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Setting the Record Straight on Bill 24-016
All of us here at We The People take truth-telling very seriously. But every once in a while we make a mistake. When we do, we're not too proud to admit it.
First- Bill 24-016 is a bill to empower the county council to spend more money. The council already has the power to reduce spending. Given the large spending increases over the past 8 years, we should be looking for ways to reduce spending- not finding ways to further fleece the taxpayers out of their hard-earned money.
Second- The bill was introduced by the Councilman from District Snee (AKA District B), "Sgt. sPENdMAN." Sgt. Spendman openly violates the county charter as written with his dual employment as a sheriff's deputy AND a councilman. He also violates the Article 8 in the Declaration of Rights in the Maryland Constitution in that he is a member of the legislative branch of government while assuming and discharging the duties of the Judicial branch. For more on this, click HERE and HERE.
Third- Now here's where I goofed-- in the last newsletter I told everyone this was going to the ballot in November for a vote. What I wasn't counting on was that County Executive Bob Cassilly would VETO the bill! We are pleased Mr. Cassilly whipped out the Veto pen for this fitting occasion.
Here's what the charter says about the executive veto:
Section 311
Executive veto.
[Amended by Bill No. 96-37]
Upon its enactment by the Council, any bill, except measures made expressly exempt from the executive veto by the Charter, shall be presented to the County Executive within five calendar days for approval or disapproval. Within twenty-one calendar days after presentation, the bill shall be returned to the Council with an approval endorsed thereon or with a statement, in writing, of the reasons for not approving the same. Upon approval by the County Executive, any such bill shall become law. Upon veto by the County Executive, the veto message shall be entered in the journal of the Council, and not later than at its next legislative session day, the Council may reconsider the bill. If, upon reconsideration, at least five members of the Council vote in the affirmative, the bill shall become law. Whenever the County Executive shall fail to return any bill within twenty-one calendar days after the date of its presentation to the County Executive, the Council Administrator shall forthwith record the fact of such failure in the journal, and the bill shall thereupon become law. The County Executive may disapprove individual items in budget and appropriation bills. Each item or items not disapproved in a budget and appropriation bill shall become law, and each item or items disapproved in a budget and appropriation bill shall be subject to the same procedure as any other bill vetoed by the County Executive.
The bill passed originally on a narrow 4-3 vote, with Spendman, The Decoy Dictator, Tsoiled-Bottles, and the compromised, dual-employed Mr. Bennett voting to open the floodgates of more influence-peddling, graft, more of the "Blank Check Barry" Glassman era of out-of-control spending, and more legalized theft of your hard-earned money.
The good news for us now is that after a veto, the council now needs FIVE votes instead of just four to override Cassilly's veto and get the bill on the November ballot. Sources indicate Neon Dion, Tony G, and Jim Reilly are holding fast in their position against this bill- so it does not appear that calling a special session to override the veto would be successful.
If you are so inclined, I would encourage you to call or email the council members and county executive to thank them for this fiscally responsible vote. We tend to beat up on them when they violate their oaths and make stupid decisions, so it's probably good to give them a little reinforcing when they actually do the right things.
Dion Guthrie District A 410-638-3521 dfguthrie@harfordcountycouncil.com
Tony Giangiordano District C 410-638-3523 tgiangiordano@harfordcountycouncil.com
James Reilly District D 410-638-3524 jreilly@harfordcountycouncil.com
Robert Cassilly County Exec 410-638-3351 countyexecutive@harfordcountymd.gov
The Erik Robey spin machine is already trying to paint this victory as some sort of assault on the taxpayers (see graphic below). Cassilly ran as a conservative and was elected with a mandate to get control of the spending in Harford County. Penman also ran as a conservative, and so one could reasonably conclude that the majority of district B voted for fiscal conservatism, not the runaway spending he's advocated since taking office. We do not have a democracy where citizens decide everything by a vote. We have a constitutional representative republic where we should have an expectation that our elected officials will operate within their constitutional restraints to protect the rights of those who elected them.
Additionally, several councilmen stated on the record that their constituents overwhelmingly opposed the spending measure and charter amendment. In District D alone, Councilman Reilly stated "For every 10 people for it, there were 250 people against it."
In any case, we are happy this bad bill appears to be dead, and we will keep an eye on any future efforts to bring it back to life.
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