15 Seneca Drive
Forest Heights, Maryland 20745
(301) 567-0084
Honest
Fair
Reliable
Truthful
Proven Fighter for Your Rights
Elect
JOYCE BECK for Mayor, Town of Forest Heights
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Dear Neighbor:
First let me apologize to you. I am sorry I supported Paula Noble's appointment as our Mayor because she has not been honest with us about our finances or other business. I promised you that if she did not do a good job, I would run against her in 2005. She has NOT represented us truthfully, honestly, or fairly and, she has misspent our money. I am so sorry so many of you were not attending the meetings and seeing for yourselves!
I have lived in the Town of Forest Heights since August 31, 1973. From the date I moved into Forest Heights I have worked with our mayor, town council, police, and neighbors to assure that our Town is safe and free from crime; that our trash is picked up timely; our streets and gutters are in good repair; that our senior citizens are cared about and have something to do; that we have a strong and active recreation council to keep our children busy and off the streets; that our rights are preserved as tax payers; and that our elected officials respect us, tell us the truth and provide us with information about how they conduct our business.
I am writing to ask you to vote for me as your Mayor in the upcoming Forest Heights elections on Wednesday, May 11th. I have sat on the Forest Heights Town Council the past two years and watched Mayor Noble conduct business so irresponsibly that she has gotten the Town sued. This is the first time in the history of Forest Heights that we have been sued for political mismanagement. Mayor Noble refuses to share minutes and treasurer's reports with you; she abolished the Forest Heights Ethics Commission when they questioned the way and reasons she and the council were doing things, and replaced it with the Town Attorney who does exactly what she tells him to do. She has violated the Town Charter in several of the same ways for which she tried to sue the previous mayor. Mayor Noble has publicly declared that: "I don't give a XXXX about the law but she (meaning me) better give a XXXX about the time".
If you elect me Mayor on May 11, 2005 I promise to:
• Work with Myles Spires to Negotiate a Withdrawal of His Law Suit Against the Town
o Mr. Spires filed a law suit against the Town because Mayor Noble raised our property taxes against the law and without hearing from you in a Public Hearing; abolished the Forest Heights Ethic Commission because they questioned her on some of the actions SHE was taking and replaced it with the Town Attorney who answers ONLY to her and does what she tells him to do.
• Never Lie to You. I will ALWAYS be HONEST with You
o Each year, Senator Lawlah has always allocated state funds for Forest Heights. None of our mayors has ever accepted the money. Paula Noble did not accept Senator Lawlah's offer last year. Let's just keep our eyes and ears open to see if she follows the process and applies for the $175,000.00 that Senator Lawlah notified her of on April 4' 2005. What we have already seen about being HONEST is that:
+ Mayor Noble has already proclaimed that the lobbyist she hired was responsible for the getting the funds.
o Mayor Noble told you that she was raising the property taxes by one amount and actually, with the backing of the five council members, raised them by a much HIGHER amount that she had published for your review.
o Mayor Noble raised the Utility tax and told you that it should not affect you. In fact, the Utility Companies pass that tax on to us in our bill.
o Mayor Noble stopped sharing that information with me when she found out I was giving it to you.
o Mayor Noble has told you that she got $100,000 to retrofit the municipal building for the handicap when in FACT, Mayor Sue McGinnis secured that grant before resigning — Mayor Noble's administration is "overseeing" the work.
• Have the Books Audited and Fully Disclose the Findings to You
o When Mayor McGinnis resigned, she left us with a $90,000 (plus) Budget Surplus. Mayor Noble's Treasurer determined that in addition to the $90,000, there was an additional $140,000 that no one had known anything about. Under Mayor Noble's administration, that money ($230,000 total) has been spent and Mayor Noble has not officially accounted for it.
o In or about, September 2004, Mayor Noble, with the backing of the five councilmember's, including Worthington Ross and Lynne Smith Barnes who are running for re-election, borrowed $50,000 from Bank of America to "establish a record" so they could apply for $2,000,000 to fix the streets. She did not provide explanation, when I asked her, for how we would repay the money. This would have been important because we were already operating on a deficit budget.
I voted AGAINST the application for the loan and was declared "out of order" and threatened with removal from the meeting by Mayor Noble and the five council INCLUDING the two that are running for re-election: Ross and Barnes.
• Be Fiscally Responsible and Answer to You
o I voted AGAINST raising the taxes because Paula Noble and the five council members were not being truthful with you about what they were doing. Nor were they in compliance with the Town Charter or other laws that govern tax increases. Additionally, the law requires that budget increases are tied to budgets and that particular tax increase was NOT tied to a budget.
o To date Paula has not fixed the streets. We do not know what she is doing with the money other than paying $62,000 - $72,000 to the town administrator; $1,500.00 per month to a lobbyist, and $1,500.00 per month to a vendor identified by the town administrator to be our treasurer. By the way, Paula Noble told us at a recent Town meeting that she has not been able to get the Treasurer to give her a monthly Treasurer's Report.
o I WILL ASK YOU TO PARTICIPATE IN THE BUDGET PROCESS
• Work to Restore Our Police Department to Full Capacity
o Mayor Noble has not worked to restore our police department to full capacity. Instead, she has used money budgeted for public safety to fund the administrator's position, hire the town lobbyist and pay an attorney to attend meeting because she "wants to have him there".
• Honor and Accommodate Your Rights to Be Heard and Be HONEST with YOU
o Mayor Noble raised your Property Taxes and the Utility Taxes without providing you with your right to be heard and in violation of the Town Charter and other Laws governing the way we raise taxes. She said that she was going to use the money to fix the streets.
o To date Mayor Noble has NOT repaired the streets and now she is saying that she cannot repair the streets because Mr. Spires filed suit against the Town. The facts are:
+ The first time Mayor Noble applied for $2,000,000 she provided false information in the application. When the Lender discovered the false information they declined Mayor Noble's application and told her exactly why. The false information she provided was that Eastover and River Town Commons were in Forest Heights Taxing District and that therefore we had the revenue stream to make payments on the loan. Now she claims that her second application "for up to $2.000.000" is being held up because of Mr. Spires' law suit when she probably ought to consider her record for providing false information in her applications.
+ Mayor Noble REJECTED the recommendation made by some of you to use the additional $155,000 Revenue generated each year from the tax increase to incrementally (some each year like other municipalities and governments do it) saying that she is using that money for other (unspecified) things.
I voted AGAINST the tax increase and was put out of the Town Meeting by Mayor Noble and Council Members because I opposed them and told you that they were wrong in the way they were doing it. This was just ONE of the times they put me out of the meetings for fighting for your rights to fair and prudent government.
• Avoid Bankrupting the Town of Forest Heights by Keeping Us Fiscally Sound
o I voted AGAINST the application for the $50,000 loan citing our inability to pay AND objecting to setting the Town up for Bankruptcy.
o I voted AGAINST the $2,000,000 loan application citing our inability to pay AND objecting to setting the Town up for Bankruptcy.
o I voted AGAINST abolishing the Ethics Commission. It was YOUR only true way to hold US ACCOUNATBLE for OUR ACTIONS!
o I voted AGAINST hiring the lobbyist citing the fact that the Mayor needed to ask Senator Lawlah to assist us with State funding — an effort that Mayor Noble said (in October 2004) she had NOT made— and our inability to afford him.
o I will NOT pay an attorney to attend meetings unnecessarily.
o I will NOT pay staff $62,000 – $72,000 to perform administrative duties.
o I will NOT pay lobbyists to perform duties for us that the Senator performs as an obligation.
o I will not issue contracts in violation of the Town Charter or Procurement Law.
• Work to Negotiate a Trash Contract That Gets Our Trash Picked Up and Establish Amenable Ways to Handle our Bulky Trash
o Under Mayor Noble's administration, our trash service has declined. Our regular trash is left all day and all too often, not picked up at all!
There are ways that the Mayor can expedite removal of bulky trash at smaller costs to
Residents. I am aware of those ways and will work to bring those accommodations to you.
• Work to Re-establish our Recreation Council and Establish Relationships That Will Enhance Our Lives
o Under Mayor Noble's administration, Council Member Lynne Smith Barnes runs the recreation council instead of residents. Consequently, we did not have summer camp the past two years, nor any regularly scheduled activity for our youth or senior citizens.
o A youth group asked Mayor Noble to waive the fees for use of the municipal center so they could hold a youth symposium. Mayor Noble agreed to waive the fees if the youth picked up trash. (I understand that after Mayor Noble learned that external observers were concerned about such requirement of the youth, she accommodated their first request and waived the fees).
• Work to Re-establish the Forest Heights Ethics Commission so that YOU will have a way to FORMALLY HOLD YOUR ELCETED OFFICIALS Accountable!
Mayor Noble, Council Members Clifton Atkinson and Larry Stoner are telling you that I refuse to work with them:
The TRUTH is that Mayor Noble REMOVED me from all Council Committees in January 2004 without consulting with me or giving me a reason for her action because in December 2003 I challenged Mayor Noble on some actions she was taking in violation of the Forest Heights Town Chatter and against our Budget restraints. She punished me by removing me from committees.
Mayor Noble and certain council members are also telling you that I do not have County support for the Town Election. Two (2) things are working here:
1. I have spent years establishing myself with our County and State leaders and learning the machinations of politics. Although I coordinate the County Executive's Livable Communities Intuitive, and have a long-standing friendship with him, I have not asked him, nor any other of our elected officials to get involved with our Municipal election. I am depending on my relationship with you, and your exercise of sound judgment, for election to the mayor's seat. WHOEVER is elected mayor of Forest Heights will be able to approach any of the County and State leaders for support. A thing, by the way that Paula Noble just did THIS YEAR, despite the fact that Senator Lawlah availed her office to Mayor Noble LAST YEAR.
2. As long as Mayor Noble and her supporters can keep you focused on matters that deflect your attention AWAY from the way they conduct your business, and ignore your rights, they think they have the strongest chance of you electing Paula Noble and the council members who will do exactly as she tells them to do. They are BOLDLY underestimating your intelligence and think you will not notice!
By the way, some of those trees and shrubs Mayor Noble talks about in her statement to you, that she and her administration asked the Livable Communities Initiative for last October 2004, (they have asked for more this year) are still sitting in the pots beside the municipal building. I just took pictures of them today. Let's see what she tells you when she responds to this letter. Let's see what she tells you about her abuse of office during her term as your appointed mayor.
I look forward to meeting you at the polls on Wednesday, May 11, 2005. Please Vote for Honesty, Integrity of Office, Fairness, Truthfulness, reliability and "Your Pocketbook".
Vote JOYCE BECK for
MAYOR!
Wednesday, May 11, 2005