Colgate Round Table Meeting with Baltimore County Executive?

Dad always said. "Roll up your sleeves and get down to business when it comes to getting things right." Well, it may be bad grammar, but the meaning is clear.

Tonight the Colgate Board of Directors and invited guests will meet with a member of the Baltimore County Executive’s office, Brian Sheppard, in a final attempt to get some problems resolved.

We've repeatedly asked for a meeting with the County Executive but has not been available for whatever reason. In response, he's sending Mr. Sheppard. To be fair Mr. Sheppard is not an elected representative but he does work directly for the County Executive.

We have spoken with other community leaders and been assured that this will do no good.

The going consensus is that Baltimore County could care less about our communities. I refuse to believe that. Colgate alone pays over $1.3 million a year in property taxes. Anyone who takes time from their busy schedules to meet with a community "must be dedicated to the people who supported and elected them."

As civic leaders we are obligated to preserve our communities. We are the representatives of our individual communities, young and old alike. When we are unable to get issues resolved as community association taxpayers, law abiding citizen and voters, we have to use to whatever means necessary. Our recent newsletter went out with voter registration cards and membership forms. In the next two years, Colgate Improvement Association will be going to each door to encourage voter registration and membership. Our membership continues to grow and our association is doing great things over in Colgate.

Getting back to the issue: It's the small things that add up over time and become a burden. We are seeing some very discouraging trends and we need to address these issues with our elected officials. We should not need to beg or nag Baltimore County to eradicate our rodent problem. Government is here to serve the people, not the other way around.

Simply put, we have communities infested with rats. Why? This has gone on long enough.

Colgate asked a few community leaders to attend our Round Table meeting at Cactus Willies Eastpoint as guests, so Mr. Sheppard can take our message back to the County Executive. We've reached the end of our rope and it's time we climbed back up. It's a closed Board of Directors meeting and not open to the public, but if this fails, things will get interesting.