Association Thanks Council For Votes

Association Thanks Council For Votes

Editor:

The Balmoral Condominium Association wants to extend a special thank you to the following council members for voting to protect our way of life by not voting to allow a para-sailing business to operate in our community.

We are so grateful that you care, James Hall Lloyd Martin, Brent Ashley, Margaret Pillas, Doug Cymek and Mary Knight.

However, there was one council member, Joseph Hall, who had no intention to protect our community and as a resort voted in favor of the para-sailing business.

Again, thank you to those council members who really care about the residents of Ocean City.

Mike Cullen
Ocean City

Moral Compass Needed

Editor:


I know this letter doesn’t pertain to any local political issue but it does address a moral issue that, I think, pertains to not only our local area but also to our state, federal and international activities.


I’m sure everyone has noticed a lacking in our society today of a moral compass. You can see how far astray we’ve gone in our movies, TV, music, and education. We witness it in our political leaders and accept it as normal.


Personally, I was away from the church for many years but I never lost my sense of where I could go for guidance when conditions in my life became overwhelming. There was always an understanding that through prayer one could find strength and answers. These moments provided a moral compass for me.

Today many of us go to our houses of worship looking for guidance and that brings me to the point of this letter: Why the silence from our religious leaders? I’ve yet to hear in any sermon comments about the problems in today’s society.

Has the fear of losing their tax-free status stopped them from speaking out? Is their fear of the rule of separation of church and state so controlling that they won’t speak out? Has the government forced control over our houses of worship by the threat of losing their tax status?

Maybe the reduced attendance is because of this missed guidance. I don’t know, I’m only asking the question. The world’s in trouble and we need that moral compass. Maybe it’s time our religious leaders take the initiative to bring this nation back on course. Our nation now needs more than ever that "moral compass".


Paul St. Andre’
Ocean City 

Troop Support Thanked

Editor:

I would like to thank Mrs. Robinson and her first grade class at Snow Hill Elementary School for their kindness and support for my daughter, Janeen, who is deployed in Afghanistan.

Their notes of encouragement and care package were very thoughtful. It also helped Lindsay to deal with the absence of her mother, since she spends around 35 hours a week with supporters. Janeen also has a third grade, Craig, who attends Snow Hill Elementary School.

A big “thank you” goes to Girl Scout Troop #293 under the leadership of Heather Mason and Dawn Sterling for the Girl Scout cookies and notes sent to Afghanistan. Janeen received the cookies and distributed them to her fellow comrades. They were very appreciative.

Lastly, Janeen is sending an American flag that was flown in Afghanistan to Mrs. Robinson to present to the Snow Hill Elementary School.

Fannie Birckhead
Snow Hill

Resident Offended

Editor:
(The following letter was addressed to the Ocean City Mayor and Council and a copy forwarded to this publication.)

In the last two meetings, June 6 and 14, you closed the meeting without giving me a chance to speak. I want you all to know that if I go to a city meeting I have got something to say.

I drove the city bus for seven years and after what you asked Hal Adkins through a number of questions, it’s clear you people as a group have a lot to learn about the bus system.

If you do not want me to speak at the city meetings, then I will have no choice but to take legal action.

John F. (Frank) Adkins
Ocean City
Liberal Nonsense Response

Editor:

In the June 17 edition of The Dispatch, James A. Hoage of Severna Park once again crawls out of the extreme left wing woodwork to make suggested federal cuts.

He now espouses his twisted radical concepts to solve the federal economic crisis. He suggests cuts that, wouldn’t you know, all come from the mean and nasty defense department (4% of GDP) and intelligence community (1% of GDP). Cut aircraft carriers, fighter planes, the “Ronald Reagan relics” (missiles and nuclear weapons), troops and spying.

Also, the obligatory leftist “axe the Bush tax cuts for the rich” (our job creators) and “impose a minimum corporate income tax” (an additional tax passed on all Americans). This, Hoage suggests would save $2 trillion.

In typical liberal fashion, he suggests no spending cuts in welfare or entitlement budgets, or heaven forbid, a tax cut to stimulate the economy, as Presidents Kennedy and Reagan proved would work. There seems to be no end to Hoage’s ideologically-driven nonsense.

Angelo Floria
Ocean City

Event Focuses On Our Oil Dependence

Editor:

Our dependence on oil has brought no shortage of problems to Ocean City, from painfully high gas prices to confusion and conflict within the city council (“Proposed Gas Promotion Fizzles Out in Ocean City,” June 17 issue of The Dispatch).

As our reliance on oil deepens, the consequences will become more severe: more asthma attacks and unhealthy air days, more extreme weather events fueled by global warming, and the threat of a major oil spill reaching Maryland’s shores should drilling be expanded into the Mid-Atlantic.

Ocean City residents concerned about oil’s impact on our lives should come to the Boardwalk on Saturday before noon for Hands Across the Sand, an event designed to bring greater awareness to the dangers of continued dependence on oil.

Taking part in Hands Across the Sand will do more than any gas promotion ever could to eliminate our pain at the pump, and will help steer Maryland towards a cleaner more sustainable future. At the event, attendees will ask President Obama to raise automobile fuel economy standards to 60 miles per gallon by 2025, a potentially transformative decision currently under consideration. I urge Ocean City residents to join us.

Foster Hardiman, M.P.A.
Washington, DC

One Senior Fine With Paying For Tram Rides

Editor:
Not all seniors are unhappy about the restricted senior citizen bus pass.

Did I like the unrestricted better? Of course, but it has been my observation that the tram is usually empty during the day and crowded in the evening. So it makes sense to free up the seats for paying customers. As much as we would like to keep the town to ourselves, we do depend on tourist revenue.

I am a taxpaying summer senior resident who lives downtown where the parking is tough and the beach is wide. I often take the bus when I don’t want to give up my parking spot and have to hunt for a new one on my return, and I take the tram to transport me to a narrower beach. There is also nothing nicer to do outside when it’s too hot for the beach than to take a tram ride and I use the discounted punch card for guests.

As a much higher additional taxpayer elsewhere, I appreciate all the services Ocean City provides that I do not receive there, such as beach patrol, police presence, free events, street lights, trash collection, water, sewage and public transportation. The free rides are a bonus.

I’m happy.
June Scott
Ocean City