P.O. Box 142 — Sykesville, MD 21784

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Reprint from Gazette

October 15, 2004

Please join the Freedom Area Citizens' Council (FACC) in welcoming State Delegate Donald Elliott, Principal Florence Oliver and Career Counselor Patricia Keenan from Liberty High School as our guest speakers on Thursday, October 21st at the Freedom Christian Church in Carrolltowne Center at 7:30 pm.

Delegate Elliott will be discussing his sponsorship of a voter referendum to increase the present Board of Carroll County Commissioners from three (3) to five (5) and to have them elected by district. The referendum will be on the November 2nd ballot. Carroll County is the last remaining county in Maryland to have just three Commissioners and it is Delegate Elliott's reasoned belief that increasing the size of the board will both broaden the base of experience and eliminate the potential for contentious 2 to1 quorums, as has occurred with previous boards.

Election by district will guarantee representation on the board for each specific district of the county. This will perhaps make it easier for Commissioners to keep focused and retain visibility in a specific district, while administering to the duties of their countywide office. Carroll County's growing population, now above 165,000, makes it increasingly difficult for Commissioners to attend the many public events held throughout the county and also to serve as important ex-officio members to certain government and public service agencies.

Additionally, the complexity of issues facing our growing county, together with the demand for specialized expertise will continue to challenge public expectations concerning future boards' experience and capacity. While there are certainly costs to the county for increasing the size of the board, they are mostly expected to be balanced out by more thorough deliberation and considered decision making.

Principal Oliver and Counselor Keenan will discuss the many changes underway at Liberty High School. In addition to physical upgrades, including security cameras to improve the safety for the children, educational improvements including small learning communities and more Advanced Placement (AP) courses have also become available. Small learning communities explore career concepts differently from vocational programs, as students learn from listening to speakers from the business community. The addition of several AP courses has also allowed Carroll County schools to keep up with the academic vigor of other schools throughout the country.

FACC meetings are open to the public and are held the 3rd Thursday of every month. For more information please visit FACC at www.freedomareacitizens.org.