20061121 “Everyone who wants to work is welcome in Carroll County”

“Everyone who wants to work is welcome in Carroll County”

November 21st, 2006 by Kevin Dayhoff (845 words)

As to the unfortunate matter in Taneytown, whereby the city’s elected leadership recently passed legislation declaring English as the official language of the city; it sends the wrong signal to folks inside and especially outside of Carroll County.

Whether the legislation is a “statement” without force of law or just a publicity stunt, it is not a true signal of what we are as a greater community. Everyone who wants to work should be welcomed in our community.

In the past, I have worked with most of the current elected leadership of Taneytown and they are a great group of folks. They are quite committed to their community and put in long hours.

I do not know Taneytown Councilman Paul E. Chamberlain Jr. In all candor, when Councilman Chamberlain first brought up the “English first” issue, I though it was campaign rhetoric in his bid to be relevant in his bid to unseat the popular Maryland Senator David Brinkley.

This initiative has caused a “media storm” of unwanted attention to Carroll County for all the wrong reasons.

We do so many things well in Carroll County. This legislation is a “darn shame.”

Historically Carroll County is a welcoming community.

By way of our historic roots, either as innkeepers and provisioners to travelers on their way west, or as shopkeepers, or as folks looking to expand our economic base in the golden age of Carroll County’s small towns in the first part of the 1900s as communities looked to expand their economic base and attract folks to move to the country.

Not too mention Carroll County’s agricultural roots, in which a visitor to the farm in the days before automobiles was a holiday and folks were welcomed with open arms.

Why even when Carroll County used German POWs for agricultural labor during WWII, there are plenty of stories and anecdotes about the German prisoners eating at the family dinner table on the farms…

A solution in search of a problem.

But Councilman Chamberlain’s continued pursuit has presented to those of us who are somewhat familiar with Taneytown, to be a solution in search of a problem.

I have not attempted to talk with Councilman Chamberlain, but I have played phone tag with Councilman James L. McCarron. Councilman McCarron is the gold standard of a locally elected official working hard for what is best for his city. I have served on several Maryland Municipal League committees with Councilman McCarron and we both served on the MML Board together.

I have some insight as to his thinking process when it comes to municipal government and it means something to me when he says, as he as quoted in an article in the November 14th, 2006 Baltimore Sun by Laura McCandlish:

Councilman James L. McCarron denounced the measure. In his more than 22 years on the council, he said, no one ever came forward with a comment or complaint who didn't speak English.

"I have no problem making English the official language of the state of Maryland or even America, but to make it the official language of Taneytown is simply a nonissue," McCarron said. "It's not a unity resolution. It's a disunity one."

When someone is an elected community leader, one of his or her main responsibilities is to see to it that taxpayer dollars are handled as frugally as possible.

Introducing and pursuing municipal legislation, such as “English First” is a waste of taxpayer money and a waste of time for municipal elected and appointed officials.

Disagreement with the councilman needs to be respectful.

I respectfully disagree with Councilman Chamberlain… Ultimately he need not answer to me. He has to answer to his constituents and provide leadership for Taneytown as he sees fit…

The worst thing that can happen to a community is that everybody thinks the same way all the time. It will be catastrophic if potential leaders are unwilling to step out of the comfortable cocoon of their lives to assume a leadership role or proffer a different point of view for fear of the politics of personal destruction.

Spanish-speaking workers are welcome in our community.

I grew up in the nursery and landscaping industry and have worked with Spanish-speaking folks all my life. Not only are they, by and large, hard working and family oriented, but they are critical to the labor pool for agriculture in Carroll County and Maryland.

Ultimately, we are talking about are fellow human beings who have come to this country - just like us or our ancestors, at some point in time - to make a better life for our families and work hard in a foreign land.

In October 1833, in the area we now know as Carroll County, a vote was taken as to whether or not we should form Carroll County. Did you know that the ballots for that vote were printed in German, and English, for all the non-German speaking citizens?

Our Spanish-speaking workers will learn English, just as German-speaking Carroll Countians eventually did.

Perhaps we should extend a helping hand, instead of backhanding them.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.
E-mail him at: kdayhoff AT carr.org
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