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READER POLLS

For whom will you vote for St. Mary's Commissioner in the northern end of the county: Republican Larry Jarboe or Democrat Bill Mattingly?(trends)

Two candidates have filed for the GOP nomination for the Ridge/Valley Lee district in St. Mary's; Kenny Dement and Rich Johnson. For whom will you vote?(trends)

Should St. Mary's Commissioners go ahead with plans for a new $3 million plus library or simply build a modest addition to the present structure?(surveys)

As the race heats up for Commissioner President of St. Mary's new candidates emerge, old ones peek from the sidelines; for whom will you vote?(poll)

Do you favor Democrat Art Shepherd or Republican Danny Morris for St. Mary's Commissioner in the Leonardtown / Hollywood district?(trends)

Democrat John Mattingly has filed to run for St. Mary's States Attorney. Republican Richard Fritz is expected to file. For whom will you vote?(poll)

Why is Kenny steamed over voters ready to skin him alive for voting to raise real estate taxes by $14.5 million? He was warned, but he and Jackie Russell voted to hike taxes anyway. Right, Maggie O'Brien, pretty scary to residents of St. Mary's City and taxpayers who don't like money being spent on overseas campuses, yacht club and land deal for college trustee Mike O'Brien. Fire companies receive fire taxes and buy equipment even if they don't need it, such as Hollywood which obtained a ladder truck while they had 4 ladder trucks available to them from nearby departments and there few building which require a ladder truck in their first due area. ST. MARY'S TODAY photos
Mechanicsville VFD and Mechanicsville Vol. Rescue Squad are the second busiest units in St. Mary's County. Charles County has blended in paid rescue and the scratch rate for departments such as Mechanicsville, Bay District and Solomon's worry many people. Solomon's has a concentration of assisted living, nursing homes and elderly residents and a limited number of volunteers to answer calls, leaving many mutual aid calls for St. Mary's to answer. Charles County responds to many calls for the northern end of St. Mary's. Meanwhile millions of dollars are spent on new fire trucks which aren't needed because the politicians are too spineless to say no to the boys who want new bells and whistles. St. Mary's added paid Advanced Life Support Medics for the first time due to an worn out volunteers.
One reader says Mechanicsville VFD is purchasing a $600,000 rescue pumper for the Golden Beach substation even though there aren't enough volunteers responding to calls to get the fire trucks out the door...respond to this reader poll about whether or not its time to bring accountability to the way tax money is spent on fire departments, ending the boys buying the toys and providing real emergency responses to emergencies with career firefighters and rescue personnel as needed.

New Reader Polls
Keep Good Old Boys in office raising taxes?    Dump Dement / Keep Kenny?
Sink Russell?
Buy more parkland and raise taxes?   Close small Post Offices to save money?   Bail out Detroit?

Maggie's boathouse and yacht club
Should Maggie O'Brien be canned as SMC Prez?

Should St. Mary's have paid firefighters?
Time to stop playing Russian Roulette with 911?

Reader Feedback: I don't know if they are nice guys or not but I do know that in my opinion they should be shown the door. They have neither foresight nor hindsight and have no concern for the working class who are struggling to make ends meet and as stated in the poll have passed an obscene property tax that is putting all of the hard working people of St. Marys county at risk of losing their homes and every thing else they own. They need to fix this problem NOW , not next week or next year. Russell should be able to relate to a sinking boat and Dement to a third strike coming his way , wake up and serve the tax payers now before you go down as the worst commissioners in the history of the county.

Reader Feedback:
This goes out to Senator Roy Dyson and our County Officials, who can get the job done. St, Mary's county residents request that child sex offenders have no rights when they abuse children. We request any child sex offender's faces and information be posted in schools, post offices ,churches and department stores. We the people want a law that these child sex offenders have no rights. Our children are the future and this is in " The Best Interest of our Children". We also request that an Amber Alert System is very important to St. Mary's County due to the high number of new residents here in our county. An Amber Alert System is very important for crime and safety for our children. "MOMS WHO CARE"

Reader Feedback:
Charles County Commissioners say no to new police station in Waldorf, while they drive expensive county owned SUVs. The Sheriff's Dist 3 station is an old MSP Barracks that was abandoned by the MSP 10 years ago. Then under Fred Davis, officers were told it was temporary. A new location was picked out by the Sheriff Coffey, only to have it denied by the commissioners. The county has spent millions of dollars on new buildings over the last several years, but allows over 100 police officers to work out of a building that should be condemned. Every time it rains, the basement floods. It smells of mold and mildew. Apparently the health of our police officers is not important.

More comments from those voting in the 2008 Presidential Election Reader Poll

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