Oct. 10, 2001
 
 Could someone explain to us why our city elected officials - and their buddy, Cas Taylor - call a low income housing project “economic development?”
 
 This has got to be the only community in the Western Hemisphere that calls low income housing “economic development.” So, what jobs is it creating? An apartment manager? Three months worth of construction work?
 
 Lee Fiedler, Butch Hendershot, Harvey May, Ed Hedrick and Cas Taylor have to help us out here, because this makes no sense. But they don’t seem to make much sense themselves, come to think of it.
 
 If any elected officials have ever begged to be replaced, this crew did at the October 9 City Council meeting. It was at that meeting that they gave the go-ahead for Cas Taylor co-hort and Annapolis lobbyist Kevin Bell to apply for federal and state funds to build low income housing in South Cumberland.
 
 At the meeting, each council person spoke movingly about their support for the project, and one drooled all over Mr. Bell, who apparently is a really great guy and could be cannonized by the Pope at any moment.
 
 Mr. Hedrick called the project “economic development,” and threw in some comments about people not being able to afford to live in a high rise that, quite frankly, made no sense to us whatsoever. He then started talking about his favorite topic - blight - and how it’s a cancer on this community.
 
 Well, thanks to Mr. Hedrick, that cancer is about to spread. Good work, Councilman Hedrick.
 
 Butch Hendershot also said some strange things, claiming, at one point, that each unit in this 60-unit warehouse will be valued at “$100,000 - plus.” REALLY? To have a value like that in a market like this, these apartments would have to have Italian marble foyers, European kitchens with floor to ceiling enamel cabinetry, and a city-scape view off the balcony. Well, except there is no balcony. And no foyer. And we’re betting on plywood for the cabinets.
 
 Mr. Hendershot also noted that our labor force will be working (for three months) and closed by saying what a swell, honest, stand-up guy Mr. Bell is. It was touching, really.
 
 Harvey May at least didn’t try to justify what he was about to do - he just said he tries to make decisions based on what is best for the city. Our advice to him: try harder.
 
 Lee Fiedler echoed the comments of the others - though he also noted that we have to increase our population and we need new investment and we need to grow our city. We’re not sure what recruiting new low income families to town will accomplish, beyond stretching our already over-taxed social service system to the breaking point, and bankrupting city coffers as we try to provide services to 60 families, the cost of which will far outweigh the amount generated in property taxes by the building. But what the heck.
 
 The one official involved in all of this who was nowhere to be seen was Cas Taylor. Where are you, Cas Taylor? Why don’t you tell us why this is good for the city? And why you have been working feverishly behind the scenes, pressuring agencies that deal with low income families to, basically, shut up about why this is project is STUPID? Why don’t you want anyone to talk about what this project will really mean to the city? Why is that?
 
 Hey Mr. Taylor, send us an email. We’re constituents with questions. And we vote.