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| News - 2010 |
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Standing by record of service
- Letter to the
Carroll County
Times. 8/30/10
Undecided voters in Commissioner District 5 may be
wondering who they can trust on the issue of property tax relief.
Securing tax relief has been one of my top priorities during the
term of the current Board of Commissioners. |
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Waste-to-Energy Updates - August 2010
PDF Document
- Associated Builders & Contractors of Cumberland
Valley Renewable Waste-to-Energy Resolution
Letter to The Baltimore Sun -
from Charles J. "Buck" Miller, Jr., Hampstead |
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Press Release
- 8/25/10
Yesterday the South Carroll Republican Club endorsed me for
Commissioner in District 5. This follows the endorsement by the
Maryland Republican Assembly... |
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Facts vs Attacks
Page
- a new page on this site posted 8/18/10 |
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Press Release
- 8/10/10
The candidate who continually seems to want to spin my record as
Commissioner struck again recently with his attack on my practice
of taking one or two meals a month at one of our local senior
centers. He alleges this practice lacks an official purpose and is
merely politics on my part. The official purpose of these visits
is pretty simple. I go to the centers to listen. |
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Commissioner Zimmer denies wrongdoing in
trips to senior centers
- Carroll County
Times. 8/9/10
Commissioner Michael Zimmer said his frequent visits to
senior centers in Carroll County aren't campaign-related and don't
violate policies prohibiting the centers from holding political
events. |
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County commissioners adopt lower tax cap
- Carroll County
Times. 8/6/10
Carroll residents could see smaller increases in their
property tax bills in the future. On Thursday, the Carroll County
Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to adopt a reduction on
the cap of the Homestead Tax Credit. They lowered the cap from 7
percent to 5 percent following a public hearing on the proposal. |
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Press Release
- 8/3/10
My English teachers in high school taught me to cite my sources in
my papers. My college speech professor taught the same lesson in
that class. Certain attacks have been leveled against my record by
one candidate in particular. This candidate has a habit of making
outrageous observations of his spin about my votes, yet
conveniently he seems to leave out key facts or blatantly
misrepresent the facts in these attacks.
He also conveniently fails to cite sources for his charges.
Facts vs Attacks Page |
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Record clear on police issues
- Letter to the
Carroll County
Times. 7/28/10
The next Board of Commissioners will tackle many issues.
One concern will be the future of law enforcement. Here are the
facts about my record.
In 2008 I wrote the governor to ask that he sign a referendum bill
passed by the General Assembly to subject the future of law
enforcement to a vote by the public. The majority on the board
shot this referendum down in a two to one vote... |
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Press Release
- 7/26/10
Recently one of the District 5 candidates
has questioned my decision to hire a full time special assistant
when I was skeptical of such hires several years ago. His attack
ignores a simple reality of what happened during the General
Election of 2006. |
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Carroll County Chamber Position Statement
- 7/21/10
Chamber's position statement supports proposed Waste-to-Energy
Facility.
"The Frederick/Carroll County Renewable Waste-to-Energy facility
appears to be in the overall best interests of the County, its
businesses, and its residents, and the Carroll County Chamber of
Commerce strongly supports the project." |
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Support offered for candidate Jim Rutledge
- Letter to the
Carroll County
Times. 6/20/10
Since 2008 voters in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts have
expressed their displeasure with the policies of President Barack
Obama. Will this be the year for similar voter anger to be
displayed in Maryland?
Washington-based policies seem to be oriented to ever-increasing
spending and deficits. It is time to send a Senator to Washington
who retains a love for freedom and a respect for constitutionally
limited government and spending.
We have a choice this year to elect a new U.S. Senator. I'm
backing Jim Rutledge for this task. In fact, he's asked me to
serve as his honorary chair of his Carroll County campaign... |
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Michael Zimmer for Commissioner -
Our Carroll Campaign Video |
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Press Release:
Today I have filed for election as County
Commissioner 06/08/10 |
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Turning trash into treasure -
Philadelphia Inquirer 5/24/10
So this is where it ends, all the stuff bought by residents of
Delaware County at Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Target, and Sears, all
the trash, waste, rubbish, and garbage, the stinky effluvia of
material abundance, the broken, unwanted, discarded relics of
consumerism.
It ends here, on the tipping floor of Covanta Energy's
trash-to-steam plant on the Delaware River in Chester. |
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Planning to vote against budget
Carroll County
Times. 5/19/10
Commissioners Julia Gouge and Dean Minnich have indicated
will be voting for the fiscal year 2011 budget. I will not.
Staff presented us a reasonable proposal in the recommended budget
relating to the structure of law enforcement. Their suggestion was
to shift nine resident troopers for nine sheriff deputies. They
calculated a savings to taxpayers of $45,000 per year per position
shifted. This concept enjoyed the support of two commissioners in
finalizing the commissioners' proposed budget. |
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VIDEO: Budget Session
- Sheriff's Office / Resident Trooper funding. Carroll County
Government 05/13/10 |
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Sheriff’s Office expansion off table Carroll County
Times. 5/14/10
A dispute about whether to add nine deputies to the Carroll
County Sheriff's Office in the coming fiscal year has resulted in
one commissioner saying he will not vote for the proposed budget.
A recommendation to replace nine Maryland State Police resident
troopers with nine sheriff's deputies will be removed from the
county's proposed fiscal year 2011 budget. |
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VIDEO: Budget Session
- Sheriff's Office / Resident Trooper funding. Carroll County
Government 05/11/10 |
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Commissioners may reconsider proposal to
reduce resident troopers Carroll County
Times. 5/12/10
The Carroll County Board of Commissioners could reconsider
a proposal to replace nine Maryland State Police resident troopers
with nine sheriff's deputies. The recommendation to shift from
troopers to deputies is included in the county's proposed fiscal
year 2011 budget. |
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Bill Kennedy: Sheriff's office is a good
alternative Carroll County
Times. 5/3/10
Recently there have been a couple of letters to the editor
concerning the transition from the Resident Trooper program to a
countywide police force. One that caught my eye was from
commissioner Mike Zimmer. Now, I don't usually agree with
commissioner Zimmer's views. More often than not we're
diametrically opposed, other times we see things from slightly
different angles. However, on this matter he has come out with a
view that I think is right on target. |
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Power From Trash - New York Times 4/27/10
It's been 25 years since the New York City Board of Estimate,
under Mayor Edward Koch’s leadership, approved a plan to reduce
the need for putting municipal garbage in landfills by developing
facilities to burn it to create energy. At the same time, the city
took the first steps toward creating a recycling program. Since
then, disposal costs have risen faster than inflation, and the
need to find better methods of getting rid of wastes is even
greater. |
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Europe Finds Clean Energy in Trash, but U.S.
Lags - New York Times 4/12/10
HORSHOLM, Denmark - The lawyers and engineers who dwell in an
elegant enclave here are at peace with the hulking neighbor just
over the back fence: a vast energy plant that burns thousands of
tons of household garbage and industrial waste, round the clock.
Far cleaner than conventional incinerators, this new type of plant
converts local trash into heat and electricity. Dozens of filters
catch pollutants, from mercury to dioxin, that would have emerged
from its smokestack only a decade ago. |
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VIDEO: Budget Session
- Sheriff's Office 04/13/10
VIDEO: Budget Session
- Tax Relief 04/13/10
See full video
here - courtesy Carroll County
Government. |
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VIDEO: Mike speaks with Donna Richardson on
Comcast's Local Edition
Spring 2010. |
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Tax cap drop recommended Carroll County
Times. 4/14/10
Commissioners vote for reduction to help decrease payment
volatility
Homeowners' property tax cap will be lower if the Carroll County
Board of Commissioners has its way. The commissioners voted
unanimously to reduce the county's Homestead Property Tax Credit
from 7 percent to 5 percent. |
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Carroll County
Times. 3/24/10
Suggested budget includes trooper cuts
The battle over the future of law enforcement in Carroll will
continue into the next year's budget process. Ted Zaleski,
director of the Department of Management and Budget, recommended a
budget that includes the suggestion that the county replace nine
Maryland State Police resident troopers with nine Carroll County
Sheriff's deputies in fiscal year 2011. |
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VIDEO: Budget Session
- 03/23/10
See full video
here - courtesy Carroll County
Government. |
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VIDEO: State of the County Luncheon -
January 2010
See full video
here - courtesy of Our Carroll / Carroll Media Center.
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The Gazette. 1/21/10
Policing changes proposed
Commissioner introduces five-year transition plan to move away from
Maryland State Trooper use; cutbacks should not impact Mount Airy |
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Carroll County Times.
1/17/10 Letter to the Editor
Eliminate use of speed cameras
The Associated Press ran a story recently regarding speed
cameras in Arizona. The headline was “Arizona may abandon speed
cameras on highways.” |
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Carroll County Times.
1/15/10
Minnich: Expect rough financial future
"Commissioner Dean Minnich painted a grim picture of what Carroll
County’s near future could look like Thursday during the chamber of
commerce’s annual state of the county luncheon."
"During the luncheon, Commissioner
Michael Zimmer also put forward a recommendation to reduce the
number of Maryland state troopers in the county by nine and increase
the number of sheriff’s deputies by nine in fiscal year 2011." |
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Carroll Eagle.
10/04/09
County will cut jobs through incentive plan
Early
retirement package offered to as many as 150 |
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VIDEO: Mike speaks with Donna Richardson on
Comcast's Local Edition
Fall 2009.
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