Kolodzey Blasts Pipkin, Smigiel: "They Will Destroy This County"

August 2, 2010
By

  A Republican political newcomer lashed out at State Sen. E.J. Pipkin (R-36) and Del. Michael Smigiel (R-36) Monday night, telling a candidates’ forum sponsored by the local “tea party” group that the duo was trying to stage a take-over of county politics and government and “They will destroy this county.”

  The sharp outburst by Ted Kolodzey, a candidate for the Republican nomination for county Commissioner in District 3, came near the end of the two-hour forum, which was boycotted by three “Young Republican Club” members who are running for Commissioner seats and are aligned with Pipkin and Smigiel. Forum organizers placed three empty chairs at the candidates’ table  with cards bearing their names: Chris Zeauskas, Michael Dunn and Michael Dawson.

  Kolodzey’s accusations came in response to a question about whether he supported the actions by “members of the state delegation” seeking to force the county commissioners to accept collective bargaining with binding arbitration on behalf of Sheriff’s deputies.

  “They only help themselves and that’s all they care about,” he said of Pipkin and Smigiel. “I saw what they were doing, financially, and I had to leave them,” he said. “They’re only fighting for their own interests,” he said, adding, “It’s a disgrace” and “someone has to stand up to them.”

   In an interview with The Cecil Times after the debate, at the VFW hall in North East, Kolodzey said that the Pipkin-Smigiel camp had told him, “If you support what we support we will finance your campaign.” He said no specific figure was mentioned. “But I left them… I can’t be a puppet,” Kolodzey said. He said the Pipkin-Smigiel camp has created and/or supported several Republican groups with different names but which are all “fronts for their agenda.”

   As The Cecil Times reported earlier in the day here, http://ceciltimes.wordpress.com/2010/08/02/as-the-gop-central-committee-turns-new-drama-unfolds-online/ a “Young Republican”-led slate–dubbed the “Cecil County Republican Fiscal Conservative Central Committee Team” has been created to try to take over the county’s Republican Central Committee in this year’s elections. The Young Republicans Club (YR) is closely aligned with Pipkin-Smigiel and the YR website also hosts a relatively “new” group called “Republicans of Cecil” (ROC) that has overlapping members and leaders with the YR group.

   Kolodzey, of Rising Sun, had initially been aligned with the YR-ers but turned away from the group and has been active in “tea party” activities led by the Cecil County Patriots, which hosted Monday night’s forum for Republican Commissioner candidates. A separate forum for Democratic candidates will be held in a few weeks.

   Donna Caudell, leader of the local Patriots group, said of the YR no-shows at the forum: “I think it’s unfair that they want to represent the people but they don’t want to face the people and answer their questions.”

   Ron Lobos, another leader of the group, said that Dawson and Zeauskas declined their invitation and Dunn, a legislative aide to Del. Smigiel, sent an email a few hours before the event “backing out of the debate.” Lobos congratulated those candidates who did show up for having the “guts” to attend. “If you want to serve the people, you should be strong enough in character to face the people,” he said.

   Kolodzey’s leading opponent in the GOP primary for commissioner, Harry Hepbron, got in a few shots of his own at the state delegation, without mentioning individuals by name, during the forum. “A Commissioner’s job is to represent all the citizens of the county and I don’t think the delegation should have done what they have done.” He added that “I do have a problem when the delegation takes the side of a small group of people” and tries to impose legislation on the Commissioners.  Hepbron served two terms as a county commissioner, until 2006, and is seeking to re-gain his old seat on the board.

   But Pipkin-Smigiel had one defender in the group of candidates: Diana Broomell, former legislative aide to Smigiel and a current candidate for the GOP nomination for Commissioner from District 4. “I don’t  think the state delegation are that big and bad as some people have made them out to be,” she said, adding that she thought the  state delegation functions as “checks and balances” on the county Commissioners.

[The Cecil Times will file a separate report later on other issues raised in the candidates’  forum]

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10 Responses to Kolodzey Blasts Pipkin, Smigiel: "They Will Destroy This County"

  1. maria on August 3, 2010 at 1:14 am

    I was there at this debate and I am glad that someone reported what was said there. Thank you!

  2. Nick on August 3, 2010 at 9:31 am

    It is NOT the job of the State Delegation to serve as “…checks and balances…” on the County Commissioners. Power needs to be held by the people. The actions of the State Delegation concerning the FOP issue were reprehensible in that they deprived those closest to the people of their rightful authority to act on behalf of those by whom they were elected. I’m taking no position here on the validity of the outcome, merely pointing out that it was an issue that should have been resolved locally, NOT in Annapolis.

  3. ceciltimes on August 5, 2010 at 11:06 am

    Folks, we always welcome thoughtful and spirited comments here but we have to remind some posters that we do not post comments with four-letter words (or a certain three letter word.) Maybe some of our commenters can try again and send us comments tempered by time and a sip of some cool iced tea on these hot days.

    • Diogenes on August 5, 2010 at 4:20 pm

      Why don’t you just edit the comments by replacing the “bad words” with spaces?

      • ceciltimes on August 6, 2010 at 4:57 am

        We have done that on other comments in the past. But this time we received a comment that was really nothing but “bad words.” To edit out the “bad words” would have left just a few prepositions that made no sense.

  4. Diogenes on August 7, 2010 at 7:42 am

    The 8/4/10 Cecil Whig story regarding the Kolozey statements included comments by Smigiel and Pipkin, now known locally as “Smipkin” for their joint agenda. Smigiel was quoted as saying “I’ve never met Ted. I don’t know Ted”. Pipkin was quoted as saying “I really don’t know the gentleman that well”. Both statements are technically correct since they use Ted Patterson as their messenger boy in recruiting candidates and issuing criteria for their support (usually advancing their agenda). Interesting that Patterson calls for transparency in government while serving as the Smipkin “buffer”. Welcome to Chicago politics in Cecil County.

  5. Sam Johnson on August 8, 2010 at 9:32 am

    Del. Smigiel was contacted by the Cecil Whig following the debate and said the only agenda he and Pipkin have is the backbone of the fiscal conservative team they’re leading, which is to promise not to raise taxes, to reduce spending and to create private sector jobs. One of the several teams (with essentially the same members) they lead is the Cecil County Republican Fiscal Conservative Central Committee Team (CCRFCCCT). Even the acronym is a mouthful. I fail to see how a central committee can accomplish those goals. In fact, it is completely out of the central committee’s area of responsibilty. I would like to know if Smigiel and Pipkin devote this much attention to the other counties they represent. Do they have “teams” in Kent, Queen Anne’s and Caroline.

  6. Walt Gibson on August 11, 2010 at 10:20 am

    I Have been at most of the Tea Party Events. I Know Smigiel, the liar he is, has met Ted Kolodzey. Pipktn I’ve Tried to talk to but he acts like a democrat (too good or knows too much to talk to the common man.) I think Ted called it right for the people of Cecil County Aug 2. The “SMIPKIN” need to get back in touch with the real people of Cecil County.

  7. Dan Gordon on August 12, 2010 at 1:37 pm

    Walt,
    There are anywhere from 200 to 2000 people at the average Tea Party. Shaking a man’s hand in a large crowd does not mean there is any kind of a relationship (good or bad)between any two people.
    -Dan

  8. Marti Winslow on August 14, 2010 at 10:56 pm

    Anyone who spent any time around the Young Republican club knows that Ted Patterson has been the voice of, and conduit for, Smigiel/Pipkin. They don’t have to get their fingerprints on anythig. Ted Patterson does it all for them.

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