Decline to Sign or lose the voice that keeps the council accountable to the people!

                                      The winners

                                      of the election

                                       are not                                        content with                                       the fact that                                          they can out-                                       vote Frazier    4 - 1 on any issue; they want him to stop asking questions and Shut Up about lowering water/sewer rates, Shut Up about the over $10 Million  in surplus, Shut Up about the fact that there are so many bids with only one bidder, Shut Up about using funds to open up Bollinger Park to the Observatory, Shut Up about the new development being let off the hook for paying for the pumping station like they originally agreed, let off the hook for having to pay recreational impact fees, let off the hook for building the up-scale single family dwellings they once proposed. 

 

They want a quiet, rubber stamp and they will get one if their censure based on fake violations, their fake emergency to pass petition rules without a hearing or citizen input and their fake authority to RECALL (Maryland is not a recall state) moves forward.

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You have the power to stop this Shut Up tactic based on FAKE facts!

DECLINE TO SIGN their petition!

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EXAMPLES OF RECALLS in other states LATELY:

(embezzling - obstructing justice - and a sentence not appropriate for sexual assault) 

 

Frazier was censured for sharing the attorney's opinion with the public to his personal letter asking for clarification on whether using a councilman letterhead he built was a violation of the code of conduct as was discussed at an open meeting.

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i.e. 1. Recall Kevin Jackson campaign collected 2,383 signatures to force Tuesday's voting after Jackson was arrested on charges that include embezzling $127,153 from a youth track program that he led for decades.

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i.e. 2. In his (recall) ruling, Roof found legal and factual sufficiency for the charge that Lindquist abused his authority by "engaging in a vindictive prosecution of a Pierce County woman; withholding evidence, and obstructing justice."

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i.e. 3. The case of Brock Turner, a former Stanford University student convicted of sexual assault, has gained national attention amid an outcry over the six-month sentence he received. More than a million people have signed recall petitions for Judge Aaron Persky, who issued the sentence.

 

This 2017 Election was clearly an Establishment

vs Citizens race.​

Donald Trump was successful because he was NOT an insider. He asked, "Are you better off than you were four years ago?"  Is your government being responsive to you? If your answer is yes, than you may want to vote again for the government insiders; the Establishment.

 

If your answer is No, you are not better off, and No the town officials are not listening to you, you will want to vote for citizens Katherine Adelaide and Rhonda Kritsings. They Will listen to you and encourage your input in meetings, they Will cut the sewer rate so it makes a difference in your quarterly bill, they Will be leaders in fighting the drugs in your town.

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Also running is Paul Chamberlain a

former council member.  You may cast three votes.

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Establishment:

 

Mayor Pro-Tem, Diane Foster

Councilman Joe Vigliotti

Planning & Zoning Mayor Appointee Judith Archie Fuller

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       VS

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Citizens:

Katherine Adelaide

Rhonda Kritsings

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LETTERS to the EDITOR:

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Kangaroo Court coming to Taneytown if Referendum passes

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Dear Editor:
 

Taneytown will vote on its first-ever citizen’s referendum on Tuesday, November 15th, and much is at stake.

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The nature of government is to take control from the people and give it to themselves.  Recognizing this phenomenon, Local Government Article 4-304 allows the citizens to challenge any changes to the town charter by Referendum.  A petition signed by at least 22 percent of Taneytown voters is why the Referendum is being held on November 15th. 

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The citizens’ vote is an important check on unconstitutional overreach of elected officials.  I urge the citizens to vote ‘NO’ on November 15th, because a ‘yes’ vote will allow a majority of sitting councilpersons to remove a duly elected political rival who dissents from them without due process of law.

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If the amendment is not defeated at the polls, then a majority on the council can “cite” a minority member for a “violation” of a federal or state statute, a city or county ordinance, or the ethics code.  A council member who just had a parking ticket or even left the lid off their trash can could be cited. Once cited, the majority could discuss it and simply vote that person out of office.
 

In our republican form of government, the town council is a legislative body who passes town ordinances, but they are not the police, the sheriff, prosecutors, jury or judge. Those functions are carried out by the judicial branch of the government through law enforcement officials.  The Constitution of Maryland makes it very clear that legislative, judicial, and executive powers are separated so the people to ensure due process:
 

Art. 8. That the Legislative, Executive and Judicial powers of Government ought to be forever separate and distinct from each other; and no person exercising the functions of one of said Departments shall assume or discharge the duties of any other.

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The Taneytown council wants the people to allow them to act as judge and jury over minority members of the council, thus depriving the people of their elected officials at will. 

 

Once they decide, in their unconstitutional kangaroo court, that a member must vacate their seat, they will fill the seat with someone they choose – someone who also may have “violated” a law, but someone who doesn’t dissent from the majority.

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Vote ‘no’ November 15th, or Taneytown will soon be holding kangaroo courts.      Katherine Adelaide

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TANEYTOWN VOTERS, DON’T BE BULLIED! Vote ‘No’ November 15th
 

Dear Editor

A few days ago, I received a notice in the mail from the City of Taneytown, a notice of the Special Election on November 15th, from 7 am to 7 pm, at the Police Station. 

 

The only reason for this Special Election is because the voters of Taneytown signed a petition to bring a charter amendment to REFERENDUM, so that they would have a chance to VOTE ‘NO’ on the amendment. Otherwise, the amendment would simply have become part of the Taneytown Charter with very few residents ever even having heard about it.

 

It is for those voters who signed the petition that I say: how dare the Mayor of Taneytown, in the official government notice paid for by the Taneytown taxpayers, say that this unconstitutional amendment “empowers the citizens that voted to put them [the council members] in office the power to vote them out of office”?

 

The people of Taneytown have ALWAYS had the power to vote members OUT of office at the same time they vote other members into office.  In just a few months, they will be able to do just that in the municipal election.  A ‘yes’ vote on Nov. 15th will not GIVE voters the power to vote council members off — the people already have that power!  To say otherwise is deceptive.

 

If the Mayor was describing the proposed provision that when a majority of the town council takes it upon themselves to “censure” a minority member — with no criteria, law or even definition of the term — then, and only then, the people of Taneytown could mount a petition drive which, if successful, would allow for a recall election where they could only vote the person a minority member out of office.  I doubt the majority will ever vote themselves out of office. After that, WHO would choose that person’s replacement?  According to the town charter, the council fills a vacant seat with a person of their choosing — not the VOTERS’ choosing!

 

People of Taneytown, BEWARE!  Any time the majority on the council uses this amendment to remove a council member you elected, they will immediately fill that vacancy with someone they have chosen.  If you don’t defeat the Charter Amendment on November 15th, you will lose your vote, your voice, and your power to keep members who have your interests in heart on the council.  VOTE ‘NO’ on November 15th.     Rhonda Kristings

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