April 20^th, 2011

Segment I Guest: Mike Fox, Bonds Meadow Rotary Club

Segment II Guest: Delegate Justin Ready(R-5A)

We welcomed two guests today! Our first guest, Mike Fox explained what the Bonds Meadow Rotary does and their important role in the community. Rotary is an international organization dedicated to help the community. There are over 200 different Rotary clubs around the world, Bonds Meadow being one of them. There are over 1.2 million members in the various Rotary clubs. The Bonds Meadow chapter has 35 members who meet on Tuesday morning at 7:15am for breakfast. Their focus is to assist the community by raising funds for local non-profit organizations, as well as assisting people in need in other countries. One of their biggest projects was to Combat and Control River Blindness in Tanzania and Enhance Delivery of Health Services, for which Rotary Foundation support of nearly $300,000, together with District and Club support of $25,000 was received in 2001.  That project, completed by June 2006, protected about 500,000 people from the parasitic worm that causes river blindness, as well as providing 14,600 insecticide treated bed nets (ITNs) to prevent malaria and 6,000 latrine slabs. They also sponsor a child in Haiti and have a large part in the fight against Polio.

In Carroll County, the Bonds Meadow Rotary has assisted 13-15 organizations with fundraising opportunities and support. They will be hosting a Bull Roast on May 6^th to benefit Target Community and Educational Services. Mike Fox explained how he enjoys being a party of the Carroll County Community because he has lived several places throughout the US and Carroll County is the most community oriented place that he has lived.

Bonds Meadow Rotary also provides Safe Mother Packages to third world countries to promote safe pregnancy and delivery for those who may not have the best resources. In the county, many of the Bonds Meadow Rotary members volunteer their time at local public schools. Recently, Mike Fox was at Elmer Wolfe Elementary School to read Dr. Seuss stories to the kindergartners on Dr. Seuss’ birthday.

For more information about the works of the Bonds Meadow Rotary, or for information about becoming involved, visit. www.bondsmeadowrotary.org.

Next, we were joined by Delegate Justin Ready! He recently attended the Legislative Wrap-Up Session in Annapolis and we were eager to hear about that experience. But first, we asked him how his new leadership has begun. Delegate Ready explained that he has enjoyed the learning process and his experience working as an aid for the Senate and House prepared him a lot as to what to expect. He was surprised at the number of meetings per day that he had to attend! He explained that there was a magnitude of positive changes going on, but after going from one meeting to another, he had to do lots of homework for keep himself refreshed on the content. There were some issues that disappointed Delegate Ready. The issue of the budget seems to be getting increasingly unsteady. But he is hoping that there will be positive changes soon.  On a good note, Justin shared that he was happy there were positive changes regarding Government Transparency Laws and human trafficking. Ready went on to explain that although there was no progress made in the efforts to lower taxes, there was a great hearing held discussing the issue. He supports lowering taxes, but the motion was shot down by the Democratic majority. Delegate Ready’s main concern is that Maryland is raising taxes to help generate funds to aid lower income families, but by increasingly taxing residents, they are hurting the same people that they are trying to help. In recent years, Maryland has increased sales tax and implemented a higher alcohol tax. They did by pass the proposed gas tax increase, a motion that Delegate Ready was opposed to. The next major issue that needs to be address is how to reduce budget spending without cutting back necessary funding. Delegate Ready explains that he feel Maryland should spend less, but it seem difficult to stop the rate of growth and increasing needs of funding to be able to cut back.

Next, we discussed his first Session in Annapolis. He explained that though there were some heated conversations and a mix of personalities, everyone seemed to work well together and make an effort to hear one another. An important topic discussed was a requirement by the Federal Health Care Reform, which is currently under review for being unconstitutional, to implement a health care exchange in Maryland and all states.  There was a study group to examine this approach, Delegate Ready explains that he is in favor of the original idea, but there are many aspects that will not be ideal for the residents of Maryland.  He is also feels that if there are too many mandates, health care costs will end up increasing. But on the other hand, more options available will give citizens the opportunity to get health care on their own terms and not rely on employers. It has been found that many people stay at a “dead end” job or position in order to maintain their health care.

On a local note, there was a bill passed to give wineries in Carroll County 12 permits to be able to sell and market their products at farmer’s markets. This is in addition to the 3 permits available for events, such as the annual wine festivals. This is a good thing for the agricultural community.

Another bill that was reviewed requires any repeat drunk driving offenders to have a mandatory Interlock system installed in their vehicle. If there blood alcohol level is about 1.5, this may also be a mandatory action, regardless if it was the first or repeated offense.

Lastly, Delegate Ready explains his opposition to the decision to make state tuition and aid available for illegal immigrants to attend college. Justin fears that this will increase costs in colleges and take away the funds available for tax-paying residents. Though, the bill states that the immigrant be a tax payer for at least 3 years, it is very difficult for schools to be certain of this. Montgomery Community College has already faced a monthly increase of $6million dollars due to the immigrant policy that they have allowed for the past 3 years. Ready says that there will be a petition in the near future opposing this recent change, it is an issue that will be put on the ballot to get a public vote on.

We asked Delegate Ready about his feelings on the recent passing of Governor William Donald Schaefer. He explained that he has made an effort to learn more about Governor Schaefer because he was fairly young while Schaefer was in office. Delegate Ready admires how hard he worked to fix problems and really cared about addressing the peoples’ issues. He strives to vote correctly to make positive progress. Delegate Justin Ready represents district 5A, which covers northern Carroll County (excluding Taneytown), Westminster – Silver Run, Manchester and Finksburg. Log on to his website, www.justinready.com for more information about Delegate Ready and to access his contact information.

7 Things Today’s Politicians – And All of Us – Can Learn from William Donald Schaefer

1. Sincerity counts.
2. If you believe in your vision, you can make it happen.
3. It’s also about the “little things”
4. Focus on what you are doing NOW, not on climbing the ladder
5. Get it done today.
6. People will believe you are, if you REALLY care
7. Be yourself, not who everyone else thinks you should be