone they decided to put in a mini scrolling red LED sign. The letters are far too small to read as you drive by. And all those technical terms they use? Those words don't even fit on the sign. And Jiffy Lube - if you're going to put up a new sign - please paint the post, too. This ain't Glen Burnie.


So there you have it. Eldersburg is officially under attack by the gaudy red LED lights. Is there no recourse? Can we stop it? Do we need to go to Carroll County Zoning and Planning to write some guidelines on what is appropriate?

We have 5 new Carroll County commissioners. Do you have any recommendations?

Stolen From My Yard - Doug Howard

I got a call on Saturday morning from my neighbor.

"Look outside."
"Why?"
"Our Doug Howard signs are gone/"
"What?!!!"

It was true. In the middle of the night someone had stolen our "Doug Howard for Carroll County Commissioner" signs from our yard.

Oddly though, the Mike Zimmer for Carroll County Commissioner sign was still standing in my other neighbor's yard. Coincidence? You be the judge.

Both my neighbor and I quickly posted on Facebook that our signs were stolen. Not half an hour later Doug Howard showed up with new signs for our yard. I love this guy!!! He means business. And I think you should vote for him. He understands how legislation will impact your local community and businesses.


On a related note, I saw Mr. Howard's opponent, Mr. Zimmer at Wal-Mart on Sunday, I think it was. He was all decked out in his Vote for Zimmer t-shirt. He also had his shorts hiked up. And he missed half of his belt loops with his belt. And his socks were all hiked up to his knees. He's lucky he wasn't arrested by the fashion police. How embarrassing would that be? Can you imagine the headline? 'Carroll County Commissioner Arrested for Dressing Like a Dork'.

Carroll County Chamber of Commerce Push to Take Over Trash

In a move that should shock most Carroll Countians, the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce is exploring the possibility of taking over public trash collection in the county.

Most residents of Carroll County probably don't realize that this is going on because most people don't read the minutes of the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce. I only noticed it because of a small article on page 15 of The Advocate of Eldersburg and Sykesville, a small local newspaper.

The article says:

"One idea is that the county would contract one hauler for the best price for the whole county."

I realize that many jurisdictions in the state, including Baltimore City and Baltimore County provide public trash pick up. But I wonder why people think that trash collection is a function of the government? This is where common-sense thinkers question the role of government. Should government be bigger to provide services that private industry can do for lower costs? This is a prime example of where the government needs to stay out.

You should contact the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce and let them know that the government should not be involved with trash pick-up. The board of directors are:

Valerie Balaz, Marlene Titus, Kristen Beck, Sanady Bertamini, Brenda Fisher, Jenny Gambino, and Steve Aquino, Tom Alessi, Jeannine Morber, Steve Wantz, Nancy Lynch, Mike Shank, Christine Walters, Mike Fox, and Rich Haddad, Chamber President.

You can contact them with the information on this link.

Related to this exploration is an idea proposed the Carroll County Commissioners (Dean Minnich, Michael Zimmer, and Julia Gouge) that would require all trash haulers to deposit their collections in the Carroll County landfills.

This idea is very anti-capitalism. If the Carroll County landfills are not offering competitive rates, trash haulers have an obligation to their customers and shareholders to find the lowest price with the most efficient facility to deposit their haul in order to provide the best value to both. Requiring them to deposit all of the collections in the Carroll County landfills may result in higher prices for customers and lower profits for the owners. If Carroll County is not able to provide a low-cost efficient option for these companies, the companies should not be forced to use them. They should be allowed to find alternate sites.

For a county that's as pro-business and pro-Republican\Conservative as Carroll County is, I am astonished that these ideas were even proposed. Are liberals infiltrating our political system? Don't stand for this. Let them know that you do not agree with these ideas!