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!

Speed Cameras in Carroll County?

It appears that the two liberal Republicans that sit on the Carroll County Commission are tilting further to the left.

An article in The Eldersburg Eagle stated that left-of-center Julia Gouge and Dean Minnich said that they would be in favor of speed cameras. They pretend to believe that it would be used within schools zones to help reduce speeds of travelers. However, we all know that the real intention of the speed cameras is to generate revenue.

And, to boot, the speed cameras would be allowed within a 1/2 mile radius of a school. This puts much of the county in the zone for allowable speed cameras, especially in the towns of Eldersburg/Sykesville, Taneytown, Westminster, and Hampstead\Manchester.

Right-wing Michael Zimmer stated that speed cameras "stink. It's nothing but a money grab and a power grab." And I agree with him.