PRESS RELEASE
February 20th, 2008
I have become concerned with certain advocacy I’ve observed regarding our Commissioner Board research and discussion of solid waste management. I’ve concluded that some members of our Environmental Advisory Council (EAC) have engaged in agenda based advocacy rather than factually based advocacy.
When the EAC presented their recommendations to the Board last November 15th, 2007, I expressed grave concerns about comments shared by an EAC member to our special assistants in a private briefing prior to the formal presentation. It would appear that my concerns about politicization by certain EAC members have become reality.
I have observed advocacy by individual EAC members that is not factually accurate and contributes negatively to a dialogue based decision making path. This is most unfortunate.
On the 13th day of December, we held a panel discussion meeting that included EAC members, staff and outside experts. The discussion at that time was very strong from all parties. I do not understand why some EAC members have chosen to depart from this sort of factually based interaction in favor of what I consider pure spin.
Based on emails I’ve received from those attending a recent meeting of the Carroll County Democrat Club I have concluded that EAC member Sher Horosko provided information that was not contextually accurate when she made a presentation to this group. EAC member Dan Andrews recently wrote in a letter to the editor of a local paper that a waste-to-energy facility would contribute to higher taxes in
I find absolutely no basis to support the claim that waste-to-energy facilities lead to higher taxes. Our current system of long haul transfer is actually one of the most expensive methods of trash disposal available to us. In a climate of rising fuel prices this is likely to get worse over time. I’m also gravely concerned with pollution associated with trucking our trash hundreds of miles away.
Once landfills in
I consider burning trash to create electricity to be a viable option. That doesn’t make it the sole option. There are positives and negatives associated with just about any decision that the Board of Commissioners make. I retain an open mind on the set of solution paths we might wish to take.
We have been working on this problem for many months in an open and transparent process. One of the decision points we may have to make is whether to join in a shared waste-to-energy facility with
Staff and outside experts advise that 600 tons would meet current and future needs for
As a Carroll County Board of Commissioners we can only go so far with our research and deliberation into waste-to-energy as a joint project. My view is that the Frederick County Board of Commissioners must first invite us to join in this project. If no offer is made then we need to consider our other options which might include a stand alone waste-to-energy facility located in
There are perfectly legitimate reasons to either accept or reject the regional waste-to-energy offer should it be put on the table. The fear that it might raise our taxes is not one of them. I’ve included a recent letter dated 14th day of February from an official from
There are some individuals who in my view have an anti-waste-to-energy agenda. They are taking things out of context with
Folks need to keep in mind that in
How’s this for irony? Our towns follow the same billing procedure as
According to Mr. Locke’s letter, the cost associated with trash disposal has remained constant between pre and post use of waste-to-energy. He relates, “When compared to inflation, they have substantially declined.”
This is a very simple concept. For particular EAC members to attempt to make political hay by spinning these facts is completely inappropriate. Volunteer members of an appointed government body need to be held to a higher standard.
I’ll repeat my advice to our EAC members. Those who want to wage political campaigns should do so in the right context. Such opportunities include political clubs, advocacy groups, central committees of either party or running for office. Folks should not take advantage of a government appointed position with efforts to spin public opinion.
I have now lost faith in some of our EAC members to contribute in a helpful way to our deliberative process on waste-to-energy. That is most unfortunate for them, for the public and for the Board of Commissioners.
Michael D. Zimmer
Commissioner
CC: Commissioner Julia W. Gouge
Commissioner Dean L. Minnich
Steve Powell, Chief of Staff
Cindy Parr, Chief of Administrative Services
Vivian Laxton, Public Information Administrator
Mike Evans, Director of Public Works
Daniel Andrews, EAC
Robyn Gilden, EAC
Sher Horosko, EAC
Jim Johnson, EAC
Karen Merkle, EAC
Kimberly Petry, EAC
David Pyatt, EAC
Brian Rhoten, EAC
Christopher Spaur, EAC
Robin Davidov,
Jan Gardner, Frederick County Commissioner
David Gray, Frederick County Commissioner
Kai John Hagen, Frederick County Commissioner
Charles A. Jenkins, Frederick County Commissioner
John (Lennie) Thompson, Jr., Frederick County Commissioner
Douglas Browning, Frederick County Manager
Michael Marschner, Frederick County Director of Utilities and Solid Waste Management
David Bliden, Executive Director, MACo
Daniel Locke,
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