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Volume XVII, Issue 9 - February 26 - March 4, 2009
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Columns Reviews |
We welcome your opinions and letters – with name and address. We will edit when necessary. Include your name, address and phone number for verification. Mail them to Bay Weekly, 1629 Forest Drive, Annapolis, MD 21403 •
E-mail them to [email protected]. or submit your letters on line, click here
Give Me Back My Slots Vote
Dear Bay Weekly:
I recently read that a Calvert County commissioner was going to try to have Maryland extend the life of video bingo machines past July 1, 2009.
When the state put the question of legalized slots before the people back in November, I had reservations about how I might vote. My gut told me that if it were not for the need to build state coffers and prop up a failing horse racing industry, the issue would never have been considered. So I felt if I voted yes for slots, I was doing it for the money — and that made me question my morals.
I must admit that I knew by voting yes I could also eliminate special business advantages that were given to some commercial establishments in my hometown of Chesapeake Beach, and I liked that idea because I have never thought that was fair.As I stood in that voting booth back in November, I contemplated lower taxes and all the positives that some were selling to get this resolution passed and my own personal agenda of ridding my community of what I think is a mini Las Vegas.
I voted for legalized slots.
Now there is the realization that because of the poor economy and issues of just getting perspective bidders on the slot parlors, I may not see the returns on my tainted vote.
I feel as if I have sold my values for personal gain.
I just hope that the county commissioners consider all the consequences.
–Dave Young, Chesapeake Beach
Farms Are Our Future
Dear Bay Weekly:
“Farms for the Future” outlines Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission programs to help transition Maryland’s original tobacco-based economy to new modes of productivity.
The publication is on-line at www.somarylandsogood.com.
As you turn the pages, I hope you’ll gain a deeper understanding of how the choices that we make everyday — choices as legislators, as county officials, as citizens, taxpayers and consumers — impact the future of our environment, our food security, our economy.
I challenge all Marylanders to consider what makes this area great and to vow to protect it. Take the Buy Local Challenge in July, to get out and visit a farmers’ market, take your family to visit a farm and meet the people who make all of this possible. And I ask you to support agricultural land preservation with your tax dollars so farmers of the future have land to farm.
The choices we make today will impact not only our own lives but also those of our children and our children’s children. Once a farm or field is paved over, there is no going back. If we are to keep our nation’s independence, assure safe food and preserve our environment, we have to work together — today.