Eric Hartley: Sidewalk outrage is a year too late

By ERIC HARTLEY, Staff Writer

Published 06/22/08

Last year, when the Annapolis City Council held a public hearing on proposed sidewalk fees, precisely one person spoke up, the minutes of the meeting show.

His name was Arthur Kungle.

But now that the bills have arrived in their mailboxes, people can't wait to voice their outrage at having to pay $25 a year - $150 for businesses - toward a fund for new construction and repair of cracked or crumbling sidewalks.

People are calling for repeal of the law or exemptions for residents who don't have sidewalks near their homes. One man has decided to run to unseat his alderwoman because she voted for the sidewalk...

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Sidewalks - June 23, 2008

I would love to know how the apartments with in the city are being billed. Its an outrage when not a single person at the mayors office can give an answer to that question ! ( I called on Friday ) Alderman Cordle has yet to return my calls !!

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Brian B. - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Bad

More Involvement May Help - June 22, 2008

Perhaps this is a wake up call for citizens to get more involved in government instead of griping. Yes, the city government failed on their end to inform citizens (as well as The Capital) but citizens must also hold up their end of the deal when it comes to living in a democracy. That means that people have to be INVOLVED. As for paying for schools (and other things), I have no gripe, being single and without school age children. People gripe about a nanny state. Let's try this for a month: got a pothole in the street in front of your house? YOU have to fill it...no waiting on the city to do it for you. The $$$ comes out of YOUR pocket and it gets fixed on YOUR time. Crime happening in your neighborhood? Oh well, get deputized and handle it yourself. I could go on and on...I have heard horror stories about people in other states refusing to pay for services and then watch helplessly as their houses burn down to the ground because they didn't want to pay for the service of a fire department in their area. Yes, taxes are a bane on all and we need to be more vigilant on how government spends our money. The first step is getting involved, perhaps by going to council meetings and making one's voice heard. Maybe if that would have happened last year, maybe more than one person would have voiced their opposition to the sidewalk tax.

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J. Jovkovich - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral