As a citizen, and former county commissioner, I don’t approve of the voters of Adams County being deceived into thinking that five commissioners are going to make the county run any better, that there’s a need for a different commissioner selection method to ensure representation in a growing county or that five commissioners are going to be less susceptible to misbehavior.
I have created a website, VOTENO1A.com, to inform the voters Commissioners do not run daily operations of the county, the staff does under its direction. From Sept. 1, 2011, to Sept. 30, 2012, per county calendar, commissioners were in public hearings and study sessions a total of 79 days.
Commissioners, by the nature of their office, a county office, are responsible to all the citizens of the county, and therefore, it is every citizen’s right to vote for every commissioner. All commissioners are elected by every voter in the county, not the district they live in, which distributes the commissioner representation fairly and equally throughout the county. Human dynamics and ethics are going to determine the functionally of the commissioner office and not whether there are three or five commissioners on the board.
Other factors: Retaining a three commissioner board will save the county more than $400,000 a year when the county is spending 5.7 million more than it takes in revenue to run the county government. We have fresh faces — candidates for commissioner. They will do a good job of getting the county on course. The cost of five commissioners may reduce services to the citizen by creating need for budgetary reduction of essential county employee jobs. Question 1A was put on the ballot by politicians and not by the citizens.
Larry W. Pace
Commissioner 2003-2011
I am a pretty conservative guy, probably due in part to the fact that I was a police officer for 47 years, with the last 25 years being spent as the chief of police for the Westminster Police Department. I vigorously enforced marijuana laws for all 47 years of my public service, and I would do it today if I was still actively employed as a cop.
Constitutional Amendment 64 proposes the legalization of growing and possessing marijuana, but it would not impact those who have the legal and appropriate authorization to grow and use marijuana for medicinal purposes. Moreover, even if the voters approve Amendment 64, which I sincerely hope they do not, marijuana growing and possession would still be a federal offense. In addition to still being a federal offense, legalization of pot would result in more traffic accidents and fatalities, as well as an increase in crime. Talk to most police officers and they will confirm this observation. Take it to the bank.
We do not need more stoned drivers on the road, and we do not need more crime. And we certainly do not need a law that would be in direct conflict with the federal law. As Archie Bunker used to say, “This is pure crapola.” Vote no.
Dan Montgomery
Westminster Chief of Police (Retired)