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FREEDOM
AREA CITIZENS’ COUNCIL
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| A Publication
of FACC / Freedom Area Citizens’ Council |
October 2002
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Forum
huge success
Over
350 attend Sept. 5 event at fire hall
Over
350 people attended the FACC sponsored forum for commissioner
candidates held on Thursday Sept. 5 at the Sykesville-Freedom
VFD hall. The event was by far the best attended among the
half dozen preprimary forums throughout the county.
As one
candidate remarked, the public’s response reflected
the high level of interest among citizens of the Freedom
Area on issues that impactthem.
FACC
vice-chairman Mike Naused moderated the event which featured
questions related to representation of Freedom Area citizens
in the county government, funding for education, relationships
between the Carroll County government and neighboring jurisdictions,
economic development, and aspects of each candidates’
platform that set them apart from their competitors.
The
highlight of the evening was the early departure of candidate
Ed Primoff who, claiming that he had another engagement,
wanted to take questions out of order. This departure was
followed a few days later by Mr. Primoff’s early departure
from the campaign when his platform was rejected by Carroll
County voters.
NEXT FACC MEETING
Tuesday Oct. 15 at 7 p.m.
Carrolltown Center
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FACC
to host forum for Delegate, State Attorney candidates
The
FACC will host a forum for candidates for the delegate seat
for District 9B and for the State Attorney position at the
October general membership meeting. The meeting will be
held on Tuesday Oct. 15th at 7 p.m. at the Carrolltown Christian
Church in Carrolltown Center.
The
candidates for the delegate seat are Ken Holniker (D) and
Susan Krebs (R.). For State Attorney, the two candidates
are Jerry Barnes (R.) and Richard Nacewicz (D). The candidates
for the delegate seat will speak from 7 to 8 p.m. followed
by the State Attorney candidates from 8 to 9 p.m.
Each
candidate will be allotted a 4- minute opening statement,
followed by three questions from the FACC Board with a 2-minute
response for each candidate.
After
that members of the audience will be requested to ask questions.
The candidates will have one minute each for each question
from the audience. Audience members will be requested to
indicate when they enter the church whether they wish to
ask a question and questions will be in the order indicated
by the sign-in list.
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Commentary:
County breathes a sigh
of relief
Freedom’s
voice rang out after the September 10 primary elections.
The majority of Freedom area voters breathed a sigh of relief.
Three
moderate Republicans joined the three unopposed Democrats
and Independent Vince DePalmer in the race for three county
commissioner seats. Incumbent Julia Gouge, newcomer Dean
Minnich, and secondtime candidate Perry Jones swept through
the primary, outpacing four pro-growth candidates and three
others.
The
election of moderate Republicans represents a resounding
repudiation of the pro-growth philosophy of conservative
candidates Frazier, Dell, Brauning and Primoff. It also
represents overwhelming rejection of the mismanagement of
incumbents Frazier and Dell who came in sixth and seventh
in their own party primary.
The
Republicans joined a field of three capable Democrats including
leading vote-getter, Neil Ridgely; slow-growth candidate,
Betty Smith; and experienced town councilwoman, Jeannie
Nichols of Sykesville. Collectively, the three Democrats
received about three thousand more votes than their four
counterparts in the 1998 Democratic primary, although the
increase in the number of registered Democratic voters was
up only about 500. This indicates, we believe, either much
more interest in the issues or the realization by the voters
that the candidates are more attractive this time.
Although
many citizens expressed relief about the moderate Republicans
who won, some Democrats have expressed concern, arguing
that one of the more conservative incumbents would have
been easier to combat in the November 5th general elections
than the moderates who actually won.
The
FACC is heartened to see that the candidates receiving a
"thumbs up" in the September issue of The Banner
were also approved by the voters. While it was not an endorsement
but more a statement that any of these three Republicans
AND any of the three Democratic candidates would be acceptable
commissioners (going into the primaries), it is encouraging.
The FACC’s approval of these candidates was based on
the belief that these candidates had taken positions which
have been supported by the FACC on issues like growth, Piney
Run, and open government, issues that are important to citizens
of the Freedom area.
It will
really be interesting to see what happens in the next few
weeks.
Will
the candidates be steadfast in their primary positions during
the more competitive general election campaigns? Will the
Republican candidates modify their stances to attract the
thousands of conservative votes that must find somewhere
to go now that the pro-growth candidates are not in the
contest?
Can
the Democrats attract thousands of Independents and crossover
Republicans who could not vote for them in the primaries?
Will
the supporters of conservative candidates who did not survive
the primaries attack moderate Republicans or moderate Democrats?
Or both? Who will be the target of the expected childish
and knavish dirty tricks.
Only
time will tell.
Phil
Bennett
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Sykesville
OKs FACC, FPAC representation
The Sykesville
Town Council included representation from the FACC and from the
Finksburg Planning Area Council (FPAC) in comments by the Town on
draft bylaws for the proposed Carroll County Council of Governments
(CCCOG) coalition.
The CCCOG arose
as a result of comments by the county commissioners in the run-up
to the primary elections that placed much of the blame for uncontrolled
growth in the county on the eight municipalities. The concept of
a coalition to represent the municipalities and other unrepresented
groups arose during a joint meeting of the town governments. Mayor
Jonathan Herman of Sykesville, Councilman Frank Johnson of Mt. Airy
and Councilman Greg Pecoraro of Westminster were appointed by the
municipalities to draft bylaws for the CCCOG that are now being
circulated to the elected councils of the county’s towns and
Westminster.
The coalition
was formed to create dialogue with the county commissioners regarding
growth, development of adequate public facilities and other issues
inadequately addressed by the county. FACC and FPAC petitioned the
group for representation so that issues effecting the nearly 30,000
citizens of Freedom and 17,000 citizens in Finksburg could be heard
by the county government.
Mayor Hermann
was quoted (CCT) saying "The current Board of Commissioners
has made a lot of decisions without input from the public. Now,
all these stakeholders will be ... making recommendations to the
commissioners."
The Carroll
County Chapter of the Maryland Municipal League had given approval
to the concept of FACC/FPAC representation a week earlier in Westminster.
FACC
selects new officers, amends by-laws
The Board of
Directors of the Freedom Area Citizens’ Council has chosen
officer-candidates for the 2002-04 term.
A nominating
committee appointed by the Board selected the following slate of
officers: Ross Dangel, Chairman; Mike Naused, First Vice Chairman;
Nimrod Davis, Second Vice Chairman; Cathy Dodson, Treasurer; and
Phil Bennett, Secretary.
These nominations
will be formally presented to the Board at the October meeting and
the election will be conducted by the Board at the November General
Membership meeting. The term of the officers is two-years beginning
in June of even numbered years. Because of an on-going review of
the organization’s by-laws, the election of officers this year
was delayed.
The FACC’s
by-laws have been changed to permit wider participation by the General
Membership. Candidates for the Board of Directors can now be chosen
by and from the General Membership, as well as by members of the
sitting board. Members of the General Membership in good standing
who have expressed an interest in serving on the board, submitted
a written resume of their community activities, and obtained endorsement
by a member of the sitting board can stand for election whenever
there is a vacancy on the board or at the time of the next election
in June 2004. Election to the board is by vote of the members of
the sitting board.
Phil Bennett
Editor
About
FACC membership
FACC is a non-profit organization of volunteers that depends on
two sources of income: advertising in our quarterly newspaper, The
Banner, and membership dues.
We have been
told that FACC and The Banner provide a useful service to the community
and we are pleased by these comments.
But, many of
our members seem to believe that once they join the FACC, they are
continuing members. By our by-laws, membership runs from January
to December of each year. So, in order to continue to be a member,
each family must renew its membership annually. Members who join
in the last four months of each calendar year are credited with
the next year also so that new members have 16 months membership.
So, please take
a moment to fill out the form and renew
your membership for 2003 and send it back to FACC at P.O. Box
142, Eldersburg 21784. And, copy the form and give it to your neighbors
who might want to join and ask them to return the form. It’s
really important for the organization to grow.
It’s only
$10 a year for each family. And besides all of the useful information
that members receive, they also get great discounts from local merchants.
It’s the best deal in town.
NEXT FACC MEETING
Tuesday Oct. 15 at 7 p.m.
Carrolltown Center
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Planners
to hear requests on traffic calming
On Tuesday Oct.
15th the concept plan for the J. Daniel Phillips property on Bennett
Road will be heard by the Carroll County Planning and Zoning Commission.
In conjunction with the concept plan, the planners will also hear
pleas from local residents regarding traffic calming concerns on
Bennett Road.
At an earlier
hearing before the Subdivision Advisory Committee, a county employee
suggested that residents seek a roundabout at the intersection of
Bennett Road and Monroe Avenue as a traffic-calming device. Although
the intersection is a relatively low volume intersection at this
time, completion of Monroe Avenue from Oklahoma Road to Bennett
Road, through the Phillips property, is expected to significantly
increase traffic volume.
At two subsequent
meetings between the Planning Department, the Department of Public
works and the Carroll County Board of Commissioners, the commissioners
considered, then approved a suggested design for the roundabout,
subject to approval by the Planning Commission.
Residents of
the Bennett Road area have long been concerned about the high rates
of speed by commuters and occasional drag racers. Although the road
is designated a "major collector," increased development
in recent years has made the road a residential street.
The hearing
will be part of the Planning Commission’s regular monthly meeting
on the third Tuesday of each month. A specific time for discussion
of this subject has not yet been identified. Interested residents
are encouraged to contact the Planning Office at 410-386-2145 on
or after Oct. 11th to determine the time of the meeting.
Court denies
dismissal
On September
20, 2002, Carroll County Circuit Court Judge Luke K. Burns denied
Carroll County’s motion to dismiss a suit that alleges the
county illegally collected water rate fees to construct the proposed
water treatment plant at Piney Run Lake.
The suit, Carroll
County v. Perkins et al., was filed on November 1, 2001, alleges
that maintenance fees collected from current and past users of the
Freedom Water/Sewer would be used to construct the new facility
for future users. The county confirmed this intention in public
hearings last summer.
The county filed
a motion to dismiss that was heard on May 24, 2002. The recent decision
by Judge Burns denied the county’s motion. No comment was included
in the judge’s decision regarding future action on the suit.
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