Making Sausage
Editor:
We are a society of laws and the first society known to mankind that bases our laws on God given rights that can never be changed or repealed. However, adding law on top of law eventually reduces the enforceability of all laws. Too many laws places our essential right, of equality under the law, in jeopardy. Regulators in an honest effort to enforce the laws are overwhelmed. Instead of equal enforcement we end up with arbitrary enforcement. Over time arbitrary enforcement always leads to soft corruption and eventually hard corruption.
For years I have watched the sausage making by members of our council. I have had lengthy conversations with Matt James, John Gehrig and more recently with Mark Paddock before they were all elected about my concern that the town was making too much sausage. Although they all listened, after they were elected, they melded in to their new lives as members, in a monkey see monkey do fashion and nothing changed.
My concern was and is that the method of payment of the sausage packager, the City Solicitor causes the over production of sausage. We pay Heather Stansbury as we did Guy Ayres by the amount of sausage they package, as opposed to an annual salary which is the way almost all other municipalities do it. Is it any wonder we produce so much sausage? For the last couple years, I was hopeful, the sausage making had slowed to 19 and 16 a year under Heather Stansbury, but this year it looks like she has gotten her sea legs. The sausage production has increased back to Guy Ayres average of 25-30 Ordinance per year. This number is unmatched by other jurisdictions and puts unnecessary if not impossible workloads on staff and police to enforce the laws equally which too often ends up as arbitrary enforcement in the best case.
During Guy Ayres’ tenure his firm received about $400,000 to $500,000 a year charging piecemeal to package the sausage the council members made. While the City Solicitor in Annapolis received a salary of $149,000 a year and packaged far less sausage. Its human nature when you pay someone per package of sausage you get more sausage than when you pay them an annual salary.
The Town does not need extra sausage. I never took issue with the amount of money Guy Ayres’ firm received but always was concerned with the secondary costs to enforce the excess sausage equally about whether we needed all that bundled sausage? The continually increasing sausage in the least places added, unnecessary workloads on regulators and the police. In all likelihood it’s worse than that.
For full disclosure I also tried to broach the topic with young Mr. Buas whose comment ended the discussion when he said, “I adore Heather,” our city solicitor. This issue is not about Heather personal. It is about the method the council is paying the City Solicitor.
If you take a long view, on average 25 to 30 sausages are made by the members a year. Now I have been here 60+ years or 1,200+ sausages ago and I can attest to the fact that Ocean City was a great place to live 60 years ago before the 1,200+ sausages. Now it is true that some of the sausage is needed but I suspect not more than 5% and there are good reasons why.
The excess sausage keeps falling on the desks of regulators and police to be enforced. As the pile of sausage grows, often at the rate of one every other week the ability for regulators and police to enforce it diminishes; violating our most elemental right of equality under the Law. Therefore, enforcement becomes arbitrary. Eventually as the sausage flow continues enforcement becomes even more ambiguous; totally the fault of the excess sausage not the people. We are not there yet but we are in dire need of council members who rule with a red pencil.
There is no doubt that our members who create the sausage have the best of intentions. It goes something like this as they sit on their duffs in town meetings a “do-good idea” that makes the hair on councilmen’s legs stand up and before you know it the new sausage is packaged by the City Solicitor who often suggests more sausage for a legal reason.
Gone are the days when council members Vince Gisriel or Jim Hall limited sausage production.
Of course, we are a nation of laws but I am a believer in our right of equal enforcement of the law and KISS, keep it simple stupid, so that all laws are understood.
Over time too much sausage always leads to arbitrary and sometimes capricious enforcement that proceed soft corruption when certain citizens are given breaks and finally hard corruption.
When sausage production is unimpeded and laws violate KISS, our basic right of “equality under the law” is threatened and compromised. No law should be imposed without strong consideration of the Communities ability to enforce it equally.
Maybe we need to teach our members on the council that sometimes a red pencil is needed to eliminate aged cumbersome sausage. Or a rule that for every new sausage packaged two or more old packages should be sunset.
Tony Christ
Ocean City
Falls Church, Va.
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Require Vaccinations
Editor:
Dr. Fauci says “we will try anything and everything” to get people vaccinated, like appealing to trusted confidants of the unvaccinated to reason with them. (PBS Nightly News, July 19, 2021)
Interestingly, Dr. Fauci does not even go near suggesting actual enforcement of public health law, the only thing that has ever worked in the history of the world to end epidemics.
Our infectious disease expert knows that today’s young people in their 20s and 30s will do very little in their own health interests unless and until they are forced to, just like when they were teenagers.
But the mouthpiece of two administrations also knows that rule of law is politically unpopular today, so he sides with libertarians who think no one should ever be required to do anything against their will.
Here’s the thing. Our Millennials and Zers are happy to do whatever is required of them at work in order to get their paychecks, at pain of firing if they don’t. Why can’t government require them to get vaccinated in order to get their good citizenship paychecks, at pain of fine or lengthy community service if they don’t?
Kimball Shinkoskey
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OC Wrong To Meet
Editor:
Two things.
- I am writing to you today in regards of my statements not being mentioned in your newspaper about my deplorable rental house and the city’s lack of inspections and accountability for landlords. I do not have a problem with your newspaper. But what I do disagree with is legitimate health concerns in the town of ocean city and they are being ignored.
- BLM predictions.
Furthermore, I have stated a grim truth about last month’s incident with the police. I stand and full agree with the police’s decision on what they did. In previous months in City Council meetings, I said it will only take one incident, justified or not, to occur in Ocean City and the town will feel the fire and destruction of BLM.
Every protest starts as peaceful until it does not go their way and cites become Berlin (1930s, 1940s). I said it in a city council meeting. I gambled on the facts and guess what? So far I’m right.
Even furthermore, why the hell did the mayor and local leaders have a closed session with the group? What would happen if they are found guilty? Cities have burned like the reign of fire because of non-guilty verdicts. How would it look if BLM riots Ocean City after being invited in the fort (City Hall)? Should I remind you of the footage taken of the same group last year putting fear on the businesses and tourists.
My final statement is what’s The Dispatch going to report when and if these riots break out?
DT Hagan
Ocean City