Aloi Wants City Looking at Bigger Picture

George Wenschhof

City of Frederick alderman Shelley Aloi (R) would like the see the city look more at the "bigger picture than the day-to-day."

When we sat down to discuss Mayor Randy McClement's (R) recently released proposed budget, she expressed disappointment in the size of the debt service and lack of action to reduce it.

She pointed to the failure of the city to secure the federal $13.6 million grant for the airport, as well as, the lack of movement on pension reform and other post employee benefit program (OPEB) over the two and one-half years since they have been in office.

In addition, Aloi was concerned the Carroll Creek development was being funded by debt service and the unfunded mandate by the state for waste water treatment plant upgrades were weighing down the city budget.

Shelley felt the mayor was using the $10 million fund balance as a "Christmas for everybody" by "providing something for everyone in the proposed budget."

She noted the increase in expenditures from the current year is 22% and the overall increase was 9%.

Aloi would like to use the $10 million fund balance to increase the budget for road repair from the proposed $1.4 million to $2.9 million and to pay for some of the $8.5 million Carroll Creek development, instead of 100% funding by debt service.

The alderman also felt the city needed to use a professional in some negotiations, pointing out the failure of city negotiations to bring the airport leases in line with what was required to secure the $13.6 million federal grant, will result in another one year delay, costing the city millions.

Another expenditure bothering Aloi, is the $1.5 million annual "ready to serve" water charge the city is paying to the county for the privilege of being able to use, when the city is not using it. This was an agreement reached by former Republican mayor Jeff Holtzinger.

City public meetings on the budget have started and the schedule follows below. Plan to attend or watch on local channel 99. They are also streamed online at www.cityoffrederick.com

April 4th - 7:00 p.m.
• Department of Public Works

April 11th – 7:00 p.m.
• Police Department April 18th – 7:00 p.m.
• Airport
• Economic Development,
• Weinberg Center,
• Parking,
• Facilities
• Community Action Agency

April 25th – 7:00 p.m.
• Engineering
• Planning
• Parks & Recreation

May 2nd – 7:00 p.m.
• Finance/Budget & Purchasing/Human Resources
• Legal
• Mayor’s Office

May 9th – 7:00 p.m.
• Open agenda

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Daily Political Wire

George Wenschhof

Women. Latinos, and Independents Key to 2012 Election - Both, Democratic pollster Mark Penn and Republican pollster Linda DiVall say these voting blocs will be critical in this election.  CNN.com has more here.

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Brown Has 15 million Cash On Hand - a large sum for his defense of his Massachusetts Senate seat against Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren.  The Scott Brown campaign reporting raising 3.4 million in the first quarter.  RollCall.com has more here.

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Romney Delegate Lead Tough To Overcome - Mitt Romney now has 573 delegates compared to 202 deleagtes for Rick Santorum.  Newt Gingrich has only 132 and Rep. Ron Paul has only 26.  The total needed to secure the Republican Party nomination is 1,144.  You can read more here.

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U.S. Intelligence Adds To Iran Negotiations - U.S. stealth drones have been flying over Iran for three years, undected, before one malfunctioned and crashed recently.  The intelligence received has aided the effort by western nations to ensure Iran does not develop a nuclear arms program. 

Friday, the U.S. will be joined by Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany for talks with Iran.  The talks will be focused on eliminating any nuclear weapon developing and providing for permanent inspectors in return for a commercial only nuclear program.  The Washington Post has more here.

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Afghanistan To Assume Authority on "night-time" Raids - a sore spot in U.S - Afghan relations.  This announcement comes after the accidental burning of Qurans on a military base and the shooting of 17 civilians by a U.S. soldier.  TheHill.com has more here.

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Syria Wants More Guarantees Before Implementing Peace Plan - before, they withdraw military forces, the Syrian government wants assurances insurgents will lay down their arms and stop fighting.  Reuters.com has more here.

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Daily Political Wire

George Wenschhof

Priebus, Caterpillars, and the Republican Party Disconnect with Women Voters - the latest comments by RNC chair Reince Priebus, further illustrates the problems the GOp has with winning the support of women voters.  The Wsahington Post has more here.

Meanwhile, The White House is hosting a forum on women and the economy.  You can read more here.

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Jobs Act Signed By Obama - intended to help emerging companies, it remains to be seen how effective this legislation will be.  Reuters.com has more here.

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Job Growth Continues, Consumer Confidence Up - payrolls are expected to climb by 200,000 for the fourth month in a row when figures are released.  The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index rose to the highest level since March 2008.  Bloomberg.com has more here.

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Is Santorum on Verge of Ending campaign? - Rick Santorum is meeting with conservative leaders this weekend to discuss his campaign and speculation is he is considering ending his effort to secure the Republican Party presidential nomination.  Polls show Santorum behind Mitt Romney in all of the state on the April 24 primary, including his home state of Pennsylvania.  TheHill.com has more here.

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Olbermann Files Suit Against Current TV - as expected, Keith Olbermann has filed suit against the owners of his former employer; Current TV.  Politico.com has more here.

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Final Spot in Frederick County Board of Education Race To Decided April 13

George Wenschhof

After, the first round of counting absentee ballots was concluded today, the final spot of six candidates to move on to the general election had changed. You can read the total vote counts here.

The Frederick County Board of Elections released numbers showing Emily Ann Meyer and Tony Chmelik had switched positions. Meyer had been in the final slot to move forward, only three votes ahead of Chmelik on election day. Now, Chmelik has a 11 vote lead over Meyer.

The top five finishers; Kathryn Groth, Tom Shade, Joy Schaefer, Zakir Bengali and Colleen Cusimano, did not see a change in order of finish after the first round of absentee ballots were counted.

Board of Elections director Stuart Harvey informed me there are 199 provisional and about 200 ( more could arrive) absentee ballots which will be counted on April 13.

Stay Tuned...

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