Your vote in the Republican AND Democratic primary is crucial to the outcome for these local commissioner candidates.

Former Queen Anne's County Commissioner George O'Donnell asked a question at the recent League of Women Voters Forum: "Why do you think every time Four Seasons goes in front of a political body they get beat up but when they go to court, they (Four Seasons) win"?

It was surprising he brought this up, and we would like to respond.

The county had three commissioners at the time that unfortunately would not listen to the citizens about large-scale developments like Four Seasons on Kent Island. All three of these commissioners were soundly defeated in the 2002 primary election by candidates who campaigned against Four Seasons.

But then one week AFTER losing their primary election these same commissioners signed the Developers Rights and Responsibilities Agreement with Four Seasons. They signed this knowing that the citizens had just voted for new commissioner candidates who had campaigned against this very large development.

By signing this document, these three commissioners, George O'Donnell, John McQueeney and Marlene Davis, were the ones who turned this into a legal conflict for the county. Mr. O'Donnell was also a member of the earlier commissioner board that adopted the high-density zoning on Kent Island that took everyone by surprise.

If those three commissioners didn't sign the DRRA in retaliation for the election, if they felt it was such a good idea, why didn't they sign it BEFORE the election?

Terry Babb, Stevensville
Nancy Koval, Chester
Mindy Voelker, Chester
Ann Williams, Stevensville

From KIDL Web Guy:  Read NEWS STORY from 2002 which is referenced above as well as this NEWS STORY.

This election, many candidates and interest groups want us to believe that Queen Anne's County is just a few more housing developments and business parks away from long-term fiscal prosperity.

The citizens of our county deserve to know that many of these candidates and groups are funded by people who stand to make a lot of money if a cabal of pro-growth county commissioners succeeds come Election Day.

These candidates and their supporters think that Queen Anne's County just isn't good enough. As for me and my family, we couldn't imagine living anyplace else. We are proud in this day and age to still be able to live in a place where we know our neighbors, where we can let our children play outside without fear, and where we can talk to the farmer who grows the food we put on our table. The developers and their candidates have a vision for Queen Anne's County that my family does not share.

The developers and their candidates tell us that the county isn't growing; but our eyes do not deceive us. The quality of life of Queen Anne's County families, not more commercial and residential property, is the ultimate engine of our economy. On this Election Day, I will be supporting David Dunmyer for County Commissioner. He has made it clear that protecting our quality of life will be his priority. I hope everyone who enjoys calling our county home will consider a vote for Mr. Dunmyer.

Deb Lenchner, Queen Anne

A new resident of Queenstown spoke up publicly at a recent Planning Commission meeting about Business Queen Anne's offensive ad campaign.

The commenter described herself as a recent transplant from Annapolis who has worked closely on planning and development issues in other communities.

She said she has never in her life seen a business organization put out such offensive comments, and as a private citizen she is totally offended and feels that this organization owes everyone an apology.

Her comment to the Planning Commission: I hope none of you are listening to them.

Clearly Business Queen Anne's board, chaired by Mareen Waterman and other local business leaders (listed on their website) approve of and fully support this ad campaign.

So I would like to personally say "thank you" to our new resident for calling out this organization, and let her know that I hope to see and hear more from her.

To the rest of the QAC residents, I would like to say: I hope none of you are listening to them.

Terry Babb, Stevensville

Recent advertisements from Business Queen Anne's (BQA) are simply absurd. They imply that permitting development beyond our responsible, citizen-approved development plans will improve the local economy and our quality of life.

First, let's find businesses to fill our glut of empty commercial buildings and the largest inventory of unsold homes in 20 years before trying to turn Queen Anne's County into Glen Burnie. Irresponsible growth and unplanned sprawl will, in fact, degrade our quality of life and worsen traffic.

BQA has endorsed candidates that they know will work to increase the profits of the development cartel at the expense of the citizens' interests, and they've branded these pro-development candidates with their black star of approval.

Let's say no to candidates that put developer profits before that which benefits the community. Let's vote against Arentz, Dumenil and Olds to keep Queen Anne's County a great place to live. As a community, we have diligently created a responsible growth plan for our county. Frank Frohn's expertise in understanding QAC skillfully brought our businesses, farmers, fishermen and citizenry together to create a unified, citizen-approved growth plan. Frank Frohn's leadership is calm, fair and reasonable. Frank is someone with a proven, strong and trustworthy record. I encourage you to vote for Frank Frohn for our Commissioner-at-Large because he has the interest and well-being of our entire county in mind, including the business community.

Steve Kougoures, Chester

 Click Here to read the News Story from 2002 regarding the signing of the DRRA by the three Lame Duck Commissioners mentioned above. 

Be sure to check out this blog www.PaveOurCounty.com as well. The blog also has interesting information on BQA endorsed candidates Mansfield and Arentz, as well as  "The Cartel's Unemployment Lie" and " The 6.5% Lie".  Please Click to PaveOurCounty.com

Click Here to ready the August 29, 2010 Star Democrat News Story about incorrect BQA "facts". 

Happy reading, Burt (KIDL Web Guy)