From the Worcester County Times
POCOMOKE CITY -- The deadline to file and run in Pocomoke's upcoming April election has passed, with three people seeking to be mayor and two running for District 3's seat on the City Council.Lynn Duffy, Bruce Morrison and Frank Ward will be running for mayor, while Bobby Brittingham and Donald Malloy have filed to run for the District 3council seat.
Morrison, who was elected to City Council for District 3 in 2005, says his years of experience in budget meetings and meeting with citizens uniquely qualifies him.
"I have been a councilman for six years and a resident all my life," says Morrison. "This is going to be a real tough budget year. State money is drying up, county money is drying up and assessments are down... but I don't want to see taxes raised."
If elected, Morrison said he would like to reduce crime through continued use and implementation of crime cameras, community meetings once a month and encouraging citizens to take pride in their community.
Duffy, another mayoral candidate, is a counselor with Lighthouse Counseling and Consulting Services in Pocomoke City. She is running for mayor to reduce crime, encourage public input in government and prevent overspending by City Hall, she said in a news release announcing her candidacy.
"The deaths last year of young people were needless," Duffy said in her statement, "and the town needs to not look away or hold meetings discussing events but deal directly with proactive steps developing a plan of action."
Duffy mounted an unsuccessful campaign to be Pocomoke's mayor in 2005, the year Mike McDermott first won office. She also ran to be a City Council representative in 2006, but came in second out of three candidates. She is a past president of the Pocomoke Chamber of Commerce.
Duffy has launched a campaign website, duffy4pocomoke.com, and named supporters to positions of campaign manager, treasurer, web manager and campaign chaplain in her statement.
Ward, who also filed to run for mayor, could not be reached for comment by press time.
The city council seat for District 3 is up for election this year, after being held by Morrison for several years.
Malloy, who was a Pocomoke councilman during the 1960s, says he originally filed after being asked to do so by friends because no one else had filed at the time.
"I'm running because the seat is open and I think I can be of some use to the city," says Malloy, who is a retired electrician. "I would like to keep Pocomoke going on the path it's on."
In an interview, recent mayor and current state Delegate Mike McDermott said he supports Morrison's and Malloy's bids for office.
The deadline for registering to vote in the April 5 election is March 4.
ACCOMAC -- Todd E. Godwin, a longtime deputy with the Accomack County Sheriff's Office, formally announced his candidacy for sheriff in the November election. Godwin has over 25 years experience in law enforcement and is a 20-year veteran of the sheriff's office.
Godwin, of Parksley, will run as an independent for the post, which has been held by Sheriff Larry Giddens since 2008. Giddens is retiring.
Godwin has been chief deputy second in command with the rank of major in the department since January 2008.
Godwin began his law-enforcement career in 1985 as an officer with the Parksley Police Department followed by employment with the Virginia State Police as a weight-enforcement officer in 1987.
Godwin then joined the sheriff's office in 1990 as a patrol deputy and became the county's first certified K-9 officer in 1994 with his K-9 partner, Nitro.
Longtime deputy for the Accomack County Sheriff's Office Todd E. Godwin has announced his candidacy for Sheriff in the upcoming November election.
POCOMOKE CITY, Md. - The town of Pocomoke will soon be losing its mayor, but not just yet. Mayor Mike McDermott will be sworn into the House of Delegates for District 38-B on Jan. 12.
City officials say McDermott will remain mayor until then. At that point, Robert Hawkins, the First Vice-President of the City Council, will take on mayoral responsibilities, but not the official title. Hawkins will continue to serve as a councilman.
A new mayor will be elected in the city's scheduled elections in April of 2011.
CHESAPEAKE, Va. - transferredssman-elect Scott Rigell's car dealership in Chesapeake is closing, but hopes that his employees will be able to get jobs elsewhere.Freedom Lincoln Mercury on Military Highway will close sometime between now and the first of the year.
WAVY.com asked Rigell about the closure and how it seemed contradictory to his campaign promise to create jobs.
"It's not a contradiction because this at the Lincoln Mercury store is so far beyond our control," Rigell said.
The biggest reason for the closing is that Ford will no longer make Mercuries after this year.
Despite the store closing, Rigell hopes for no layoffs but couldn't make any promises."We're going to stand with our employees, and do everything to make sure every person who is working for Freedom continues to be gainfully employed," said Rigell.
Rigell's business partner, Freedom Automotive president James Church said 40 of the current 67 employees will be transfered to one of the other two Freedom locations in Hampton Roads.
That leaves 27 employees, who mostly work in Parts and Services.
Church said a Cavalier Ford down the street was anxious to hire those employees.
Cavalier is in talks to buy the Lincoln dealership, which means they would sell Lincoln vehicles from their Greenbrier location.
If Cavalier doesn't hire all of them, Rigell hopes to put them to work someplace else.
"I've reached out to some other dealers and asked, 'would you be open to interviewing them and helping," said Rigell.
Rigell and Church both said the auto body shop at the Lincoln Mercury dealer will remain open. They are hoping to lease the rest of the building.
by, Ted Shockley The result wasn't good. The school system couldn't afford to enhance programs or salaries. It had to reduce 52 positions. Class sizes grew. Support staff was lost.
It was during this gloomy time that the seeds of Accomack's proposed meals tax were planted.
It was a strange idea for elected leaders supposedly looking out of the best interests of public education -- let voters in the state's most overweight county decide whether to pay more for fried chicken and hushpuppies, the taxes on which could raise between $500,000 and $700,000 annually for schools.
Maybe I'm a distrustful skeptic, but I was convinced that there was no way for Accomack's public schools to win with this referendum, no matter how voters cast their ballots.
It was a short-sighted, ill-advised measure and a strange corner in which to push our children's futures.
Had it passed, I feared the public schools would have never received a penny more in new funding than the meals tax would have provided.
I feared that the county would have cut its contribution to the school system by the amount of the meals tax revenues -- if the meals tax generated $600,000, the county would reduce its contribution to schools by $600,000.
I feared meals tax proceeds would have forever been held against the school system by taxpayers and the Board of Supervisors, as in, "Why are you asking for more; you already get the meals tax money."
I feared that the meals tax proceeds would have been plowed into debt service for school buildings and not operations money to help teachers and students.
But the meals tax failed, and now my fear is that elected officials will try to twist the results into a referendum on increased local funding for schools.
Elected leaders and governmental skinflints will suggest that county voters don't support new education money because they voted against it on Tuesday.
That would be wrong. The only message sent at the polls on Tuesday is that residents of the most obese county in Virginia do not want to pay more for fries and pies.
Did I say it was a strange corner in which to push our children's futures?
Accomack's public budget negotiations will begin in a few months. Public school systems need local increases each year to develop a career staff, grow educational programs and ensure our greatest resource is well-prepared for the future.
Local elected officials should make this the area's hallmark priority. Local parents, proponents and products of public education should demand it be supported by something besides a tax on food.
The state's obesity capital can tolerate taxes on land, cars, boats and businesses, but we draw the line at doughnuts and cheeseburgers.
The problem is, I think our county leaders knew that.
http://www.easternshorenews.com/
Maybe our local officials should concentrate on getting the back taxes collected from property owners before they put another tax on already overtaxed residents. Or were they planning on tourism? Either one, not a good idea and thank goodness the voters were able to tell them.
Congressman-elect Scott Rigell has released his plan for reforming Congress. In the plan, Rigell states he attempt to reshape the mindset in Washington, forcing elected officials to be more transparent and frugal with taxpayer dollars.
Pocomoke Mayor Mike McDermott wins seat in Maryland House Of Delegates!"We've been working on this campaign for two years," he said. "When I started, it wasn't necessarily a great time to be a Republican. Now, big government has fallen out of favor." Delmarvanow.com
Having lost an election four years ago by 14 votes, I know better than most that every vote counts. Four years later, I am the deputy state’s attorney in Caroline County, with 13 years of experience as a prosecutor.The state’s attorney is the critical link between arrest and conviction. Without a conviction there can be no punishment, no deterrence and no rehabilitation. Thus, public safety is compromised.
I am proud to have received the support and endorsement of all three of Worcester County’s Fraternal Orders of Police (Worcester County, Ocean City and Berlin), the Maryland State FOP, Chief Deputy Reggie Mason of the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office, Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis, Wicomico County FOP and Caroline County FOP. These endorsements are from the men and women who know best the importance of a strong and effective state’s attorney. Law enforcement is a team effort and these unanimous endorsements prove the need for immediate change in the State’s Attorney’s Office to increase public safety.
As your state’s attorney, I will execute an office-wide policy of prosecution that ensures individuals will be held accountable for their criminal behavior. All cases will be prosecuted with a hands-on, aggressive approach and in a manner that is firm, fair and consistent.
I appreciate your consideration on Tuesday. Together we will make Worcester County the first place you want to live and the last place you want to commit a crime.
Beau Oglesby
Ocean Pines
.
Oglesby is a candidate for Worcester County state’s attorney. — Editor
Politics in the Worcester County sheriff's race have been ugly. My opponent, Reggie Mason, with his staff, has for some time been under investigation by the Maryland Attorney General's Office for violating the Hatch Act, passed in 1939 and redefined in 1993.
It states: No one shall engage in any political activity while on duty, in government office, wearing an official uniform or in the use of a government vehicle.
Photos and other evidence have appeared recently on blogs showing my opponent and uniformed deputies campaigning while on duty. Mason refuses to step forward and explain or defend himself.
Instead, he has sent his henchman to attack me personally. They do not attack my policies on crime, of which my opponent has none. Instead, they call me names. I have had more than $600 worth of campaign signs stolen from the northern part of the county in the last two weeks, which is where my opponents and his henchmen live.
Coincidence?
To anonymous writers who criticize me and not my stance on issues? You are afraid the "good old boy" way of running things are coming to an end.
To my opponent: You hide behind your henchmen and refuse to tell voters where you stand and what you plan to do for them. Why?
To Worcester County voters: Look at your candidates well; see what they will do -- fight for you or hide from you?
Visit www.bobbybritting hamforsheriff.com and vote on Nov. 2.
Bobby Brittingham
Pocomoke City
There seems to be some confusion and frustration by sincere voters, as expressed in The Daily Times recently, relative to who voted for and who voted against tax increases in Annapolis. Perhaps it would be helpful for me to comment.In the 2007 special session, I voted against all tax increases. However, in the House of Delegates both Jim Mathias and Norm Conway took a different position and voted for HB 2. The bill contained a 25 percent increase in corporate taxes, an income tax increase, a new recording and transfer tax, and a new "combined reporting" tax on Maryland business.
Though I opposed all tax increases, the "combined reporting" tax was especially egregrious because it would damage our Maryland-based poultry companies. In my opinion, we must maintain a strong, viable poulty industry here on the lower Eastern Shore. It is a foundation of our local economy.
I encourage voters to go online to verify the voting record of all candidates. Though we can respectfully disagree as legislators, voters should know how we voted.
To view this information, go to http://mlis.state.md.us/ 2007s1/votes/house/0033.htm.
Sen. J. Lowell Stoltzfus
Westover
Stoltzfus will retire from the Maryland Senate, District 38, at the end of his current term in January. --Editor
www.aolnews.com Which Political Party Is Going To The Dogs?
BERLIN – During a candidate forum last week, the four District 38B House of Delegates candidates were asked about their collective economic backgrounds in managing budgets, experiences that will likely serve the eventual winners well when they get to Annapolis.
