Voices From the Readers

Voices From the Readers
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Citizens Concerned Over County Direction

Editor:

The time for government
transparency and accountability is urgently overdue. Massive unnecessary
spending and ignoring citizens’ concerns are problems viewed of utmost
importance about our Worcester County Commissioners. These are true issues of
the Concerned Citizens of Worcester County (CCWC).

Many of the
issues/concerns have been addressed directly and indirectly by individuals of
CCWC to the commissioners with remarks that “I will not discuss this” or we
will discuss this at the next meeting. Of, course just like “tomorrow” the next
meeting never comes.

Our commissioners are
our elected servants and have a responsibility to prudently and openly spend
our – the taxpayers/constituents monies. Questions that we are requesting
answers to are the following:
1. Housing prisoners from other counties and/or agencies including the
accounting and disbursement of the additional funds and the affect of the
income on the budget.
2. The commissioners receiving luncheons at the Worcester County Detention
Center (WCDC), the influence this may or may not have at the budget hearings,
the impact on the WCDC’s present budget and the commissioners’ lack of response
when inquiries were made previously regarding this.
3. The commissioners’ impact of nepotism in hiring. At the WCDC, Mr. Shockley
is the warden and the second in command is Mr. Mumford, the warden’s
son-in-law. Where can the workers at the detention center go?
4. The commissioners’ urchases that could not have been possibly thought out,
such as the purchase of the Tyson building for the Berlin MAC Center for $1.75M
and $328,000 to renovate nine acres with a lagoon. What further use can be
foreseen for this property?
5. Are the commissioners’ meetings a dictatorship or a democracy? Citizens are
not allowed to speak or ask questions at the commissioners meetings, but the
press is encouraged to address the commissioners. In this day of high-tech, why
are agenda packets not available to your constituents in less than 24 hours of
the commissioners meetings?
6. Take home vehicles; for each agency; emergency on-call personnel. Persons
employed outside of the county with take home vehicles. Necessity of department
heads to have an automobile basic use to drive to work and home. A pool of
vehicles versus each agency having automobiles. Which is more plausible?
These are of foremost importance and legitimate concerns that the Concerned
Citizens of Worcester County wish to see addressed by our County Commissioners.
The times are hard and there are tough decisions that must be made. There is no
time or place for secret agendas. We must work together as a democracy and not
as a dictator who sees no relevance of input from the people they serve. We
must have transparency in government today and the commissioners must serve at
the discretion of the people/citizens that placed them in office. If you feel
the same way and have additional issues you wish to see addressed, please join
us the third Wednesday of each month at the Snow Hill Public Library at 7:30
p.m. Looking forward to seeing you.
Lorraine Purnell-Ayres

(The writer is the
co-chairperson of the CCWC.)

Congratulations To
County

Editor:

Worcester County
demonstrates concern for our environment through their recycling program, with
bins available at several locations within the county. Forsaking revenues in
the short term for long-term benefits to our ecosystem is an admirable
philosophy. Teaching our children to respect and honor nature is a skill that
will last a lifetime. Recycling is one way we can attempt to limit our carbon
footprint. Worcester County enables their citizens to participate in recycling
by providing the resources needed for this effort.

It is encouraging to see
a government agency put “green” before profit. I am curious what our
out-of-town visitors will think of Ocean City when they are looking for the
trash cans and bins designated for recycling. Increasing trash volume is an
unfortunate effect of Ocean City’s new policy. A

lso the new trash
hauler, East Coast Resources, has their headquarters in Richmond, Va. and they
transport Ocean City’s waste to Pennsylvania. Seems like a round robin
approach.

Kudos to Worcester
County.

Judy Davis

Ocean City

Bus Hikes Goes Too Far

Editor:

Why raise the bus rate
to $3? Why not go to $5?

I’m sure it will go
there within the next year or so. Seems like the town of O.C. is out to make
everything more expensive for the out of towners. It’s bad enough that you
raised the Inlet parking. What will be next? How about making vacationers pay
to go on the beach, and also, why not make all those recreational fishermen,
who like to fish with their children, make them pay for a fishing license?

As a family we always
liked vacationing in Ocean City but looks like we will be vacationing elsewhere.
Seems like greed will never leave your city. It’s a shame knowing what O.C.
used to be and what it has become is a darn shame.

Michael Saltzgiver

York, Pa.

Appalled Over Recycling

Editor:

(The following was
addressed to the Ocean City Mayor and Council as well as Worcester County.)

Ocean City’s abandonment
of its recycling program and Worcester County’s apparent acceptance of this
decision is unfortunate.

You suggest that we
carry our individual recyclables to other Worcester County locations: Walmart
in Beriln or Ocean Pines. But as Worcester County’s “golden child,” Ocean City
should deserve a couple drop-off places as we had before the town adopted the
door-to-door service.

Instead of OC sending
off toxic-emission trucks carrying solid waste to an incinerator in Chester,
Pa., could OC/Worcester County re-establish the drop-off sites formerly in
place in Ocean City? Consider that regular pickups at businesses such as bars
and restaurants would prove profitable with aluminum going for 55 cents to $1 a
pound.

Another high season is
about to begin, and you, the Ocean City Mayor and Council, have chosen a
strange way to publicize our family/responsible resort. You will no doubt pay
at the next election. In the meantime, where are you, our Worcester County
administrators, to oversee an errant child?

Albert and Elizabeth
Simon

Ellicott City

Hearings Need Attendance

Editor:

Surprise, nine
identified communities throughout Worcester County are targeted for
new charges/taxes (based on EDUs or equivalent dwelling units). The
purpose of this is for debt payments, surprise again.

Additionally, three
of these areas, and one other, are scheduled for new or increased
user fees. They are Mystic Harbor (new plus $100/year), Ocean Pines (up 14%),
Newark* (up 46%) and The Landings (up 16%).

I’m writing this letter
because, having attended plenty of public hearings and
commissioner and council meetings (usually solo), I know that almost
nobody ever realizes these insights from the legal notices of public
hearings (which are published, as required, in the newspapers).

If this doesn’t affect
you, then when will your turn come? When it does, will you be prepared to pay
it? How many more new fees will there be? How will they affect property values?
Rental rates? Commercial or business leases? Commerce in general?

If this does affect you,
or is of concern to you at all, then certainly you can telephone any
of the County Commissioners. However, nothing is more effective or
important than attending the public hearing in person, whether you speak,
or not. There is so much to learn by listening and so much to share by
speaking. We all need each others’ input, whether we agree or disagree
with each other, and regardless of whether that input is positive,
negative or neutral. Although a Tuesday afternoon (June 1, 1:40 p.m.) is
inconvenient, it’s not impossible to adjust your schedule this one time
for two or three hours. You will probably be very satisfied, or at
least favorably surprised, at how rewarding it winds up being.

Please consider also
attending the preceding public hearing (1:30) on the Solid Waste
Enterprise Fund. It will give you a glimpse of either proper- or typical
protocol (either a clear and concise, but specific summary followed by
public testimony and commissioners’ conscientious consideration or
a very generalized and vague summary, if any, followed by little or
no public testimony and a dutiful commissioners’ promise to
consider).

It’s your money.

Ellie Diegelmann

Ocean City

Shelter Walk Thanks

Editor:

The Worcester County
Humane Society would like to thank everyone who made the “Board Walkin’ for
Pets” a great event.

We had over 280
registered walkers and were able to raise over $26,000. The money raised from
this event is necessary to keep the shelter running, the funds will help pay
for the shelters everyday costs such as food, medicine, veterinary care,
spaying, neutering, vaccines, heartworm, and flea preventatives for the many
homeless cats and dogs that call the shelter home.

There are many people to
thank for the events great success. Thank you to our event sponsors ABBA Bail
Bonds, Barefoot Mailman, Berlin Interventional Pain Management, Bunting’s
Tranquility Kennels, Captain’s Galley II, Chesapeake Yacht Services, Custom
Mechanical Inc., Donald’s Duck Shoppe, House Pawz Pet Sitting, Ocean City
Animal Hospital, Ocean City Taxi, Petco, Red Sun Custom Apparel, Ryan Haley
Real Estate Team, Smooth Jazz 97.1, and Harrison’s Harbor Watch Restaurant,
which always generously opens its lobby doors and provides coffee and tea. We
would also like to thank Debbie Dickerson and Brian K of Smooth Jazz 97.1 for
providing music and emceeing the event. Pepsi, Food Lion of West Ocean City,
and Layton’s Dip’n Donuts for providing refreshments for our walkers and their
pets, we appreciate your continued support.

Thank you to all the
local businesses who donated prizes for our top pledge collectors: This years
Grand Prize Winner is Denise DeRoche; second place, Bank of Ocean City; third
place, Michael and Judi Musk; fourth place, Ray Jackson; fifth place, Shirl
Mast; sixth place, Anna Ramsburg; seventh place, Jordon Fried; eighth place,
Paul Wheeler; ninth place, Kate Schulz; 10th place, Linda Rutter;
Kid’s Prize, Summer Brenner; Cutest Cat Contest Winner, Jenny and Jimmy Hall;
and to everyone who participated in the walk.

This event would not be
possible without all the volunteers who helped at the Boardwalk and those who
stay at the shelter. Thank you for your dedication and hard work. We couldn’t
do it without you

I would also like to
remind everyone that summer is here and pets should not be left in a car. On a
78 degree day, a parked car can reach 160 degrees in minutes. Even opening
windows in the shade won’t prevent a dog from overheating. So, when the mercury
rises, it is safest to leave your pets at home.

Please visit us on
Eagle’s Nest Road and consider opening your heart and home to a homeless pet.
The shelter has many cute little kittens waiting for a new home. Please
remember to spay and neuter to help reduce the number of unwanted pets. If
interested in volunteering, please stop by the shelter and speak with a
volunteer. Our furry friends are always in need of newspapers, blankets, Purina
Products, toys and treats. The shelter is open Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday
from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thank you and we hope to see everyone at next year’s
event.

Kristy Haley