Commissioner Steve Rideout
swrideout@aol.com
September 9, 2019

Dear Readers:

At last a short meeting and short report. Two matters that are coming up at the September 23rd meeting relate to a proposed set of rules and regulations for how the citizens handle their trash and and their animals.

The trash rules are modifications of rules that were established prior to our having a private contractor pick up our garbage. We have tried to make them easier to understand and to comply with for everyone. With the animal/dog ordinances the aim is to give the police the authority to act in limited ways where they do not have that stated authority but respond to dog calls anyway. As the information comes out regarding these matters, please be in touch if you have questions and please come to the meeting on the 23rd to let us know if you support or oppose the measures.

The intent is to continue ongoing improvements here in the city with issues regarding quality of life.

Thanks for reading.

Steve

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Commissioner Steve Rideout
swrideout@aol.com
August 26, 2019

Dear Readers:

On occassion I am told by some of my readers that I say too much in these reports and that some are too long for people to read and digest. That probably is true. At the same time I think that transparency in government is important so that you the resident, taxpayer, and reader know how well we as government are doing or how we could improve on what we do to make Cambridge function better and be a place where people want to come and live.

While last Monday’s meeting was relatively short, the attached report along with some additional financial documents, I hope, gives you a clear picture of where we are doing well and where we need to improve, even if it is too long.

Steve

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Commissioner Steve Rideout
swrideout@aol.com
August 23, 2019

Dear Readers:

I wanted to let you know that there will be some ordinances on the agenda Monday for first reading. There won’t be public hearing until the first meeting in September, but some members of CAN, Next Door, and the community may be interested. When I do my Cambridge Matters report, I will provide more detail.

The two areas of interest relate to animals in the city and trash collection.

With regard to animals, the proposed ordinances will address animals (particularly dogs) running at large in the city and clearly identifying the owner or handler of any animal as the person responsible for picking up pet waste and properly disposing of it. The ordinance will empower the city police to issue civil citations to enforce compliance with regard to these matters.

That means that if the ordinance is passed a call can be made to the police as well as the animal wardens for incidents in the city. That also means that if a civil citation is issued based on the complaint of a citizen, the citizen will be expected to attend court and bring witnesses to support the citation and provide evidence in court. The police will not automatically attend court hearings unless summonsed for that purpose. The reason for that is that in most cases they did not witness the incident, and what they could say in most instances would be hearsay and not admissible in court. The person who called the police, would have the best evidence as presumably they observed the incident and know who the other witnesses are.

With regard to trash collection, since the city has gone to a private collector, the old rules are out of date. We are proposing new rules that are not changed that much. One thing that is changed is where the trash containers need to be kept when not out front of the property for twice a week pick up. The city will be providing more public notice about this process if the ordinance is passed, but the basic idea is that the cans can’t be put out too soon or left out too long. In addition they need to be stored behind most homes or beside/behind homes that are on corners. The rules are more detailed and will be more clear than what I have just stated and excuse specific placement under certain conditions when there is no reasonable place to put the container. Code enforcement will provide warnings to residents (tenants) and home owners before issuing civil citations.

The purpose of this legislation is to help improve the appearance of the city by removing trash containers from in front of houses, when possible.

Finally, the city has placed one and possibly two new dog waste stations to help people pick up after their dogs. One is on High Street at Christ Episcopal Church. I am not sure where the other one is. I am hopeful that more can be placed in order to help the community be in compliance with the new ordinances, that I hope will be passed.

The number of times that I saw dog poop that was not picked up near Christ Church no High Street caused me to ask the city to do something about that. I felt it was both unattractive, a health hazard, and a challenge on Sunday’s for people who park there to attend church.

Steve

Commissioner Steve Rideout
swrideout@aol.com
August 13, 2019

Dear Readers:

Attached is my unofficial report on what happened at Monday’s City Council meeting. Let me know if you have any questions.

Stay cool during this very hot summer.

Steve

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Commissioner Steve Rideout
swrideout@aol.com
August 11, 2019

Dear Readers:

Do you know someone who is 55 or over and needs to have repairs done to their home but may not be able to afford it?

Attached is a notice about a meeting on August 20th that is being sponsored by the AARP Foundation and Habitat Choptank from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at St. Lukes UMC on Bradley Avenue.

Please share.

Thanks.

Steve

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Commissioner Steve Rideout
swrideout@aol.com
July 22, 2019

Dear Readers:

Attached is my unofficial report on last night’s City Council meeting along with a couple of attachments that provide you some good information on Shore Rivers and water qualify of the Choptank.

There are several items of interest in my report that, hopefully, will keep you up to date as we continue to work toward a more open and transparent government and one that does a better job of understanding our present in order to anticipate our future.

Happy reading.

Steve

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Commissioner Steve Rideout
swrideout@aol.com
July 12, 2019

Dear Readers:

Last evening at the CAN meeting I spoke on a number of different topics. As I thought back about our discussion last evening, the issue of volunteering kept popping up. As a result I thought that I would share something that I recently received from the Virginia Retirement System about volunteering.

While I know that all of you are not retired, I also know that many if not most of you already volunteer in the community. I thought, however, that the attached might provide everyone with a different perspective on its value not only to the community but to you as well.

If you think that there is something that you might like to do, the brief article attached gives you some places to look on the internet. If you don’t know where to look locally, let me know, and I will try to find out who to contact.

Steve

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Commissioner Steve Rideout
swrideout@aol.com
July 8, 2019

Dear Readers:

The meeting on the 8th was a long one with some interesting and unusual issues being raised. The public meeting was over 3 hours. I mention in the report about the Neighborhood Revitalization Plan. It is over 60 pages long but is an important cornerstone for making decisions about how we reduce the deterioration of property here and build community. I am happy to send it to you if you will ask. You can also find it on the city website.

I hope the materials attached help keep you up on what we are doing here in the City.

Steve

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Commissioner Steve Rideout
swrideout@aol.com
July 2, 2019

Dear Readers:

Attached is the proposed Resolution that will be on for first reading on July 8th. The proposed changes to the City Charter are underlined (pages 4 and 7). When the Charter establishing the City Manager form of government was passed, it included the right of the City Council to “Advise and Consent” on the hiring of Department Heads. This was a compromise that enabled our current form of government to be established, which has proved to be a very successful way to govern the City of Cambridge.

I oppose the proposed change because it will take away the ability of the city manager to effectively run the city and hire the most qualified people without political interference from the elected officials. The city currently has a very comprehensive and detailed mechanism for screening applicants that is aimed at us hiring the best person available.

If this resolution passes, there will be an effort to garner enough signatures on a petition to send the matter over to the November 2020 election for vote. If city council does not pass this Resolution, we will not need to go to the effort and expense to overturn this decision.

At the start of the July 8th meeting, you have the opportunity to speak briefly about anything including this proposal. At the next regular meeting, you will also have the opportunity to speak about it at the public hearing on the proposal. I urge you to attend both meetings and let the city council know what you think.

The reasons that I oppose the Resolution are these:

1. The current system was fully thought out and approved and has worked effectively.
2. The change will allow politics, cronyism, and discrimination to enter into a process that should avoid those issues.
3. When the staff vetting process is complete, the best candidate will be hired. If city council can “Advise and Consent” and refuses to hire that person, we will be opening the City to law suits based on a variety or real or perceived concerns of the candidate. At the very least, this will cause us to use taxpayer money to defend against law suits that will be filed.
4. There are other safeguards in the city charter for any dissatisfaction with the work of the city manager or department heads.
5. Personnel policies can be established without changing the Charter that can address the yet unknown concerns that the commissioners promoting this change seem to think exist.
6. Having City Council make the hiring decisions for all employees is like having the board of directors of a corporation make those decisions. In that instance and in ours, elected people who have little or no professional training or experience in employment law or appropriate hiring practices will be making these decisions when we should be leaving them up to the professional staff that has established the methods to properly screen applicants to find the best qualified person.

If you are unable to attend either of the meetings or even if you are, please think about sending an email to the Mayor and Commissioners providing your view about this proposed Resolution.

Thanks,

Steve

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Commissioner Steve Rideout
swrideout@aol.com
June 28, 2019

Dear Cambridge Matters Readers:

As it past years, when we have a break in our meeting schedule in June for the Maryland Municipal League Conference, I provide a summary of some of the matters that were taken up and addressed during the past Fiscal Year (July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019). As you will see, I cover a lot of ground and a number of different issues.

I know that there are matters that I have not mentioned in the report that are important as well but I felt that I touched on those that gave the flavor of the goings on here with our City Council and our City Government.

We meet next on July 8th with some issues of importance to you and the city. I will let you know more about them as I receive information.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Steve

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