Kamenetz shows why he doesn't deserve a second term

Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz's op-ed ("Keeping public employee benefits in check," July 22) shows how easy it is to combine hypocrisy and a lack of leadership and why he does not deserve a second term.

Signs of the decay of our county infrastructure are everywhere. The curbs of Loch Raven Boulevard near I-695 were partially destroyed during the summer storms last year and have never been repaired, and the sidewalks around there are full of tall weeds because no one is maintaining those public areas. We have horrific overcrowding problems in county schools, 80 percent of which are more than 40 years old, and many are too hot in the warm months and too cold in the winter. Our population desperately needs more public recreational space, and there is no money to buy land either for that or for more land preservation elsewhere.

It would be much easier to consider Mr. Kamenetz's plea to "do more with less" if he weren't banking his own pension now from his years on the County Council, even as he earns his current salary of $150,000 a year. He also orchestrated the same arrangement for Sam Moxley and Vince Gardina. (Mr. Gardina contributed $200,000 to Mr. Kamenetz's election, according to a Sun editorial of Dec. 18.) Both now work for Mr. Kamenetz.

So the next time you drive on a lousy county road, or your child's teacher has 200 children a day and her school lost eight teachers last year, or your child has recess in the bus loop of his school because it is so overcrowded, you can thank Mr. Kamenetz for doing more with less. And know that he his banking his own pension and helped his cronies to do the same.

Laurie Taylor-Mitchell, Towson