Backyard Deals Happen
Editor:
I disagree with certain County Commissioners when they say there are no backyard deals or backyard politics going on.
A case in point; County Commissioners slammed the door shut on the elderly, handicapped, widowed, veterans, financially strapped and others on Sept. 17. Majority of commissioners would not allow the proposed White Horse Park text amendment to go to the floor for the people to speak. The voting only took a matter of seconds for denial.
It’s obvious they discussed it before the meeting to not let the people speak, but to deny them a right. Is this backyard dealing or backyard politics?
Susan Naplachowski
Berlin
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Options To Consider
Editor:
To the Mayor and City Council of Ocean City, enough.
What happened in Ocean City two weekends ago was a travesty. No more finger pointing and blame game. It cannot happen again. I have never felt unsafe walking down Coastal Highway until the weekend of Sept. 27-29.
There needs to be changes made and they need to be made now. Our police tried their best but they were hopelessly outnumbered by the hoodlums that invaded our town. There is a better way. Please accept my humble opinions as to what changes would have the effect of stopping what occurred.
Don’t just hand out tickets that are so small that they just consider them the cost of doing business – make them count. A ticket for burnouts and donuts should be at a minimum $1,000, money talks.
Don’t just hand them a ticket, impound their cars. A car impounded on Friday night can’t be recovered until the office opens up again on Monday. Result is less cars on the street.
And the best idea of all, put up concrete barricades all the way up and down Coastal Highway so that only one center lane can be driven. The side lanes can be used for emergency vehicles trying to move around town. If all the cars are in one row, there is not enough space on their sides for donuts and burnouts. There will be too many cars all in one line for speeding. This would be more cost effective than having to pay the overtime for all of the officers who have to babysit these infants. It effectively slows them down, allows for movement of emergency vehicles, keeps the crowds from the travel lanes and eliminates the space needed for their juvenile antics.
A year or two of handling it this way and maybe will choose to move on as another disruptive group did several years ago when they found they were unwelcome. Just a few thoughts.
Wendy Sevier
Ocean City
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Force, Not Politics, Works
Editor:
In the Oct. 4 issue of The Dispatch, the police chief was quoted as saying, “it was intolerable, the level has never been seen … there was a lot of anger and hostility directed at law enforcement.” With all due respect chief, there is anger and hostility — and deadly violence — directed at law enforcement nationwide, because the police have been neutered by politically correct, liberal lawmakers who value the rights of criminals over the rights of law abiding citizens.
The article reports that our law enforcement officers were assaulted with “rocks and bottles and other scuffles with participants.” Some cops even had to draw their handguns/and or use Tasers to protect themselves. The chief further tells us that many law enforcement officers were “dinged up during the weekend donnybrooks … we’re a little bruised up and sore but there were no significant injuries.” So the question that begs to be answered is, were any of the invaders “bruised up and sore?”
The point is nationwide cops have become kewpie dolls, serving as targets for the insults, projectiles, and punches of what used to be called “rioters.” They are fearful of using necessary force, thanks to cell phone cameras and the second guessing of liberal politicians and media. Drew their guns? Do cops have nightsticks anymore? A wooden nightstick in the hand of a cop who means business is the ultimate “show of force to prevent the use of force.” Cops with nightsticks backed up by cops on horses, riot over.
Those of us who follow the news are well aware that in many places the police can’t or won’t protect us or our property anymore when it comes to civil disturbances (and the suggestion by some to activate the National Guard in this situation is absurd). In major cities (such as Baltimore) the cops have been ordered to “stand down” while the city is looted and burned. In Portland, the police have been ordered to “stand down” while law-abiding citizens are attacked and injured by thugs wearing ski masks (Antifa). Add to that the fact that a cop can be prosecuted on the basis of a 10-second video and the lawless win.
Here in Ocean City the police using necessary force on a large scale to quell this disturbance would be ‘bad publicity’ for the resort, so it ain’t going to happen. Instead we’ll get the same political non-solutions, and cops will continue to get “bruised up and sore.”
Steve Lind
Ocean Pines
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Traffic Laws Not Answer
Editor:
The unruly actions of the H2Oi drivers during the Sept. 27 weekend clearly demonstrates that attempting to use traffic laws to control insurgent behavior has minimal effect.
Hundreds of police officers, doing an impressive job, gave out at least 1500 traffic tickets and arrested 151 individuals. Make no mistake about it, the H2Oi drivers were using their vehicles as a form of protest and disturbance of the peace. I was told that a number of H2Oi drivers who received tickets taped a copy of the citation to their passenger side rear window as a badge of honor. In another case, the H2Oi driver committed violations with a law enforcement vehicle right behind their car. It is clear that the special event law did not and will not prevent, even if expanded, the unruly actions of the H2Oi drivers.
The Maryland General Assembly refused to pass the original special events proposal because it was a typical Ocean City government overreach that covered automotive, entertainment, amusement, recreation, sporting, marketing, or community events, vehicle, boat, outdoor recreation shows, festivals, fairs, carnivals, parades, circus, concerts and block parties. That’s right, the Ocean City Council wanted to designate a special events zone if a circus ever came to town. In other words, the original Ocean City proposal would have resulted in any event in Ocean City with large crowds being designated a special event zone. This is why the Maryland General Assembly limited the special events law to motor vehicle traffic violations.
The Ocean City Council needs to move away from its simplistic legalistic approach of trying to use the traffic laws to controls individuals’ behavior and develop other feasible alternatives for all motor related groups.
Joseph H. Potter
Ocean City