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Published Material from Baltimore County Members
These views are not necessarily the views of the organization as a whole.
The recycling day in my area is Monday. Because of the Christmas and New Years holidays falling on Sunday and being observed on Monday, my household is now inthe midst of its third week without a recycling pickup, so perhaps I can be forgiven if I do not share the glowing opinion of Baltimore County's recycling program expressed in the article which appeared in the Catonsville Times of December 21.
The County advises us to "Please hold your recyclables for the next pickup day". Fortunately, I no longer have this problem with paper, as my Church has began a paper recycling fund-raising program, and I have discontinued paper recycling with the County. But that I had such an alternative for cans and bottles, which require either a trip and wait in line at the dump, or to store 3 weeks worth of trash in my house. In spite of all of this, I am one of the few on my block who recycles.
The County desires that its citizens recycle other items, but a less-than user-friendly program makes this difficult at best. Hazardous household items require a trip to the Eastern Landfill, a 60 mile roundtrip from Catonsville if one takes no-toll route around the Beltway. The facility for hazardous items at Eastern is nothing more than a 20 foot roll-off container in which the items are to be placed.
We are told that we should not dump electronic items, yet the only opportunity to recycle them is at one of the County's once-in-a-blue-moon electronics recycling "events" which usually require a trip to the Towson Area and a long wait in line. Tires on rims? Sorry, we don't take those.
How much trouble could it be to provide collection for these items at all of the County's solid waste facilities? All that would be needed at each of the facilities is a roll-off container for the hazardous items and a dry van trailer for the electronics. Neither of these are expensive items, particularly if bought used.
If the County wishes to encourage its citizens to recycle, it should provide that encouragement in the form of timely pickup of paper, bottles and cans and additonal, more convenient drop-off points for other items.
Gary A. Smith
Catonsville
Governor goes green
Don't expect the campaign signs to change from blue to green, but our governor has placed his environmentally friendly signature smack dab in the middle of Baltimore County.
As an invited guest to the former Charles H. Hickey Jr. School site Jan. 2, I expected an announcement of some magnitude but was pleasantly surprised at the bold and visionary leadership displayed during that day's event. To state it plain and simple, Gov. Ehrlich brought down the hammer of preservation in Carney.
Much to the delight of the beleaguered communities that surround Hickey, nearly 220 acres of land will become parkland, open space and buffer or trib zones for our Chesapeake Bay.
Baltimore County has become a hotbed of development activity under the Jim Smith administration, and locals feared the worst when Hickey was slated for closure. Small communities throughout Baltimore County have come under siege from unwanted and unplanned development under the guise of the “renaissance.”
The only renaissance occurring is in the campaign accounts of our local government representatives. I guess taking money from developers comes naturally for these guys; they have no one to answer to.
The county is largely Democratic, and it's business as usual. If you're a developer it's great; if you have a family and need new schools, sewage and road repair, too bad.
Gov. Ehrlich understands family, he understands education, he understands the environment. His administration is committed to making Maryland a leader in higher standards of living. The communities around Hickey are realizing the benefits of a governor who cares.
Hey, I think I just saw Gov. Ehrlich leave in a hybrid!
Tim Caldwell, Whiteway Road
Party Line (R)
'Warfare' ahead in Annapolis
According to Wikipedia, gang warfare is "the conflict between opposing gangs. This is commonly held over turf boundaries, the takeover of certain areas, personal rivalries, or simply the fact that the opposing group is different in some way."
In Maryland we are preparing for this event. It is the 2006 Session of the Maryland General Assembly.
For 36 years the "Blue Gang" dominated the Annapolis scene and allowed rival members of the "Red Gang" to exist just to fool the people in Maryland into thinking there was a two-party system and that there was tolerance within the Blue ranks. In 2002 the people spoke and sent the leader of the Red Gang (Gov. Ehrlich) to Annapolis to be in charge of the executive branch of government.
Suddenly all the Blue Gang (Democratic Party) tolerance ceased and it made its move by flashing its colors and inking new partisan tattoos. The Democrats knew they had to create political gang warfare in order to try to retake the second floor of the Statehouse and take over the Governor's Mansion from the Republican leader.
Now with election day closing fast, Democratic leaders are prepared to sacrifice any of their members in the 2006 rumble that begins Jan. 11, the opening day of the session, and will end on election day, Nov. 7, 2006.
The Miller and Busch team have told their gang members the rumble starts with voting on veto overrides - their own, very personal way to "stick it" to the governor. A good example on that veto override agenda is the Fair Share Health Care Fund Act, otherwise known as the "Wal-Mart Bill."
This Democratic-endorsed bill will legislate that Wal-Mart must increase its operating expenses in Maryland. Wal-Mart is the place where members of all gangs love to shop for low prices. If the Miller-Busch team gets its way Wal-Mart will have to consider raising prices for all of Maryland.
The nonconsumer-friendly Democrats want you to believe that Wal-Mart's stockholders will sacrifice profit margins for you, but you know that won't happen. Just as government spending increases taxes, higher expenses in any business increases consumer prices. Those who vote to override the veto are raising the price you pay at your local Wal- Mart stores.
On the other side, Gov. Ehrlich is increasing funds for higher education by $172 million dollars and has funded previously unfunded education mandates because he understands education is important.
He has preserved more than 60,000 acres of land in our state and spent more money on Bay restoration than any other governor ever has, because he values our environment.
Yet the Democratic leaders will try to convince you your governor doesn't care about education or environmental issues. We, however, see from his actions that are proving them wrong every day ... they don't like it.
The 2006 legislative session will be gang warfare - after all it's an election year. The turf involved is the state of Maryland. The area that the Blue Gang wants to take over is the Governor's Mansion and the second floor of the Statehouse. The personal rivalries are about putting Gov. Ehrlich out of office. The simple fact is the Democrats do not want to continue to share political power for another four years.
This page last updated February 14, 2006
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