20060820 KDDC Senator Sharon Hornberger

Senator Sharon Hornberger

7:30 PM Sunday, August 20^th, 2006

By Kevin Dayhoff

We received word a little while ago that former Carroll County Senator Sharon Hornberger has passed away. Senator Hornberger’s career is the focus of my next Westminster Eagle column that will not be in print until next Wednesday, August 23, 2006. The column was filed several days ago.

As a tribute to Senator Hornberger, please see an advanced copy of my column below. Our thoughts and prayers are with her husband, former Westminster Common Council president Ken Hornberger and the Hornberger family. Senator Hornberger’s passing is a great loss to the community.

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Senator Sharon Hornberger

August 23, 2006 by Kevin Dayhoff (648 words)

© Kevin Dayhoff and the Westminster Eagle

The election season is upon us. Like late summer blooming flowers, festive signs are along roads everywhere. The news media is full of letters to the editor and advertisements.

There are some new faces and new ideas appearing in this election. One of the many things we can be especially proud of, is the growing diversity of our Carroll County elected leadership. It is critical that our elected leadership look like the citizens they represent. We should be proud to have so many women in elected leadership and so many women candidates for this fall’s elections. We have had women in leadership for so long that we have come to take it for granted, but it wasn’t always so.

One of the trailblazers for Carroll County was Senator Sharon Hornberger. On November 30, 1989, Mrs. Hornberger was appointed by Gov. William Donald Schaefer to fill the Senate seat vacated by Senator Ray Beck when he was appointed a Circuit Court Judge. She was the first woman to serve in the Carroll County Delegation to Annapolis.

At the time, she was 45 years old and had served as an administrative assistant for Senator Beck. Born in Frostburg, her father was a minister. Later her family moved to Baltimore, where she graduated from Eastern High School. She moved to Carroll County in 1975.

Ron Brewer, who was chair of the Carroll County Republican Central Committee, during this time period, remarked recently that “Sen. Hornberger was very dedicated and enthusiastic person for the Republican Party and the Central Committee. She was his ‘go-to’ person for when he needed to get things done. She had her act together and once she set an agenda, she stuck with it and got it done… You could tell in her special touch with people that she was a minister’s daughter.”

Sen. Hornberger and her husband, then-Westminster Common Council President, Ken Hornberger, worked hard to make Carroll County a better place to live in a time of change and growth.

Delegate Don Elliott, who served with her in the Maryland General Assembly, remembers that Sen. Hornberger “was a pleasure to work with. She worked in the Republican ‘vineyards’ for many years and was very effective. Before she was appointed Sen., she was an indispensable legislative assistant for Sen. Beck.”

This is a point that then-Delegate Joe Getty remembers well. He served in the Maryland General Assembly with both Senators Beck and Hornberger and he recently observed that “many people don’t realize how important a legislative assistant is in Annapolis. I learned that first hand in the House. Sharon was top-notch legislative assistant for Ray Beck… She was so good that she was selected to be his replacement.”

Mayor Lloyd Helt was mayor of Sykesville for three terms from 1981 to 1993 and president of the Maryland Municipal League in 1985, and he remembers that Sen. Hornberger was “very helpful for municipalities… She had an open door for me or any other mayor or councilmember from Carroll County.”

Sam Greenholtz was a Westminster Councilman when Senator Hornberger was in the Maryland Senate. He is now president of the Greater Westminster Development Corporation, and he recalls Sen. Hornberger’s “great love for Westminster. Oh sure, she looked out for all Carroll County municipalities, but her first love is Westminster. She likes people. She is a people person. She looked out for us, no doubt about it. She is a very down-to-earth individual who would always go out of her way to help people.”

It is important we remember the leaders who have gone before us and laid the foundations of success, which we now tend to take for granted. Carroll County is a better place because of many folks like Sharon Hornberger, who ignored that old saw, “this is the way we have always done it.” We all owe her a huge debt of gratitude and a big thanks.

Copyrighted to Kevin Dayhoff and the Westminster Eagle, with all rights reserved.

(The photograph is on the Maryland State Archives web site)

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.

E-mail him at: kdayhoff@carr.org

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20060819 KDDC Hybrid Owners of America

Hybrid Owners of America

August 19^th, 2006

Wonkette calls to our attention that a “New lobbying group, “Hybrid Owners of America” to demand unlimited access to smug attitudes. [Detroit News]”

I own a hybrid. I sure hope that I don’t have a “smug attitude.”

I bought it for a number of reasons.

Not in any particular order… Although one of the main reasons I purchased it is because I wanted to reduce the amount of money I send to folks in the middle-east who want to cut off my head. Talk about playing a role in our own victimization.

I don’t think continuing to depend on fossil fuels (dinosaur crap) is good for the environment.

I like the cost savings.

The article can be found here: Detroit News

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Hybrid owners get lobby

Organization will push for the existing and new incentives for users of alternative fuel cars.

David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- Hybrid vehicle owners have it pretty good: tax credits, unlimited access to car pool lanes and free parking in some places.

Now they'll have their own lobbying group in Washington.

Taking a page from the SUV Owners of America, a new group calling itself "Hybrid Owners of America" will kick off its lobbying efforts today to "advocate for the interests of the more than half a million Americans who already own hybrid gas-electric cars and other vehicles."

…

The hybrid owners group is founded by the Newton, Mass.-based Civil Society Institute, a group that lobbies for higher fuel economy requirements. Its Web site is www.40mpg.org.

Read the rest here.

Kevin Dayhoff

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20060819 KDDC Wi Fi for Carroll County

Wi-Fi for Carroll County

August 19^th, 2006 by Kevin Dayhoff

Although getting a conversation about Wi-Fi for Carroll County among the candidates for political office in this fall’s Carroll County elections has failed to get any traction, apparently it is being discussed as a campaign issue in our neighbor to the south, Howard County.

As I was grazing the blogs of my colleagues in Howard County, I came across this excellent post by Evan on the Howard County Blog: “Wi-Fi.”

In my column for the Westminster Eagle, I have written two pieces specifically on Wi-Fi, which has received enthusiastic response from readers, however, hardly a peep out of the candidates. (09/07/05 - If technology available, why not Wi-Fi? And 08/02/06 -Building ramps to information highway will pave the way to Carroll's future)

As a matter of fact, I am seeing little of substance out of many the candidates for office in Carroll County except a lot of bile.

Issues such as managing growth and development are being discussed as well as taxes. These issues are important – especially, well – both. I mean, it is imperative that we maintain a well-thought-out approach to growth in order to maintain what quality of life we have left in Carroll County.

Diversification of the tax base and over-all tax relief is also an important subject.

However, I’m seeing little conversation about growing our commercial and industrial tax base and most importantly – attracting jobs to Carroll County.

I have as little interest in more houses in Carroll County as the next person, however, that limited and well managed growth approach must not disallow appropriate business and employment base growth. Unfortunately that is just what is happening.

Of course, one of the best ways to thwart further erosion of our quality of life is to look for ways to support the business of agriculture in Carroll County and I’m not seeing much of that conversation either.

In the near future, if it is not already here, the issue of Wi-Fi will be a critical infrastructure, quality of life and business development issue in Carroll County.

A Columbia Flyer editorial on August 3^rd, 2006, states accurately and succinctly:

“Like running water, electricity and cable television before it, wireless Internet capability will soon be widely considered a part of living and doing business in American communities.

Some day in the not-too-distant future, it'll likely be a utility that people take for granted.

Communities that don't have it will find themselves at a competititve disadvantage for attracting and retaining business and keeping residents happy.

So it's good to see that the three candidates for county executive all realize that and support efforts to lay the groundwork for widespread Wi-Fi in Howard. (emphasis mine)

Officials will have to find the answers to two pressing questions: What's required, and at what cost? The sooner they can accomplish that, the better.

But, make no mistake, this technology is coming. And in a few years, we'll probably be wondering how we lived without it.”

Read it again. This time, every time you see the word “Howard,” replace it with the word “Carroll.”

I did a search on “Wi-Fi” on the Westminster Eagle’s web site and came up with:

09/07/05 - If technology available, why not Wi-Fi? By Kevin E. Dayhoff

I've been fascinated with public Wi-Fi and all the possibilities it can provide Carroll County.

On Aug. 15, Silver Spring, in Montgomery County, announced that it now has...

08/02/06 - Building ramps to information highway will pave the way to Carroll's future 2006-08-02 00:00:00 Kevin E. Dayhoff Building ramps to information highway will pave the way to Carroll's future By Kevin E. Dayhoff

The politics and economics of roads, growth, development, bu...

09/21/05 - Letters

While the decision to take the Westminster Bypass off the county plan may come as a disappointment to the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce membership, it is clear that the commissioners did n...

09/21/05 - Report from the 'Left Coast' discovers (sort of) intelligent li 2005-09-21 00:00:00 Opinion Report from the 'Left Coast' discovers (sort of) intelligent li By Kevin Dayhoff

Greetings from sunny Southern California. I'm writing this week from the "Left Coas...

06/28/06 - What are local candidates for office proposing for the future of Carroll County? 2006-06-28 00:00:00 Kevin E. Dayhoff What are local candidates for office proposing for the future of Carroll County?

Many Carroll Countians are clamoring to hear discussions about plans and i...

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Meanwhile, I did a search on the Columbia Flyer’s web site on “Wi-Fi” and came up with:

08/03/06 - County catching on to Wi-Fi Internet

If the county ever offered free wireless Internet service in all of downtown Columbia, it would be a welcomed addition, Go said. p>Although senior county officials have made no formal plans to ...

03/27/03 - At a glance

Resident David Hlass is challenging incumbent Linda Odum for the Long Reach seat on CA's 10-member board.

The proposal, offered by County Council member Chris Merdon, now goes before the c...

08/03/06 - What is Wi-Fi?

Wi-Fi, which stands for wireless fidelity, is a way certain devices can connect to the Internet outdoors without using wires.

Wi-Fi accessible devices, such as computers and personal digital as...

08/03/06 - Wi-Fi inevitable, and we need to be ready 2006-08-03 00:00:00 Opinion Wi-Fi inevitable, and we need to be ready OUR VIEW

Like running water, electricity and cable television before it, wireless Internet capability will soon be widely co...

02/16/06 - New Columbia health club flexes its muscles

Lifetime Fitness, a Minnesota-based health club conglomerate with facilities across the country, opened Feb. 9 on Lee DeForest Drive in east Columbia, about a two- or three-minute drive from Co...

06/17/04 - I-95 project may be wave of the future

The project is part of Maryland's strategic approach to provide assistance to tourists and business travelers and to show businesses that Maryland is on the technological cutting edge. p> If s...

We need to begin a meaningful conversation about Wi-Fi in Carroll County yesterday.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.

E-mail him at: kdayhoff@carr.org

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