A Crusader Rabbit Commissioner Zimmer ain't

by David Grand
October 25, 2009

Unlike that cute-looking bunny who, along with his sidekick Ragland T.Tiger, embarked on humane crusades; e.g., going to Texas in one episode of the TV series to stop heartless Texans from making life miserable for jackrabbits, Zimmer's crusade is more self-serving, and devoid of any sensitivity to others feelings.

Now, in his quest to find every possible way that he believed money was being flushed down the tubes in the budget, no line items in the budget or jobs were excluded from his "search and destroy" mission.

And the list of cost-saving proposals he came up with would choke a horse, which in addition to specifying public services he felt could be eliminated or reduced, and certain positions abolished, he topped it off by recommending salary cuts across-the-board, including those of the commissioners. (If I was him, I'd sure check my tires before getting into my car, to make sure they hadn't been deflated or slashed.)

There's no better example of his headhunting than the way he's gone after the Sustainability Coordinator, Neil Ridgely, with a vengeance, by never failing in the articles he's written in defence of his one-man crusade to focus on Rigely's position. In one article, he went so far to suggest that he had "leftist-leanings"! Move over on the shelf Sen. Joe McCarthy (infamous commie hunter of the 1950s), your replacement is alive and well here in Carroll County, Maryland.

And if I had any lingering doubts about him going after his jugular, they were quickly erased at a commissioner's meeting on Oct. 6, when a vote was taken on approving a grant of $250,000 (that Ridgely would responsible for dispersing), with only Zimmer giving it a thumb-down.

Wonder how he'll explain his rationale for voting against it to his constituents (if not for personal reasons), when that grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was specifically intended to make loan-interest loans of 2 percent available to homeowners for making energy conservation improvements.

Come election time, unless they have short memories, or are willing to overlook his setting aside their interests in favor of his desire to put Ridgey's head on the chopping block, that could make him a one-term commissioner.

By now, you must want to know why Zimmmer is so obsessed with wanting to put the screws to Ridgely?

Could it be that Zimmer suspects, that staunch Democrat as he is, he might be a secretive "mole" in a Republican camp?

Or maybe it's because, he'd observed a framed picture of President Obama on Ridgely's wall, and a bobble-head doll of him sitting on his desk, which spoke his words:"Yes We Can."

While those factors may have contributed in some measure to Zimmer marking him for extinction, they pale by comparison, to the uncontrolled anger he must've felt in observing Ridgely standing at the intersection of Rt.140 and Center Street during the last campaign, with large signs touting his choices for the board—Gouge, Minnich and Democrat Dennis Beard.

When I happened to drive by that intersection, I nearly crashed into the concrete divider in seeing him waving his arms like he was doing jumping jacks, and saw the signs lit up with strings of flashing, colored lights.

If I didn't know better, you'd thing he was warming up for a job the following month as Santa Claus at some department store.

And speaking of the upcoming holiday season, I would hope that the jovial spirit and feelings of brotherly love that fills the air may melt Zimmer's heart, to the point that he's a more agreeable soul, judges people less harshly, and is even willing to bury the hatchet with Ridgely, instead of in his head. It worked for Scrooge.