From Harford County Councilman Mike Perrone Jr.:
We all see it; and many of us have watched it grow over the course of generations: blight.
It has made its way along the Route 40 Corridor in much the same way that it has taken hold in Baltimore City and so many of our other urban centers. Our free market economy drives our quality of life, but it also leaves behind the brick and mortar it no longer needs.
Before we try to figure out what can be done about this, I think we need to make sure that we fully understand blight’s causes. I have listened and learned over the course of my first year on the Council, and there are three dynamics particular to the Southern Route 40 Corridor which stand out to me.
The first of those dynamics was the construction of Interstate 95. Prior to 50 years ago, Route 40 thrived because it was the main thoroughfare through Harford County. Once 95 came along, much of the traffic that drove (pun intended) economic activity along Route 40 was diverted elsewhere.
The second dynamic is the size of the parcels and lots along Route 40, as compared with many of the parcels elsewhere throughout the County. Many of the parcels and lots along Route 40 in Joppa and Edgewood are less than 2 acres in size. We can see how this would make life difficult for investors who might otherwise want to redevelop the area; it would be much easier to purchase a single large parcel elsewhere than it would be to string together multiple deals with multiple property owners in order to acquire the same amount of land.
The third dynamic is what has played out due in large part to the second. Going back several decades, most of the large-scale commercial developments in the southern part of the County have taken place along the Route 24 corridor and not the Route 40 corridor (e.g. Festival, Constant Friendship, and Box Hill). These projects represented investment dollars that could have flowed into the Route 40 Corridor, but didn’t.
This is where government needs to walk a fine line. We owe our prosperity in this country in large part to our system of property rights and the free market economy that those rights give rise to, and I firmly believe that the more we try to plan our way to prosperity, the less prosperous we will be. But there is a balance that needs to be struck. When we look at how many development projects in Harford County have gotten underway in communities that don’t want those projects, while communities like Edgewood and Joppatowne would welcome much of that commercial investment, we have to recognize that we have a problem.
I can think of two approaches to dealing with this problem. The first is to ensure that the problem is recognized during next year’s Master Plan update and the Comprehensive Rezoning process that will follow.
The second lies in identifying what regulations may exist at the County (and State) levels that may be obstructing re-development efforts so we can take a fresh look at those regulations and re-evaluate whatever might need to be re-evaluated. I have recently set out to do this.
I’m not an expert in these matters, so I welcome every bit of feedback that I can get. If you have any perspective on blight and redevelopment you would like to share with me, please do so.
Route 40 corridor would be a nicer place if there weren’t so many Democrats.
I may be a “donkey”, but you are definitely an ass!
If you want to make Harford County better, get rid of all the low income housing.
Jose Wales was a poor farmer whose family was murdered and he sought revenge. Your using that name as a moniker is just plain depressing……
Not as depressing as your endless whining about you innocence.
Whining about innocence? Really? I think you and anyone else who says such things should try to get the Constitution repealed and replaced by “Mein Kampf”. You do wish our country to be like Nazi Germany, right?
In fairness Josey he has never professed his innocence. He admits that what he did by Maryland Statutory Law was wrong. Like so many others in this country he felt that he was entitled to disregard the law of the land and do what he wanted to do to satisfy his own needs. He attempted to hide behind the constitution to break the law. It apparently didn’t work. THEN…he whines about being forced to accept an Alford Plea. Talk about HOGWASH. No one has to do that. He can whine, pout, belch, and fart the rest of his life and no one will buy in to such B.S.There were countless options if he wished to pursue them. He did not. You have the appeals process all the way to the Supreme Court. You have ethics commissions for the activities of judges and lawyers. Maryland has some of the most liberal Congress members in the country. Tons and tons of options which were not utilized. Sadly, the Soulman lives in his own world, with his own set of rules and values. I am quite sure this is not the end of his rants.
@Open Your Eyes – You are a lying sack of manure. There are no options because your disgusting Circuit Court won’t rule on it. Nothing could be taken to the Court of Appeals because counsel refused to file the Appeal and I was incarcerated. The only other options are a Modification of Sentence hearing and the Coram Nobis. The Modification hearing would not bring Agents of the State to justice and everything would be swept under the table. The Coram Nobis has not been ruled on because the Judge involved has absolutely NO integrity or honor. They know that if its denied, I will file for Certiorari and get the case in front of the Court of Appeals, who will reverse the decision and probably have everyone removed from that stank Court House you all consider law and I consider a meeting house for the Harford County Nazi party……..
@Open Your Eyes – I suppose you think that Valerie Carlton and David Corn had options too. You’re just a complete and utter liar…..Yet alone a scumbag.
First of all….If anyone has integrity issues it is you my friend. You broke the law but continue to diminish the seriousness of your wrong doings. Maybe if you could man up and say “I was wrong but….” people might take a little more interest in your issues. Again, there are multiple options. Stop whining and insulting the intelligence of the readers. I think you need to get some sleep or have a snickers bar. When you are tired and cranky you result to your last option…..name calling. Again get some rest.
Any day now SC will retreat to his cabin in the woods and begin writing his manifesto about how the world has done him wrong and how he’s going to fix it.
Chapter One – “I’ll show you! I’ll show all of you!”
Whatever, I know that I can pass a polygraph. Can you??????
I thought the state and the county were going to make all kinds of Rt. 40 improvements as part of the BRAC process? They made all kinds of promises to get people to move down here, and many remain unfulfilled. Talk is cheap, I guess.
Perrone forgot to mention all the Section Eight people who are in large part responsible for the blight. And don’t forget that he wants to bring more blight with schemes like his homeless tent city.
Route 40 corridor has an unsavory population and is largely riddled with crime and that is the reason that many of the developers have no interest in developing there. You can see that in the shopping centers along Route 40 and Edgewood area. Most of the good stores have left because of the crime and dangers of robberies and thefts that occur on a daily basis not the mention the drug dealers that hang on the cornersof the shopping centers. Mr. Perrone conveniently forgets to mention these things. There are parts on Route 40 that had been developed or were tried to be developed but have never filled their offices. You cannot expect to have developers invest money where they can almost be sure that it will not be making them money or be successful. I think Mr. Perrone needs to see the truth in this matters and not try to look at Route 40 with rose colored glasses. Route 40 has been a lost corridor for quite a while now and there is not much that will change here. When you look into the past you can see where warehouses and office buildings have been developed and have never attracted tenants. So, why would Mr. Perrone think that people would be so stupid and develop more and more in an area that has proven to be a lost cause. You fix things up and in no time they are torn down and look slummy…..and I think everyone knows who does this.
I agree, when shitmart and waffle house are building in fallston instead of edgewood that should tell you something.
Brother-in-law is cop in that neck of the woods. ANY kind of stop entails two officers minimum.
I am a real estate developer in Harford County. I have built many projects on both sides of 95 over several decades. There are many reasons why I am not currently building in the above mentioned communities including those outlined in the article. However, the main reason is that county and state regulations and processes have made new construction so expensive and difficult that for most lots it is not economically feasible.
I can put a finer point on the impact. In the past 5 years, I have personally diverted over $25 million of investment capital away from projects in Harford County to other areas because those areas are more business friendly. I am far from the largest developer in this market who has done the same so you can imagine the total impact is in the $100s of millions. The loss in tax revenue and jobs is millions.
I read The Dagger every day because it gives me insight into the mind and voice of Harford County. Over years of following not just the articles but the comments, I think that I have come to some idea of the general tone. That voice says, developers you are not welcome regardless of jobs and tax revenue.
Of course this is not my only source of information. But the tone across many of my interactions is the same. Most notably, I have stopped attending CIM meetings because it is so one sided against development as to be unconstructive. This part of the process is supposed to create dialog among the stakeholders in the development process. Instead it has become a verbal lynching. I had a conversation with a FOH member who insisted that the only way that I would get support to build on a particular lot on Bel Air Road was if I build a park there instead of a shopping center. I couldn’t if I wanted to but that didn’t matter. It was like talking to a wall. The message was the only good development is no development.
I recognize that I am biased. You may agree or disagree with my politics but the undeniable reality is that while people debate these matters, money that is desperately needed to improve schools and infrastructure is flowing out of Harford County to other communities.
I am certain that some readers who are anti-development will be pleased in reading my comment that they may in some way have influenced my decision not to build in Harford County. To those readers, I ask that the next time that you see blight, crime and poverty in your community please consider whether your stand on development might contribute to the perpetuation of these forces.
I love Harford County and think that there are great opportunities here. If the tides change and the community and politicians embrace business and growth I will be building here again.
I would speculate that people in Harford County are upset at people like you specifically because many residents that moved to Harford County to create a better way of life for themselves and their children. Developers build single family homes first to attract more affluent residents. 30 years ago areas like Edgewood, Joppatowne, Aberdeen all thrived with safe schools and low crime. Businesses soon followed like Kmart, superfresh, pizza hut, and rite aid. The residents had access to parks, marinas, a swim club and at Christmas time the residents would all put out luminary candles to light up the entire town.
Once these successful and prosperous areas are created the developers come in and build low income apartments and townhomes that are subsidized with State and Federal funds to attract low income families. Soon after comes crime, drugs and the beginning of a changing community. Next comes public transportation as these new residents need access to busses because many low income people not only need housing, utility, and medical assistance but they need transportation assistance too.
With the additional of mass transit comes more crime and a mass exodus of people who see their home values decreasing in value, see their once excellent schools diminished quality of education. Once again working residents are left with two choices, stay in a area that is riddled with crime, drugs and ever-decreasing property values or more to greener pastures in hopes of escaping the invasion. Now Joppatowne has a dollar tree, no pizza hut, no swim club or marina and couldn’t keep a c-mart in business.
Many Harford County residents were from areas like Essex, Dundalk, Hamden, Highlandtown, Rosedale, Overlea, that left these areas many years ago and build a safe area that was miles away from these areas in hopes of a better life for them and their families. Now developers like you want to continue to add apartments, mass transit, drug treatment centers, homeless camps, and slap a walmart and mcdonalds on every open space of land you can find.
Haven’t you people done enough damage to areas like Columbia, Fredrick, Pasadena, Aberdeen, Joppatowne, Edgewood, Abingdon, Aberdeen, etc.? I guess people like you never have enough living on your gated island in todd lakes and dumbfounded by the thought that the rest of us should somehow be thanking you for bringing us another Walmart, Dollar Store, low rent apartment complex or bus stop into our community.
Todd Lakes isn’t gated. None of our communities in the Wheel/MacPhail Rd corridor are. Your point may be valid, but if you’re going to cast dispersions, get your facts straight.
The word “gated” wasn’t to be interpreted literally, gated in the sense that is has been developed far away from mass transit, apartment complexes, etc.
I assumed educated people lived there.
Rich, yes, but not necessarily educated.
I gave you a thumbs up for a thoughtful and respectful comment. I don’t completely agree however. If you do read the comment sections regularly, you may recognize me. You might recognize that I usually chime in on development issues. A few reactions:
” Over years of following not just the articles but the comments, I think that I have come to some idea of the general tone. That voice says, developers you are not welcome regardless of jobs and tax revenue. ”
That is always going to be true from a fringe activist voice. I can only speak for myself. This is true for me also when I feel that the development is not being undertaken in a thoughtful way that pays respect to the community and our laws. Not every development and developer are the same. Some absolutely do things the right way. Others don’t.
“Most notably, I have stopped attending CIM meetings because it is so one sided against development as to be unconstructive. This part of the process is supposed to create dialog among the stakeholders in the development process. Instead it has become a verbal lynching.”
I can understand that. I’ve been to some like that as well, and I agree, that’s not what it was intended and it is not constructive. The Walmart CIM being the most infamous. But in that one, and others I have been to, developers don’t help themselves when they show up unprepared and “tone deaf” for lack of a better term. When you walk into a community with your plan, and demonstrate almost no understanding of how people will react to it, or what they might want to see, they get very upset. Walmart officials completely botched their CIM and it showed in the ensuing public comment. It was never going to be pretty, but they made matters worse.
And to be fair, I have been to other CIM’s where the developers were prepared, fair minded, and actually seemed open to dialogue. I can name the one that took place for the Enclave at Box Hill apartment complex. It’s always going to be a give and take in those meetings.
And frankly, you said you don’t go because of the reaction you get– well I can tell you that most of the public doesn’t go because of the reaction THEY get from developers. So if you are one of the good ones, I encourage you to go.
” You may agree or disagree with my politics but the undeniable reality is that while people debate these matters, money that is desperately needed to improve schools and infrastructure is flowing out of Harford County to other communities.”
My last comment and this one from you, lead me to my final and most important point of the whole issue. The process is broken. You’re frustrated with it and it’s more than obvious that the people are frustrated with it. CIM meetings need to be re-thought. DAC meetings need to better structured for people to attend. Even the zoning hearings need to be better– why does a developer get to use their own staff as “expert” witnesses on zoning issues for example? How is that even credible testimony? The entire zoning designations need to be fleshed out further. There are far too many permitted and variance uses in the few categories that we have, making it almost impossible for people to have an understanding of what zoning is good for an area when there are 35 potentially VERY different uses. That’s why people don’t get involved in the master plan, because it’s almost meaningless to do so.
And the very school of thought on how we do and set zoning is bizarre. I call it “zoning creep”. So something is AG, and 2 miles away is RR2. Ten years later, RR2 is right next to AG, so now the AG is changed to RR1… why? If it’s AG, it’s AG. Developers are buying up all the land, developing it, then arguing that the nature of the area has changed and the zoning needs to be changed, yet they are the ones who built everything and changed it? So what then, does a community do to halt that creep? Buy the land or beg for a park seems to be the only answer.
The APFO needs to be changed. I’m sorry you feel the regulations are too difficult, but if the regulations were working correctly, everyone wouldn’t be complaining about traffic all over the central county.
Finally, who benefits then when you get to develop? It doesn’t feel like it’s the community, who’s roads get worse, not better. Nobody needs to drive more than 5-15 minutes to get anything in the world they could possibly want as it is, so what are we missing out on?
As I’ve said before, the bottom line is we have a pyramid scheme where the county collects revenue from development to keep taxes low– but the regulations aren’t improving the infrastructure to keep pace with the development. Our choices are fix the regulations, pay more taxes, or stop the development, or some combination of the three.
So what’s it going to be?
Not sure how it is that you’re unable to develop anything due to regulation, etc., or that Harford in your eyes is anti-developer. We have a planning and zoning department that has always leaned to the side of the developer. We have citizens meetings scheduled to make it difficult to attend. We now have a once (and not long ago) largely rural county now nearly an endless sea of single family, townhome and condo development projects, strip malls and other businesses so numerous that many sit empty for lack of demand or use. Indeed the county has been for sale for development for the last 50 years and our county government has been working with breakneck speed to assist in plowing up every acre – everybody got rich but those of us who call the county home and have for a very long time have a right to be concerned and involved. Nothing personal and I surely don’t wish people to scream at you or anybody else at CIM meeting as I’m sure it’s uncomfortable to have angry people around you for an evening and be forced to answer questions that result in groans from the audience. For us, the citizens our discomfort from you and those like you lasts forever…as our forests and meadows are turned into black top and carefully arranged lollipop trees we say goodbye to our own safety, open space, standard of living, clean air, peace of mind and sense of neighborhoods and neighborliness…while you count your wads of money and plan for your retirement in Florida. At the pace we’re on in just another generation this place will look like Towson and once overdeveloped just as Rte. 40 the entire thing will devolve into blight. No sir, no disrespect intended but sympathy for your position isn’t the first thing I think of when I think of developers.
Relevant…”Friends of Harford: Mixed Office Zoning Proposal Disregards Development Envelope; Flouts Master Plan Process”
http://www.daggerpress.com/2015/11/19/friends-of-harford-mixed-office-zoning-proposal-disregards-development-envelope-flouts-master-plan-process/
“I read The Dagger every day because it gives me insight into the mind and voice of Harford County.”
haha…ya mean a handful of crazies?
[Stands up and applauds]
You don’t need catchy/trendy buzzwords when the simple answer is a 2 minute man on the street interview, as far as housing…
A lot people moving here don’t want their kids going to a Route 40 school district. BRAC was obvious with all of this.
How slow are those houses moving at Beech tree?
I mean, look at the North end of the former golf course. Someone delivered probably 100,000 dollars worth of concrete castings, pipe, for storm drains YEARS ago along with a silt fence that all has holes, fallen over, weeds growing over it.
Its obvious the submarine klaxon was sounding, red alert was blinking and someone waved off the progress faster than a referee can call off sides.
LOLOL
There are areas of route 40 that are much improved to what they were 10-15 years ago. The new sheriff’s office precinct has been a great improvement to a lot that was a deteriorating truck stop building and a parking lot for big rigs. Next to that we have a housing complex that improved a vacant overgrown lot before. The credit union has moved its central office here and that whole area has buildings with occupants such as cvs, a daycare, and I assume some of the social service offices that were there. That is certainly an improvement . The Mars shopping center is well kept.
On the other side the chicken place was doing good until we had the fiasco over the chicken on the roof. The motel has tried to keep its appearance eye pleasing and the old car repair shop that had junk everywhere has been cleaned up and makes a good appearance in the area. Much better than before. The other camper and truck centers keep their commercial lots up.
Cordish cleaned up their shopping center and seem to work to keep it filled with stores.
Across the street the old Ames shopping center has a new strip along Rt 40. The church has overhauled much of the original building. Only part of the building needs an occupant to make the redo complete.
We have home depot and the sports center further up. The median has been made a much better looking area and the new street lighting in the Edgewood area done a few years ago. Thompson dealership has helped improve their side with the demolishing of the gas station and putting up a modern building.
A few years ago the median from Joppatowne thru Edgewood was made into an eye pleasing area.
New lightning was put in the Edgewood section. Look up and down Route 40 in the Harford County corridor and you see much improvement and new developments. There is much less blight than a few years ago.
We have section 8 here but we have many more middle class here. Most in these areas are hard working and take pride in their home and surroundings.
I think the plan for success in the Route 40 corridor is two-fold. First we need to take a large scale approach to development. Everything should be mixed-use, commercial and residential in close proximity. PUD’s and wholesale changes to parts of the area.
Second, as someone else said, a big issue is schools. Now I’m of the mind that you really can’t fix schools. Once they go bad, they’re bad. Even if the school gets better, it takes years and years for its reputation to improve. Bottom line is you will almost never get affluent families to settle within the capture zone of some of those schools. So what to do?
Look at Baltimore City. Schools are pretty terrible, yet they have several revitalized parts of the city attracting young people to rent, buy homes, some even start families. If we want to fix those areas we need to model the growth after those Baltimore neighborhoods, Federal Hill, Fells Point, Canton, etc.
Attract businesses with tax credits, recreate the living experience with new mixed use development, and young people will move in.
Some people call that gentrification, others call it improving the area. I think you can manage it properly and keep the character of the place.
If you give young people a reason to work and live in the same basic space, they will mostly do it. If they don’t need a car, even better. if they can walk or Uber to a bar crawl, a job, a train station, they will do it. Having train service to DC from Aberdeen and Edgewood is a key part of it.
Again, point at anyone in public and ask a question to them.
I guarantee over 80% of random people will say the same thing about building a 3 story office building in Aberdeen that to this day still has no tenants. 3 years ago it was finished? LOL
We don’t need fancy buzzword filled techno babble presentations from a projector, just ask people. Obviously that didn’t happen with Beech tree. LOL
I thank Councilman Perrone for a thoughtful and reasoned approach to the problems of blight in southern Harford County. Recently he was part of a fruitful discussion with the county’s economic development coordinator at a recent Joppatowne Community Council meeting where many of these issues were also explored. There are problems with the commercial properties, the closures of the swim club and marina and also the growing siltation of the waters of the Gunpowder River which have not been properly addressed. Once Joppatowne was shining example of the efforts of a far-sighted developer, but two generations later little has been done to shore up those gains or to make further improvements. As some respondents noted, there has been more done in Edgewood recently than in Joppatowne though Edgewood still needs lots of attention.
The issue of incorporation came up at the Joppatowne meeting. I know lots and lots of people are against incorporation, but the price of not incorporating may be higher than that of incorporation. Because of incorporation, Aberdeen was able to acquire its community swim club with a grant from the legislature; Joppatowne did not receive like treatment because it is and was not incorporated. Edgewood leader and school board member Jansen Robinson points out that there are lots of other grants and monies not made available to unincorporated communities such as Edgewood and Joppatowne because of their status. Too often legitimate concerns from these communities are disregarded on the county level because, frankly speaking, there is not the political muscle to carry them through with only a single councilperson to advocate for the many thousands of people who live in these communities. I think that county leaders may have good intentions and might want to be perceived as responsive, but their efforts may fall short in the face of other demands and priorities. So we need to give careful thought to the benefits of incorporation.
Planning and zoning will be in local hands and even if some problems are difficult to solve, others may be more easily solved and will give impetus to forward progress.
I noticed some of the above comments were very disparaging about public transportation, and as a transportation advocate I found this very disappointing. Years ago I was advocating for better intra-county transportation, as it was nearly impossible for elderly, disabled, and others without their own cars to travel within the county. Since then the county has done an excellent job of correcting this problem and has a well-used system that currently serves many needs. At a public meeting about a year ago it was clear demand for services was outstripping the actual services provided; remember that the intensive development of the county has created new infrastructure demands and these will likely increase in the future. The managers of the Inter-Link have needed to expand bus routes, hours of service and numbers of vehicles used but these are all constrained by the amount of funds available.
Transportation is a big problem not just in the county but even more so in all of central Maryland. And unfortunately at this critical time we have a governor who does not care for public transportation and he is doing his level best to try to undermine efforts to move forward. His efforts to eliminate the Red Line and make changes in bus service in the city are to change bus service would purportedly make bus transportation in the city worse than it already is, according to its users. At the same time the governor has diverted monies that the legislature intended for the funding of the Red Line to extravagant peripheral projects that are debatable. One project that I noticed as a member of the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board’s Public Advisory Community was the allocation of $8 million just to fix the intersection of Beards Hill Road and Route 22 in Aberdeen. I haven’t seen audits yet of other allocations but I am sure this is going on throughout central Maryland. The legislature should be demanding that those funds be spent on what they were intended and not on frivolous projects.
Area transportation studies show that automobile traffic accounts for 94 percent of area transportation while public transit accounts for 6 percent. Greater public transport use will decrease congestion and also the costs of making far flung improvements to the road system because there is hardly an alternative to automobile traffic.
The governor and U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger are now pressing for another $275 million in federal funds for preliminary studies on the construction of a Maglev train system from Washington to New York, forgetting that Maryland has already spent $300 million on pre-engineering and other preparatory studies for the Red Line, and is willingly abandoning that big investment because of the glittering attraction of Maglev. The governor is ignoring the needs of residents of central Maryland and arguably more people could get to the Maglev from the Red Line if it were built; he also cast away $900 million that the federal government was going to spend on that project if he would allow it to go forward.
In an op-ed in the Baltimore Sun (Nov. 19) former Harford Co. state senator and current Greater Baltimore Committee president & CEO Donald Fry and Thomas Wilcox write that “better transportation isn’t a luxury, it’s central to our future.” People using public transportation also use other services and attend schools and colleges and contribute to the well being of local businesses including employers who need workers. The Fry/Wilcox article details how improvements in public transportation in other cities has contributed greatly to the economic vitality of those areas.
Concerning the siltation of the Gunpowder River, little dredging has been done there since former State Senator Art Helton worked with residents of Foster Branch Creek some 30 years ago77, and there may have been some further dredging with the creation of Mariner Point Park. This is surely something that would be more vigorously pursued with a better-empowered Joppatowne citizenry.
public transportation worked out great for owings mills and towson towncenter
Hunt Valley Mall was a nice place to shop until public transportation brought up all the inner city blacks.
we can do better than that
eastpoint mall
golden ring mall
marley station mall
hunt valley mall
owings mills mall
westview mall
security square mall
arundel mills mall
all distroyed by mass transit
white marsh will soon follow
I don’t think we need to spend any more “monies” towards Baltimore City.
Thank God that Boardman uses his real name here. Now I don’t have to waste my time reading his pages of half-baked ideas laced with irrelevant ‘facts’, misleading statistics, and incorrect conclusions.
BRACE YOURSELVES… PERRONNE FABRIC SHELTERS ARE ON THE MARCH AGAIN!
Have any of you people ever bothered to venture out of Hazard county and visit the surrounding areas of other military bases. They don’t exactly attract Cabelas, Hiltons and Nordstroms…. You get nasty motels golden corral, pay day lending pawn shops, crappy used car dealers and tatoo parlors. Like it or not that’s the facts.
Yes, Phil Dirt, I use my true name in my comments unlike you and other nasty commenters in the Dagger. If I knew your true name and so did your neighbors we would probably put signs on your lawn telling the public you are an undesirable person. When you poison the public discourse with hateful and ignorant statements and hide under anonymity you are acting cowardly and irresponsibly. Benjamin Franklin once stated about democracy and the American system of government that you can get it “but can you keep it?” The behavior of many of the right wing idiots does jeopardize the American system because the system requires people to act responsibly and respectfully toward the opinions of others.
Now as for the statements of racism regarding public transit, I feel sorry for you. Black Americans and other people of other races and colors have also worked to build America into the fine nation that it is. I am ashamed of your ignorant, hateful statements that in actuality hurt everyone. There is a lot more that should be said but I will just add that Governor Larry Hogan is turning out to be a monumental disappointment and we will be lucky to survive his administration. When I fight for a better transportation system it looks past the time when Hogan will be governor because he won’t be governor for that much longer and the transportation problems will still be with us. And needless to say, he isn’t doing anything to help us. He is a big do nothing and all he is doing is give right wing zealots a happy little feel-good buzz. When any of you bright lights out there get any constructive ideas, please let us know.
I don’t use my real name because is just I don’t use my real name because is just says “Name.”
I also don’t know the real intentions of people who disagree with me.
Also, my neighbors/friends/family already know that I’m a huge ASSHOLE so it would be no shocker? LOL
Smell my fart, dude.
Public discourse? Bro, this is an online news paper comments, not a County Council meeting.
You “get off” on seeing it, that’s why you keep coming back to read it.
Call people idiots?
You are just a real butt hurt individual.
As The Aegis cartoon in the 60’s once portrayed a new Harford County resident saying his prayers, “Please let me be the last”. In 2015, still the same. Everyone wanted to move to Harford County because it was nice, rural, beautiful county. What has happened?
Harford County is located on the I-95 corridor between DC and Boston. If you want Montana, this ain’t the place.
Josie wales should have irene wipe his ass with notpc’s breakfast napkin.That would at least make this Edgewood man die laughing. No one wants to live in this county because its run by rich freaks who have hijacked the law. I was just up at the bath house they call the belair court house. I sat there and watched the shit populate on my citizen laptop as the black robed elite spewed out judgements. What a focking joke this county and your people are. You puff yourself up like shiny peacocks when you are nothing but huge piles of smelly putrid prejudice shit. You think you are gods gift to who? You serve yourself, just like the sanctimonious black robed hypocrite’s derailing our great country now. They have taken the law and made it a thing of tyranny. Something used to control the masses, well guess what, We Cant Be Controlled¿ I can’t wait until those masses rise up on you safisticated, so called educated worms, and wipe away all your treasures, your possessions, and your life. You rich so called educated scum are the only problem America has.
You can’t be controlled, and you also can’t write a coherent paragraph. I pity Edgewood for having you as a resident.
I agree 100% with everything you typed about the Harford County Courts. They are completely and utterly corrupt. They do not serve the public as they are meant to and have become a means of legal tyranny that has spread across the entire nation. However, I do not agree that the people should rise up and kill the rich. They can take from them, but don’t kill them. Let them live the way they have made others live and then they might see the light.
After taking a substantial hiatus from the DAGGER, I have returned to see the same old BS by the same old A-holes. You guys really are nothing but Republican/NAZI trash. This one website spews more hatred than a KKK member hanging out at a KFC.
It was so nice having you gone. Too bad you had to return with your paranoid, racist, anti-intellectual drivel.
Hope this helps,
Phil
Yeah, it helps me realize that you’re a Nazi. Since, you think I’m a racist, please, tell me who I’m racist against? I think you got it bass ackwards…….
Your comment would have been more effective had you used ‘Popeyes’….. I mean, seriously, have you seen the Colonel?
Better luck next time!
What are you talking about? I love that chicken at Popeyes! At the Glen Burnie store I go to it is a verrrrry white crowd. Including the employees, which I might add, not even one black employee on any shift. Totally amazing in this day and age.
That’s racist and I am offended.
Go complain to Popeye’s in Glen Burnie. Just speaking the truth….
Yet…. you are the one noticing the color of the staff…. interesting.
Absolutely, in todays world, in a fast food restaurant chain, not one single person of color working there. Yeah, I notice that. I’m sure I’m not the only one. Verrry unusual. Yet, you think that Popeye’s is highly colorful in your statement under another screen name, “F. Bedford”. You must be multiple personality Marc……..
So, it surprises you when a white person serves you your food? To the point that you take notice.
Interesting.
No, it surprises me that not one black person works there. During any shift. I don’t care who serves me, as long as they don’t spit on it. Interesting huh. You’re an idiot Marc…..
Oh, my little ray of misinformed, self-righteous Sunshine – Let me break this down for you –
The singularity of our daily existence results in innate prejudices – everyone has them. Intelligent folk recognize this and consciously overcome these impulses, training themselves to accept each new face, regardless of flesh tone, as an individual with a life just as real and as vibrant as their own. Everyone has dreams, goals, secret talents. Everybody hurts. (Nods to REM)
The unaware ignore their innate prejudices. Some, such as yourself, adopt an identity that they think is ‘cool’. They call people names, such as ‘Racist’, or, your personal favorite, ‘Nazi’, whilst unknowingly revealing their own, unprocessed, innate prejudices in comments such as “Everyone who works at my Popeye’s is white!” or, “Whiter than you!”
Idiot? Not by a longshot, sunshine.
And, my name’s not Marc, btw. It’s Sigmund. Keep it straight.
Whatever, Freud, or Fraud, just remember your alias was nothing but a cocaine addict that subscribed all mental issues to some sort of sexual device or complex. When you nod to REM, just remember to tell him I haven’t forgotten about him either…..
And, let’s not forget – The Father of Modern Psychoanalysis! See…. even those with addictive personalities and/or drug problems can be remembered for their contributions to thought!
…….there’s hope for you, yet, Sunshine! Don’t give up on yourself!
Black Lies Matter.
Dude, I’m white than you. You can keep spreading all the lies you want, but all you got to do is look up Jon Adam McCarty on JIS and you will see the truth. Make sure you look up a case where I’m the defendant, because my name is associated with many criminal cases where I was a Surety Agent.
“Dude, I’m white than you”???
Either you are a proud albino or….
… a closet racist that refuses to acknowledge his own inherent prejudices.
…Interesting.
Actually, it refers to the rather pale white skin on my carcass, but if it makes you feel better to think otherwise, then go ahead…..
That’s racist and I am offended.
Righhhhtttt…….
Oh, just for the record, I believe my MOM could whoop your a$$. She is 62, but could still take a pansy little peter puffer like you…..
I’m sure she’s quite proud.
Go have a cookie.
Only after you chew some nutz….
Such a clever response…. but I’ll have you know that Ward has suggested far worse. Let’s just say I’ve earned these pearls.
That’s Impossible. Ward would have never given you PEARLS while he was being hard on the Beaver……
Not very creative, are you? Too bad.
I thought that was pretty creative. It at least stuck to your Leave it to Beaver routine…..