Refusal of Funds to the Sheriff's Department

Donna M. Cave

8/14/2009

The first sentence in an article in the Maryland Independent on July 10 about Sheriff Coffey requesting funds to roll over in to 2010 that they saved in their 2009 budget is “With heavy hearts......”  I seriously doubt that.    It strikes another a false note which I have come to expect from our Commissioners.  They seem to have a one-mindedness which does not allow for any self expression at all.    With the exception of Gary Hodge, the President rules this group....it is called “follow the leader or suffer the consequences.”  Not that I appreciate most decisions Commissioner Hodge has made, but he does seem to be self reliant and does his homework. I cannot say the same of the other four. They rely much too much on being told information instead of finding out for themselves.  

---Refusal of Funds to the Sheriff’s Department.  The Sheriff’s Department tightened their belts and saved $850,000 from their fiscal 2009 budget.  They did what was asked of them.  According to Commissioner Hodge “I regret having to say this, but I can’t see the justification at this moment in time, when (a transfer) counts against our fund balance.”   The Commissioners are constantly robbing Peter to pay Paul.  In this case, they are robbing the Sheriff’s Department among others to pay for a cross-county connector extension growth corridor which will cost the county taxpayers at least $60 million dollars.  Is the connector for the people of the county; absolutely not.  It is for sprawl and inappropriate growth and for the people who will be coming into the county.  Billingsly Road can be made safe (although it is not the road which is unsafe, it is the irresponsible drivers which make it so) without building a four lane highway that the state will not even support.  It will push the health of the Mattawoman Creek beyond the tipping point; the point of no return; a point at which the Creek will not be viable and do the job for which nature intended. How can the county spend this much money on a road that will perpetuate massive, inappropriate  growth not only on Billingsly Road but Bryans Road and which will encroach  on the Naval Station in Indian Head.   

Let the Sheriff’s Department have their $850,000.  They earned it and the citizens of the county deserve the best equipped law enforcement officers that  money can buy.  Also, rumor, I repeat, rumor has it that one of the two candidates who will be running against Coffey was hand picked by the Commissioners.  Our commissioners want so badly for the sheriffs department to report directly to them that they can taste it.  That having failed (so far) they are, it appears to me,  using this refusal of funds as a beginning to squeeze Sheriff Coffey out in order to  put in yet another “yes” man; something at which they are very good (note county employee dismissals over the past several  years.)

---Chaney Enterprises, the County Commissioners and Preserve Hughesville.  As you may or may not know, Preserve Hughesville is taking the County Commissioners to court over their granting Chaney Enterprises the rezoning of their mined property next to the Hughesville Post Office.  Why do gravel miners such as Chaney pay a minimal tax on the property they mine?  In other words, if (as in Hughesville) the base zone is Agricultural Conservation and is mined, then the company applies for and gets the special tax rate for (surprise) farming not mining.  Why should we allow companies to remove our valuable natural resources and pay a minimum of taxes?  And then when they are through mining, get the property rezoned to a designation which would make the property more valuable (taxable) and then sell it for a profit.  Whatever these companies are doling out in the name of philanthropy does not come close to matching what they should be paying in property taxes just as do the rest of us (by the way, most rural homes are on an Agricultural Conservation base zoned lot.)  And, after rezoning it why does the county not go back and recapture those taxes lost.  Not happening....this is our sitting commissioners we are talking about...and Chaney Enterprises.  It appears that the county attorney confers with Chaney’s representatives on a regular basis.....what can the county do for them.  It seems to me that Chaney has a free ride and the county is buying into it. Since we have a closed government, we will never know for sure but actions point to that.  Who runs this county anyway?

---County treasurer’s office.  The county in its infinite wisdom has changed one of the few publicly controlled offices in our government.  Instead of voting for the Treasurer, he or she will be handpicked by the Commissioners. Apparently Mr. Peuler was taking the term “checks and balances” to heart and practicing just that.  This again would allow the Commissioners and County Attorney to drive the direction of the county without any of these pesky “checks or balances;” a kin to putting the fox in the henhouse to protect the chickens. Another example of the commissioners wanting to pull all the strings.

---Trade bypasses Hughesville.  An article in the Independent on Friday, July 10 quoted George L. Robertson, Director of Economic Development and Tourism: “Some local entrepreneurs have unrealistic hopes for the town.   "I've heard people in Hughesville talk about, ‘Let's become an art center.' You don't do that easily," he said. "The critical mass of business you have to have is quite a bit before you start getting people to come from any distance. I've tried to be realistic with them on what is really doable."

The idea for an art center was the adamant hope of our former Charles County Director of Economic Development, John Reardon not the people of Hughesville.  Mr. Reardon came from Colorado and said it had worked in many areas there and would, with proper planning, work in Hughesville. Well, we have the planning in the Hughesville Revitalization Plan.  With a push from the county government and Mr. Robertson himself, many things can be realized in Hughesville.  At the moment we are depending on local business people to help infill in the Village Core.  Too bad we cannot count on a government which is so willing to dismiss us.  Haven’t they learned yet?  You don’t dismiss the people of Hughesville.

Speaking of dismissing, anyone wanting to do so in the case of our sitting commissioners, contact me at DonnaCave@aol.com or 301 932-7249.  I am with Political Action for Charles County which is becoming a leading force in unearthing credible and sincere people to run in the 2010 elections.  Our ultimate goals are to have a more open and responsive government, a government which cares about issues other than growth for growths sake (how else are the majority of developers going to get rich.)  We will be having meetings in each of the commissioner districts and hope for locals in those districts to help us out.  We CAN do it.  It just takes a county of concerned individuals.  BE ONE.

--A side note.  I had a particular state senator say to me about 20 years ago; “Development is the engine that runs Charles County.” How unsustainable and backward thinking is that, yet it continues to be so today.  That was the first day that I lost all awe and admiration for most (with very few exceptions) of our elected officials.

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