From Patrick McGrady:
Patrick McGrady, candidate for Mayor of Aberdeen in the municipal election to be held on November 8, 2011, announced today a town hall style meeting at the Aberdeen Library.
The event is free to the public, and starts at 6PM at the Aberdeen branch of the Harford County Public Library.
“It is very important that candidates for office meet their potential constituents. This meeting will give the hard-working people of Aberdeen a chance to meet me and learn what I’m about. I look forward to talking with them about their concerns and questions about improving Aberdeen.”
McGrady proposes reducing the water bills, cutting property taxes, and getting back to basics in Aberdeen.
McGrady said “The people of Aberdeen are really hurting with these constantly increasing water bills and property taxes. I will fight for the people against these frequent tax hikes and water bill hikes. I love Aberdeen, and it can be great, but it’s going to take hard work. ”
“The Aberdeen residents feel disconnected from their City government for lots of reasons, including changing the City Charter to make the length of term 4 years instead of 2, without holding a referendum. Another reason is that the Mayor hasn’t been working for the City. Instead of fighting against the toll hikes at the Hatem Bridge, Mayor Bennett was in Ocean City. The first week of October, he was in Augusta, Georgia, lobbying for the Ripken Baseball Group. The people deserve better.”
If there are any questions, Patrick has made his cell phone number public to ensure a direct communication with the public. Please contact him anytime at 410.357.1234 or find him on Facebook or on the campaign website at www.McGradyforMayor.com.
Patrick McGrady is running for Mayor to restore good government in Aberdeen. He believes that a government closest to the people governs best. He will work every day to reduce the cost of government in Aberdeen, so people can afford to live in our great City. Voting will take place on November 8, 2011, at the Aberdeen Senior Center, 7 Franklin St., Aberdeen, Md. 21001, next to Festival Park.
I think one of the most reliable indicators of a politician’s character is their level of respect for and tolerance of those with opposing viewpoints. Mayor Bennett made his level of respect and tolerance known when he refused to allow Patrick McGrady to speak in the public forum setting of a city council meeting on 10/10. Now we’ll have a chance to see firsthand the level of courtesy that McGrady extends to those who do not agree with him.
Think the people of Aberdeen deserve someone with more experience than a twenty-something would offer.
If it comes down to an unproven candidate versus a candidate who is proven in the realm of crony capitalism, I’ll take the unproven one.
I like Bennet’s campaign slogan;”It’s All About Trust.” What can we trust him to do or be? I have him in at least three outright lies, is that the kind of trust he means. Perhaps he means we can trust him to do what Art and Steve say. Maybe he means we can trust him to do what’s best for him and to hell with the people of Aberdeen.
we can trust him to tax and spend
we can trust him to help out art helton
we can trust him to be ripken baseballs corporate shill
we can trust him to make arbitrary decisions when challenged
we can trust him to lie
we can trust him to cheat
Darn tootin, Mike Perrone, Jr!
I want to know McGradys plan to get rid of all the section 8 housing in Aberdeen
None: How do you expect anyone to get rid of any section 8 housing? If that is your key issue, you may as well just hang it up. To remove section 8 housing you have to go up against the federal gestapo at HUD. The only hope of bettering the housing situation in Aberdeen is to build more non section 8 stuff and water down the stats.
Actually, to remove S8 housing you just have to increase property values. Problem solved, not a lick HUD or anyone can do about it.
Too bad you’re not running, Yensan. I’d love to see you get beaten again.
I would say “I’d love to see Watcher get beaten without even running for office”, but that would be mean. (So I’ll just think it)
Paul; Do us all a favor and don’t respond to “Watcher”. I have a pretty good idea who that is and wouldn’t give any credence to anything said by him. He has no facts or figures, only puerile hatred.
Don’t hate you Yensan. I just pity you. And you have no idea who I am.
Best way to get rid of the problems with section 8 housing is to get landlords to refuse to accept section 8 assistance. I believe the McGrady family does not accept section 8 assistance as a form of payment for the homes they rent.
Section 8 in it’s self is not inherently wrong, the problem is when people abuse it, which happens a lot, and further when people don’t believe that they have to pay for housing they no longer care about how it looks, and damage the inside of it. There is section 8 houses behind my house in Aberdeen, they have about 8 adults in a I believe 3 bed room house, they also drive a nice mercedes benz….
Weren’t the Holly Circle Apts below Section 8 standards before they were renovated?
“Best way to get rid of the problems with section 8 housing is to get landlords to refuse to accept section 8 assistance.”
This is completely, amazingly wrong. This would be way to get rid of Section 8, not get rid of the problems. If a landlord accepts a voucher and has problems, it’s their own fault in most cases for not doing their own diligence in selecting the tenant. Background, criminal, references, credit, etc. Most are too lazy and just want the check to care and are as guilty of the problem as the tenants. If a landlord properly screens their tenants, they won’t have problems, Section 8 doesn’t have problems, and neighborhoods don’t have problems. They also need to, who knows, maybe actually drive by and check up on the tenants and property so they have even a vague idea of what is happening on the property. Many don’t care.
“There is section 8 houses behind my house in Aberdeen, they have about 8 adults in a I believe 3 bed room house, they also drive a nice mercedes benz….”
There are plenty of people with terrible houses who have fantastic cars. Maybe not the choice you or I make, or a wise one, but is not exclusive to section 8 homes. And if you are aware of problems and you haven’t reported them to the proper authority, what are you waiting for?
Section 8 landlords like getting paid big $$$ that those vouchers are worth. According to rent guidelines, a 4bd voucher is worth about $1400 per month including utility allowances, there is not another tenant in Aberdeen that can compete with that, so landlords actively seek Section 8 tenants to rent their delapidated homes. I don’t think you can pass a law that can prohibit a landlord from taking the voucher as it would go against fair housing laws. A review of the rental code could add regulations and procedures to make sure tenants abide by community standards.
Man you are so wrong. I can rent my 3BR house for between 1400-1600 a month. Don’t you think a 4br would go for more? Do some checking yourself, use the site rentometer.com.
And any landlord can refuse to rent to any tenant for any reason that is not a protected form of discrimination. If a landlord just doesn’t “feel like” working with a voucher program, they can say no. You would know this if you ever opened a newspaper to find a place to live because many ads say “no section 8” right in the ad.
I think you need to read my post again. The reference was that Aberdeen can’t prohibit a landlord from taking section 8 because such a law would be discriminatory, however a private landlord can choose to accept section 8 or not because income discrimination is allowed under the law. You can’t get $1400 for a 3bd because of utility allowances which must be included in the rent. However for a 4bd you could probably pull that amount.
You are correct I misunderstood. And yes, code enforcement, application of HUD policies, and stewardship of the property are key.
As for the rental amount, a 4 bedroom house for $1200 is really inexpensive in the Aberdeen area, based on your figure of $1400 and an assumed utility bill of around $100-200. So my point is that a $1400 voucher is not exactly a windfall here. If you’re getting a 4 bedroom house for that price, you are getting the shaft somewhere else, location, quality, etc.
In the open market, for a good quality unit in a half decent location, a property owner should be able to ask MUCH more than $12/300 for a 4BR house in the Aberdeen area.
Why not just round up all the poor people and march them to the bay. Really…You think section 8 is the problem? If the McGradys don’t rent to section 8, then shame on them. Many of the arguments against Mayor Bennett are that he is into crony capitalism and is too close to a developer, Art Helton. I disagree with both those arguments. However, is the solution to elect a developer who works for his family business and persistently demagogs complex issues for political gain? I have got news for all of you who think that your water bill will go down. It won’t. It will probably go up regardless of who is elected. If Mr McGrady is elected and privatizes trash, your trash bill will go up. The profit must come from somewhere. Guess from where it will come…your pocket. If he lowers taxes, you will lose services and more importantly, police officers and city workers, who are your friends, neighbors and productive members of the community will lose jobs. When less people are working in Aberdeen less money will be spent in businesses…Do you follow the logic? Don’t buy into the wolf tickets. Don’t sell your future on promises with no substance. Mayor Bennett has done a good job during hard times. Not only does he deserve re-election but the citizens of Aberdeen would be foolish to put their futures into the hands of a young man who’s only claim to fame is working for the family business. I wish Patrick and his family well. I hope their business continues to thrive and that they have continued success, just not at the expense of the citizens of Aberdeen.
Ryan Burbey what does Joppatowne, Baltimore, Edgewood have in common, horrible schools, dangerous neighborhoods, and guess what SECTION 8 housing. Also a lot of city employees don’t live in or near the city because of the high taxes, crime and bad schools.
What we really need is to eliminate the city charter and rejoin the county.
Sorry pal, not the case. Multiple sheriffs and other city workers live in my neighborhood. Likewise, your argument that any of those communities have horrible schools is fiction. Your viewpoint clearly comes from a stance of ignorance. Were we to re-enter the county we would pay more for water, more for trash and would not fair better.
My property taxes would go from $4256/yr to $1900/yr if we were to unicorporate! Hell, I’d pay the extra $20/month for the damn water and trash! And no more STICKERS!!!!!!!!