Movie Picks Don't Befit Community
Last weekend, I called a local cinema in order to find a movie my family might like to see. I was dismayed to discover that out of nine movies, eight were rated "R" and one was "PG 13." I then called another local theater only to find there were only "R" and "PG 13" movies there.
I believe that a movie selection of this sort is not appropriate for a community with more than 25,000 school children. I would hope that in a community where schools and civic organizations are promoting conflict resolution and social skills that its entertainment would be consistent with its values. I wonder how many of the "R" and "PG 13" movies playing display peaceful solutions to problems and behavior we would like our children to imitate? Do we feel that even our 17-year-olds are ready to see movies with violent and vulgar subject matter?
It would seem economically unsound for a cinema to offer no movies for families. Last weekend, our family went to a movie theater in Montgomery County to see "Little Women" and "The Jungle Book." We not only purchased movie tickets, but we also bought refreshments, and gasoline. We would have preferred to have spent our money at local businesses. Why, then, don't cinemas provide a better variety to the families of Howard County?
Kathleen Bonebreak
Clarksville
Parochial Busing
It seems The Sun has a difficult time rationalizing the school bus issue. With the school bus being about the most widely used school resource (from desegregation to field trips), The Sun can't seem to find room for busing children attending non-public schools.
It can't be the money since The Sun merely raised its eyebrows slightly in reporting a cost overrun of $3.9 million on River Hill High School. This wasted sum could have taken care of the transportation costs for private schools for almost 20 years. So it must be the principle that we cannot assist those schools which do not educate children according to the "public" canon.
But then why isn't it "inherently unfair" that residents with no children "are forced to subsidize" the education of any school children? And oddly enough it is even suggested that private donations be made to public causes, but we can't allow the reverse. . . . I imagine I could find well over $200,000 in savings by culling the many questionable endeavors that the Board of Education is involved in. The Sun . . . elects to play the "religion card" and prove that is blindly following the intent of the Constitution as to the church-state relationship. It hardly takes any creative thought to embrace such a view.
D. Bush
Columbia
Slots vs. Ponies?
In the Jan. 19 issue of the Howard County Times, Sen. Chris McCabe was quoted as saying about casino gambling, "It was morally wrong for the state to promote gambling." And, he continued, "It might harm the horse racing industry." . . . The last time I checked horse racing fell into the gambling category. . . .
Jim Mundy
Ellicott City
How Incorporation Begins
The purpose of this piece is to explain the benefits of incorporation in layman's terms. The information comes from the Maryland Municipal League, a non-profit and non-partisan association. . . .
Municipal corporations are subject to the provisions of Article 11E of the Maryland Constitution and Section 23A of the Annotated Code of Maryland. The legal existence of a city is spelled out by a charter. This is the local equivalent to the state or federal constitution. A charter plus specifically defined boundaries distinguish an incorporated city or town.
At least 300 bona fide residents must be surrounded by the proposed municipal corporate limits. Petitions for incorporation must be signed by at least 20 percent of the people living within the proposed corporate limits who are registered to vote in countywide elections, and 25 percent must be owners of assessed property.
The alternative to this is simply to have 25 percent of all the registered voters sign. There are 43,274 registered voters in Columbia, according to the Board of Elections, 25 percent of which equals 10,819. If 15 percent of the signatures are disqualified, then the referendum petition will need about 12,000 total signatures to submit to the county governing body to meet the requirements. . . . Once the county governing body receives the package for incorporation, it must verify every signature and confirm the minimum percentage requirement for voters. If the county rejects the petition application for any reason, it must do so in writing and this must be made available to the general public within 60 days of submission. It must also establish procedures for a reconsideration of the petition request which includes providing an opportunity for a public hearing(s). The county pays for this.
If the petition fulfills all the requirements, then a resolution is passed specifying the date and time of the election. This also must be done within 60 days of submission. Once the resolution is passed, the election must take place within 60 days. The referendum election is conducted the same as any other election. The vote is taken on the question of incorporation and the approval of the proposed charter.
Only those people within the proposed municipality may vote on this issue. The question is resolved by a simple majority. If the referendum election fails, the associated costs are paid for by the county. If it passes, then the new municipality must repay all costs within one year. These costs are approximately $1.58 per registered voter, according to the Board of Elections' estimate of the cost of the last general election in 1994. Our referendum election would be considered a special election and may or may not coincide with a general election.
Within 10 days of the election, the County Council will reveal the results. If the referendum passes, then 30 days later the incorporation process would be complete.
Neil Noble
Columbia
The writer is treasurer of the Columbia Municipal League Inc.