Wednesday, June 15, 2016

County Council approves WSSC nominee who was sentenced for DWI

The Montgomery County Council, which has talked tough about drunk driving, voted yesterday to approve the nomination of T. Eloise Foster to the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission. Foster was sentenced for driving while impaired, after being pulled over by a Maryland State Trooper on I-95 in 2007.

At the time, Foster retained her position as Maryland's budget secretary despite her sentencing.

Foster is the latest addition to the water and sewer utility with a spotty driving record. WSSC chief Carla Reid has crashed 5 WSSC-issued vehicles, totaling one of them in a rollover wreck on the Capital Beltway, according to The Washington Post.

Earlier this year, County Councilmember Roger Berliner said that "in order to take serious action against reckless, irresponsible and intoxicated drivers, we need legislators in Annapolis to pass measures that go after the people who should not be on the road with real penalties.” The following month, Council President Nancy Floreen wrote, "The Montgomery County Council joins our Police Chief in calling for the State of Maryland to strengthen our laws against drunk and impaired driving,"

Once again, the Montgomery County political cartel has failed to match words with actions.

49 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad to see someone who learned their lesson and now spends their time educating others.

Poppy said...

Drunk driving is extremely irresponsible and has no place in a progressive society. For the sake of mercy, people, if you must indulge, have to help or the au pair drive!

Anonymous said...

If Foster was white, would Dyer be reporting this?

Anonymous said...

"WSSC chief Carla Reid has crashed 5 WSSC-issued vehicles, totaling one of them in a rollover wreck on the Capital Beltway, according to The Washington Post."

Your wording implies that Reid has wrecked 5 separate vehicles.

It would have been more accurate to say, "...has had 5 incidents involving WSSC-issued vehicles..."

From the Post article: "Leggett said that four of the five incidents were relatively minor. The WSSC records obtained by The Washington Post showed three were fender-benders, and one was a 1995 incident in which Reid hit a curb."

Anonymous said...

The Democrats leading lights of MoCo...

Anonymous said...

@ 6:16 AM - Just a few more words would have made your comment much clearer. Which of the following were you trying to say?

1) "The Democrats are the leading lights of MoCo."

2) "These are the Democrats' leading lights of MoCo."

Also, you might want to learn the purpose of the ellipsis. It is not a substitute for a period, nor is it some kind of all-purpose punctuation.

More importantly, how does your comment actually relate to the subject of the article?

Anonymous said...

"The Democrats leading lights of MoCo..."

Whereas all the MoCo GOP has is Robert Dyer and Robin F*cker.

Anonymous said...

How many dumb things has the Council done this year? I'm seriously losing track at this point.
Hopefully they have a summer recess soon.

Anonymous said...

I can't wait for the party of Dyer and The Donald make MoCo alpha again. Has Hogan endorsed his new party leader yet?

Anonymous said...

Of course the DWI is serious but what does one's driving record have to do with anything here?

Anonymous said...

7:42 AM
It goes to judgement.

Anonymous said...

One wine cooler and I am buzzed!

Anonymous said...

I get that. Could be judgement. Could be lack of driving abilities.

Anonymous said...

5:38 AM PoppySeed is in the weed again, as evidenced by the slurred last sentence.

Anonymous said...

Dyer is now the Soup Nazi of the blogger sphere. If you personal life gets a bad mark, now more work for you. Thank you Robert Trump.

Anonymous said...

7:58 is Kumar Barve weighing in.

Anonymous said...

It is time for a new picture Dyer. Every post about county council has had the same "Betrayed by County Council" photo. #DeadbeatDyer

Elm said...

8:31 AM So, you're saying the Council is betraying MoCo residents often?
That's a problem!

Anonymous said...

What does Kumar have to do with this?

Anonymous said...

7:56 People of Poppy's social stature use prescription opioids. I am sure Poppy can recommend a good Doctor if you have a premium PPO.

Anonymous said...

Ms. Foster was stopped by Maryland State Police in Howard County, then acquitted after a period of probation.

What does this have to do with the Montgomery County Government?

Anonymous said...

Will Dyer and Hogan attend their party's convention in Cleveland?

Anonymous said...

Dyer calls the county council racists to mask his own bigotry. Republican Governor Ehrlich thought it was okay for her to keep her job, but his buddy Dyer doesn't.

Anonymous said...

Great thing about Dyer is that he doesn't take marching orders from Hogan or Ehrlich.

Honest reporting...what a concept! Breath of fresh air compared to the old Bethesda legacy print media that has to adhere to Neil Greenburger's talking points or deep pocketed interests like EYA and Equity One.

Anonymous said...

"the old Bethesda legacy print media"

How is Dyer's competition "old" or "legacy"? Just curious. And why is also publishing a print edition, in addition to having a website, such a terrible thing?

Why do you keep using this stupid, meaningless phrase?

Robert Dyer said...

11:21: O'Malley was governor when the 2007 incident occurred.

Robert Dyer said...

8:31: And they just betrayed us again with this appointment. I'm not the one on the high horse about drinking and driving - the COUNCIL has been, which aside from the poor judgment on behalf of the appointee is the whole point of the article.

Anonymous said...

Great thing about Dyer is that he doesn't take marching orders from Hogan or Ehrlich.

http://robertdyer.blogspot.com/search/label/Larry%20Hogan

And Ehrlich's in jail, isn't he?

Anonymous said...

11:56 AM - why no criticism of the WSSC or Howard County (where the offense happened and the case was heard), just the MoCo Council?

Anonymous said...

So she made a mistake years back, has probably learned from it, so?

Anonymous said...

What is in the Dyer purity test? How many years of purity must one have? 5 years? 10 years? 15 years? More?

Anonymous said...

Glad Foster has her drinking problems under control, I'm avoiding all wine bars with black Jaquars in the lot nontheless. She beat the system (no breath test given) for obvious reasons. Congratulations!

Anonymous said...

Probation before Judgment is essentially being placed on probation BEFORE THE JUDGMENT IS ENTERED. That means you have not been found guilty of the crime.

This allows you to truthfully say that you have never been found guilty of a crime. Though this may seem like a technicality, this can be a huge benefit to those filling out job applications. When asked whether you’ve ever been convicted or pled guilty to a crime you can truthfully say “No”.

This is a completely different state of affairs than the one represented by Dyer.

Anonymous said...

I've never seen a local media coddle their elected officials and their friends more than in MoCo.
Kumar Barve is getting by with a little help from his friends.

Anonymous said...

Somehow Dyer will pin this on a democrat.

Robert Dyer said...

7:12: The state of affairs is quite simple - Foster demonstrated poor judgement, you don't get sentenced if you're not guilty, the Council has been on a high horse re: drunk driving for purely self-promoting reasons, and said Council just hypocritically approved an appointee who was sentenced for DWI.

8:00: No idea what you're talking about.

Anonymous said...

@ 7:12 PM - The case record says "not guilty".

"the Council has been on a high horse re: drunk driving for purely self-promoting reasons"

So you're opposed to drunk driving laws? Except when it's expedient for you?

"DWI" - Nope, not "Driving While Intoxicated".

"Council just hypocritically approved an appointee." Nope, that would be the WSSC.

@ 7:12 PM - And, as others have noted, the case was filed in Howard County, and was based on State Law, and has nothing to do with Montgomery County.

Larry The Town Drunk said...

I stand with T.E. Foster

Anonymous said...

Dyer is stuck in a conundrum:

He hates Democratic politicians, but Republicans pols. in MoCo/Maryland don't agree with his ludicrous ideas/theories.

Anonymous said...

Dyer: We should cancel Purple Line because it's [insert made-up "fact" here]
Hogan: Purple Line is necessary for economic growth and we won't cancel it

Dyer: We should build a new bridge across the Potomac
Hogan: Not interested. In fact I'll take away funding already in place to replace our outdated Potomac crossing to the south

Dyer: Biotech isn't really contributing to the economy
Hogan: Biotech is the "backbone of the Maryland economy"

Dyer: We NEEEEDD FORTUNE 500's DEPERATELY, because yeah
Hogan: I'm actually focusing on helping out small businesses

Dyer: Montgomery County economy is moribund
Hogan: Lol.

The list goes on...

People don't disagree with Dyer because of political differences. It's because his ideas make absolute no sense to anyone with intelligence.

Anonymous said...

"You do not get sentenced if you're not guilty..."

But she was not sentenced. She was granted probation BEFORE JUDGEMENT.

In the eyes of the law she is not guilty of a DWI or anything else. From your cited Baltimore Sun article: "Foster's sentence of unsupervised probation before judgment means that she can petition to have the finding expunged from her record if she completes the terms of the probation. Prosecutors dropped charges of driving under the influence - a more serious charge - and failure to drive in a single lane."

It is a gross misunderstanding of the law to write she was "sentenced" to probation. It is a gross misstatement of the law to write that guilt can be claimed from a probation before judgement ruling. It is a gross misstatement of the facts of this case to claim she was sentenced for a DWI offense when the prosecutors dropped the DWI charge before trial.

Anonymous said...

Agreed. Not that it's not a serious issue, but it's a misrepresentation of the facts under the pretense of news.

Anonymous said...

Dyer: I like Trump.
Hogan: Not voting for him.

Anonymous said...

There are many Republicans who feel they've been abandoned by their party. This Trump debacle is just the latest, and most distressing trend. Hogan is not alone in his thinking.

Anonymous said...

Dyer would do anything for Hogan
But he won't do that

Anonymous said...

"a misrepresentation of the facts under the pretense of news"
That describes the old, legacy print media in the county. Usually sponsored by EYA or other deep pockets entity.

Anonymous said...

11:04 AM - "Attaboy, Dyer!"

Anonymous said...

11:13 Go back to coddling up with Hans. 2 peas in a pod

Anonymous said...

Didn't George W Bush do cocaine?