Letters to the Editor

September 07, 2010

Munson should consent to debate with Shank

To the editor:

After reading both Herald-Mail articles: "On debating: Shank says yes, Munson says no" and "Munson still says no debate", I was both shocked and disappointed with Sen. Munson's inability to address the subject without casting irrelevant personal attacks toward Ryan Miner. Mr. Miner was well within his rights and certainly did not deserve such attempts by Munson to assassinate his character!

Del. Shank has done an excellent job campaigning and presenting information the vast majorities of voters are unaware of and would never consider when going to the polls to cast their vote on election days. Typically votes are cast based on name recognition and along political lines. Very few voters are informed on the issues and vote for candidate's qualifications and successes. Here in Washington County, the political forefront is even more bleak where the antiquated albeit dying ol' boy social network has dominated politics for decades. The result, political representatives with outdated ideas, ignorant of fact with regards to pursuing initiatives that would mandate state and federal support for helping Washington County keep pace with the rest of the state.

The idea for a debate between Munson and Shank is a good idea; I for one have questions for Del. Shank with regard to initiatives he claimed he would pursue if elected. I also believe Sen. Munson has much to explain for casting his vote in support of an organization that enables illegal immigrants. A public debate would afford the candidates opportunity to clearly explain their positions on the issues, provide an account for past performances in Annapolis, but most important, it would provide the public with a rare opportunity to scrutinize each candidate side-by-side.

Indeed, it is unfortunate Sen. Munson is denying the public such an opportunity and would resort to deflection and petty accusations against someone not even running for office. Speaks volumes about a side of Munson I for one certainly never thought existed.

Jonathan R. Burrs
Hagerstown

There are resources for disputes with lawyers

To the editor:

This letter is for the person who posted the following in Mail Call:

"Does anyone know who to contact if you've paid a lawyer money to do something for you, and you have a receipt and you have a signed contract, and the lawyer has decided that he no longer wants to do that type of work, but he still has his license and is still a lawyer, and will not answer calls? If someone could give me a phone number so I could find out how to take care of the situation, it would be really, really appreciated."

You have two places you will want to contact: The Attorney Grievance Commission and the Maryland State Bar Association. If you are filing a fee dispute, please know that there is no local fee dispute committee in Washington County.

To file a formal complaint about the attorney, contact the Attorney Grievance Commission (http://www.courts.state.md.us/attygrievance/index.html).

To file a fee dispute, contact the MD State Bar Association (http://www.msba.org/).

You can and will win if the attorney is not following their ethical professional rule of conducts. Don't be intimidated because you are going against an attorney. There is a Washington County Bar Association within Hagerstown, but you will not have much luck getting assistance because all the local attorneys know one another. If you need an attorney to handle a case if the matter goes to court, you likely will need to go out of state. I am speaking and sharing from experience.

Alisa Sours
Mercersburg, Pa.

Editor's note: This article was edited Tuesday, Sept. 7, to correct the headline for the first letter.

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