It seems like every day now there is something about the Golden Mile in the local newspaper. I drive this stretch of road every day to and from the radio station.

Sometimes absolute silence is more telling and revealing than the loudest proclamations from the highest mountain tops. I find the current silence on the part of the American Civil Liberties Union to once and for all and conclusively demonstrate the complete hypocrisy of that organization.

The subject of the day in the local press seems to be the future of the Citizens Care and Rehabilitation Center and the Montevue Assisted Living facility. Of course, as we have come to expect from our local newspapers, you only see one side of the story.

I guess it is inevitable. When a person or a group of people in a position of public authority comes into office and actually makes good on their promises to the voters, the people who voted against them express moral outrage.

In my last column I was critical of people distorting numbers, statistics and facts to suit their needs. Now I want to focus on the most repeated lie we hear by the opponents of economic development. And that is the oft-repeated refrain: “I am not against growth.”

As Ronald Reagan liked to say, “There you go again.” If I hear one more person say “When I moved here from Montgomery County,” or “growth in Frederick County is out of control;” or, of course, “the developers are getting a free ride and not paying their fair share,” I think my head is going to explode!

If you are like me, until recently you thought the word "sequester" described what judges do to juries in high profile criminal trials. Well, we have a whole new definition now. And, in my book, it just amounts to more horrifyingly bad governing in Washington.

The gun control bill currently making the rounds in the state Senate, known as SB 281, is both breathtaking and not a little bit frightening in its scope. This bill should not be called gun control. It is more like gun confiscation.

Every few years in this country some sick, twisted person commits an unspeakable act of violence that results in multiple deaths. The latest is the horrific school shooting in Connecticut. I don’t know if I have ever been so shaken and disturbed by a news report than I was when I heard of this tragedy.

The incompetence and downright irresponsibility of our so called “national leaders” continues to astound me. Their latest version of the children’s game of kick-the-can-down-the-road is just another example of ineffectual government to which we, unfortunately, are becoming accustomed.

Since 2007 Gov. Martin O’Malley and the Democrat controlled Maryland General Assembly have piled more than $1.6 billion in new tax and fee increases on the backs of Maryland taxpayers.

In November 2010 five Republicans were elected to the open seats on the Frederick Board of County Commissioners. I stated at the time, and continue to believe today, that 2010 was the first election in memory that was not mostly about growth and development. I still believe that.

“Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.” This is a quote from one of my favorite Americans, President Andrew Jackson. I use this quote in reference to the newly adopted constitution for our county, namely the Frederick County Charter.

As you might expect, in the wake of last week’s election, I have been witness to a lot of moaning and handwringing. Many of my friends and acquaintances, who lean to the right on most issues, seem inconsolable about the results from the ballot box.

It is a privilege to write this column every other week. And I am fully aware that with this opportunity comes serious responsibility. No right afforded to us as United Sates citizens is as precious as a free press, not subject to censorship by government or anyone else.

A proposed Frederick County law would establish a requirement that a voter present a current government-issued photo identification in order to vote in a primary or general election.

Have you seen the ballot for next month’s General Election. I have never seen anything quite like it; and I doubt you have either, unless you once lived in California and voted in elections out there.

Why does Frederick County need a long term solid waste disposal plan? Here are some basic facts.

We are now almost two months from the November election. Being a presidential year, there is obviously significant interest and attention in the fall campaign. We will be surprised along the way, but most of it we have already heard.

I recently attended the annual three day conference of the Maryland Association of Counties (MACO) in Ocean City. I found it to be a worthwhile investment in time because I got to discuss common areas of interest and concern with county leaders from across the state.

As most everyone knows, I am a radio guy at heart. But sometimes television is okay. And sometimes it is very, very good. This is one of those times.

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to tour the outside of the newly renovated Lincoln Elementary – on my own. Most everyone knows this school, once known as South Frederick Elementary, is located just south of downtown Frederick. As one of our older schools, Lincoln was badly in need of renovation.

For years we have been told how Maryland’s economy is “recession-proof” because of the breadth and depth of our ties to the federal government. As this thinking goes, when the economy goes into recession the government increases spending to stimulate the economy…

On January 8th of this year The Frederick News Post published an editorial in which they advised me that I should “step away from (my) radio show for the rest of (my) term and dedicate (myself) to (my) public office.”

Last Saturday night the Maryland Republican Party held their annual Red, White and Blue Dinner. There was a fabulous turnout of close to 500 people.

If anyone is not fully sick of – and disgusted by – the dirty backroom one-party politics displayed in Annapolis this year, I guess the only explanation is that you’ve seen it for so long you’ve become accustomed to it.

With all the recent discussion, debate, protests and media coverage of issues in Frederick County like the budget, teachers’ salaries, grants to nonprofits and other fiscal matters, it seems that growth issues have been taken off the front page.

There has been a lot of talk lately about the role of government with regard to non-profit organizations. Once again the Board of County Commissioners is in the crosshairs; but I, for one, think this is a healthy debate that needs to be aired.

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, if that is true in general, the one you will see when you click on this link (http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/business/display.htm?StoryID=134849) is worth at least a million.

Over the last year we have witnessed budget battles at both the federal and state levels that made it very clear that our so-called “leaders” couldn’t manage an airport shoeshine stand, much less manage the budgets of our country and our state.

There were other races that keenly interested me leading up to the recent primary. Having already commented on the congressional contest, it’s time to look at the Board of Education primary. This race was noteworthy in more than one way.

Well, finally, the primary election is over. No more radio and newspaper ads, direct mail and or robo-calls for awhile. By the why this election cycle must have set a record for robo-calls.

Here we go again! The same old finger pointing and blame game by some of our elected Frederick County Board of Education members who claim they do not have enough money. Why is it the Board of County Commissioners’ fault; and why it is for the children?

In 2008 in the United States, it was MoveOn.org. You will recall that this is the organization that took it upon itself to pass judgment on every candidate and issue that came before the voters of the United States to determine if they were liberal enough to deserve public office.

I’m sure you saw the story that broke this week from the head of the Frederick County Teachers Association announcing that teachers will no longer work beyond their prescribed work day as set forth in their collective bargaining agreement.

I’ve been watching politics in Maryland for a long time and I can honestly say I have never felt as uneasy – and almost physically ill – as I do now watching what is going on in Annapolis.

If there is anyone left who doesn’t think we need a complete change of leadership in Washington, the events of the last few weeks should take care of any remaining apologists for our current federal government.

I have been on both sides of the perpetual and often interesting relationship between the media and government. I served one term on the Frederick City Board of Aldermen, during which I was a favorite subject for local coverage, particularly print media.

The 2012 session of the Maryland General Assembly keeps chugging along, and it appears that those outside the major metropolitan areas are going to be force-fed a lot of liberal policy that we probably don’t want.

Gov. Martin O’Malley has a very ambitious liberal fiscal agenda for this year’s session of the Maryland General Assembly. He has proposed new sales taxes, gas taxes, flush taxes, recordation taxes, cell phone taxes, Internet taxes and enhanced income taxes. My guess is he is not done yet.

We have heard a lot of discussion, and I am sure we will hear more, about a public hearing on a proposed ordinance to establish English as the official language for Frederick County. The Board of County Commissioners will conduct this hearing on February 21 at Winchester Hall.

I guess I should never be surprised when news comes out from the O’Malley Administration that we can expect even more new state taxes and increases in those we already have. But this time our old friend Martin has really outdone himself.

We are reading and hearing a lot these days about pension plans, particularly public employee plans. We all know that the local, state and the national governments have problems with their old fashioned defined benefit pension plans and retire health care plans.

I thought it must have been a dream – actually, a nightmare – because I certainly never believed that in the current economic times someone would propose to raise yet another tax for the purpose of raising money to build something that the market has said repeatedly is not needed and likely will not be successful.

Ever since I was first elected to office as a Frederick City Alderman I have heard complaints from our senior citizens that they cannot afford to stay in Frederick County, or even the State of Maryland, to retire with dignity.

It isn’t often that we are witness to the mass suicide of an entire political party, but that is what is happening to the Republican Party across America.

Merry Christmas, rural Maryland. Our good friend in Annapolis, Martin “Ebenezer” O’Malley, just gave all of us in the rural counties a few lumps of coal for Christmas. And, before it is all said and done, I think we will find we got more than our stockings stuffed.

As we go into the second decade following the September 11th terrorist attacks, there is one thing that no one can dispute that has changed in the American way of life. That is air travel.

I am not one of the people who engage in habitual bashing of the United States Postal Service (USPS) and post office employees. Like everyone else, I have used the U.S. Mail my entire life, and continue to do so.

We all know about superheroes. In modern mythology they possess great powers, and generally assert their powers for the public good. And, of course, in my mind, the greatest of all superheroes was Superman.

Last Thursday night the members of the Frederick County Planning Commission, for the first time in its history, intentionally and disgracefully refused to do their duty to the citizens of Frederick County.

I hate writing columns about sports. I am not one of these people who live and breathe for what the local professional sports teams do on a day-to-day or week-to-week basis.

It never ceases to amaze me how supporters of people with tired ideas in Frederick County cling to old stereotypes and campaign slogans long after an election and most of us have moved on.

One of the things candidates for county commissioner told the voters over and over during the 2010 campaign was that if elected they would stop treating the taxpayers like walking ATM machines. We’ve done it in Frederick County. Now somebody needs to do the same in Annapolis.

If anyone still has any doubts that our leadership in Annapolis just does not get it, their doubts should have been laid to rest with the news of the last week. I’m talking about the payoff to Bechtel.

On September 29 a column of mine was published in TheTentacle.com about the upcoming congressional redistricting. At the time, although it was clear the Democrats were going to try to get one more congressman in the House of Representatives, it was not then clear how they would go about it.

Over the last few weeks you may have noticed the beginnings of a discussion on the idea of giving the Frederick County Board of Education taxing authority to go along with their spending authority.

My September letters to the editor of The Baltimore Sun and The Frederick News-Post on PlanMaryland has generated significant comment here and elsewhere around the state. Good.

If you live in the State of Maryland there are two words that should always make you cringe: Special Session.

Here we go again. Our so-called “Friends” of Frederick are at it once again. That’s right; they have renewed their well-worn misinformation and scare tactics.

I write this column on my birthday, 40 years of living, working, playing and just enjoying being in Frederick County. The first 40 years were great in Frederick County, and I’m really looking forward to the next 40 with my wonderful wife, Karen, and my kids.

Every 10 years or so our wonderful liberal Democrat leaders in Annapolis come up with a new statewide land use plan that they have concocted “for our own good.” This year they have introduced us to PlanMaryland as the latest of the so-called “Smart Growth” ideas.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Now, I am not sure if we are truly desperate at the moment. Yes, the economy is down, business is tough; and many good qualified people are out of jobs. But I suppose things could be worse. And I certainly hope they don’t become so.

Liberals love to talk about the Bill of Rights. In fact, they have created an entire national organization, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which is devoted to defending the Bill of Rights.

Sometimes I think our “leaders” in Washington want us all to become ostriches. That’s right, they want us to bury our heads in the sand and ignore everything that is going on around us.

Many may have noticed that on two occasions in the span of just one week the Board of County Commissioners discussed a new Ethics Ordinance which has been drafted by staff attorneys in response to recent changes in state law.

On July 19 the Board of County Commissioners adopted a revision to the county’s Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance. After months of debate and numerous public meetings and hearings, the commissioners added a mitigation fee to address a situation where a school serving the project is at greater than 100% capacity.

One of the first things that a new Board of County Commissioners does upon taking office is to develop its strategic plan for the next four years. The current board did so over a two-day retreat at which we heard from our department heads, managers and other stakeholders.

Now that the lighting rod has been removed, can the real discussion start? How ‘bout really looking at the value of public private partnerships instead of the all-or-nothing approach that has been portrayed via the PPP Associates analysis?

In yesterday’s column I began listing a series of public private partnerships already in use across America and the world. Here are further examples of the success of such arrangements.

Most of us already have public-private partnerships right under our noses. In Frederick County we have private businesses and contractors that provide many services to the citizens.

Many people in this area were shocked and dismayed at Gov. Martin O’Malley’s proposal to all but eliminate private well and septic development in the State of Maryland.

Why is the Board of County Commissioners examining public/private partnerships (PPP)? What are they and what are some examples of these that have worked and are working in Frederick County right now.

The last thing in the world I ever thought I would write a column about is the game of golf. But as I hacked my way down the fairway Monday in a tournament to support a great cause, Mission of Mercy, golf was on my mind.

Everywhere I go these days someone wants to talk about illegal immigration. It is definitely a hot button, and I am convinced it will be one of the top issues (after the economy) in the 2012 election campaign.

It is a question which has been asked and debated seemingly everywhere, for many years: Does residential growth pay for itself or not?

Okay, so here we raise the curtain on Act Two of the drama over the members of the Charter Writing Board as appointed by the Board of County Commissioners.

The images coming in this week from Joplin, Missouri, are as shocking as they are heartbreaking. Large sections of the city are reduced to nothing but rubble.

Many of you may have noticed statements attributed to me from time to time since the current Board of County Commissioners took office to the effect that being a county commissioner is not my idea of a “dream job,” and that I am going to serve this one term and that is it.

When the Board of County Commissioner's began preparation for the 2012 budget, it did so by not only addressing the $11.8 million general fund deficit, and the fire tax fund deficit, but also by addressing head-on the structural deficit, commonly called OPEB (Other Post Employee Benefits) trust fund.

During the summer and fall of 2010 I campaigned from one end of Frederick County to the other. I knocked on doors, talked to people at fire halls, picnics, carnivals and just walking down the street. What I heard most was that we need to put the people back to work in the private sector.

Do we need one person in charge – or not – when it comes to the executive functions of the county government, much like a president, a governor, or a mayor/burgess. Or do you want five people in charge? That’s the question.

I have been more than a casual observer of the recent actions of the Frederick County Ethics Commission concerning Commissioner Kirby Delauter.

On December 1, 2010, this Board of County Commissioners began its term in office with an $11.8 million budget deficit for Fiscal Year 2012 and with a $31 million base structural deficit. With the consent of the commissioners, a Budget Review Committee was quickly established.

Perhaps the two most important areas of concern on most people’s minds are taxes and employment. Everyone knows that I believe that taxes and fees should be lowered and government should live within its means and not spend more than it takes in.

It is not hard to figure out we either have a spending problem or a revenue problem. It is that simple. It is not brain surgery or rocket science. If it were, we would be brain surgeons or rocket scientists.

How to Balance a Budget 101 is a course that should be required of all elected office holders when entering public service and every year of their term.

For the most part the dust has settled and the situation involving my brother Brad and the Walkersville High School girls softball team has been brought to closure. But this case was so bizarre, and so emblematic of the degree to which the Frederick County Board of Education is out of touch with reality, that it merits one last commentary.

Over the past 20 to 30 years we have seen a trend of people moving out of the downtown's to the suburbs. With this we have a lot, in some cases if not all, of the major retailers moving out of the downtown to more suburban locations with ample parking.

It was very illuminating and instructive to Frederick County voters to read the published comments of various elected officials in response to Governor Paris Glendening’s veto of the bill which would allow any brand new zoning ordinance adopted by the Frederick Board of County Commissioners to be petitioned to referendum.

Please raise your right hand and repeat after me. “Congratulations and welcome to the City of Frederick's police force. You can work your way up from private to captain but you can never be the chief.”

The State Senate has joined the House of Delegates in approving House Bill 1374, and it is now on to the governor’s desk for signature. This is the legislation originally proposed by Defenders of Citizens’ Rights, Inc. which will allow the citizens of Frederick County to take to referendum any substantial overhaul or rewrite of the county zoning ordinance.

Many people have asked. So, here are the reasons why I became a Republican.

Anti-growthers have called Defenders of Citizens Right an organization that is a front for the developers. Why?

Why do we have a board of aldermen? Why do we have a charter for the City of Frederick? Why am I complaining?

With growth being such a hot political topic office holders and candidates get labeled either pro- or anti-growth by the media.

With growth being such a hot political topic office holders and candidates get labeled either pro- or anti-growth by the media.