20060910 KDDC Friends of Dean Minnich respond to negative ads and mailings

Friends of Dean Minnich respond to negative ads and mailings

September 10^th, 2006

Pasted below is a response from Commissioner Minnich’s campaign concerning the recent negative ads and mailings.

If any candidate has a response – please email KDDC at kdayhoff@carr.org and I’ll be happy to post it on this web site.

From: Friends of Dean Minnich [mailto:tucker495@adelphia.net]
Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 8:46 PM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: [Fwd: Feel free to forward, or print out to read at the polls IF QUESTIONED on Tuesday]

Please forward to interested friends.
Thanks,

Recent negative ads and mailings to county voters misrepresent the truth. Here are the facts:

Salaries

Department heads in Carroll County earn at least 20% less than their counterparts in neighboring counties. Only 3 county employees, each with more than 20 years of service, earn more than $100,000. One of those now does the job of two persons in the previous administration, who together had earned $155,377. In 2006, one person, the chief of staff, earns $116,439 – a savings of $38,938 per year, plus benefits.

Credit cards

Credit cards have been issued by the County since the 1980s and are not for personal use. They are for the sole purpose of paying for budgeted items. The Comptroller monitors and approves all payments.

Authorized spending

It has been alleged that $119 spent at the Treat Shop was for personal use. In fact, it was for a hospitality basket purchased by the Department of Economic Development to welcome a new business – part of the cost of doing business to grow business.

Another legitimate business expense, common practice in every county and at the state level, was a bill for guests of the county at a local restaurant. The county hosted representatives of three New York based bond-rating agencies to eat at the Antrim in Taneytown. The bill for dinner and drinks for 17 people totaled $1,579.43 – less expensive than the trip to New York for the required annual meetings with bonding agencies.

Travel

The County has not funded any oversees travel by Commissioners in the past four years. As an elected officer of the National Association of Counties, Commissioner Gouge represented Maryland at an annual conference in Hawaii in 2005. She provided her own air fare and meals. The County paid for the registration fee and hotel room for her during the conference.

Taxes

The Board of County Commissioners lowered the amount a homeowner’s property taxes can increase by 3 percentage points. They instituted a tax credit for senior citizens. They have never proposed legislation for a personal property tax.

Growth

The number of new housing units permitted has dropped from 1,294 in FY03 to 737 in FY06. Buildings approved for construction under the previous board will continue to be built into 2008.

If the commissioners’ opponents lied about these issues, what else are they lying about? And what are they hiding? Whose money is behind these smear campaigns, and who benefits if the perpetrators of these untruths are successful?

####