Howard County Blog

Moved to a new site

2006-05-19T21:53:00.000-04:00

I have moved to a new service provider

Click Here

Change your bookmarks to

http://hocomd.wordpress.com

Another Smoking Bill?

2006-04-20T22:04:00.000-04:00

Rumor has it that Ulman and Robey have submitted new legislation to ban smoking with a one year phase in.

Larry Carson is to report on this in the Sun. Stay tuned.

General feeling is that by submitting brand new legislation Ulman is just trying to keep the issue going through May/June or longer if he can. With a new majority Ulman could keep this going as long as 90 days. With the August recess he could even keep it going into September.

Now Merdon was accused of playing politics with smoking legislation. What do those nay-sayers have to say about this? Will you take the same position if we see Ulman and his allies extending and amending the legislation to extend the debate on the issue up to the election?

UPDATE: How about that, Larry Carson is fast. David Wissing informs me that Carson's article is already on line.

County Council Chairmanship

2006-04-20T21:54:00.000-04:00

David Wissing and Hayduke have been speculating if it is possible to remove Chris Merdon from the County Council Chairmanship.

David Wissing thought something might actually happen at the Council meeting tonight. Since it was a public hearing on the Capital Budget and not a legislative session it would not be possible to bring up that matter then. The next legislative session is in May. If it comes up it will come up then.

However, despite the fact that the Charter doesn't permit it, I hope Ken Ulman tries to strip the Chairmanship from Chris Merdon. It would be, in my opinion, fatal to his campaign. Merdon won the position in a bipartisan manner. If the Democrats take it away it will be strictly for partisan political purposes. Merdon would take the high road, step down, and have the proper legal authorities review it (with little fanfare) because that would be the right thing to do.

Such a move would energize the Republican's to come out and vote enmass and irk the independents, which would help the Republican's to possibly win a majority of Council seats.

Go for it....

County Exec race getting crowded

2006-04-20T21:47:00.000-04:00

David Wissing brings to our attention an article from the Washington Post about a potential addition to the County Executive race.

C. Stephen Wallis, principal of Harper’s Choice Middle School, announced this week that he is forming an exploratory committee to run for county executive.
C. Stephen Wallis, of Ellicott City, said he has not yet decided
whether he will run as a Democrat, Republican or independent.

David Wissing GOOGLED Mr. Wallis and found this.

I did find this quasi-resume for some organization called the Calvert Institute of Policy Research that lists some of his back ground. Included is this:

Education Task Force director, Ellen Sauerbrey 1998 gubernatorial campaign.

I did a little research and found this:

C. Stephen Wallis of Old Fence Road, Ellicott City, MD. He is 56 years old and has been a registered Republican since 1978

1997 he was Washington, D.C. Area School Administrator

Speaks on School Violence and is affiliated with the Heritage Foundation and is apparantly an authority on the subject.

Verizon FIOS

2006-04-19T20:21:00.000-04:00

As most of you know the Howard County Council approved Verizon's application to provide television service in the County.

Shortly after the approval process I saw Verizon trucks all over Ellicott City and my neighborhood. Since then I have been going to the www.verizonfios.com website to see when the service would be available. Today I checked and finally it was available.

What is FIOS - well I am not going into a lot of detail as to what FIOS is except to say that Verizon pulls fiber directly to your house (FTTP) , runs CAT5 to your computer, installs a wireless router, hooks up your TV, and puts your telephone service on the fiber (IP) - no installation charges if you sign up for 1 year.

The benefits of fiber for Verizon are enormous, but to the consumer they are pretty good too.

Of course being interested in the service I promptly called Verizon got all the information I needed, found out how much I could save over Comcast, and ordered the service. They gave me in install date of 4-26-2006. Very reasonable date I thought to myself.

About an hour later my wife called me to tell me that Verizon was pulling fiber up to the house already. They got done pulling the fiber this afternoon and wanted to know if they could come back tomorrow for about 4 hours to finish the job and turn up the service.

Talk about service.

I got the 15mbps/2mbps data service and the basic cable service (about 50 more channels than Comcast basic plus, and we get 40 some music channels - compare VZ' $40 charge to Comcast's basic digital service charge of $64 [basic cable is $50 plus]), add my telephone service and it is all for about $133.00 per month.

Now my neighbor saw the trucks in my driveway, asked a lot of questions, called Verizon and switched his phone service, internet connection, and cable TV to Verizon. One of the techs working at my house went over to his house and started pulling fiber right then and there. My neighbor told me he was saving close $50.00 per month.

Now my other neighbors have been calling and want to come over and see the television service when it is up and running so they can judge how well it works. I should get a commission!

HFSetival - Sheriff's Deputies

2006-04-19T16:09:00.000-04:00

Turns out that the HoCo Police recently offered the Sheriff's Deputies 2 spots for the Festival.

Prisoner Transport.

I suppose something is better than nothing. I sure hope the Baltimore County Police are not upset about loosing those spots.

It has also come to my attention that an article about tthe Sheriff's Department is in the works and may appear on one of the local papers this week.

Calvin Ball

2006-04-18T20:56:00.000-04:00

Ball selected to fill Howard council vacancy
Metro Digest
Originally published April 19, 2006

Calvin Ball, a 30-year-old Columbia resident, was chosen from among four candidates last night for appointment to the five-member Howard County Council. He will be sworn in tomorrow night.

Ball, a candidate for the seat in 2002 and again this year, was chosen unanimously by the county Democratic State Central Committee to fill a vacancy created March 31 by the resignation of east Columbia Democrat David A. Rakes, who said he gave up the seat for health reasons. Ball recently served as community development officer for Oakland Mills village.
His selection is expected to give council Democrats a 3-2 voting majority, which could lead to passage of a smoking ban in Howard's bars and restaurants. A bill to that effect is pending before the council.

"I've got a lot of work to do," Ball said, after his selection.

Lights Out In Maryland

2006-04-18T20:03:00.000-04:00

I share with you, dear reader, a perspective (that I happen to share) from the Wall Street Journal.

Lights Out in MarylandApril 15, 2006; Page A6

No homeowner would be overjoyed to hear that his electric bill is going up by 72% on July 1. In an election year, that just might make him mad enough to blame the politicians seeking his vote.
So it goes in Baltimore and surrounding areas in central Maryland, where 1.2 million homeowners were informed recently that they would have to shell out an average of $743 more a year for electricity, and where the Governor and every member of the state legislature are up for re-election in November.

But if lawmakers are worried, they have only themselves to blame. In 1999 the assembly imposed price controls as part of legislation deregulating the state's electrical power industry. Hoping to avoid taking political responsibility for that decision, the legislators froze residential rates at 1993 levels minus 6.5%. Seven years later that political bill is now coming due.
The legislature's ire has focused on Constellation Energy Group, parent of Baltimore Gas & Electric Co., the state's largest electric utility. In an effort to blackmail the utility into agreeing to below-market rates, it tried to block a planned merger between Constellation and Florida Power & Light that has nothing to do with the rate increase. Not only was this probably unconstitutional -- the U.S. Constitution protects interstate commerce -- it was arguably illegal under state law. The assembly wanted to bypass the Public Service Commission, the regulatory body created nearly a century ago with the specific aim of insulating public utilities from politics. The commission is currently evaluating the proposed merger.

But the politicking didn't stop there. Legislation passed both houses requiring the merger to be studied by Attorney General Joseph Curran Jr. Mr. Curran happens to be the father-in-law of Martin O'Malley, the Democratic Mayor of Baltimore running for governor against Republican incumbent Robert Ehrlich. The legislation called for Mr. Curran's office to report back in January -- a convenient two months after the election.

The effort fell apart last week when the Governor vetoed the legislation as well as a second bill stripping him of the power to appoint members to the Public Service Commission. The Governor then worked out a deal with the House to reintroduce price caps (with moderate increases) until 2009. But the Senate wouldn't go along so neither the compromise bill nor an override of the vetoes passed before the legislative session expired on Monday. Governor Ehrlich is now trying to work out a deal for lower rates with Constellation, while also considering calling the legislature back to Annapolis. But why bother? The longer the legislature stays out of session the safer everyone is.

Constellation is the only Fortune 500 company headquartered in Baltimore. It employs hundreds of people at an energy trading floor downtown -- jobs that could easily be moved to a friendlier state. After this experience, it's not hard to understand why Constellation might want to do just that.

This episode is just one more example of how Maryland is developing a reputation for being a bad place to do business. Within the past year, the legislature has increased the minimum wage and foisted a new health-care tax onto Wal-Mart. During his four years in office, Governor Ehrlich has had to beat back $7.5 billion in tax hikes in a state with a budget of about $29 billion. The message being sent to job creators is clear: Lights out.

2007 Operating Budget

2006-04-18T14:40:00.000-04:00

The Operating Budget is in. This only represents General Operating Funds. If you want a more detailed explanation of the additional $445.8M in spending and revenues you will have to wait for future postings. Suffice it to say that it is not suffeciently detailed in the budget documents, you would have to go to the County Financial Statements to drill down.

The proposed budget includes $67.9M in new spending fueled by $50M in increased revenues from Property and Income taxes. I have to say that I am disappointed in the $9.4M tax cut proposal - I think Mr. Robey could have done a lot more for tax payers considering the increases in property tax assessments.

Couple of notes here.
County Administration is getting $5.6M more than they requested
Board of Elections is getting $300K more than they requested
States Attorney is getting $400K more than they requested
DPZ is geting $160K more than they requested
County Executive is getting $115K more than they requested

I will be interested to learn what happened between the department budget request period and the proposed budget. That $6.5M could have been used a number of other ways such as:

Fully fund the Board of Education's request
Deeper Tax Cuts
Fully fund Public Safety

Headings
2006 Approved: County Council Approved Budget
2007 Robey Request: What the County Executive is asking for
$ Increase: Increase or (decrease) from 2006 approved over 2007 request
% Change: Percentage difference between 2006 approved over 2007 request
% Requested: Percentage difference between department requests and CE Request
Bold: CE requests larger than Department Request

2006 General Assembly II

2006-04-14T01:10:00.000-04:00

The Sun Lies has this simple post titled "Stories You Won't Find In The Sun"

The Sun doesn't need me to defend them, and I won't. In this case The Sun Lies' post links to some articles on the dismal performance of the 2006 General Assembly. However, the Baltimore Sun has a couple of articles that I would call less than gleeming.

April 12th - Assembly minds business

Additionally, Gregory Kane and Dan Rodericks have been writing on electricity rates and the School take over and they haven't been kind to the General Assembly or O'Malley.

I wouldn't say any thing about their op/ed. I think the Sun is biased, and I enjoy them being called on it too.

What I like about the post referenced is that the links contained within are all of a consistent theme/opinion yet come from different papers. The question comes down to this for me.

Who are the voters going to be disgusted with come November? Do they really have short memories? In my opinion the one party system walked all over the Governor - they beat him silly. However, in the process I think the voters will be disgusted with the way Mike and Mike ran the show. They are gone until January 2007. The Governor owns the bully pulpit, he is going to solve the electrical rate problem and Mike and Mike will be on the sidelines.

Additionally, they energized the GOP base and alienated a lot of Independants. If voters have long term memories not only will Ehrlich win, the GOP is going to pick up a few Delegates and a few Senators. Thanks to the Mike and Mike show.

Oprah Winfrey weighs in on Baltimore City Schools

2006-04-13T06:00:00.002-04:00

As reported on WBAL

BALTIMORE -- When Oprah talks, people listen. On Wednesday, Baltimore City leaders responded to her harsh words on the state of the city's education.

"I believe we are face to face with a frightening national emergency," Winfrey said on her TV show.

"I think the state of education in the city of Baltimore is an atrocity, an atrocity," Winfrey told 11 News Monday night.

She called it a crime, and her words have this city talking.

What did O'Malley have to say?

"I'm sure she didn't mean it maliciously," Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley told 11 News Wednesday.

Thanks for clearing that up for us Martin.

Frank DeFilippo on the 2006 General Assembly

2006-04-13T06:00:00.001-04:00

Darwinian Politics from Mr. Liberal himself.

...Democrats outdid themselves when it came to stacking the deck in favor of survival. They reworked a bill establishing early elections while Republicans stormed out of the Senate chamber in disgust and protest.

Under the rewrite, Democrats designated 20 heavily Democratic polling places where voting machines will be placed five days before fall elections in what they say is an effort to attract greater voter participation by legalizing early voting. Yeah! That and the moon is made of Gorgonzola. Irv Kovens and Jack Pollack would have loved this law.

And when it came down to a state takeover of 11 failing schools in Baltimore, city legislators – all Democrats -- put their manhood on the line and their votes in the “no” column in spite of a federal law allowing the takeover and the threat of losing $171 million in school aid from Washington.

Led by an emotional Sen. Nathaniel McFadden, and with heavy support from Prince George’s County – next on the state takeover list – the legislature voted to delay the handoff for one year to give the schools more time to come up to snuff.

They voted, in effect, to save themselves at the expense of the failing schools and throwaway kids.

Ehrlich, as promised, vetoed the bill, along with seven others.

In the end, the voters will decide whether the fittest will survive.

a legislature...like Charlie Brown.

2006-04-13T06:00:00.000-04:00

From the City Paper's Political Animal on the just ended legislative session.

Some choice phrases:

Lawmakers knew the stakes. A long hot summer, a deadline for 72 percent electricity rate hikes, a fall election, and plenty of blame to go around.

“The legislature had 90 days to finish the job, and they didn’t do it,” Paul Schurick said. Regardless of which way you come down on this, it’s hard to contradict that statement.

Words can fail you after an evening like this—you want to call it a carnival, a car crash, perhaps a catastrophe.

2007 Operating Budget

2006-04-12T15:00:00.000-04:00

Information is starting to roll in.

The Balimore Examiner has this article about the Public School Operating Budget. Their $396M request seems to have been approved by Mr. Robey according to information from the article and the information posted below. It represents a $33.7M (9.3%) increase over the 2006 budget. This doesn't jive with the article which states it is a $28M increase.

Overall budget requests exceed the 2006 approved budget by over $71M or 10.7%.

Below you will see a summary of the budget requests made of County Executive Jim Robey.

For a larger view click on the image.

Michael Steele's Fundraising -

2006-04-12T12:43:00.000-04:00

The Maryland State Democratic Party and Maryland State Chair Terry Lierman accuses Michael Steele of raising money from a Republican President, Republican Activists, Conservative Groups, and of courting other National Republican Elected Officials.

If Mr. Lierman is correct then I find this to be simply outrageous!

Who does Michael Steele think he is? A Conservative Republican!?"

Steele's Fundraising: A Who’s Who List Of Bush Republicans

Steele Took Thousands In $$ Right Wing Cash at Fundraisers with Bush, Cheney, Card, Former RNC Chair Ed Gillespie

Bush, Cheney, and Conservative Money Machine Get Behind One of Their Own

Michael Steele continues to rake in millions of dollars in national Republican money with the full support of the Bush White House and Bush RNC. Of the $1.3 million he raised this quarter how much came from national Republican sources? In this quarter he held fundraisers with Vice President Dick Cheney, then White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, former RNC chair Ed Gillespie, and Republican Senators George Allen and John Warner.

Maryland State Chair Terry Lierman said, “Michael Steele’s ATM card is from the Bush bank and dispenses arch conservative cash. We know that the national Republicans are going to raise money for Steele because he’s one of their own. The question is how much did he raise at his fundraisers with Dick Cheney, White House Chief of Staff Andy Card, and former RNC Chair Ed Gillespie? We eagerly await Steele’s fundraising disclosure next week so we can see just how much money came from the national Bush right wing machine. We know he’s going to
have the money - it’s important for Marylanders to remember the truth that Michael Steele’s campaign coffers and conservative ideas both come from George Bush and his right wing cronies.”

Steele’s First Quarter Take Includes 4/8/06 Fundraiser Headlined by Vice President Dick Cheney. [Washington Post, 4/8/06]

Former Chair of the RNC Hosted a First Quarter Fundraiser at His Home for Steele Headlined By Senators Warner and Allen: LG Michael Steele (R) held a 3/13 fundraiser w. Sens. John Warner (R-VA) and George Allen (R-VA) at the home of ex-RNC chair Ed Gillespie and Kathy Gillespie in Alexandria. (NOVA GOP release, 3/1, reported on the Hotline).

White House COS Andrew Card Headlined A First Quarter Fundraiser at Bush “Ranger” House in NYC: White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card will headline a fundraiser for Steele’s senate campaign on March 8 at the New York home of Mallory Factor, a Bush “Ranger” and chairman of a prominent conservative think tank who has been called “the ATM of Bush’s America.” [Washington Post, 3/5/06]

10 Bush Pioneers and Rangers Support Steele: Wayne L. Berman (Ranger),Charles R. Black (Pioneer), Cesar V. Conda (Pioneer), Alan B. Fabian (Pioneer), Mallory Factor (Ranger), Jonathan Javitt (Pioneer), Mary Kate Johnson (Ranger) Shelly Kamins (Ranger), Munr Kazmir (Ranger), Robert L. Wright (Pioneer). [FEC reports]

By Dec. 31, 2005 Steele Took Almost $120,000 From National Republican PACs. Steele took $119,000 from national Republican PACs including $5,000 from Montana Senator Conrad Burns who is ensnared in the Jack Abramoff scandal, $8,000 from right wing Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, $37,000 from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and $1,000 from Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour. [FEC report]

Last Quarter Steele Raised $500,000 From His Bush Fundraiser – Over Half His Total. Steele raised over $500,000 with President Bush on November 30, 2005, more than half the $800,000 he raised in the last quarter of 2005. [Baltimore Sun, 12/1/05, FEC reports]

Steele Takes Money From Same Ultra Right Group That Supports Santorum: Steele is also receiving bundled campaign contributions from “Legacy” – a group of conservative families that has also committed to bundle money in 2006 for Sen. Rick Santorum. According to the National Journal, Legacy members “must profess their belief in God and pledge their fealty to conservative principles guided by Judeo-Christian values. Most are Protestants; a majority is evangelical.” There is also “uniform agreement about the . . . tragedy of abortion.” [National
Journal, 2/1/06]

Steele Takes Money From Ultra Conservative Anti-Choice Organization: Steele has received more than 115 contributions from The Madison Project, an ultra-conservative organization that only endorses “Republicans who clearly demonstrate their conservatism.” The project’s stated values are Pro-Life, Pro-Family, Limited Government, Defenders of Religious Freedom.” A quick look at the group’s website shows links to articles questioning Darwin’s theory of
evolution and advocating the abolishment of a woman’s right to choose. [Washington Post, 2/5/06]

Steele Took $5,000 from Rep. Jim McCrery’s PAC; McCrery Is Lead Advocate For Social Security Privatization. Key House Republicans offered a Social Security plan Thursday that they described as a first step toward personal investment accounts. The plan was offered by Rep. Jim McCrery, R-La., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee's Social Security subcommittee, and Rep. E. Clay Shaw Jr., R-Fla., the panel's immediate past chairman. [FEC reports; Cox News Service, 6/22/05]

Site Updates

2006-04-12T11:30:00.000-04:00

I have added some features to the web site that I hope readers will find useful.

Post Summaries

Below each post you will see a hyperlink "Read More!" What does this do. It provides the reader the start of the post. By clicking on this link you can expand the entire post in order to read everything.

Peek-a-boo comments

By clicking on the "comments" hyperlink the comments will appear directly under the post rather than opening a pop up window. When clicking on the comments hyperlink a second time the comments will be hidden.

Recent Comments

At the bottom of the right sidebar you will see links to the most recent comments posted by readers.

Guest Columnists

The Howard County Blog is asking for reader contributions. You can post under your own name or a ghost name or remain anonymous.

From the Past - Impact Study Proposed by Merdon

2006-04-12T10:30:00.000-04:00

What ever happened to this? Since Growth and Development are the big issues in this election cycle what ever happened to this study that Chris Merdon asked for in the 2005 budget?

I remember receiving this at the time.

As you may have read in the newspaper recently, County Executive Robey has turned down my request to include money in the FY05 budget for a fiscal impact study of major developments in the County. A spokesperson for his office was quoted in the newspaper as saying that fiscal impact studies are "not a priority right now." I believe Mr. Robey's refusal to fund a fiscal impact study is irresponsible and shortsighted. We all know too well the impact that development has had on our community, particularly on the roads and schools. The County has an obligation to our citizens to analyze the affects of development and to properly plan the necessary infrastructure to support it. Recent proposals to rezone portions of Turf Valley, the impact of Maple Lawn Farms development and the reality of the rezoning associated with the comprehensive zoning process cause me to ask the question - when will funding fiscal impact studies become a priority for the Robey administration?

While I have heard that Mr. Robey will entertain the idea next fiscal year, I believe that is too late. Impact studies are a key to successful planning; and waiting until development is underway or completed defeats their purpose. The time must be now. We can't simply wait and see what happens and hope for the best. We have seen that policy put in place the last six years and have seen record-setting operating and capital budgets, plus significant tax increases in six years. Funding fiscal impact studies today is the responsible thing to do. They are an investment in the health of the County, not a drain on operating expenses. My suggestion to County Executive Robey during a recent work session was to add $50,000 to the budget for fiscal impact studies in the FY05 budget. So far, he has refused. On Friday, May 21 at noon, the County Council will adopt the FY05 budget. The County Council does not have the authority to add money to the budget for fiscal impact studies. The County Executive is the only one who has the authority. I am asking you to join me in persuading the County Executive to add $50,000 to the FY05 budget for fiscal impact studies. If you agree, please email the County Executive jnrobey@co.ho.md.us and let him know that impact studies are necessary to ensure that the County will be able to adequately plan for future classroom space, road improvements and other services that will maintain the quality of life in Howard County.

Fifteen Minutes of Fame

2006-04-12T09:25:00.000-04:00

Andy Warhol once said that everyone gets 15 minutes of fame in their lives. I am working on my 15 minutes in chunks. One minute here, 30 seconds there... I think I am up to five and a half minutes.

Here is 30 seconds of fame for the four Howard County Bloggers from today's Baltimore Examiner

Local bloggers take opinionated stabs on Howard County politics

Laura Greenback, The Examiner
Apr 12, 2006 7:00 AM (2 hrs 23 mins ago)

Howard County - Divided along party lines, four Howard County bloggers are taking their first opinionated stabs at local election coverage.

“You will undoubtedly see my bias come through (I can’t help it) on my posts,” blogger David Keelan, the 2004 president of the Howard County Republican Club, states in the biography on his Web site.
But the bloggers say they ensure their accuracy by posting official documents, reader comments and links to traditional news sources.

“Obviously there are people who I want to win. I still have this yearning to be as objective and idea-focused as possible,” said Ian Kennedy, who disclosed his name to The Examiner on Sunday after blogging anonymously since September.

Evan Coren created his blog to provide explanatory maps, graphics and an analysis of Columbia revitalization. Even politicians monitor the sites and leave comments.

“It allows us to see what other people’s perceptions are,” said Greg Fox, a Republican who is running for County Council in District 5.

On Coren’s blog, Fox recently posted a response to his coverage of a candidates forum.

Blogs are a safe place for freedom of dialogue.

“I can’t talk about politics at work. I need an outlet to put my thoughts out there,” said blogger David Wissing, whose site covers national and local politics.

HFStival Migrates To Merriweather - Security

2006-04-10T08:51:00.000-04:00

Although I won't be attending, I have attended previous HFStival's. This is a boon for Merriweather. It is also a boon for the County in terms of sales tax and amusement tax revenues.

I can't remember where I heard it, but I heard Merriweather had a lock on the event because their was little competition for the event. Their loss our gain.

However, this strikes me as odd, because I received additional information about how security is going to be provided for the event.

"It will probably be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, event of the summer," said Capt. Merritt Bender, commander of the special operations bureau for the Howard County Police Department. The bureau, working with Merriweather officials and county fire and rescue services, already is deep into the details of staffing, security and traffic management.

It is my understanding that since the Howard County Police Department is not staffed to handle an event like this (nothing wrong with that) they are going to hire Baltimore County Police Officers for the additional resources they need.

SO WHAT? You may ask. This may seem like a non-issue to you, but let me ask this question anyway.

Why doesn't the Howard County Police Department utlize the resources of the Howard County Sheriff's Department? Why outsource security to Baltimore County? Doesn't our own Sheriff's Deputies have the necessary experience and training to provide this extra level of security? We trust them with security at the Courthouse, transporting prisoners, handling domestic violence, issuing warrants, backing up the Police Department Officers in the line of duty, etc.

Aside from that, if our Law Enforcement Officers need assistance with affordable housing couldn't they use the overtime pay too? Why would the HCPD spend our money on extra security on an outside party instead of caring for our own?

Dreyers Ice Cream and Town Center

2006-04-10T08:35:00.000-04:00

In a previous post 2007 Capital Budget IV I discussed a particular $25 million item in the capital budget. "What does this have to do with Columbia Town Center?" you might ask. I will get to that.

The Howard County Times did a good job reporting on the capital budget in terms of hitting the hightlights. They have an < in the April 6, 2006 edition discussing the very same thing. They answered one of my questions. I am glad to know that Dreyers will contribute $42 million toward the project over the next 30 years. I have no way of knowing how they arrived at that contribution and no way of knowing if it is fair compensation.

What escaped my attention was:

The expansion will cost the county ... $47 million in 2008, said James Irvin, the director of the county's Department of Public Works.

Wow. Total expenditures from 2006 - 2008 are $85 million.

What we don't know is if Dreyers will be here in 30 years and what Nestle S.A.'s plans are for their new business unit they took control of in January 2006. Who can predict that far out?

On to Columbia Town Center

From the Master Plan regarding Water and Sewer

WATER AND SEWER CAPACITY
Water: The Department of Public Works projects that maximum water demand for the proposed development will range from 1,030,000 gallons per day (gpd) to 1,830,000 gpd. DPW has determined that the current water supply is adequate to meet this additional demand; however, the US 29 water pumping station will need upgrading.

Sewer: DPW projects the design peak sewerage flow for the proposed development will range from 2,128,000 gpd to 3,400,000 gpd. DPW already has capital projects underway for both expansion of the Little Patuxent Water Reclamation Plant and for additional capacity for three sewer interceptors within Town Center and the Little Patuxent parallel sewer interceptor from Columbia to the Water Reclamation Plant in Laurel (about 8 miles). DPW will have its consultant study the anticipated additional capacity needed for Downtown.

Water and sewer system improvements will be needed to support the proposed development in Downtown. Water and sewer lines within Downtown will be constructed by developers. System improvements (water pump station, sewer interceptor, and waste water treatment plant expansions) are funded by user revenues paid to the Water and Sewer Enterprise Fund

Someone put it to me this way:

"This is] massive ... compared to Dreyers, [the] increases in water and sewer use will blow the entire utility system out of the ground. ...the top utility guys ... think the TC plans are DOA, because of this overlooked fact. The capital improvments planned for utilities barely take this ... expansion into account. Additionally, a study, if it can be done, would take months. The big question is this. Why is DPZ flying on autopilot without checking with DPW to address the feasibility of the whole plan? Another $1/4 million or more down the toliet, literally, due to totally incompetent planning from DPZ. The TC master plan is nothing more than ... delusions of granduer passed along to an inept county planning group. One of those "looks great on paper" ideas [but] are impossible to build. If the approach to roads is, 'We will deal with the traffic issues as they arise.' so is the approach to sewer and water. That meanthey will take care of the problems after they occur, which is not the kind of planning I want done in my backyard.

Treatment plant upgrades can cost hundreds of millions of dollars and that is only if MDE [Maryland Department of the Enviroment] grants a permit for expansion. There should be no increases in density until the permitting process is well underway. You can't build the toliets either until the plant upgrade is complete. Just the upgrade and permits could take 5 years. with everything going just right."

Well this is definately something to keep an eye on, as I don't believe, based on the comments above and what is described in the budget, that the $85 million in the Little Patuxent improvements will alone solve for the proposed high density in Town Center.

Are we going to end up borrowing another $85 million to accomodate for the Town Center Master Plan? How can a plan that is billed as being "comprehensive" if DPZ isn't engaging DPW? Granted I am taking the writer at his/her word but knowing this person as I do I trust he/she knows what they are talking about.

Ok, here is my plug for Merdon. He would ensure that these two inter-related departments are jointly planning on issues like this because he has extensive executive and management experience. It would be second nature to a person with his background and he wouldn't stand for that type of behavior. If we have to drop $85 million in additional improvements at LP and additional expenditures else where in infrastructure improvements lets know now so we can plan.

Feel Good Legislation

2006-04-10T08:23:00.000-04:00

Let us hope our County Council members go beyond feel good legislation to address the issue.

Demos, at the other Howard County Blog, posted an article about Affordable Housing for Howard County civil servants and suggesting it only addresses one aspect of affordable housing in Howard County. More and more people are finding it difficult to find housing in Howard County, I need only point out the Aladdin article that appeared in the Baltimore Sun on Sunday.

What I find most interesting is this quote from the Howard County Times

Ulman's bill, submitted April 3, would create a directory of apartments that offer free or reduced rent to county police officers. The county government would also take a "proactive" approach in encouraging landlords to participate in the program, Ulman said. . . "This isn't a free gift to police," Ulman said. "The communities are benefiting from the added security a police officer with a take-home car brings."

I think it is important to point out that this does nothing for law enforcement officers in the County. I have a friend in Howard County Law Enforcement. He lives in a very nice apartment at a greatly reduced rental fee simply because he is a law enforcement officer.

What Mr. Ulman is proposing already exists. My friend and I discussed this over the weekend and he laughed at the pure politics of Mr. Ulman's proposal. His position is that any law enforcement officer in Howard County already knows where they can go for reduced rent in a very nice apartment and they don't need County Council to waste time on this issue.

Looks good, feels good, is already happening, and Mr. Ulman is just trying to take credit for something that landlords already do - because it makes sense.

If Mr. Ulman really wants to do something regarding affordable housing then tackle the problem of these people, Aladdin residents fear 1-year notice

God bless Nancy Grasmick

2006-04-07T17:12:00.000-04:00

God bless Nancy Grasmick

Enough said.

Destroying Pension Plans

2006-04-07T10:51:00.000-04:00

I have been thinking about this angle for a while and decided to look into it.

Since the dust up over unregulated price increases looming in Maryland, which is a result of a deregulation plan implemented by the General Assembly in 1999, every one has been talking about the $880 million rate increase ($732 X 1.2 million customers).

No one has been talking about the effect on shareholders.

Now wait. I am not talking about the executives. I am talking about you and me.

Who are the shareholders? According to the liberal Proposition 1 organization … half the company is owned by a couple hundred shareholders, mutual and pension funds, whose managers vote large blocks of stock. The other half of the company is owned by 250,000 small investors, many of whom live in Maryland.

That is right, over half of the company is owned by individual investors either directly or in mutual funds, or in pension plans. I don’t know how many of these investors are Maryland residents but I am certain, as Proposition 1 states, that there are a large number of them and I would suggest at least 25% of the shareholders are also BGE customers.

Right now, Constellation value is $9 billion. After the proposed merger it will be worth $11 billion and these individuals will realize a gain in the pension plans of $3 billion. Many people feel that FPL is seen at trading at a pre-merger discount.

There are 178.5 million outstanding shares in Constellation today. Since the dust up total stock value has dropped almost $800 million. Coincidentally that is almost as much as the rate increases. So these retirees just lost 1/3 of the gain they hoped to make on the merger.

My point is this. If the General Assembly keeps mucking around with Constellation Energy, and refuses to live by the deal they made in 1999 how much wealth will they destroy in terms of the value of the pension plans of the same people they are trying to “save” from market driven rates?

Just What a Candidate Needs...

2006-04-07T09:19:00.000-04:00

Judge clears way for suit; an appeal appears likely

The Baltimore Sun reports on a sexual harrassment suit that has been ongoing since 2004

The suit is similar to one filed by retired Cpl. Linda Freeman, who won $115,000 in a settlement in 2004.

In his March 22 ruling denying Livesay and the county a summary judgment dismissing the case, U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles Jr. said, "There is a genuine issue whether such harassment was so widespread as to be a policy or custom of the HCPD."

If Freeman's suit is any indication then Susan Ensko's suit may have some feet.

The trial isn't scheduled until February 2007 (5 months after the September primary).

Some of the allegations in the opinion are outrageous and concern pornography, prostitution, and homosexuality.

I paraphrase from the actual opinion.

Such as, she was subjected to comments that pregnancy "was another reason women shouldn’t be cops", a lecture from her supervisor about having multiple sex partners, and comments about another officer’s sexual preferences. Additionally, that she was subjected to: 1) repeated, sexually explicit comments; 2) frequent comments about "bull roasts" attended by HCPD officers that involved prostitutes; and 3) conversations about pornography and pornography in the workplace. Ensko contends that she found pornography in her office and on office computers and was subjected to comments from her supervisor suggesting that Ensko and another female officer had a sexual relationship.

Apparantly the Court's opinion is that the HCPD and Chief Livesay knew or should have known about the harrassment and it is reasonable to come to that conclusion since Ensko was intereviewed by internal affairs and Livesay. You have to read it for yourself, it reads like a soap opera. In keeping Livesay in play in the suit the Court said, among other things:

that the supervisor’s response to that knowledge was so inadequate as to show deliberate indifference or tacit authorization of the conduct;

The County settled a similiar suit in 2004 with Cpl. Linda Freeman. An article on that can be found here.

How do successive sexual harrassment lawsuits portend for Chief Livesay in the upcoming elections? Remains to be seen.

Restorus.org Candidate Forum

2006-04-06T09:30:00.000-04:00

Restoreus.org held their forum last evening at the Glenwood library. It was very well attended and Barry Tevlov should be commended for the effort. He gave me a seat as a panelist on the Council District 5 portion of the forum. A couple days prior to the forum we agreed that I should not participate in the County Executive forum given my public and enthusiastic support for Merdon. I give him a great deal of credit for protecting the integrity of the forum and the opportunity for me to participate.

Now on with it.

As David Wissing said. Pretty standard responses to pretty standard questions. I haven't read Evan's post on this yet. I did get to meet him, but I didn't really get to speak with him as I wanted to get home to the family and a new episode of LOST. I hope we can catch up later. You can read his comments on his Howard County Blog - he says he will post them tonight. HayDuke, where are you?

County Executive

In the opening statements the best line was Chris Merdon’s “Quality of life is not measured by a line item in the budget.” Mr. Ulman said later on that he didn’t like that comment. I guess not, it goes right to the heart of the issue.

David Wissing recalled a tense moment when Ken Ulman was talking about founding the Ulman Cancer Foundation and thought he saw a “woman” rolling her eyes. She quickly denied it. I thought that was a rather defensive reaction on Mr. Ulman’s part. It is easy to misinterpret body language – he should have let it go. However, I have to give Mr. Ulman a lot of credit for coming to a Western Howard County Candidate forum a.k.a GOP forum. He had a pressing schedule, told Barry he had a previous commitment. To his credit he came to “hostile territory” on a very tight schedule. To me it showed that he will be a very serious campaigner (I had my doubts – and I shouldn’t have given what he did to Joan Lancos).

On Growth and Development

Chris Merdon coined this phrase and I heard it all night in the Executive and Council forums “Predictable Growth”. Don’t change the rules on people. People made decisions on buying homes, school choices, etc based upon zoning laws and expect that the County provides them a reasonable assurance that their decision is valid. When a property is zoned for 8 houses and then the County zones it for 25 houses “That is a quality of life issue” Merdon said.

Ken Ulman couldn’t disagree. He went to talk about a new model of citizen participation in community planning a reference to Town Center. Thankfully he didn’t go into Town Center too much. He is smart – Western Howard County could give a rats arse about Columbia.

Harry Dunbar blamed Robey, Merdon, and Ulman for the mess.

Politicizing the County Web Site
Thankfully they touched on this lightly. An issue blown way out of proportion. When I expected Ulman to trash Merdon on this he didn’t. Ulman said it is a fine line and the closer we get to an election the more politicized the perception is. I agree. Merdon said that over the past 8 years the County has provided more and more excellent tools, and took credit for legislation requiring the County to put more public documents on the site. If he is responsible for that good for him – because you will find a lot of valuable information on the County Web Site. I use it all the time for this blog.

Emergency Preparations and Citizen Response

Standard answers. Ulman made the point that Howard County may not be a target, but we are an evacuation area. People fleeing DC or Baltimore are coming to or through Howard County which will tax and stretch our resources. I think Merdon understood this too, but I wish he would have said it first. Probably the only time I nodded in agreement with Ulman.

Management and Leadership Style

Merdon sounded like someone who has been managing a great deal of people for a long time. The principles he articulated (rather easily as an experienced manager should).
Lead by example. The people one leads look and expect that in a leader so don’t shy away from it. Set annual goals, reach out and communicate with employees, set direction but seek input so all employees feel that they own the goals and the results. In Government it is slightly different. The County Executive also has to lead the citizens and that requires disappointing some people some times, especially when hard decisions are required. Merdon launched into his resume and management experience in a Fortune 500 company, and the difficulty of managing over 2,000 county employees and 23 various departments, and a $1 billion budget.
Ulman, thinks that character is more important than management experience. He would appoint strong directors to the County Agencies. Sorry, a very weak answer. Yes, character counts – Merdon has a great deal of character. Harry Dunbar is a character. Character is not leadership.

Developer Contributions
Harry Dunbar won’t accept them.
Merdon and Ulman were of the same opinion. Developers are not the end all be all, but they have an important voice and role in government. The both said they get support from a lot of different business sectors and Merdon said 66% (according to the Baltimore Sun) of his contributions comes from individuals. He said the best check he got was $20 from a 17 year old who told him that though he couldn’t vote in November he wanted to help because he trusted what Merdon was doing. Ulman got up to reply and talk about his favorite $20 check. He got lost in his remarks and so did I.

A yes/no session followed. No one gave yes/no answers though.

Do you have future political aspirations?
Ulman was the only one who didn’t answer the question. Dunbar and Merdon both said “this is it for me”.
Is money key to a quality education?
Standard reply was that we need well paid teachers and parent participation.

County Council District Five

Here are the questions I asked:

County Executive Robey vetoed Councilman Feaga’s proposed assessment cap legislation and has his own three cent tax rate cut proposal. Which proposal do you believe was better for taxpayers and why?

No real answers here. Greg Fox got closer to anyone in answering the question. He said he looked at numbers both ways and to him it came down to “it depends”. Then he said he would prefer an income tax reduction.

Livesay said we couldn’t afford both. That wasn’t the question. HoCoHayDuke, Wissing and I thrashed this one out over a couple of days. If any of the candidates wants to develop a position on this all the information they need is there.

The Spending Affordability Committee projects that the County will continue to realize revenue growth in the next fiscal year and beyond. In fact the County is projected to run a $20 million surplus this fiscal year. Granted no one wants to run deficits, but what is your opinion on County Government running surpluses, and what should be done about it? For example, would you support increasing the operating budget in order to meet projected revenues?

Again not much of an answer except that Greg Fox did say “Government should not be running surpluses. If they are then taxes are too high”. Livesay and Dun would reinvest the money into the community. Sorry, wrong answer. When we have surplus dollars we can’t rebate it to the taxpayer. It has to go to one time expenditures (usually capital expenditures or debt relief). Something has to be done now in order to ensure that the County is taking what they need and no more than that.

Will you support all other candidates in your party in their election campaigns? Why or why not?

Again, Greg Fox was the only one providing a real answer. He would emphatically support his party’s candidates. He got up twice to say so. Now this question was designed for Mr. Livesay given his party switching and loyalty to Mr. Robey. I didn’t expect the answer I wanted but I expected an answer that was firm. Next time he gets that question (and you can bet your last dollar he will hear that question 40 more times) he better have a prepared answer – Wayne you should have seen it coming.

I appreciated Greg Fox’s answer, but the answer I wanted to hear was this “If I am fortunate enough to represent the GOP in the general election then as the GOP candidate and public face for the Republican party I will firmly commit my time to all of the party’s candidates”. Greg, are you reading this. Write it down.

2007 Capital Budget - Education II

2006-04-05T15:44:00.000-04:00

The Baltimore Examiner reports that the School Board is lobbying County Council to increase Capital funding for the Board of Educations renovation projects.

County Executive Robey isn't able to meet all the budget requests from the various County departments, so he oks some and defers other. Ho hum... Just regular business. No complaints from me.

Here is how the process works.

The Board of Education submits a budget request (operating and capital). The County Executive reviews it and makes a decision as to what he will ask County Council for and what he won't on a line item basis and submits his recommendation to the County Council. Now the County Council can cut the proposed funding - but they can't increase it unless it is to restore funding the County Executive cut (I don't know what retored funding means - does it mean restored from the official BoE request), thus Mr. Ulman's comment "I’m hopeful that we can come up with additional dollars." confuses me. Where is he going to come up with the money? Cut another department's budget?

Now this is what gets me.

The Board of Education gets their budget allocation and despite the budget proposal they submitted they can spend the money any way that they want. They don't have to adhere to their own budget request, or the final approved budget. They make the final determination.

Now, I am not saying that the renovations outlined in the article are not needed. I am suggesting that if they are so important and they ultimately determine where the money is spent then they can make some hard decisions.

Do you think the Board of Education can find $2 million in an $80 million Capital Budget for these renovations? Can they defer some of their other projects or perhaps stretch out the funding for another year?

My prediction if they don't get the additional funds. They will blame County Council for not finding funding the renovations when all the time the time the Board of Education can decide whether or not to fund the renovations from the allocated 2007 Capital Budget. Why do I say this - they have done it before. Instead of making the hard decsions they pass the buck to the County Council so they don't look like the "bad guy". "Don't blame us it was, after all, a County Council decision."

If I am wrong and the Board of Education takes it on the chin for making a tough decision then good for them.

In an election year I am sure the candidates will all be "... hopeful that we can come up with additional dollars."

A Shot Over The Bow

2006-04-05T12:44:00.000-04:00

The Washington Post calls it a shot in the foot.

Tilting Maryland's Vote

How to cast a pall over elections -- before they even take place

Wednesday, April 5, 2006; A22

IN THE SANCTIFIED name of expanding the popular vote and widening access to the polls, Maryland Democrats have sacrificed fairness to partisan advantage. The Democrats, who dominate the state legislature in Annapolis, pushed through a bill allowing voting to take place for five days before Election Day -- but mostly at polling stations in Democratic strongholds.

This isn't the first time a majority in a state legislature has sought electoral advantage by ramming a brazenly partisan measure down the throat of the minority party. The justification generally comes down to, "Well, they'd do the same to us if they were in power." But no matter which party is behind such partisan mischief, the effect is the same: to subvert the faith that Americans place in the electoral system's fairness.

The procedural aspects of this bill's passage are odious enough. Before they voted, Democratic lawmakers stripped the bill of provisions that would have permitted Republicans an equal role in deciding where to place the early-polling stations and that would have required that the stations' locations be geographically central. The conference committee that wrote the bill was composed of six Democrats and zero Republicans.

The locations of many of the polling stations for early voting seem designed to mine Democratic votes, which tend to be in more heavily populated areas. In Howard County, early-voting stations were placed in heavily Democratic areas in an apparent effort to weaken the reelection prospects of freshman state Sen. Sandra B. Schrader, probably the most imperiled of Maryland's 14 Republican state senators.

Democrats enjoy a healthy advantage in voter registration and are understandably eager to recapture the state's governorship, which they lost in 2002, in this fall's elections. Over the past two years they have sought to leverage their statewide numerical advantage by enacting a set of relatively permissive elections laws under the aegis of what the party has called a "voters' bill of rights." As a result, Maryland voters will not be required to show any form of identification, and they will be able to cast provisional ballots practically anywhere in the state, regardless of their home address.

Republicans insist that these measures will open the door to electoral fraud; if fraud does mar the November ballot, the Democrats will be responsible. But they are not unfair on their face. By contrast, tilting the early-voting system toward heavily Democratic areas in strategically key jurisdictions taints the election even before it occurs. With such arrogance and abuse, the Democrats will only erode their majority in Maryland.

_____________________________

The Polling Stations in Question

Maryland Electricity and Wall Street

2006-04-05T08:48:00.000-04:00

The Washington Times (my favorite newspaper) has an article in which Wall Street weighs in on the State General Assembly's approach to solving the problem.

In short they are saying, be careful you are headed the way of California.

Wall Street credit-rating agencies are warning that Washington-area power companies could sink into financial trouble if lawmakers bar them from recouping their soaring fuel costs through rate increases.
Most of the area's utilities face downgrades of their credit ratings -- which means more difficulty raising the funds needed to keep subsidizing ratepayers and pay for increased power in the future -- as a result of proposals in the Maryland legislature to roll back rate increases ranging from 40 percent to 72 percent.
The legislature is moving in a "dangerous" direction that is reminiscent of missteps taken by the California Legislature that pushed the state's two largest utilities into insolvency in 2001 because they were barred from passing through to consumers skyrocketing fuel costs, said Ellen Lapson of Fitch Ratings Ltd. In the California case, the state ultimately had to take over purchases of power on behalf of the insolvent utilities and sustained record budget deficits that plunged its own finances into disarray. "In Maryland, it's Democrats versus Republicans, and everybody hates each other. A lot of people are making political points. It's not a good environment for the financial health of utilities," Ms. Lapson said.

Now isn't it time to stop playing games and work on a real solution? Their will be real payback if Maryland ruins the industry and we face rolling black outs.

The Times has related article, BGE lambastes state lawmakers

Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. (BGE) executives say state lawmakers are "overplaying their hand" by trying to negotiate lower electric bills with threats to block the company's multibillion-dollar merger with a Florida utility.

Sounds like we are at an impass to me.

2007 Captial Budget IV

2006-04-04T16:53:00.000-04:00

Here is an interesting item in the Captial Budget.

Now, I am pro-business. Dreyers employees 250 employees. How much they contribute to the local economy? I don't know. But the County is spending $25M to expand this Water Reclamation Plant to handle the discharge from Dreyers' plant. What is Dreyer contributing to this in terms of taxes and Water and Sewer assessments? Is the County taking this on simply as a "cost of doing business"?

Dreyer's is continuing to expand their operations and I wonder if this $25M job is related to that and if it is will the upgrades be enough to sustain future expansion of Dreyer's facilities.

$25M for NITROGEN LOADING REDUCTION Budget Item Number: S6245

Because the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) has implemented "limits of technology" goals, which will require enhancement of nitrogen removal capability at the Little Patuxent Water Reclamation Plant (LPWRP). Plant capacity will also need to be expanded from 25 to 29 million gallons per day.
2. Reclaimed water facilities to be located at LPWRP and extending into lower 400 water zone near existing Guilford Tank. This facility will initially serve one customer, and expanded to serve additional customers as interest dictates. Construction FY06.
3. The additional wastewater from the expansion of the Dreyers Ice Cream Plant will overload the LPWRP and render it incapable of meeting MDE's nitrogen removal goals.
4. GRANT represents Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund from the State.
5. Increases in construction costs for FY07 for both the Dreyers ice cream and reclaimed water projects.
6. Increase in reclaimed water design costs, FY07, due to the additional capacity and additonal reclaimed/sewer mains for Dreyers ice cream.

Project Schedule:
FY07 - Design of LPWRP enhancement and expansion. Design to be finied, and construction of Reclaimed Water facilities complete. Completion of facilities for Dreyers Ice Cream wastewater.
FY08 - Desi gn of LPWRP enhancement/expansi on. FY09-11 - Constructi on.
Operating Budget Impact: Annual Bond Redemption $1,436,162, Unknown at this time.

Dreyer's to be merged into Nestle unit
By Gabriel
Madway
Last Update: 5:38 PM ET Jan 17, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) --
Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Holdings Inc. said late Tuesday that, as a result of the exercise of a put right by certain holders of Dreyer's stock to require Dreyer's to purchase their Class A Shares, Nestle Ice Holdings Inc., a unit of Nestle SA's Nestle Holdings, now owns 90% of Dreyer's stock. Oakland, Calif.-based Dreyer's said it has asked Nasdaq to halt trading in its shares as of today. After a short form merger, Dreyer's expects to become an indirect subsidiary of Nestle Holdings tomorrow. When the merger is completed, holders of Dreyer's Class B shares will have the right to receive a cash payment of $83.10 a share.

Given how poorly Dreyer's has been performing (although not reflected in their stock price in December 2005) one has to wonder how long this operation will be in place. Will Nestle Holdings keep this plant going? Nestle is a much stronger and better managed company and coming in and exercising their right to purchase Dreyer's may be good - lets hope they don't cut their losses and run or reorganize.

Dreyers is a key component in Nestle's strategy to dominate the world in Ice Cream revenues and Nestle did just that in 2005. But at what cost and now that they are the largest Ice Cream company in the world what is next? Dreyers wasn't making money, but that might not matter to Nestle now, but it will at some point. When will they start squeezing effeciencies out of Dreyer's operation so they can generate CASH - which Dreyer's didn't have much of anyway.

Sure hope the County is talking to Nestle about their plans because we are making a very large investment in Dreyers/Nestle S.A.

2007 Capital Budget III

2006-04-04T11:20:00.000-04:00

I am sure answers will be forthcoming....

Here are some of my observations and questions.

I am no accountant. So my concerns need further scrutiny.

I understand that the metro bonds are self-sustaining. By that I mean outside the General Obligation Bonds. However, they are backed by the full faith and credit of the County. If they default then the County has to pay. The reason they have my attention is because I see them as one budget category and as such they are the single largest budget item. Almost $90M and 140% increase over 2006. Perhaps these projects are unavoidable, but can we afford them?

Water and Sewer has an operating deficit. When ad valorem taxes are added the Water and Sewer account generates $2M in surplus every year. Can it afford another $70M in bonds? Also, why not borrow from the State Water Quality Bonds (SWQB)– the rates are 40% below market (2.41% v 4%)? When I reviewed the balance sheet for Water and Sewer I think they may have maxed out this option out based on what the State thinks we can afford. We have debt up to $72M in 2005 from SWQB. I don’t know what the current balance is but as of January I don’t think it changed much. Additionally, the June 2005 audited statements show that the County can afford (by Charter) another $34M in Metro Bond Obligations, but we are borrowing over $70M in Metro Bonds. Did we pay off a lot of those existing bonds in 2005/2006?

Did you know by charter there are no other debt limitations applicable to Metropolitan District debt? I guess it is managed by what the market will loan. If my concerns are legitimate I also wouldn't be surprised to see a rate increase - which I think is a fair question to ask the County Executive. As I said, if my concerns are justified then Mr. Robey or the next County Executive may need to raise rates.

As early as January 2006 the County projected on $16M in Water and Sewer capital projects for 2007, but we have $88M in capital projects proposed for 2007. What happened? If these projects are obligations we have made to other jurisdictions then we could have projected them as part of the annual 5 Year Capital Improvement Program Summary. Why didn't we?

I do see that many of the college projects are closing out which can account for the drop in capital projects here.

I do understand that the $21.2 mil in cash that is being used in the Capital Budget is coming from past and future anticipated revenue surpluses, based on the good employment and real estate economy. According to the Spending Affordability Committee projections for future Personal Income Growth and Real Estate Assessments are good. However, where is the allocation for the rainy day fund? Didn’t Mr. Robey say he was allocating $4M to $6M for the rainy day fund? What is the current balance of the Rainy Day Fund? Is it $41.7M? The County was to have brought it up to the mandated level last year, but why isn’t the County contributing this year despite what Mr. Robey said?

With that said if he isn't going to contribute to the Budget Stability Account (Rainy Day Fund)why not use some of the surplus funds toward debt relief in order to relieve the operating budget. Could the County pay down some expensive debt in exchange for lower interest debt at least?

2007 Capital Budget II

2006-04-03T13:33:00.000-04:00

First, let me say some of you will notice a difference in the 2006 budget number. This is not an error. Prior numbers I used were proposed numbers. These are actual budget numbers - as you may know the County Council can't cut the budget, but they can increase it and in 2006 they did.

As you can see from this the County Executive is calling for some serious debt.

Although the Executive says he is staying with in the limits recommended by the Spending Affordability Committee I don't believe all of this borrowing is under that committees review. I believe they only look at General Obligation Bonds which makes the Executive's claim true - but misleading.
I wonder about these Metro Bonds (used for Water and Sewer). Can we afford them? Sewer and Water hardly make any money today given their revenues and assets. Are we going to see a rate increase in the operating budget to cover this additional debt service? To that end, why isn't he borrowing from the State Bond Loan instead? That fund charges 40% below market rates? Did he max out on available funding? Did they turn him down?
We are also flush with Transfer Tax cash.
Why did the Developer Contributions go down so drastically (50%)? I have friends who say that Planning and Zoning waives too many fees for developers, but it couldn't be that much? Someone explain that to me please.
Education took a hit in funding. Although Mr. Robey said, ""My highest priority continues to be to build the schools Howard County needs to maintain our education system as the best in the state," he said Friday, suggesting that an extra $5 million expected in state school construction money could be used to help fill the gap." Overall proposed funding from 2006 is down $23.2 million ($6.5 Board of Ed and $16.7 College).
He doesn't mention purchasing Belmont but he has $2M in Park and Rec to pay for renovations. Wouldn't the college pay for those from their own budget - unless he does plan to purchase it as he has stated previously. Well where in the budget is it! How much? Is it in the Park and Rec capital acquisition budget and if so why doesn't it spell it out? The Business Monthly reports "...the existing capital project for Belmont, currently slated as a Howard Community College project, would be switched to the recreation and parks capital budget. It targets $2 million in funding to renovate the existing barn and carriage house."

So many questions.... To read it yourself (all 838 pages) CLICK HERE.

Capital Budget - Education

2006-04-02T07:40:00.000-04:00

I find it interesting that Mr. Robey highlights contributions to the Board of Education capital budget every single year. This year he highlights the cummulative capital funding this way

FY2007 funding would bring three year total for schools to $262 million

Lets be more specific here in case some people are misled. $262 million is a lot of money but as a percentage of the entire capital budget it is only represents 34% of the total capital budget over 3 years. The percentage of contributions to education has been declining steadily over the same time period which some people might call a cut in funding - thus, perhaps, the slight of hand.

2005: $94.7 milllion for education and 48% of the capital budget
2006: $78 million and 33% of the capital budget
2007: $80 million and 24% of the capital budget

Good? Bad? You decide.

I think he knows he may get blasted in some quarters for the drastic increase in the capital budget and how little (as a percentage of the budget) education is getting despite the much needed improvements the school board has asked for.

2007 Capital Budget

2006-03-31T17:00:00.000-05:00

Mr. Robey is about to issue his 2007 Capital Budget Proposal which is customarily preceeded by a press release.

"The devil is in the details" of course but I think we are in for a long discussion.

2007 Capital Budget Press Release can be found here. - Total $336.6 million

2006 Capital Budget Press Release can be found here. - Total $235.3 million

2005 Capital Budget Press Release can be found here. - Total $198.35 million

A 30 % increase over last year and 41% over 2005 and only modest increases in education. Lets see how this effects the projected 2007 surplus. Did he spend it already?

Now keep in mind - the following chart shows total proposed budget followed by funding sources. Do you notice the big swings in funding sources? Gonna take some research and study to understand completely.

We don't know how he is going to propose spending the money except for some clues provided in the referenced press releases. For example, we won't know about another stealth helicopter until after the fact like last year.

Harlin Demands Apology

2006-03-31T15:47:00.000-05:00

I look forward to publish Mr. McGuffin's response no matter what it may be

HOWARD COUNTY CHAIRMAN DEMANDS PUBLIC APOLOGY

Ellicott City, MD - Howard County Republican Chairman Brian Harlin called on Howard County Democratic Party Chairman Tony McGuffin to publicly apologize and refute his undignified political attack. By knowingly making false statements to the news media, McGuffin illustrates his failure to lead and offer positive debate. Instead McGuffin offers the residents of Howard County his vision, that of attacks and politics of personal destruction.

"Chairman McGuffin, in a leadership position with the Democratic Party, should apologize immediately for his false statements and pledge to conduct himself and his committee in a more dignified and honest manner," Harlin said.

In Wednesday's Sun article by Larry Carson titled Rakes Exit May Bring Shift, Howard County Democrat Central Committee Chairman Tony McGuffin was quoted with the following:

McGuffin scoffed at Harlin's charges. "He's just making all this up. That's what they do. They say what they want to be true and think if they repeat it enough, people will believe it," McGuffin said.

McGuffin is clearly calling Harlin and all Republicans liars, accusing Mr. Harlin of using tactics that the Democrats in this state are famous for. Earlier in the article Harlin charged that Ken Ulman and others in the Democrat Party had begun a series of attacks against Mr. Rakes because he did not vote with the Party.

"I think it's absurd the way Ulman treated Rakes," Harlin said, referring to comments Ulman made last summer after Rakes reversed course and opposed a housing bill he had supported. Ulman said at that time that Rakes did not understand the bill and that "his constituents should be embarrassed for him."

"He can't take it anymore," Harlin said of Rakes. He said the Democrats' credo is, "If you don't do what the Democratic Party tells you, we'll get rid of you."

In Thursday's article in the Howard County Times by Earle Eldridge, Harlin's claims are substantiated by Rakes and members of the Party:

Citing health reasons and "politics," Howard County Councilman David Rakes said this week that he will resign his District 2 seat March 31.

In an interview this week, he added that political feuding between himself and some county Democrats helped him to decide to step down. "Politics had become very difficult for me on the council," said Rakes, who this week sent a letter to council members announcing his resignation.

Earlier this year, county Democratic party officials, who had grown angry at Rakes for what they called a defection, said publicly that they would not back Rakes and would support Ball's effort to unseat him.

The late Wendy Fiedler, who was then chair of the Democratic Central Committee, said Rakes' vote for Merdon "ended his political career as a Democrat" in Howard County.

Harlin's statements in the Sun article that the Democratic Party forced David Rakes out of office were clearly factual. "Health reasons," were a classy way for Councilman Rakes to step down without tearing down his party in an election year.

Mr. Harlin's responded to the McGuffin charges saying, "After reading this comment and others by Mr. McGuffin, you can clearly see who is taking their cues from the national Party.

Republicans in the state of Maryland may not have a voice in the press, but we will not stand idly by while liberals like McGuffin attack our character. I have seen McGuffin's type of tactics used by Liberals in this state for many years and it is time we put a stop to it. I don't believe that the Mr. McGuffin's far-left liberal views are representative of the majority of Democrats in Howard County."

Delay sought in school takeover

2006-03-31T08:32:00.000-05:00

Delay sought in school takeover

I guess I should not have been surprised by this, but I was.

This article is a real tear jerker. My heart goes out to Senator McFadden for working so hard to prevent the State Board of Education from taking over 11 troubled schools. He is just asking for more time. Just one more year. However, the article also says he wants legislative approval before the State Board of Education can take over any school.

Sen. Patrick J. Hogan, a Montgomery County Democrat said, "...I also don't like the way the State Department of Education went about this." although part of him agrees with the State Board of Education.

Do you think people are happy with the City School system went about running these schools?

A political cheap shot

Mayor Martin O'Malley, who has been working to garner support in Annapolis to thwart the state's plan, said yesterday that Baltimore would pursue "every legal and legislative avenue available to us to combat this political election-year cheap shot."

"Those whose primary motivation is holding onto power find it very disturbing that our school system is making progress for the first time in 30 years," he said. "We will put this down."

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, a Democrat, called the battle between the state and the city "raw politics at its very worst," a move designed purely to tarnish O'Malley's campaign. He pointed to Grasmick's close ties to Ehrlich and how she was once on the Republican's short list for running mate.

Partnership

McFadden acknowledged that the city school system's problems are overwhelming. Fixing them, he said, will take a real partnership with the state - not the current adversarial situation.

"There's enough blame to go around. There's children out there that need our help," he told the budget committee, his voice rising. "Let's vet this out and let's work together."

History

Remember in 2004 when the City School system had a funding crisis. This was two years ago. Here is what O'Malley said then:

On Jan. 15 O'Malley said "we need to get our own house in order" before asking for emergency state assistance. Less than one month later O'Malley did a 180. "I would hope the governor might step up," O'Malley said. "I'm somewhat exasperated."

When the Governor did step up O'Malley said no thanks and tapped the City's rainy day fund.

In 1997 Gov. Glendenning and Mayor Schmoke agreed to a joint City/State partnership to run the schools that left the City School System in limbo and created a financial mess in 2004 that created a lot of finger pointing. Who was in charge of the Schools after 1997. Everyone called it a failed partnership in 2004 and O'Malley blasted Ehrlich for not being a true partner and doing his part - despite record amounts of money the State poured into the schools. Of course O'Malley said it wasn't his fault.

February 2000: Maryland takes over over three failing city elementary schools--Gilmor, Montebello and Furman L. Templeton, later turning management over to the private Edison Schools Inc. "The 1,500 children at these three schools are not having an opportunity to be competitive," Grasmick says

Anyone know how these schools are performing?

What is going on here? What is more important? Pulling these schools up out of the dregs and helping these kids, or protecting someone's political backside?

So here we are almost 10 years after the "partnership" was established. Two years after the State was accused of ignoring the problem. When is enough enough?

O'Malley and Education

2006-03-30T21:04:00.000-05:00

As we have heard. Now Mayor O'Malley has to deal with the State taking over 11 city schools because of some serious problems. More on that later.

What does Mayor O'Malley have to say about the take over? This is nothing but politics. I have not heard him address the substance of the issue. Have you? If so please correct me.

Suffice it to say Federal and state laws requires State to take action in these instances. It isn't like Ehrlich wanted to take over the schools, but I am sure he is happy to do so for a lot of reasons (especially given it is an election year), but seriously, the State Board of Education really had no choice but to intervene. I was provided the following information on 4 of the 11 schools. Honestly, I would like to see the data on all eleven schools because I hope that I would not feel so depressed after reading about just these 4.

Southwestern:
8.9% of students can read proficiently.
1.6% of students are proficient at math.
For Southwestern’s freshman class of 2005, 99 out of 100 students will not pass their High School Assessment tests because they cannot read or perform math concepts.

Frederick Douglass:
15.8% of students read proficiently.
3.5% of students are proficient at math.
1.4% of students passed the biology component of their 2005 High School Assessment.

Patterson:
18.5% of students can read proficiently.
9.9% of students are proficient at math.
15.9% passed the English component of their 2005 High School Assessment.

Northwestern:
21% of students can read proficiently.
6.6% of students are proficient at math.
8.8% passed the government component of their 2005 High School Assessment.

Would you stand for this in Howard County. Would you send your students to a school like this?

In addition, 10% of the students passed their High School Assessment Test, students are absent on average 36 days .

Mayor O’Malley, increased city school funding less than one percent since 2003. Ehrlich, has increased city school funding by 28 percent since 2003.

When the school system almost went bankrupt who did O'Malley blame? Really. Who is playing politics with our education system? If O'Malley were Governor today would he seriously stand by and not allow his Board of Education take action in a situation like this? WWMD?

Electricity Deregulation

2006-03-30T21:01:00.000-05:00

The MD GOP put this out.

Interesting perspective.

Deregulation continues to take center stage in Annapolis. Following the 1999 anti-consumer and anti-free market deregulation legislation Senate President Mike Miller muscled through the General Assembly at the urging of Enron and other big energy special interests and the removal of the price caps insisted on by former Governor Parris Glendening, Governor Ehrlich is once again left to clean up the mess created by the short-sighted policies of the liberal monopoly. This week, Mike Miller, House Speaker Michael Busch, along with partisan Democrats, are projecting their failures onto the current Public Service Commission (PSC). Never mind that the Public Service Commission reached out to lawmakers 22 times over 15 months to warn about impending electricity rate increases. The PSC got nothing but blank stares from lawmakers in
return. Mike Miller is now attempting to pull a bait and switch on the people of Maryland as he furiously attempts to hide that he fought hard for electric dereg in the first place.

Despite separation of powers and the three branches of government, the Senate has passed legislation to remove the appointment power of the governor to the PSC, an executive branch of state government, and instead give the General Assembly the power to appoint the members. Miller and Busch cry “cronies.” Yet this ignores the “cronies” that sat on the commission prior to the election of our Republican governor.

As columnist Barry Rascovar wrote back in 1999, “[Governor Glendening’s] PSC appointments raised concerns as well. One of his picks, J. Joseph "Max" Curran III, is the 33-year-old son of the state's attorney general [and brother-in-law of guv wannabe Marty O’Malley]. He also ran a strong race for state delegate in [former state Senator and current subject of a federal indictment Thomas] Bromwell's district last year -- despite having been denied a place on the senator's ticket in the general election.Now young Mr. Curran is out of the political arena -- and thus out of Mr. Bromwell's hair. He is safely ensconced on the PSC, though he has no background in this highly complex regulatory field.Joining Mr. Curran on the PSC is former state Sen. Catherine Riley of Harford County, a political lobbyist for the governor during the past few legislative sessions. Her appointment comes after the governor failed in the General Assembly to block electric deregulation or to stack the PSC in his favor by expanding the commission's size.Does this bode ill for the implementation of electric deregulation? Will crucial PSC decisions be delayed while the new members take a crash course in regulatory issues? Will the new commissioners give the panel a more political tilt?” (Glendening picks cronies over quality for some key posts, The Baltimore Sun, June 6, 1999)

Here’s how the PSC legislation, otherwise known as the Schisler Bill, was rammed through the legislative process in only 3 days:
Last Friday, the Senate suspends the rules to introduce the bill late and at the same time the rules are suspended to refer the bill to the Senate Finance Committee.
At this point the bill is scheduled for public hearing at 1:00pm,Tuesday, March 27th.
Monday afternoon at 4:30 the on-line hearing schedule is changed announcing the hearing will now occur at 6:00pm THAT SAME EVEING (1 1/2 hours notice of the hearing change.)
6:00 pm The bill has a hearing in Finance.
6:30 pm The bill is voted out of Committee (a mere half hour debate).
8:00 pm The bill is placed on the second reading calendar on the Senate Floor. The bill is then laid over for one day.
Tuesday the bill passes 2nd reading.
Wednesday the bill passes 3rd reading in the Senate morning session
Thursday the bill is placed on the House agenda for their afternoon session on
the floor. Here’s the bill and the fast and furious documentation: BILL INFO-2006 Regular Session-SB 1102

Why do we need a 90 day session when we can pass legislation in only 3?
Normally legislators would suffer a serious case of whiplash from the breakneck speed with which they’re trying to provide political cover to Miller and the other champions of deregulation in the legislature. But when your party has a monopoly on the legislative process, you can do what you want. Rather than addressing the looming price spike, Miller and Busch are attacking the messenger and blaming the PSC when they should be working with the Governor to actually fix the problem. This November, we need to deregulate the Maryland General Assembly by voting in more Republicans and allow real competition

Ken Ulman's Curriculum Vitae

2006-03-29T16:59:00.000-05:00

Sorry to have missed the forum on Saturday as reported in the Baltimore Sun. Sounds like a real hoot 'n holler.

I won't miss the next one sponsored by Restorus.org

Wednesday, April 5th,
2006 Glenwood Library
Meeting Room 2350
Rt. 97
Cooksville, MD
Call 301 854-0570 for details

As for Saturday at St. John Baptist Church

The fur was flying - so Mr. Larry Carson seems to imply.

I supposed Larry hit all the highlights. I wasn't there so I don't know.

What struck me about the article was the exchange on management and executive experience.

Ken Ulman manages one person and, seemingly on the defensive, retorted "in fact, you're a lobbyist." Don't you think one should know one's competition? Merdon is a VP of Sales. That is not a lobbyist. A friend who was there told me that Mr. Ulman implied that since Merdon heads up Government Sales to the State of Maryland and a Republican is Governor Merdon is some how not working hard - or is hitting up fellow Republicans for easy sales. Hmmm. Pretty bold.

The article did nothing to expand upon the tremendous amount of executive experience Mr. Ulman outlines on his web site .

Before beginning his law practice, Ken interned in the White House and then worked for the Clinton/Gore 96 campaign, serving in many capacities, such as: Western Iowa Field Director and Wyoming State Director. Ken worked for the Presidential Inaugural Committee and later worked for the State of Maryland.

First, Ken worked in the Office of the Secretary of State in the Charities Division and then in Intergovernmental Affairs, serving as a liaison to local governments and municipalities across Maryland. Later, Ken served as the Governor’s Director of the Board of Public Works and Special Projects, as well as Secretary of the cabinet.

My friend commented on this as well. Apparantly he runs through his resume pretty quickly and doesn't go into any detail. Well, don't you think that is a lot of executive experience? I think it is and I would like to know more about these positions, what he accomplished, how many direct reports he had, etc.

Now the most impressive sounding part of his curriculum vitae is:

Director of the Board of Public Works and Special Projects
Secretary of the cabinet

As impressive as they sound must have come with a great deal of responsibility. He should elaborate on his roles and responsibilities in these positions. On the surface they sound great, but I used to be a Petroleum Tranfer Engineer (I pumped gasoline) and a Transportation Specialist (I sold cars).

I wish Mr. Ulman would dispell the suspicion that he is fluffing up his resume.

This site gets a lot of visitors from State Government. Even the Executive Office of the President of the United States visits (I am honored). Perhaps one of the State employees who visits can post some information on those two positions? I would appreciate it as would my readers.

Council Vacancy - District Two

2006-03-29T09:29:00.000-05:00

Hayduke has a good post on this.

I think the general sentiment about David Rakes is that he is devoted to the community, wants to do the right thing, but for a number of reasons couldn't take it anymore. The Republican's and Democrats have differing opinions on what those "number of reasons" could be, but I don't think we should kid ourselves.

He didn't get the respect he deserved from Mssrs. Ulman and Guzzone. He found respect in Mssrs. Merdon and Feaga who naturally needed his support. When Rakes did the unthinkable and formed a coalition with the GOP he became unwelcome in his own party.

We have read what Ulman said in the paper. I wonder what he said outside of earshot of a reporter.

In the end Mr. Rakes was prepared for community service, but not for politics.

Now, who is going to get the appointment?

I think it will be Calvin Ball. The Democrats want to keep this seat and will do what is right for the party. Forget neutrality. This is an election year after all.

I met Calvin Ball four years ago and I still remember him. He is very articulate, presents himself very well, seems to be well liked - simply very polished. I don't know much more about him except that he seems to be very popular among the Democrats.

What some people have told me is that he is an independent thinker and NOT "an attack dog".

I am wondering what Ken Ulman thinks about all of this. I would think that he would want to turn these events to his advantage. Chris Merdon has lost a reliable vote in David Rakes and this could be a disadvantage for him - thus an advantage for Ulman. However, will Ulman want more? Maybe he wants exercise a heavy hand in the process and hand pick the appointee so he has more influence on the Council. I don't know. It is all speculation.

Will Ulman take an active role in the selection process? I am sure he will.
Will Ulman do so publicly or behind the scenes? I think he can't help himself and can't avoid being seen as the man of action and will be public about it.
If he is public about it that would infer that he will promote a particular candidate. Would he take that risk? How would it look if his candidate isn't appointed?

This is a lot more speculative and intriguing than when Allan Kittleman was appointed to the Maryland Senate, and then Charlie Feaga was appointed to County Council.

On Charlie's appointment to County Council. I wonder if the Republican Central Committee knew then what it knows now (Chief Livesay) if they would have appointed Charlie Feaga to the seat. Perhaps something for the Democrats to keep in mind.

Merger-veto bill's legality questioned

2006-03-29T08:58:00.000-05:00

The story from The Baltimore Sun

Legislation that would give lawmakers veto power over Constellation Energy
Group's merger with a Florida utility owner may run afoul of both the state and
federal constitutions, several legal experts say - raising further questions
about efforts in Annapolis to deal with a crisis over electric rate increases.

When I first heard about this my thought was that these people want to have their cake and eat it too. Everyone is looking for an advantage here, or a big stick to hit someone over the head with.

This legislation was dead on arrival. Those who proposed it, let it be voted on, and voted for it KNEW that it was bad legislation and unconstitutional. So why did they push the legislation through? I got this information before the vote.

It is called "FEEL GOOD LEGISLATION". The thinking among many of the elected is like this "Those dummys (I mean voters) don't know how to spell BGE so they won't know this legislation won't do a thing. But it sure looks good! I can say I stood up against the big guy even though this legislation is a complete waste of time."

The only one I see trying to solve the problem is Ehrlich.

PUBLIC CONFERENCE: Doughoregan Manor

2006-03-28T22:33:00.000-05:00

April 8th 2006
Slayton House, Columbia

To learn more about the history of Doughoregan Manor and preservation options to protect it, Howard County citizens are invited to a countywide conference on Saturday, April 8, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at Slayton House at Columbia’s Wilde Lake Village Center.

Free and open to the public, the Conference will feature expert speakers on the history of the Carrol family and Doughoregan Manor and its importance to Maryland and national history, as well as current preservation and development options.
Although the Conference is free, registration is required to ensure a space. Get more details...

Give Michael Some Credit

2006-03-28T20:57:00.000-05:00

The Maryland GOP is keeping this one alive, as they should.

Read the following:

ANNAPOLIS—Following the guilty plea by former Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) staffer Lauren Weiner and mounting evidence that the theft of Lt. Governor Michael Steele’s identity was done at the behest of top DSCC personnel, Maryland Republican Party Chairman John Kane released the following statement concerning the silence of Lt. Gov. Michael Steele’s opponents and the Maryland Democratic Party on the theft of Steele’s credit report by the DSCC:

“While Senator Barbara Mikulski was quick to call the theft of Lt. Gov. Steele’s credit report by the DSCC ‘deceitful, despicable and wrong,’ the Lieutenant Governor’s entire primary field of opponents and the Maryland Democratic Party has maintained a deafening silence on this matter.

“Today, I am calling on Maryland’s Democratic U.S. Senate candidates and the Maryland Democratic Party to join their junior senator - Senator Mikulski - in stating for the record how deeply troubling this situation is, and to denounce the disturbing, illegal actions committed against Michael Steele and his family.”

Another view on Belmont

2006-03-28T20:15:00.000-05:00

I supposed we will call this writer an anonymous columnist. The writer has an opinion worth repeating.

Regarding Belmont... I'm glad that folks are finally grasping the stickiness of the situation there... But.. I gotta tell you... you really let Mr. Lundy off the hook. Mr. Lundy was a member of the Board when that deal was made. As was Anne Johnson- manager of Belmont. This is no excuse for Dr. Duncan to buy their "sweet" deal without doing due diligence to fully understand the commitment she was entering... But there is an ethical squishiness to Board members selling the college on a deal that benefits them personally. This doesn't even get into the financing- where it came from- and whether or not that institution was peddling favors to its board members. That said- I may be pollyannaish... but I think there was no intent to circumvent law or ethics in assembling this deal... it was just an attempt to build something that was mutually beneficial.. .and no one looked hard enough to make sure there was separation of interests. It looks bad, smells bad... but I don't think Dr. Duncan or Mr. Lundy knowingly, deliberately violated ethics. (Dr. D. explained many times publicly- Mr. Lundy's involvement... the possibility of development... that it was a loan not a gift. I think the only place she implied it was a "gift" was in front of the Delegation.)(You likely know that many investors looked at Belmont while it was quietly on the market. All recognized that it had some limited development potential- but all rejected it because the development potential was not economically significant enough to cover the cost of running a second road. The only way that any developer could have made money on this deal was by structuring it so that a public entity built the road).

In any case... I think it's hard to say that Lundy was fine but Duncan was bad... They are either both fine... or both bad.

It's GREAT to read an opinion on the news- whether or not I agree with it. Thank you for taking the time to keep up your blog...

More on Belmont

2006-03-27T09:44:00.000-05:00

Does this stink? The more deeply one reads into this the more one has questions.

Mr. Lundy gives $1 million and says:

His intention, he said, was to build senior housing and split the profits with the foundation to help retire the $4.2 million loan the college obtained -- in addition to his $1 million -- that was used to buy the property from the American Chemical Society in November 2004.

Also this:

However, Lundy is likely to receive a refund if County Executive James N. Robey's plan to have the county buy the 68-acre estate and the adjoining 13-acre Dobbin property is consummated, county officials said.

She said she hopes that if the Robey plan for county purchase of the estate goes through, Lundy will be repaid his $1 million, but the deal is not automatic.

Chip Lundy is a businessman. He is utilizing all available means to run his business. I don't fault him for identifying a business opportunity and make a profit.

However, Ms. Duncan's less than forthright explanation to Mr. Lundy's involvement ($1 million to be exact) and now the County Executive coming forward to bail out the college and refund Mr. Lundy's failed investment makes one wonder if their is more to this story.

Is this a sweetheart deal gone bad and now going good?

I have long thought that Mr. Robey has been too cozy with the development community. He has collected over $19,000 from that community during his political career. One must wonder - would Mr. Robey use County funds to bail out any other business deals gone sour?

Save Belmont's Web Site

Posted this question on its FAQ page

How will HCCEF pay for the purchase of Belmont?

A recent financial report shows that HCCEF had about $200,000 in unrestricted funds, and liabilities of $500,000 before this purchase. The County Executive has also stated that the county doesn’t have the funds to help buy the property.

Under these conditions, HCCEF has entered into an “educational partnership” with a developer, a HCCEF Board member until October 2004. According to the Washington Post, the developer paid the $1,000,000 down payment and is paying the mortgage for the first two years.

To recoup his investment, the developer is apparently attempting to build houses on the property or next to it on current state park land. To do this, the developer needs a new access road, and county water and sewer. The developer is pursuing the purchase/swap of level, forested Patapsco State Park land for a large portion of Belmont's rolling hills that is less conducive to development.

Turns out they were right. The State DNR denied the request for the property swap. Note that the County Executive said we didn't have the money to help buy the property. Given our $20 million surplus now we do and future surpluses will go to operate the property. Mary Ellen Duncan's tactics on this fiasco should not be rewarded. She got the college in way over its head on this and brought in a private developer to help fund her strategy and tried to re-write the easments so that the developer and the college could benefit from developing the property.

Belemont would be great for the college. However, they bit off more than the could chew, they were less than forthcoming with the Legislature and the citizens, and the neighbors.

Would the County be a good steward of the property? Yes, I think so. Would it make for a wonderful public space for residents? It certainly would.

Should Chip Lundy be reimbursed for speculating about developing the property? No he shouldn't and Jim Robey should be encouraged not to reward anyone for such speculation. What do you think?

Belmont - Trust issue over Belmont

2006-03-26T20:18:00.000-05:00

The Baltimore Sun has a number of reports on this. The latest can be found here, Trust issue over Belmont

Trust issue? Do you really think so?

This is getting very strange.

She actually testified to the State Legislature.

Despite previous assertions by college President Mary Ellen Duncan that builder Harry L. "Chip" Lundy contributed $1 million to the deal as a gift, Duncan and Lundy said this week it actually was part of a written agreement to develop senior housing at the 18th-century estate.

Now Jim Robey is planning to take the property off the College's hands. Conveniently the issue goes away just when it was really getting interesting.

Council Web Site

2006-03-26T20:06:00.000-05:00

When Chris Merdon made his comments regarding Jim Robey's use of the County web site Merdon rightfully called Robey on the carpet for politicizing the County web site for his own purposes.

He does politicise the site. Go read it (co.ho.md.us) County Executive did this, that, and had PBJ for lunch (you can hear him chewing on one of his podcasts). The power of incumbancy.

Merdon's comments about the County Executive and the County web site came on the heels of a mis-statement that the Council could take advantage of new technology that the county may soon implement if the Executive gave his approval. Well, I would have taken a firm stance agains the County Execuive too. Why should the executive have any say over the Council web site or the judicial branch web site, or the school board web site, etc.?

This story is simply this.

A NON-STORY. Is the news so slow....

Pat Black to run for Central Committee

2006-03-26T20:03:00.000-05:00

Pat Black is bowing out of the District 2 County Council race and supporting candidate Gina Ellrich, 39, of Ellicott City

Not much to say on that topic.

Scrutinize O'Malley

2006-03-22T06:00:00.000-05:00

The Baltimore Sun's "article" about Michael Steele receiving contibutions from charitable organizations that received funds from the state made me wonder about campaign contributions to Martin O'Malley in the unfolding scandle regarding Baltimore City Council President Sheila Dixon.

Dixon probe is widened

A number of names tied to the events are mentioned.

Two names in particular show up as contributors to Mayor O'Malley's campaign:

Claude Edward Hitchcock who donated $1,250 to Mr. O'Malley's campaigns

and

Mildred Boyer (Utech's president) who made a $4,000 contribution in June 2005.

I wonder if the Baltimore Sun will be writing about this anytime soon.

Scrutinize This

2006-03-21T09:46:00.000-05:00

The Baltimore Sun put out a hatchet piece on Lt. Gov. Michael Steele. They suggest or imply that excess funds that the State distributed to charity were connected to political donations.

I heard Lt. Gov. Steele speaking on WBAL last week and this came up. If I recall correctly his office received an inquiry about the excess funds that the State had to spend or give to charity. Would the Lt. Gov have any suggestions. According to Steele his office replied with a list and never heard about it again - UNTIL the hatchet machine went to work.

Here is the hatchet piece by Jennifer Skalka.

Relative to The Sun article "Donations to Steele scrutinized" the article states that the Lt. Gov collected thousands of dollars in contributions from non-profits who were recepients of State Grants prior to his announcement that he would run for US Senate (but also while he was publicly considering a run in 2010 for Governor).

The article references "nods and winks". It also says he was the "sole decision-maker as to how these moneys were to be allocated."

The article's first paragraph says "...organizations selected by his [Steele's] office ..." but 7 paragraphs later the article states Steele's office was "asked... to recommend African-American organizations to receive the proceeds."

Was he or was he not the "sole-decision maker"? The article isn't clear.

The article also omits that Mike Little's Oxon Hill company contributed to the Steele campaign in 2003.

The rest of the article basically comes down to the issue of appearances.

Lets turn our attention to Congressman Benjamin Cardin. From the Congressman's website:

Benjamin L. Cardin ... is a member of the Ways and Means Committee, Ranking Member of the Trade Subcommittee and a member of the Human Resources Subcommittee.

Ways and Means is responsible for raising Federal revenue to finance the Federal Government. This includes individual and corporate income taxes, excise taxes, estate taxes, gift taxes, and other miscellaneous taxes, has jurisdiction over the authority of the Federal Government to borrow money, also includes conditions under which the U.S. Department of the Treasury manages the Federal debt, such as restrictions on the conditions under which certain debt instruments are sold and has jurisdiction over most of the programs authorized by the Social Security Act.

Subcommittee on Trade is responsible for bills and matters referred to the Committee on Ways and Means that relate to customs and customs administration including tariff and import fee structure.

Subcommittee on Human Resources include bills and matters referred to the Committee on Ways and Means that relate to the public assistance.

Now that is a very dry description of Ways and Means. Please understand. This is a very very powerful group of men.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In recent times, Ways and Means has been one of the most important committees in a policy sense, due to its wide jurisdiction. While it lacks the prospects for reelection help that come with the Appropriations Committee, it is seen as a valuable post for two reasons. First, since its range is so broad, members with a wide array of policy concerns often seek positions, simply to be able to influence policy decisions. Major issues that have gone through this committee read like a laundry list of important bills, including welfare reform, a Medicare prescription drug benefit, President George W. Bush's tax cuts, and NAFTA and other free trade agreements. Second, given the wide array of interests that are affected by the committee, a seat makes it very easy to collect campaign contributions.

The following information comes from Political Money Line

Ben Cardin 2005 - 2006 Fundraising Cycle as a Senate Candidate from PACs
1. Finance, Insurance $63,000
2. Organized Labor $58,750
3. Health Care $52,500
4. Single-Issue Groups $41,249
5. Law $35,600
6. Energy, Natural Resources $24,100
7. Transportation $13,999
8. Business - Retail, Services $13,000
9. Communication, Technology $5,200

Ben Cardin 2005 Fundraising Cycle as a member of Congress from PACs

1. Finance, Insurance $92,209
2. Organized Labor $81,509
3. Health Care $31,500
4. Defense $14,000
5. Manufacturing $10,324
6. Law $9,000
7. Business - Retail, Services $9,000
8. Transportation $6,000
9. Single-Issue Groups $6,000

Does it mean anything at all that Ben Cardin raises money from the very industries he regulates? Where is the Baltimore Sun's article on this. Why don't they scrutinize the $2M plus that Congressman Cardin has raised from individuals? Why are attorney's who represent industries that Cardin regulates not reviewed?

Does it really matter? No it doesn't, unless you are Michael Steele (R).

I would recommend that the Baltimore Sun write an article about Congressman Ben Cardin and his campaign fundraising as a member of the very influential Ways and Means Committee, Ranking Member of the Trade Subcommittee and a member of the Human Resources Subcommittee?

Robey Threatens Tax Cut Veto

2006-03-08T06:29:00.000-05:00

Larry Carson of the Baltimore Sun reports in this story further on Robey's veto threat. I think he will do it.

Don't let the effective dates and first year savings on these competing tax cuts fool you.

Feaga calls it a very small decrease. In the first year it is... Run the math on a $400,000 home and use the current property tax rates. The savings snowball over time. That 1% decrease in the cap is not insignificant - it is huge. I like that. It doesn't cut County revenue it limits the revenue.

Compared to Robey's tax rate cut proposal, which I like too, Feaga saves tax payers a lot more money over three years than Robey's plan. Take the math out 7 years and the savings are twice what Robey's plan proposes.

That is what this arguement is about. That is why we have all the name calling.

The Democrat scare tactic on this is hollow. If it becomes law today they can make a new law tomorrow.

What I want Robey to elaborate on is this comment from the article:

"I wanted the world to know, and the three sponsors of the bill to know, I'm not playing politics with the future of the county for $4 a month. I'm still $3 million short of balancing the operating budget [for next year]," Robey said.

First, he must know we are talking about more than just $4.00 a month or he would not have threatened the veto (same goes for The Me Too Kid and Guzzone). Tell me about this $3M!

You have a $20M surplus this year. (The County has to spend it this year and it won't go into next year's operating budget - it is the law.) Is he saying that he spent next years $20M surplus already?

Lets see:

$20M - $9M for tax cuts - $6M for the rainy day fund (assuming he does the same next year) = $5M. Throw in Feaga's tax cut and now we have a $1.2M surplus next year. Where is Robey short $3M? Before or after Feaga's tax cut. It sounds like before.

What! You spent it all! Didn't you promise to give that money back if the County ran surpluses after you raised income taxes 30%? You might not meant all of it - but I did. MR. ROBEY, HOWARD COUNTY DOES NOT NEED ANOTHER HELICOPTER. (That is a joke - as far as I know their are no hidden helicopter appropriations in this years budget, unlike last years).

The whole arguement for tax increases was to maintain our standard of living in a time when tax revenues were declining. Well, we aren't there anymore. You generated surpluses and you want to give less than half back to the tax payers.

Here is the Conservative view on this. Government should not raise more money than it needs to operates because when they do they will spend it. The cycle of tax increases will continue with that kind of mentality, Government will grow as a result of the continued infusion of new revenues, and eventually exhaust the citizen's ability to pay for bloated Government. Put County Government on a diet now before it grows too obese for us to control.

So, Mr. Ulman can stand shoulder to shoulder with Mr. Robey on this. Both of you are confirming, for fiscal conservatives, your tax and spend credentials.

I encourage everyone reading this post to take a hard look at the 2005, 2006, and 2007 budgets and find out where our money is going.

I challenge every candidate for COUNTY COUNCIL to weigh in on this issue because it will come up again.

David Titman

2006-03-07T10:41:00.000-05:00

In a previous post regarding Howard County Circuit Court Republican Candidate David Titman said he wasn't going to accept money from lawyers.

Now I am told that Mr. Titman had a fundraiser in which he invited a lot of lawyers. The people who told me this are insistent that it happened and that the fundraiser was a bust.

I have urged my sources to come forward with a copy of the invitation.

If this is true, and it is only an allegation at this point, then I am very concerned about Mr. Titman and his campaign rhetoric.

Perhaps Luke Broadwater of the Howard County Times can make some phone calls among Howard County's legal profession and verify this rumor. I will give him a call.

Catholic School Math

2006-03-07T10:36:00.000-05:00

Interesting positions on the County Council vote on Tax Assessments and Robey's reaction. Apparantly Ken Ulman agrees with the County Executive that this is irresponsible.

Howard officials approve cut in property tax assessment cap, by Larry Carson

A 1% decrease in the cap resulting in a $3.8M tax cut and the Republicans are now irresponsible.

Doesn't the County have a $20M surplus? If my Catholic School math is correct $3.8M plus $9M (Robey's proposed property tax decrease) = $12.8M leaving the county a $7.3M surplus which is more than enough to cover the $6M earmarked for the rainy day fund.

Do you know what I am going to do with my $46.00? I am going to buy my kid a new pair of school shoes - no kidding.

The Me Too Kid strikes again…

2006-03-07T10:28:00.000-05:00

On February 19, 2006 the Baltimore Sun reported on campaigning activity in Howard County.

County Council Chairman Christopher J. Merdon, a Republican running for county executive…and several fellow Republicans have been out waving signs and knocking on doors several times a week for months -- rain, snow or shine.

Some, such as County Councilman Ken Ulman, a west Columbia Democrat running for county executive, haven't begun street campaigning.

"I think the grass-roots efforts are good ideas generally," he said, though he worried a bit about distracting drivers with a big sign in rush hour. "I'm not doing it in winter."

Well, guess what. Ken Ulman has been spotted “Sign Waving” today, March 7, 2006 only a mere 16 days after being quoted above in The Baltimore Sun.

Why do I want to bring this to your attention? For a number of reasons:

First, Mr. Ulman has reportedly conducted a poll. I have not heard the details or the results of the poll. I suspect that the results were not good if he reversed himself and started sign waving.

If that is the case then Mr. Ulman should take a page from Jim Robey’s playbook and move to Montgomery County and run for County Executive there.

[If you recall Jim Robey conducted a poll to measure his prospects in a Senate run against Allen Kittleman and the results told him to sell his house and move to Sandy Schrader’s district and run against her because he had a better chance.]

Second, he could be concerned or his backers are getting concerned people or maybe because Merdon has be sign waving in Ulman's backyard for a year. Probably and most likely he started sign waving because it appears to work for Mr. Merdon.

Why else should he contradict his statements from February 19th, and his legislation which banned all roadside activities that might cause a distraction to drivers on county roads? Is he getting desperate this early?

Perhaps you will also recall that almost two years ago legislation that Mr. Ulman’s created and ushered it through County Council that banned all roadside activity on County Roads went into effect. The genesis of the legislation was safety because drivers were being distracted. The original legislation would have presumably included sign waving. If it hadn’t been for the efforts of then County Councilman Allen Kittleman, who managed to water down Mr. Ulman’s original legislation, then Mr. Ulman might not have had the opportunity to contradict himself and go sign waving today. Unintended consequences?

O'Malley and Crime

2006-03-03T10:03:00.002-05:00

MD GOP Newsletter put this out.

On Thursday, Senators Nancy Jacobs (R-Harford and Cecil Counties) and Jennie Forehand (D-Montgomery County) and Delegate Jill Carter (D-Baltimore City) announced crime reporting legislation that would provide whistleblower protections for police officers pressured by their superiors to manipulate crime data. Obviously Martin O’Malley has damaged the public’s trust in reporting crime.

Apparantly prompted by WBALs reporting of two men who were allegedly threatened by police for insisting upon reporting crimes to which they were victimes.

The WBAL Story here.

Private Property

2006-03-03T08:54:00.000-05:00

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

“Rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are equivalent to the rights of life, liberty, and property. These are the fundamental rights which can only be taken sway by due process of law . . . and these rights . . . belong to the citizens of every free government.” The Slaughter-House Cases, 83 U.S. 36, 116

The fifth amendment to the constitution states that "No person shall be . . . deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."

Huh? What is this guy talking about?

How about Senator Allan Kittleman's proposal to limit the County's power regarding eminent domain, which has killed by our delegation and lacked support from Jim Robey.

The story "At the Statehouse" appears in the Howard County Times.

Kittleman said;

his intent was to prevent Howard County from condemning property owned by private citizens, particularly those owning homes that might be considered blight or slum properties, then turn that property over to private developers for the purposes of urban renewal.

Very reasonable if you ask me.

Delegate Bobo said;

"I am reluctant to have an amendment to the Constitution that deals with eminent domain,"

Jim Robey said;

that the county needs the power of eminent domain when it becomes stalled in price negotiations with a property owner

Perhaps one of the greatest understatements in the article comes from the sponsor himself, Sen. Allan Kittleman.

"I think private property should be so sacred that it should be a constitutional amendment."

Well of course Kittleman is correct. Private property has been a guarenteed right in English Common law for centuries. The Maryland Constitution is based upon English Common Law. To suggest that one is reluctant to amend the State Constitution to ensure protection of private property is incredible. It is a Constitutional issue and if it is going to be protected what better place...

I am not a constitutional lawyer so let me direct you to a site that explains the history of Private Property in Anglo-American Laws, its influence on the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitutional Congress. This will help one to understand the intent of our founding fathers. LDS LAW

Through their emphasis on natural rights in defense of England’s Glorious Revolution, John Locke’s Treatises played a paramount role in the American founding. Following Grotius and Pufendorf, as well as other natural rights theorists, Locke first reaffirmed the natural rights of life and liberty. Then Locke conflated these rights with the right to property, defining the latter as “Life, Liberty and Estate.”[8] In short, Locke “tried to prove that property is natural, that the right to property is a natural right, and that private ownership is an institution, not of man, but of nature.”[9] In this way, the Lockean natural rights triumvirate of “life, liberty, and property” came into being.

Just to dismass Kittleman's legislation because of the Constitutional implications is just outrageous and shows a complete lack of committment to property rights. Isn't it Governments role to ensure property rights?

From an economic perspective the protection of individual property rights has been the foundation of our prosperity. If property rights can't be guarenteed then chaos ensues.

Look at Russia as an example. When the USSR collapsed the Government owned it all. They sold off property and the trouble began when various parties came forward to claim "historic" family property, or Government reconfiscated property it had previously privitized, bribery, influence, cronyism, and corruption ruled the day and the process. Why would Exxon-Mobile agree to spend millions of dollars exploring and extractin oil in Siberia if they had now guarentee of the oil rights? (Come on in with your equipment, extract the oil, but you have to give it to the Russian government - sorry it doesn't work). During this time Russia could not get meaningful international investment because those investors insisted upon the certainty of property rights - which couldn't be guarenteed in the current environment. Not until property rights were ensured did Russia start seeing meaningful international investment. (Then Yukos happened and the investors grew skitish again - so by no means is it a settled issue). Now I speak about Russia with some direct experience. Their is a huge building boom taking place all over that country - I witnessed it myself. Old Soviet style buildings are crumbling, are not adequate to meet the needs of today's business environment, and are not worth renovating. The introduction of western contruction methods and materials have transformed the skylines of Moscow and other major cities in Russia, created thousands of jobs, spurring the economy, and sparking a huge housing boom which is influenced by western styles and materials. This could not have happened without the guarentee of property rights. After all why build an apartment or office building or even a home if the Government is just going to take it away? Anyone know of a Russian REIT I can invest in? I have been looking and can't find one.

Are we in that situation? No, of course not. We are not even close. That is because traditionally we protect those rights rather jealously. Given recent events it is not unreasonable to revisit the issue and even strengthen our rights.

What about that Ms. Bobo and Mr. Robey? Are Government's rights to private property more important than an individuals? Can Government threaten our liberty through the erosion of private property rights?

How Olesker Got Busted!

2006-03-02T16:20:00.000-05:00

I wondered what prompted the Baltimore Sun to review Michael Olesker's work which led to his firing - er resignation. I stumbled across this article in which The Washington Times mentions the Olesker incident.

Editors gain tool to help root out plagiarism

Newspapers have a newfangled foil for the old problem of plagiarism. LexisNexis, the Internet-based information service, now offers CopyGuard, described by spokeswoman Elizabeth Rector as a "plagiarism detection solution."

Using a "similarity index," CopyGuard produces the exact percentage of suspect text that originated from an outside source within minutes, even underlining the offending passages.
The system was tested on a trial basis by the Baltimore Sun to filter six years' worth of columns by Michael Olesker, who resigned in January after failing to attribute some of his sources.

This led me to research a little further and find that the Baltimore City Paper actually broke this story wide open with an impressive investigative report.

They followed up with this article that is pretty much the same content as The Washington Times Story. I hope they didn't plagerize The City Paper.

The City Paper wrote about this in their reporting of Olesker's firing.

Maybe this is old news to you, but the circulation of The City Paper is 100,000 copies and not widely distributed beyond Baltimore City itself. So, dear reader, I thought I would bring it to your attention - just in case. Not because I wanted to bash the liberal Michael Olesker, but because I was impressed by the liberal City Paper's investigative reporting.

Chief Livesay Is Staying - For Now.

2006-03-01T06:37:00.000-05:00

The Chief will stay through or up until April of this year. At that point he will take an early retirement.

All this according to Larry Carson's story in The Baltimore Sun. I give him credit. I think he is doing the right thing by the department and the community. This shows he is a stand up guy - despite his "political opportunism".

Larry goes on to discuss possible friction in the GOP because of the Chief's "political opportunism".

Larry spoke to our current Council Member in District Five.

County Councilman Charles C. Feaga, a western county Republican, has jumped firmly on Livesay's bandwagon...

"I want someone to represent us who knows that section of the county," Feaga said. "[Livesay] went to school at Glenelg High with some of the farm kids out there. He knows [the area] so well, and he's very active in his church -- a religious person.

"You have to realize that before politics you have to look at issues and the person," Feaga added

Charlie, you need to look at yourself. Many people still carry a grudge with you because they think you are the reason Jim Robey won County Executive in 1998. For our readers here is the background.

A nasty GOP primary ensued in 1998 between Charlie Feaga and Denis Schrader. Schrader won, Charlie was pissed and swung his support to Robey and actively campaigned for him. I think he even showed up at a Robey rally. I got all this second hand - I was living in Baltimore City at the time.

Charlie, I would also encourage you to take your own advise "...look at issues and the person..." What do you know about Greg Fox? What do you have to say about the Chief's political opportunism? Before you "look at a person" do you have to fist consider where they were born and went to school?

Another question. Charlie, are you sure that the Chief won't switch parties again if he were to win the general election? Given the warm support of Ulman and Guzzone who see a potential ally in the Chief I don't put this scenerio far outside the realm of possibility.

Greg has a wife and a family living in District 5 and is deeply concerned about the way of live in the District. He knows the issues, wants to campaign and has been campaigning. He is devoted to doing this. To Greg this is not his retirement hobby.

Howard County Circuit Court Election

2006-02-28T20:39:00.000-05:00

Luke Broadwater of the Howard County Times wrote this story regarding a race that usually gets little attention, but should.

We have two judges that sit on the Circuit Court who were appointed by Gov. Robert Ehrlich. As State Law demands they need to stand for election in the next general election, which as we know if this year.

First let me admit my bias. I know Rick Bernhardt. He is a great person, as fair as a the finest day in the year. I was honored when Rick asked me to write him a letter of recommendation to Gov. Ehrlich for the position when I was President of the Howard County Republican Club. Even if I say so myself it was one of the best letters I have written, and given the subject and person I found it very easy to write. I have also had the pleasure of meeting Rick's wife, who is a public defender in Baltimore City. She too is a very impressive person. I would hope that Rick would aspire to something higher than the Circuit Court.

I don't know Louis Becker.

I have met David Titman. He was also vying for an appointment to the bench but was passed over in the selection process. So, I have to wonder, how much of his campaign is fueled by resentment. I don't know what his real feelings are regarding being passed over, but the general talk is that he was none to pleased when he didn't get the appointment. I have only met him once and he seems to be a very nice guy, but doesn't come across as real personable (certainly not a requirement for being a good judge).

Now to the heart of the story.

David Titman has pledged not to accept donations from lawyers. Bernhardt and Becker wonder "Why not?". The judicial process is the most transparent process in the land. Does David Titman really think that if a judge made an error in a decision that their political donations wouldn't be highly scrutinized in that matter?

I wrote an earlier post on political donations by developers. Developers contribute heavily to our County Council and Executive candidates - they have a right to do so as they are citizens too. I think it is fair to raise the question in the case of developers and it is fair to raise the question regarding lawyers in this case. We need to be careful and watchful of undo influence in government. That doesn't mean people who have an interest in government should be banned from contributing.

What I have issue with is this statement by David Titman:

"I think for a committee of sitting judges to send out a letter of solicitation to lawyers, that makes me feel uncomfortable from an ethical standpoint," Titman said. "It puts pressure on the lawyers. If the lawyer doesn't contribute, is there some issue the lawyer has to worry about?"

What? Is he implying that Bernhardt and Becker are on the take or could be? Seriously, questioning their integrity in this manner is really bold - to be nice about it. If he has something on them come out with it. This is simple mud slinging.

With that said, if David Titman wins a seat on the Circuit Court for the next 15 years and I for some reason end up in front of him - I take all this back.

Baltimore City Council Votes To Audit O’Malley’s “Crime Fighting”

2006-02-28T08:38:00.000-05:00

Stolen in whole from The Hedge Hog Report because it is worth reading.

From The Baltimore Sun reports:

The council approved a resolution last night that would attempt to create a task force of academic experts to audit crime statistics. Most council members said they were certain that such a review - whose details and costs were unclear - would erase doubts raised by O’Malley’s critics.

The issue of whether the mayor has accurately portrayed the city’s violent crime reduction during his tenure has become a political touchstone that his opponents in the race for governor - Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and Democratic Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan - have used to try to cast doubts on the mayor’s credibility.

O’Malley had this rather perplexing retort.

“This is like attacking John Kerry’s rationale for his Purple Hearts in order not to have to talk about draft dodging and not going to war when you were called up,” the mayor added

[HOCOBLOG COMMENT: With logic like that I soon expect to see links on O'Malley's campaign web site to Doug Duncan's and Bob Ehrlich's web sites. Seriously, if O'Malley is confident of his crime statistics, and it appears that he is, let the audit go forward and be quiet about it. His commentary makes him look like he is hiding something. Let the audit go forward and he can come back and say "Shame on you." Act like and adult! Oh - Doug Duncan and Patricia Jesemey already said that, didn't they.]

Okaaaay….

O’Malley has been helped somewhat recently with the Port story dominating the local news. However, WBAL continues their great reporting on this issue with another disturbing story about O’Malley’s police department fabricating police reports in order to hold down the crime rate. You have to read it to believe it.

[HOCOBLOG COMMENT: Disturbing Story is a wild understatement. Of course the Mayor can reasonably claim he would not be aware of these incidents - and honestly why should he any more than he should be aware of the School systems financial condition?]

Chief Livesay II

2006-02-28T08:31:00.000-05:00

From the Washington Post's Amit Paley

Unease Over Police Chief's Campaign

I think Amit got it right on this one.

I am sure that Chief Livesay is a standup guy, despite some recent issues in the department.

Despite what the County Code says, I think that now he is a registered candidate (despite my feelings about his choice of parties) it would serve him and the County best to resign from the police department.

Any appearance of impropriety. Common cause put it best.

"The bottom-line question is, will the influence of campaign money affect the way he performs his job?" said Bobbie Walton, executive director of Common Cause Maryland. "The fact that he has the ability to arrest people and even put them in jail creates more of a concern."

We will know a lot more tomorrow after his meeting with Robey.

School Buses

2006-02-27T09:55:00.000-05:00

Here is a topic that effects every community and should be of particular interest to all residents.

When I witness this type of behavior my blood boils. What is going to have to happen in order to have safety laws enforced. A tragedy?

The Maryland State Police has given $10,000 to the Howard County Police Department for enforcement efforts in this area. Fines for violating School Bus laws are $550.00. Based upon reports by just one bus driver in Howard County he has witnessed 150 such violations since schools opened in August. That amounts ot $82,500 in fines. I think a $550.00 fine is stiff enough, but if it isn't enforced what is the point. Speaking of points - all Maryland State Law ascribes to such violators is 3 points. That is not enough.

The Howard County Times published a letter from a school bus driver in Howard County who has documented 150 incidents of people ignoring school bus red lights. Some of the violations have been brazen. Ignorance is no excuse. If you see a school bus proceed with caution. If you see a school bus with yellow lights - stop anyway and don't wait for the red lights.

Make your officials enforce laws on school bus lights

I drive a school bus in Columbia. The first day of school was Aug. 29. In the ensuing 101 school days through Feb. 9, 150 drivers have run my red lights while I was picking up the children of your community. It has not been limited to a single type of driver. Men, women, teens, older drivers and commercial vehicles have all been involved. There has even been a vehicle with an FOP tag run my lights.

It has happened on heavily traveled roads as well as in neighborhoods. Last year, one person crossed a double yellow line, passed six vehicles and my bus as my red lights were flashing because she was more important than your children's safety.

I talk with my fellow drivers, and while none have kept a running count, they also have many problems with drivers running their lights. I am just one bus, multiply what has occurred around my bus by the number of buses in Howard County and there is a huge problem in Howard County.

You need to contact the county executive, the school board and the police department and have the law dealing with stopped school buses enforced strictly.

Just over a month ago, there was well-deserved outrage in Columbia at a school bus driver who put children off the bus at a place other than the correct stop. Will there be outrage at 150 drivers running a single school bus' red lights? I can only hope there will be.

Ken Boyer

Pasadena, Md.

So, tell me, what happened to the $10K and how is it being used?
Should video cameras be placed on school buses? If so what should they be used for? To catch these careless/selfish people? Fine them? Enforcement?

The Washington Times

2006-02-20T17:08:00.000-05:00

I really like the Washington Times. It is well written. It is a Conservative Newspaper. However, that doesn't mean it is a Republican Newspaper.

The Washington Times is an Equal Opportunity Critic. They don't care who you are. Read the Opinion Section and sometimes you would think it was the New York Times bashing George W. Bush again. Don't take my word for it. It is a free read online.

The only thing going against it is that it really isn't a local paper. It is a national read. It does cover DC issues, but not to great detail. They did a great series of articles on Clarksburg's development fiasco and broke the story. (I wish they would do the same in Howard County). If they increased local coverage I think they could easily take market share away from the Post and the Sun.

The Washington Times

In today's Commentary Section we get two different views of the new Federal Reserve Baoard Chariman, Ben Bernanke. One optimistic and one cautious.

They also go into great length of an alleged cover up of Able Danger by the Bush administration.

They pointedly tell President Bush to quit relying on Gozales, Cheney and Rumsfeld as constitution scholars - because they aren't. The opinion piece also explains why gun rights advocates are siding with the ACLU on NSA wiretapping.

A revealing piece on Iraq and WMD. I have heard these allegations before - this is new background information. I don't say I believe the new information I am just saying read it for yourself.

Finally, in my opinion they nailed it on the head with this piece.

Ehrlich and the Democratic Left

Here is the first paragraph...

Thanks to Maryland Democratic Party chief Terry Lierman, House of Delegates Speaker Michael Busch and Senate President Mike Miller, Gov. Robert Ehrlich will have no shortage of issues to run on this year. If Mr. Ehrlich is to win re-election in a state where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by nearly 2-1 (and, equally important, enable Republicans to gain seats in the General Assembly) he will need to show voters that the Democratic Party establishment has swung so far to the left that it is out of touch with the values of Marylanders on subjects like felon voting, homosexual "marriage" and illegal immigration.

BTW: What is wrong with giving homosexual couples the same civil rights as married couples? The Washinton Times reported this from The National Review. This is what I have advocated all along as long as it guarenteed other protections for joint property, children, etc. and not just medical issues (although it is a start). If Gov. Ehrlich is truly a moderate he should consider similiar legislation.

A new idea
"The debate over gays and marriage in Colorado has recently taken a different turn from the national debate," Ramesh Ponnuru writes in National Review Online (www.nationalreview.com).
"Until a few weeks ago, the debate looked familiar. Gay-rights advocates were trying to get the legislature to enact a bill recognizing civil unions (or 'domestic partnerships') for same-sex couples. Social conservatives were trying to get voters to adopt a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Now conservative state senator Shawn Mitchell has changed the script by introducing legislation that grants some benefits to same-sex couples — with the support of James Dobson and Focus on the Family," Mr. Ponnuru said.
"His legislation results from an asymmetry in the debate. One of the reasons many people support civil unions or same-sex marriage is to get certain practical advantages for gay couples. The main reason other people oppose these policies is that they do not want the government to recognize homosexual relationships as marital, or even as akin to marriage.
"Mitchell's idea is to make certain benefits available to gay couples — and to many other pairs of people. His legislation would make it easier, for example, for gay men to arrange to give each other a say in their medical care by becoming 'reciprocal beneficiaries.' But two brothers, or a brother and sister, or two male friends, could enter the same arrangement. Thus there would be no recognition of homosexual relationships as such. (Hence Dobson's support.)

Go ahead, call me a Moonie. I don't care. It is still a great paper.

Sunday Roundup

2006-02-19T07:35:00.000-05:00

The Baltimore Sun had a lot to write about today. Good! So now I do too.

Democrats' bill-killing causes some GOP testiness

Originally published February 19, 2006

Howard County's 11 state legislators have been especially polite to each other in delegation meetings this election year, but after a final voting session Wednesday in Annapolis in which Democrats killed three Republican-sponsored local bills, a few verbal talons emerged.

Who can blame them. All three were good bills.

Bates argued that her bills would help taxpayers while Democrats said they would pre-empt county government tax-cut initiatives and cost millions of dollars in revenue.

And she is right and the democrats position is misleading at best. Just because the delegation approves the measure doesn't mean that it will pass the entire geneneral assembly. It also would have been a great prod to use against the County Executive and the County Council in order to get them to move on the issue.

Who could blame Del. Miller for hard feelings especially after his equally good bill was shot down by the delegation and earlier his Gasoline Bill has shot down in committee.

Sign Waiving

Come on. Please! A distraction for drivers? One accident since 1998? What was the source of this article? What prompted it?

I sign wave for candidates. It is effective and not a distraction. I went out to Patuxent and Brokenland with friends on Friday, in the rain for about 1 hour. We just put signs in the ground and watched over them. We got great visibility, a lot of car horns and waving (a few fingers), and generally got out message out.

Robey comments:

"I see people on cell phones, putting on makeup, eating their breakfast and reading the paper while driving," Robey said. "The last thing I want to do is have them looking over at me."

Made my day. Present legislation enforcing the use of headsets for cellphones when driving, and ticket the rest of these idiots. Don't attack free speach.

The real problem here is that Republicans love sign waving, are good at organizing the events, and they are effective. When the Democrats catch up we won't hear about this again. This issue is also reminicent of Ulman's earlier attempt to surpress sign waiving through his roadside vendor bill.

Ken Ulman Announcement

A letter appeared in the Sun complaining that The Sun didn't give Ulman's announcement adequate coverage, which amounted to an early endorsement for an unnamed Ulman opponent. Well, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Frankly, I think that it got any coverage at all ... (never mind).

Mr. Ulman's letter on Doughoregan Manor, which also appeared in the HoCo Times, appeared in the Sunday Edition of the Baltimore Sun. I have nothing further to add than my earlier post and the "Me Too Kid".

Chief Livesay and Quota Systems

2006-02-18T15:12:00.000-05:00

I have been a salesman for over 20 years selling mostly telecommunications products and services. For 20 years I carried a quota. It isn't an easy thing to carry a quota - one feels the "monkey on your back" all the time. Eventually you get used to it, but the monkey is still their.

When you go into sales you expect a quota. It is a business after all, and revenue is a critical component to keep the lights on and people paid. However, if you are a law enforcement officer quotas are a completely different thing.

Take a look how Howard County Police Officers feel about quotas in this Washington Post article.

Or look at the Baltimore Sun story

(Looks like the Chief got squeezed on this one.

This kind of policy creates divisions within the department.

Although some supervisors told their squads that they would not enforce the policy, others threatened their officers with disciplinary action if they did not comply, the sources said.

"Everyone was outraged that there might be disciplinary actions for not meeting a quota," one police source said.

This is surprising. The program has been in effect for two months and he is just hearing about complaints? I run an organization of 60 people in Maine, Boston, Maryland, and Irving, TX. I talk to everyone at every level in my organization because I want to know what is going on in the business, and to spot good talent. It doesn't take 2 months for complaints to reach me and I can't understand why it would take 2 months (3 months according to the Baltimore Sun Article) to reach anyone else.

According to the Post article:

Sherry Llewellyn, a department spokeswoman, said Chief G. Wayne Livesay suspended the directive for all officers yesterday morning after first learning about the complaints Thursday. He believes the officers "may have misinterpreted" the policy, she said.

The Sun says:

Howard Police Chief Wayne Livesay canceled the short-lived policy yesterday after learning about it from The Sun the day before. Up until then, Livesay said, he had not seen the written agreement between commanders and patrol supervisors dated Nov. 22 that included consequences, such as warnings and additional performance evaluations, for patrol officers who did not meet the drunken-driving arrest and traffic-stop "goals."

Hadn't seen the directive? Who is running the Police Department? Well I admit it isn't me, and I don't know how things operate in the Howard County Police Department or any other Police Department. All I know is that I know how I run my organization and it is very hands on - so something like this wouldn't escape my attention for 2 or 3 months. I don't believe for a moment that Chief Livesay doesn't have a handle on the day to day activities of his organization.

It is probably more accurate to say "suspended the directive... after first learning this would be printed in the paper and he is now running for County Council."

House Economic Matters Committee Kills Cheap Gas Bill

2006-02-17T13:13:00.000-05:00

I can't wait to hear and/or read the spin on this

February 17, 2006
Contact: Ellen Townsend (410) 841-3582

House Economic Matters Committee Kills Cheap Gas Bill

(Annapolis, MD) Today in Annapolis, members of the House Economic Matters Committee voted to kill House Bill 127, which would have provided for true competition in gasoline pricing in Maryland.

Delegate Warren Miller, the bill’s sponsor, stated “It’s unfortunate that the committee chose to protect Exxon and BP franchisees instead of Maryland consumers of gasoline”.

Joining Delegate Miller in support of the bill were Delegates Joanne Parrott of Harford County and Rick Impallaria of Baltimore and Harford Counties.

-----------------------------------

Members of the House Economic Matters Committee

Emmett C. Burns, Jr. No
Mary A. Conroy No
Brian J. Feldman No
Jeannie Haddaway No
Hattie N. Harrison Excused
Richard K. Impallaria Yes
Sally Y. Jameson No
Ruth M. Kirk No
Susan W. Krebs No
Carolyn J. Krysiak No
Mary Ann Love No
Brian K. McHale No
Warren E. Miller Yes
Joseph J. Minnick No
Brian R. Moe No
Joanne S. Parrott Yes
Herman L. Taylor, Jr. Excused
John G. Trueschler No
Michael L. Vaughn No
Mary Roe Walkup Absent
John F. Wood, Jr. Absent

Me Too Two on Doughoregan

2006-02-17T10:02:00.000-05:00

Ken Ulman' Letter to the Editor

Never one to be left out of the headlines or to jump into the fray. Councilman Ken Ulman submitted a letter to the Howard County Times regarding Doughoregan Manor. Councilman Christopher Merdon has taken a lead role in ensuring that all the relevant parties are participating in the discussions regarding preservation of the Manor and Mr. Ulman must want to be seen as a co-leader in the effots.

Mr. Ulman was absent from the recent tour of the property by State officials. Of course he was. Mr. Merdon arranged the tour and many elected officials were left off the invitee list in order to respect the wishes of the Carroll family.

I have a keen interest in this issue because of my Irish Catholic background and my involvement in the activities of the Irish Community - including the Ancient Order of Hibernians, past Chairman of the Baltimore St. Patrick Parade, current Chairman of the Board of St. Patrick Celebrations, Inc., and of course my extensive collection of traditional Irish music :)

Charles Carroll's cousin was John Carroll, also a native of Maryland. He studied as a child with Jesuits at Bohemia, Md., and later at Saint-Omer in Flanders, since Catholic secondary education was not allowed in Maryland.

According to his biography "[John]Carroll returned to his native Maryland as the Revolutionary War was being fought. Revolutionary spirits were high, and the state of government was uncertain. John Carroll was a true patriot and ardent supporter of the American Revolution. He joined Charles Carroll, his cousin and a Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence, and Benjamin Franklin, his good friend, in a diplomatic mission to Canada. The men went in hopes of persuading the Canadians to join the struggling American patriots in their revolt against Britain. Though their mission was unsuccessful, John Carroll had proven his dedication to democracy and to his country."

John Carroll later went on to become the first Roman Catholic Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church in America and his seat was in Baltimore.

To me the preservation of the Manor goes beyond the property itself. The contributions that the Carroll family made to the Revolution, and their faith is embodied in the property.

As for Mr. Ulman's statement:

I believe that one important component of these plans should be to guarantee that Howard County has the right of first refusal if and when the descendants of Charles Carroll choose no longer to keep Doughoregan Manor as their home. We must ensure that this treasure is kept in the hands of stewards who will appreciate and preserve it appropriately.

Why? Howard County alone can not preserve this property. It requires a partnership with other governmental agencies at the State and Federal level. The interest in this property goes way beyond the County's own interests. I also think Mr. Ulman misses an important point. No one but himself has suggested that the Carroll family will "Choose to no longer to keep Doughoregan Manor as their home". The whole point is to ensure that they can remain and continue their excellent stewardship - in private.

I am glad Mr. Ulman is interested and seemingly agrees with Mr. Merdon's position for the most part. However, I see his letter as a another "Me Too" moment.

Lt. Governor Sandra Schrader????

2006-02-16T10:31:00.000-05:00

Speculation abounds as to who Governor Ehrlich may pick for a running mate.

One name that has popped up twice is State Senator Sandra Schrader (Howard County)

In the Washington Times

The governor also has several women to consider as running mates, such as state Sen. Sandra B. Schrader, Howard County Republican, and Secretary of State Mary D. Kane, who is married to Maryland Republican Party Chairman John M. Kane.

and in The Gazette

‘‘Getting high marks from both GOPers and Dems — Ehrlich would be smart to add her to his ticket.”

Ehrlich appoints Reese to Howard Co. court

2006-02-15T08:52:00.000-05:00

I don't know her, but it is related to Howard County.

From The Baltimore Sun

She succeeds Becker as district judge

Originally published February 14, 2006, 5:15 PM EST
Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. today appointed Mary C. Reese to the Howard County District Court.

Her name will be submitted this week to the state Senate for confirmation to a 10-year term, the governor's office said. Reese succeeds Judge Louis A. Becker III, who was elevated to the Howard County Circuit Court last year.

Martin O'Malley and Crime Part II

2006-02-15T08:41:00.000-05:00

David Wissing at The Hedgehog Report is writing about this too.

Seems as though this is taking on a life of its own.

The Mayor continues to stand by his statements a la his campaign website.

Martin O’Malley believes public safety is the most basic responsibility of government and the foundation on which every successful community must be built. During his tenure, Mayor O’Malley teamed up with the Police Department and the people of Baltimore to enact a public safety strategy which produced the nation’s largest big city reduction in violent crime at the time – nearly 40% since 1999. Baltimore is advancing because of the courage of a community willing to tackle seemingly stubborn problems. Through years of tireless work and the leadership of the brave men and women of the police force, Mayor O’Malley has changed Baltimore for the better and saved lives.

*Martin O’Malley has cut Baltimore’s violent crime by nearly 40% – the largest decline among all major U.S. cities, and Baltimore’s lowest levels since the 1960s.
*Martin O’Malley shattered Baltimore’s string of 10+ years of more than 300 homicides, cutting homicides by an average of 18%. During his term as Mayor, the city recorded its fewest homicides since 1988.
*Martin O’Malley has fought for tougher sentences and lifetime tracking for sexual offenders, including the use of GPS technology.
Martin O’Malley’s Operation Safe Kids – a partnership to help at-risk youth led by *Baltimore’s Health Department – has achieved a 43% reduction in arrests for young people in the program. In May 2005, O’Malley outlined his Ten-Point Plan to Reform the Department of Juvenile Services.
*Martin O’Malley has increased the salaries of police officers.
*Martin O’Malley reduced citizen complaints of police officer excessive force and discourtesy and diversified the ranks of the Baltimore City’s Police Department by hiring more minorities and women.
*Martin O’Malley reformed public safety, resulting in more than 250 people being alive today and 24,000 fewer people being victims of violence.
*Martin O’Malley tackled the problem of drug addicted residents head on and led the fight to double the funding available for drug treatment. As a result, Baltimore had the nation’s second largest decline in drug-related emergency room visits.
*Martin O’Malley has made Baltimore a safer city and because of that, the city’s five decade long population loss has ended and new residential and commercial investment in the city has skyrocketed.

It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is.

2006-02-14T20:57:00.000-05:00

Remember that quote? That was Bill Clinton's famous defense in front of a Grand Jury when he tried to explain that he didn't lie.

I posted some comments about Melissa Covolesky's website and then joined the conversation at The Hedgehog Report and posted this comment.

She has a very nice website. But I am curious about her use of the term “State Delegate District 9A”. Shouldn’t it say “Candidate for….”

http://hocomd.blogspot.com/2006/02/melissa-ridgely-covolesky-state.html

Seems unintentional, but is misleading.

Comment by david k — 2/13/2006 @ 5:16 pm

Which prompted this reply

About the “Candidate for…” comment - I checked several other challenger websites (to include Mike Steele) and the general feeling is to use the name of the seat, not “Candidate for.” Just FYI.

Comment by Melissa — 2/14/2006 @ 1:16 pm

I can only guess who Melissa might be. Well, Melissa, thanks for the FYI. That clears it up for me. It is intentional but misguided.

I looked at Michael Steele's website. Their is a big difference between “Michael Steele US Senate” and “Michael Steele US Senator” as their is “Melissa Ridgely Covolesky State Delegate” and “Melissa Ridgely Covolesky Candidate State Delegate” as their is "Ben Cardin Senate 2006" and "Ben Cardin Senator 2006" as their is "Mfume for US Senate" and "Mfume US Senator" etc etc blah blah blah.

Come on quit parsing words. What impression do you think the campaign site is leaving people?

Anyway, aside for the above comments it is still a very very nice website and the campaign has posted content on the ISSUES tab.

Here are the issues she presents and here is where I stand on the same issues.

Tax Relief for Vets - Yes
Tax Relief for Active Duty - Yes
Tax Relief for Elderly Property Owners - Yes (do you support Gail Bates legislation on the issue. She has been trying to get this passed for 2 years.)
Property Rights - Yes
Agriculture - Ok
Stem Cell - Right On the Mark
Homeland Security - Yes, but what is a Delegate going to do about it? Especially one in the minority and a freshman at that. Perhaps she would be more effective working for Dennis Schrader.
Law Enforcement - Yes (Of course. Who doesn't?). However, I take slight issue with her comment: "While crime is relatively low in our district...". Does she know this district? This is getting a little irritating. I live in 9A. 9A is not only Western Howard County. In a given year their will be 29 thefts, 11 burglaries, and 2 assualts in my "statistic area" which is very small. Howard County and District 9A are not immune nor is crime "relatively low" unless you live in Glenwood. Here look it up yourself.

Howard County Crime Statistics

As an experienced law enforcement military officer I would think she would take this much more seriously (or research it more carefully). The Eastern half of 9A is the most densely populated part of the district and where most of the votes come from and (coincidentally) most of the crime occurs. For Pete's Sake.

I said it before and I will say it again. District 9A is not Western Howard County. In 2002 their were over 60,000 votes cast for all candidates running to be our two Delegates - believe me, they didn't all come from Western Howard County.

O'Malley and Crime

2006-02-14T09:22:00.000-05:00

I paraphrase from the Baltimore Sun Article

Douglas M. Duncan said yesterday that the mayor's claims of overseeing the biggest drop in violent crime in the nation are "very suspect" and should be subjected to an independent audit.

Duncan also said:

O’Malley “artificially inflated crime numbers for the year before he took office to make his record look more impressive.”

“the mayor has let his political ambitions get in the way of an honest assessment of his constituents' safety.”

"Asking people to believe the numbers while they can see the problems with their own lives is not leadership,"

“…the unchecked egos that we've seen in the last few years. We need an adult in this situation. We need an adult as governor."

"It's time for an honest discussion about the crime problem in Baltimore," he said. "No playing games with numbers. No putting partisan politics ahead of the needs of people."

"…criticism is not with the people of Baltimore. It's with the people who make promises in election years and fail to deliver."

Duncan rejected O’Malley’s argument that he, as head of one of the nation's wealthiest counties, has an easier job than O'Malley. He said he has to contend with urban, suburban and rural communities in Montgomery but that he has maintained the quality of life there in a way O'Malley hasn't because of his (presumably Duncan’s)focus on education. (We know that the Mayor doesn’t take credit for Baltimore City Schools – unless it is good news).

Of course O’Malley went on the offensive

O'Malley called Duncan's attacks "desperate" and chided him for trying to advance in the polls by bashing Baltimore.

A member of the mayor's staff, who attended the Duncan event, distributed statistics afterward showing that violent crime in Montgomery County has increased 23 percent since 1999. Duncan's camp countered that overall crime in the county is down since the executive took office 11 years ago.

"He's very good at being sort of a stereo-city-basher with Governor Ehrlich," O'Malley said of Duncan and said the county executive runs a "campaign of negativity" and treats Baltimore "as if it were a pariah."

Then blamed others (surprise surprise)

He criticized the U.S. attorney's office for not prosecuting more gun cases and the governor for not being a full partner in city affairs. O'Malley said the state has "a governor that drives more golf balls than progress on public safety."

Yeah like he wants to work with Ehrlich.

What is the fuss all about?

O'Malley has repeatedly said that Baltimore's violent crime - homicides, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults - is down "nearly 40 percent" between 1999 and 2004 - from 18,630 incidents to 11,667.

The mayor also claims that the reduction, 37.4 percent, leads the nation's big cities.

Several criminologists have said it is inaccurate to proclaim a 37.4 percent reduction unless the 2004 figures undergo the same extensive scrutiny.

O'Malley said the FBI was brought in to help with the 1999 audit to ensure an accurate benchmark from which to gauge Baltimore's progress. Still, he said he had no objection to an outside review of the numbers recorded by the city since then.

In a related article

Meanwhile, Baltimore State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy, who has butted heads with O'Malley for years on how to handle violent crime in the city, endorsed Duncan in Baltimore.

"Cute and charismatic are qualities I look for in an actor or pop star, not qualities I look for in a governor," Jessamy said.

Jessamy said Duncan had "unquestioned integrity." She said he is honest and hardworking and has the maturity to lead the state. "Those are the qualities I look for in a public servant," she said.

Melissa Ridgely Covolesky. State Delegate District 9A?

2006-02-13T16:41:00.000-05:00

It will be interesting to see how this develops.

She is a declared candidate. According to her website her campaign account is called "Friends of Melissa Ridgely Covolesky", although the Board of Elections hasn't posted the campaign account on their website.

I understand she is gunning for Warren Miller's seat because he was "appointed" and not elected.

She has put up a very very nice website

www.votemelissa.com

However, their is nothing on the site unless you want to:

1. Read her 12 paragraph 1000 word biography (BTW, Someone should remind her that 9A also represents parts of Eastern Howard County ie Ellicott City, not just Western Howard County)
2. Find out about a few of her favorite things
3. Volunteer
4. Donate money

Issues, and News and Events are blank.

The site refers to her as State Delegate District 9A. Now, I am not sure what she is trying to convey here. It could be unintentionally misleading in that people may believe she is an incumbent. It would be more appropriate to say "Candidate for....". Perhaps she thinks she has legitimate use of the title since Warren Miller was appointed and therefore doesn't deserve the title either? I don't know....

When creating a campaign entity for the purpose of raising funds campaign guidelines state:

A political committee may not use a name that is intended or operates to deceive people as to the political committee's true nature or character.

As far as her campaign entity name "Friends of Melissa Ridgely Covolesky" it clearly does not mislead, but using the term State Delegate District 9A on her web site in the manner she does is seemingly out of context and can confuse the voters.

Lets see if she reconsiders the use of the term.

Chief Livesay

2006-02-12T14:16:00.000-05:00

The Hedgehog Report and Hayduke have had their say. I have been holding off on saying anything not because I don't have an opinion, but because I didn't want to be rash in anything I had to contribute to the conversation.

Now that it has sunk in and I consider the statement of my peers.

Hayduke

I don’t think his party switching will matter as much to the regular voters as it does to party insiders, who usually take their party way too seriously anyway. I think voters want someone they know and trust, and that’s what Livesay is.

Nothing could be more true. I deeply resent Livesay switching parties to support Robey and now switching back to the GOP to run in a heavily GOP district. Unfortunately, Hayduke is probably right about how most voters will feel about it.

As Mr. Wissing puts it.

Opportunistic

You do have to wonder about the deeply-held beliefs of a guy who will switch parties at a drop of the hat in order to advance his political career. District 5 is a heavily Republican area, which is most likely why Livesay wants to switch parties yet again back to Republican.

Greg Fox, who has been campaigning for almost a year already has the support of the GOP. More importantly he has Allan Kittleman's support. That is name recognition enough to help Greg in a primary. The Kittleman's are not a political dynasty, they can't annoint anyone. However, the family is deeply respected in the district and Allan's support goes a long way in helping Greg.

Some people, despite acknowleging that to win in District 5 you have to run as a Republican, think that the Republicans should be grateful that Chief Livesay would even consider running as a Republican as if that will ensure the seat for the GOP. For Pete's Sake. If you think he stands a chance then why isn't he running as a Democrat? I will lay odds that won't ever happen. Livesay has no choice but to run as a Republican in that district. A Democrat has no chance - at all. And PLEASE, that is the point! The guy left the party and now he is switching back so he can win. That is plain bullcrap. Livesay needs the GOP a lot more than the GOP needs him PERIOD.

If he wins will he vote as a Republican or as a Democrat? Who knows and who can trust him? I wouldn't risk trusting that he would support Republicans on critical votes. And what about this.... What would prevent him from switching back to Democrat again after he wins in a Republican district? Here is a great idea. The Republicans just won't run anyone for the seat and let the Democrats have it? In the end, what would be the difference.

Lets remind our readers about Chief Livesay's reasons in 2002 for switching parties in the first place. He wanted to 'clear my consience' because he supports gun control. Well lots of Republicans support gun control and guess what? They are still Republicans. So, Chief, do you support gun control any less than you did before? No?! So, tell us what else has changed to persuade you to come back to the Grand Old Party? Oh, you are running for elected office representing a heavily Republican district.

I believe it when people say Chief Livesay is hard working, is known as a direct, no-nonsense chief who does not waste words, and neither ego nor humor gets in his way. That doesn't mean he isn't being 101% opportunistic, and he isn't willing to disregard his principles.

That, my dear reader, are the reasons why I don't respect the Chief's decision. He does not make for the kind of Council member I am looking for.

Say it isn't so....

2006-02-12T14:09:00.000-05:00

Can you believe it? I am shocked I tell you. Shocked!

Actually I can believe it. The only thing that shocks me is that took so long for the story to come out.

David Wissing at the Hedgehog report has POST discussing news reports that:

Several criminologists are expressing doubt about crime statistics that Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley uses to claim large reductions in violent crime.

O’Malley, who is running for governor, claims violent crime in Baltimore has declined nearly 40 percent since he took office in December of 1999.

But several criminologists say that’s an inflated assessment based on an inaccurate calculation of statistics.

Martin O'Malley embellishing his record of accomplishments? Noooo!

The same guy who says, "I am not responsible for the financial mess that Baltimore City School System find itself because I don't manage the school system, but hey aren't I doing a great job improving those test scores."

CBX County Executive Candidate Forum

2006-02-10T20:47:00.000-05:00

Requires no commentary from me. The reader can make up their own mind who was the best prepared and most articulate, has a clear vision, and the best background for the County Executive position.

From the Business Monthly

Executive Candidates Tackle Business Issues

The three announced candidates for Howard County executive tackled their approach to business issues at the Columbia Business Exchange's annual State of Columbia luncheon last month.

This was the first opportunity for Democrats Harry Dunbar and Ken Ulman and Republican Chris Merdon to speak at length on business and economic issues in a joint appearance.

The candidates were asked to respond to three questions about their qualifications, their records supporting business and the key issues facing business in the next four years.

Dunbar, a retired federal employee and a real estate broker, cited both his mature age and government experience. Merdon, a vice president of a Fortune 500 government computer contractor with two terms on the County Council, cited his work ethic and bipartisan leadership. Ulman, a lawyer with a practice in elder law who has served one term on the council, talked about his own leadership in pushing a better plan for downtown Columbia.

"I have lived nearly twice as long as my young opponents," Dunbar, 61, said to laughter, giving him "10 times, 20 times, 100 times more life experience." He opposed the "dumb residential growth that my opponents have continued to support. — Our overcrowded public schools are the reasons why taxes went up 30%."

Hard Work, Leadership

Merdon, 35, said that starting as a paper boy at age 9, "I've worked hard my entire life. — Nothing has ever been given to me." He touted his private sector experience as a manager of 100 people working on federal contracts worth $20 million, and as someone who represents "the views of mainstream Howard County residents." The two-term council member is the only minority party chairman of the County Council in its history, he noted, and "I am the only candidate capable of getting along with both sides."

"I will transform the role [of county executive] from one of a caretaker to one of a visionary," Merdon said.

Born and raised in Columbia, Ulman, 31, touted his earlier role as the governor's director on the state Board of Public Works, which approves all state contracts. "I understand how the state government works with the local government and with the private sector," he said.

Ulman said he was able to "bring people together and build consensus" in planning for Columbia's town center. "We wanted to see a plan that would build business opportunities" in downtown, create "livable, walkable streets," and make the Merriweather Post Pavilion, which was up for sale 18 months ago, "a business and tourism center for Howard County."

Record of Business Support

Merdon said he had "a seven-year track record of supporting business in Howard County. When I come to speak to a group of business owners, I feel like I have the home-field advantage. What you do everyday is what I do everyday. What you want out of government is predictability. You want to know what the rules are. We all hope to make a profit."

"If I hear you have a problem with the county, I'm going to help you solve that problem," Merdon said. "If I don't hear from you, my administration will be under strict orders to stay out of your way - let you do what you do best and that is create jobs, bring investment dollars into Howard County and help us support our No. 1 school system."

Ulman said he is "very proud in working together in supporting the business community over the last three-and-a-half years. You know I am a small business owner. I own my own law firm based in town center.

"Whenever Dick Story has come to us with something for our support and help, I've been there, we've been there, whether it's Dreyer's Ice Cream [plant] or other opportunities," Ulman said. "I understand the importance of working together with the business community in keeping jobs here and to bring more jobs here.

"We passed a bill about a year-and-a-half ago called comp lite, sprung out of the comprehensive zoning effort - about 40 properties were involved," Ulman said. "We voted for that bill 4 to 1; my opponent [Merdon] voted against it. There are many business leaders whose projects are now held up in limbo because of that vote." (The bill was petitioned to referendum by residents who opposed it.)

Revitalizing Route 1

On Route 1 revitalization, "there's been a lot of great talk, a lot of great meetings, a lot of great studies," Ulman said. "We need the first projects to be built. — We need people to drive down Route 1 and open their eyes and say, 'Wow, that's what they were talking about when they were talking about Route 1 revitalization.' That to me will start a domino effect of reshaping the Corridor, changing the culture of the Corridor.

"We had an opportunity to do that a few weeks ago; we had a rezoning case, the corner of Mission Road and Route 1," Ulman said. "A great mixed-use project, 50,000-square-foot office building, street-front retail, brick sidewalk, condos above, 50 workforce housing units, 340 residential units, condos and townhouses. We supported that project 4 to 1. Once again, my opponent voted against it. That's the kind of project, if we get built, we'll start reshaping the Route 1 Corridor, turning rhetoric into action."

Dunbar said, "I look forward to working closely with the business community as Howard County's next executive around supporting the efforts to increase the number of successful businesses that will provide jobs and increase our commercial tax base."

"I support the Howard County [Economic] Development Authority's concept of the need for a new building that could house its center for business and technology development. This center could include both the business resource center and the neo-tech incubator," Dunbar said. "It could capture a significant amount of the technology of the business growth planned for NSA and Fort Meade."

Top Three Issues

Ulman said the main issues in the next few years are land use, regionalism and the quality of life, and the challenges they present. "We are right in the middle of the Baltimore-Washington region, the region that is adding more jobs than any region in the country, and with BRAC [Base Realignment and Closure] coming online, the potential is absolutely tremendous, so this is a wonderful place to be. But it also means we've got a lot of challenges ahead.

"The growth needs to be managed and Howard County needs to work closely with neighboring counties in doing that.

"We have so many things to be proud of: a school system that is second to none, a library system that has just been ranked No. 1 in the country. — The challenge is, 'How do we maintain the strength of that quality of life? What are the threats to that quality of life?'" Ulman asked.

"Frankly, poorly planned growth that can overwhelm our infrastructure is a major threat to our quality of life," he said. "Drastic budget cuts to the library, schools, public safety are a threat. I know that some people will make an issue of taxes in this election. Yeah, I voted to raise taxes because I couldn't stomach the drastic cuts to our library budget of over 10% and the drastic cuts to our Board of Education budget which would not have allowed us to fund teacher salary increases.

"I guarantee you that I'll work every day to make sure to preserve and protect that quality of life," Ulman concluded.

Quality of Life

Dunbar said, "I'm one of those who believes the quality of life has deteriorated over the last eight years under these gentlemen's tutelage. They seem to be unable to tell developers 'no' when they come in for repeated requests for increased density.

"Over the next four years, business will require more strategic partnering, access to equity and debt capital and market research facilities and help," Dunbar said. "As county executive I will stay out of businesses' way. But when business comes and seeks county help, I will provide that help. I will use my life experience and my federal experience, which has provided me with a view that no one else has in Howard County."

Responding to the criticism of his opponents, Merdon said, "You know you're doing something right when one candidate tells you you vote 'no' too much and the next candidate tells you don't vote 'no' enough. So I'm probably the right middle-of-the-road guy."

On the main issues, Merdon said, "It depends, it depends on who you elect as your next county executive. For the next four years, do you want to play offense or do you want to play defense? For the next four years, when you're just about to make a profit, to kick that ball through the [uprights], do you want local government shifting the goal posts on you, [or] do you want local government moving the boundary lines on you? I don't think so.

"What you'll get under my administration is predictability," he said. "Predictability is the most important thing for businesses to be able to thrive."

Workforce, Transportation

Based on his own conversations with businesses, Merdon said, "Workforce is probably the biggest issue that they're facing at all levels," particularly at the lower end of the pay scale. "How are you going to go out and sell your product, get a sale and bring it back home, and then have nobody that's going to make your product? You can't do it. [You] can't expand your business without a quality workforce.

"BRAC is going to have a tremendous impact on our region," he said. "We have the greatest opportunity to take from BRAC what we want and to put the things that we don't want off to the side. But we have to have a plan for BRAC and right now we don't have a plan.

"We need to make sure that our roads don't continue to be over-congested," Merdon said. "Over-congested roads mean that your employees don't get to work on time, they're worrying about what the traffic is going to be like on their way home. Over-congested roads will hamper your ability to do business.

"Those are going to very important issues and I have the experience to understand the history of where we've been and to set the vision of where we need to go," he said.

Finally, Merdon said, the next executive needs "to make sure that we are prepared for any disaster. We've all experienced 9/11, and we've all seen Katrina. We've seen what a failure of government can do. It'll shut you down if you're not prepared."

Wendy Lea Fiedler 1953 - 2006

2006-02-10T12:33:00.000-05:00

Howard County Democratic Central Committee Chairwomen and long time Democratic Activist Wendy Fiedler passed away this week.

Regardless of political affiliation and philosophy I admired her convictions. Our democratic ideals and principles would be well served if their were more people dedicated as she was to their beliefs.

Baltimore Sun Story Here

Funeral and wake information Here

A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Donaldson Funeral Home, 313 Talbott Ave., Laurel.

Tony Salazar

2006-02-09T17:15:00.000-05:00

I had a surprise visitor today.

Because I had a report due to my boss by 10AM today, for a conference call attended by 20 people, I worked from home. I wanted the extra 30 minutes of commute time to finish up, and boy did I need it. Got in under the wire.

Right after lunch the door bell rang and it was Tony Salazar going door to door campaigning for County Council District One.

Despite the cold wind and the 40 degree temperature he was out hitting the streets and knocking on doors explaining why he wants to represent District One on the Howard County Council.

Tony is just a pleasant person and despite the weather he really seemed to be enjoying himself. Since we know each other he didn't bother to campaign at my door. I asked him how it was going and he spent a couple of minutes telling me how much going door to door meant to him and how much he enjoyed meeting people.

Now the election is months and months away, but wouldn't you agree that a candidate out in weather like this, who actually enjoys going door to door, and enjoys meeting people deserves a great deal of consideration for public office?

You can read more about Tony Salazar here

County Pay Raises

2006-02-07T22:56:00.000-05:00

Larry Carson wrote a piece in the Baltimore Sun

With one dissenting vote, the Howard County Council approved substantially higher salaries last night for the next county executive and council.

County Council members will earn $49,000 initially, about a 45 percent increase, and the next executive will receive $147,000. The officials also will receive annual cost-of-living increases tied to the federally determined consumer price index.

Full Story Here

My opinion...

As a County Council member you work a full time job, raise a family, spend all your spare time on County business, and constituent issues. I don't think $49,000.00 is enough.

I personally think County Council should be expanded beyond the current 5 member make up of the Council. We should review making it a full time position. We need the best and brightest in these positions, especially as Howard County continues to grow. I think we would be able to compete better with Montgomery and Baltimore County for business, government research, expanding our technology companies, etc. A part time council serves three masters - Family, full time employment, then the county. We need people focused on County business as a full time job.

As the County Executive. Want the best! Pay for it or they will go somewhere that does pay.

It is easy for Charlie Feaga (Howard County Council District 5) to say it is too much money. Charlie is a nice guy. I like him a lot, but I don't agree with him here.

Charlie is a farmer. Don't confuse that with low-income. I don't know, but I think Charlie does just fine financially. Also, Charlie won't ever serve on the County Council again because of term limits. He is also semi-retired. His perspective is a lot different than a council member who is has a spouse, is still raising a family, and has a boss who (or a business that) wants them to pay more attention to their full time job.

Call Charlie a fiscal conservative. Well so am I. I also know that you get what you pay for. Don't believe me? Take a look at some of our current elected officials at all levels of Government.

I rest my case.

Pittsburgh Steelers III

2006-02-07T22:54:00.000-05:00

I only have one thing to say to those people whining about the outcome of the Superbowl.

GET OVER IT.

My team won. I am happy about it, and I frankly don't care if you aren't.

Go Black and Gold

Delegate Warren Miller - Gasoline Bill

2006-01-30T20:18:00.000-05:00

Our own Howard County Delegate Warren Miller (9A) has proposed legislation that is intended to help lower gas prices by lifting a ban that was imposed in 2001 prohibiting the sale of gasoline below cost.

One person summarized the effect of the 2001 legislation this way: "Sheetz and Wawa fought the legislation, but in vain. It passed both houses of the legislature by overwhelming margins and was signed into law by Gov. Parris N. Glendening on May 18, 2001. The following September, Comptroller William Donald Schaefer sent letters to the editors of several Maryland newspapers proclaiming the legislation to be 'good for the consumer' and assuring motorists that the new law would not cause gas price increases. When the law went into effect that October, Sheetz and Wawa promptly raised their prices."

Here is a link to Delegate Miller's legislation

http://mlis.state.md.us/2006rs/billfile/hb0127.htm

You may be asking, "Who would sell gas below cost?" Any WaWa, 711, Sams Club, or CostoCo who would use cheaper gas prices as a loss leader in order to get you in the door. The concern was that such pricing tactics would harm other gas retailers who only sell gas - you know the Mom and Pop gas stations.

Well I sympathize with Mom and Pop. I actually raised this point with Delegate Miller - I believed him when he said he sypathizes with them too. However, the point is that the market place has changed a lot since gasonline was $1.15 per gallon.

Gasoline stations are no longer Mom and Pop operations for the most part. They are super convenience stores selling every thing from Gasoline to a seven course dinner. They are not relying on gasonline sales as their prime commodity. It is their loss leader.

I am inclined to allow WaWa battle it out with the rest of the super convenience stores and the big box retailers.

Here is the story.

HoCo Hayduke: Preserving Doughregan, Developing Columbia...

2006-01-29T21:25:00.000-05:00

I didn't have a lot to say on this topic. Not because I don't think it is important, but that I recognize that I need a lot more information before I express an opinion. This is an area I am admitedly weak, but HayDuke has a lot to say and its worth reviewing.

Mary Catherine Cochran's heart is the in the right place. "I want to see the Carrolls rewarded for 300 years of stewardship". So do I, and Hayduke picks up on this theme as well. I applaud Ms. Cochran's sentiments though I note her concerns about the Carroll's requests. Rewarded they should be, but fairly.

Now I have a lot of sympathy for the Carrolls. As Irish Catholics they lived through a period of our history when Irish and Catholic wasn't much appreciated - believe me it got worse as time went on. But the Carrolls were gentrified. They were land owners and their weren't many Irish Catholics in the world that enjoyed the type of stature and priveleges that they did.

Another reason I am sympathetic is that I am a proud Irish American. I was just awakening and learning to appreciate my Irish heritage when I first learned about the Carroll family. They are among the most admired Irish American Familys in our country. The family produced the first Catholic Bishop on the Continent, and a signer of the declaration of independence.

I want to see them and the Manor survive for another 300 years. What the best course of action is remains to be seen.

See Tom Run?

2006-01-29T12:21:00.000-05:00

It has come to my attention that Thomas C. Snyder plans to run for Howard County Executive not as a Republican but as an Independent, thereby sparing the GOP a primary challenge. Turns out the real question is, "Does he meet the eligiblity requirements to run for Howard County Executive.?"

Mr. Snyder announced his plans to run for a public office in Howard County in the Baltimore Sun. I have not yet seen any formal announcement as to which office he will seek, but rumors persist that he will run for County Executive.

However, it remains to be seen if Mr. Snyder will meet the minimum eligibility requirement to run for the office.

He has resigned (or may do so soon) from his position in State Government which will meet one of the requirements.

Article III of the County Code Section 302

(b) Qualifications.
1. In General. The Executive shall be a resident of the County for a period of not less than five years immediately prior to election and a registered voter at the time of filing for candidacy and shall be not less than thirty years of age at the time of his or her election.
2. Other Offices. No person shall qualify or serve as Executive while holding any other office of profit or trust of or under State, County or Federal government; while employed by the County; or while employed by any agency, board, commission, unit or other entity which receives funds through the County budget. No Executive shall, during the whole term for which he or she was elected, be eligible for appointment to any County office or position or be eligible for employment by the County.
3. Forfeiture of office. If an Executive ceases to be a registered voter of the County or is convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude, he or she shall immediately forfeit his or her office.

According to voter registration records Mr. Snyder registered to vote in Howard County in October of 2003. Additionally, according to The Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation, HOWARD COUNTY, Real Property Data Search, Mr. Snyder and his wife purchased their current home in April of 2003.

Since the voter registration and Real Property data both match in 2003 one has to wonder if Mr. Snyder will meet the residency eligibility requirements.

I am sure we will find out soon enough if Mr. Snyder resided in Howard County prior to the purchase of his current home.

If it turns out that Mr. Snyder lived outside of Howard County prior to April of 2003 one also has to wonder "What was he thinking?" and "I hope he can get his job back". For one considering such a major undertaking one would think he would be a little more diligent in his research. But as I said earlier. It remains to be seen.

Steele-ing Maryland

2006-01-27T21:03:00.000-05:00

Steele-ing Maryland
By Dustin Hawkins
Jan 20, 2006

While Democrats have stated hopes of making headway in the 2006 elections, they have also been hammered with the reality that there are some unexpectedly tough seats to defend along the way. One pair of races – a Senate post they desperately need to hold and a governorship they wish to recapture – can be found in Maryland.
With Democrat Paul Sarbanes retiring after a 5-term stint in the Senate, the seat was immediately placed into the “Likely Democrat” column by most observers. This is, after all, a seat that Sarbanes won by a 26.5-point margin in his last election six years ago. In 2004, Maryland’s other Democratic Senator, Barbara Mikulski, won by an impressive 31-point margin while presidential nominee John Kerry carried the state by 13 points over George W. Bush.
But racial tensions have been brewing in a Democratic primary that is pitting Congressman Ben Cardin, who is white, against former NAACP President Kweisi Mfume, who is black. Though spokesmen for both camps have stressed that there are no racial overtones in the race, endorsements from top party figures have fallen almost exclusively on racial divisions.
As president of the NAACP, Kweisi Mfume had a reputation of reaching out to Republicans to inform the Democrats that the black vote should not be taken for granted. In 2003, he nominated Condoleezza Rice for the NAACP Image Award and a year later made political overtures to President Bush in an attempt to soften the NAACP’s political walls. Yet his candidacy is hurting the Democratic Party’s chances of retaining the seat.
Had Mfume not entered the race, most of the worries of losing large voting blocs would have been avoided. Without Mfume in the mix, Cardin would have been viewed as the candidate most qualified to run for the seat and his nomination would not have been seen as yet another denial of the Democratic Party to select black candidates for higher office in statewide elections.
But by staying in the race, and as a former congressman himself, Mfume is undoubtedly a credentialed, qualified candidate. If the Democratic Party establishment dismisses Mfume, both nationally and statewide, the repercussions in the general election could be enough to swing the election. When there is only one black elected statewide in Maryland – and he is a Republican – tempers could begin to flare. This is especially true for a state that is over a quarter black and who votes overwhelmingly for one party.
Certainly, the 2002 gubernatorial elections are enough to act as a reminder of what can happen when a party is viewed as ignoring its base, and thus the Democrats’ worries of losing votes based on inner-party strife aren’t too far-fetched. Few people would have predicted that Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, would lose her bid for governor in a state that had elected only Democrats for governor by wide margins for nearly four decades. Townsend was heavily criticized for turning down several prospective black running mates, instead opting to select a Republican-turned-Democrat white male to run as her lieutenant governor.
This left the door wide open for Republican Bob Ehrlich who had selected Michael Steele as his choice for lieutenant governor. In addition to various inner-party problems facing the Townsend campaign, her lackluster running mate selection seemed to seal her fate as the Ehrlich-Steele team achieved an unlikely upset, winning by 3 points. This was a nightmare scenario for Democrats. And it might repeat itself.
Steele, who is Maryland’s first black statewide elected official, is the likely Republican nominee for Senate; he has quietly slipped into decent-sized leads against both Cardin and Mfume, according to recent polls. The national Republican Party realized that Steele was their only hope of having a shot at winning and heavily recruited him for the post. As a result, Steele has been able to run a campaign without encountering opposing forces from within the party and with all effort and attention directed in advancing his campaign. Yet while Steele is unlikely to face any real primary opposition, he has had to deal with various attacks from his opponents – attacks that certainly have not helped the Democratic Party’s image and could only help Steele in the long run. Steele is not an unpopular figure in the state, certainly not for a Republican, and several incidents have been negatively perceived.
Members of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, a group headed by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), illegally obtained copies of Steele’s credit report. Steele has been called an “Uncle Tom” and one liberal blog even posted a distorted picture
of him as a white minstrel in blackface. For a while, some high-profile Democratic operatives shrugged off the incidents and suggested Steele should expect such tactics. Nevertheless, the negative effects of these racially tinged tactics have only added to the Democratic Party’s woes.
In the end, the Democrats are in a double-edged sword scenario and will hit a rough patch no matter who their eventual nominee is. With the primaries almost 8 months away, Mfume and Cardin will be spending more time battling each other than they will spend time battling Steele. If Cardin wins the nomination, he will be seen as the establishment candidate and the feeling is that many of the states’ blacks will turn to Steele. At the same time, Mfume is probably a less-viable candidate and has a less-than-stellar popularity rating in the state. His nomination would likely send many Cardin voters over to the Steele camp as well.
Unless one candidate makes an early exit and allows the Democrats to avoid a rough primary, it will be a long campaign year for the blue-staters in Maryland. If both Cardin and Mfume remain competitive for the nomination, it should not be a surprise if many Democrats are unhappy with the eventual winner, and those who switched to the Ehrlich-Steele ticket in 2002, may do the same for Steele in 2006. If that is the case, Ehrlich will be quietly running in the background, hoping for there to be spillover effects as he runs for a second term as governor.

Dustin Hawkins is a Townhall.com political reporter.

General Assembly Member Rankings

2006-01-27T14:50:00.000-05:00

Friday, Jan. 27, 2006

With the 2006 elections on everyone’s mind and the legislative session fully under way, The Gazette is continuing its quadrennial tradition of ranking the members of the General Assembly. Things have changed.

From the list four years ago, seven of the top 10 lawmakers are gone: Theyeither lost re-election bids (Barbara A. Hoffman, Robert R. Neall, Casper R.Taylor Jr.), moved on to other government jobs (U.S. Rep. Christopher Van HollenJr. and Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp), left the legislature all together (John AdamsHurson) or died (Howard P. Rawlings).

http://www.gazette.net/stories/012706/polia%20s191756_31897.shtml

What you really want to know who is on the list. Right?

Unfortunatley for Robey the 9th most effective State Senator is:

Sandra B. Schrader - (R-Dist. 13) of Columbia
Points: 41
Judges’ comments: ‘‘Getting high marks from both GOPers and Dems — Ehrlich would be smart to add her to his ticket.”

Honorable mention
Edward J. Kasemeyer (D-Dist. 12) of Columbia narrowly missed the cut. The chamber’s point man on slots, pensions and the capital budget quietly dominates his chamber.

House of Delegates

None of our esteemed members made the Top 20 list. However, their is a bottom 20 list.

16. Shane E. Pendergrass
(D-Dist. 13) of Columbia
Points: 92 points

City fails reform test

2006-01-27T13:42:00.000-05:00

From the Baltimore Sun

Only 42 percent of Baltimore's classroom teachers are considered "highly qualified" under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, according to a report presented to the state school board yesterday.

By comparison, 78 percent of teachers in Baltimore County and 84 percent of teachers in Anne Arundel County meet the criteria, which require teachers to be certified and show expertise in the subjects they teach.

What I find most interesting about this article is that Martin O'Malley wasn't quoted at all and neither was City Hall

Go to Martin O'Malley's campaign web site and you will find this statement:

Martin O’Malley believes the most important opportunity we can provide a child is a first rate education – whether they’re rich or poor. Martin O’Malley has aggressively reformed and rebuilt the school system to make it accountable, responsive and equipped to make strategic investments – that will pay off now and in the future.
And this

Martin O’Malley gave a major speech to the Maryland State Teachers Association in October and unveiled a bold plan to ensure our state keeps and recruits the best teachers. It includes making salaries and pensions more competitive with other states and creating a strong mentoring program for new teachers.

Fittingly, I guess, this article doesn't appear any where on his web site.

O'Malley is quick to take credit for the positive, and just as quick to blame others for the City's problems. Especially education. Remember when the School System was on the brink of bankruptcy? It wasn't his fault. Then he bailed them out with a loan from the City's rainy day fund instead of accepting money from the State. He did this knowing full well that a State payment of $45M was due to the City School system and as such would be in a position to quickly pay the loan back. Political manuevering of the 100th degree.

Why no comments from the Mayor or City Hall on this? Where is Doug Duncan?

Next round of good news for City schools and O'Malley will be all over it.

If he makes it to Government House it won't be long before he takes credit for Howard County's fine school system - just before he ruins it.

Doughoregan Manor

2006-01-26T23:32:00.000-05:00

Perhaps you saw the Baltimore Sun Opinion piece about this historic property. Honestly, I didn't. A reader brought it to my attention and I think it is worth bringing to your attention too.

Doughoregan's fate
This is apparently a fine piece of investigative work on the part of Howard County Sun reporter Larry Carson.

This is a story 300 years in the making... I quote the first paragraph.

Doughoregan Manor - the more than 1,400-acre, roughly 300-year-old estate in the middle of Howard County - is among the nation's most significant private properties. Questions about its future are now in the air. These can only be satisfactorily resolved with funds and creativity from county, state and federal officials - and public-spirited generosity by the manor's owners, direct descendents of Charles Carroll III of Carrollton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, whose grandfather founded the estate and who is buried in a chapel there.

Now my initial opinion is I am all for property owners rights. My reader seems to have no argument about property rights either, but brings up some very valid points.

I am respecting the anonymity of the reader, but here (with permission) is what the reader shared with me.

The property owners approached the County because they wanted more than what is currently allowed to them under law. They wanted part of the property zoned differently, they wanted an extension of the planned service area and they wanted 24$ million in Ag pres money. Under the existing zoning they can develop roughly the same number of houses and preserve the same amount of open space- but not get the $24 million. Additionally- the more intense multi family zoning of the PSA extension would generate more dollars for development than the current well/septic set up. The current zoning-however- would likely scatter the open space- rather than consolidate it and may threaten the historic setting or resources. Current zoning would require them to cluster the homes 1 unit per 4.25 acres... on one acre lots and set aside the rest in open space. Current law also allows reservation of land by a public entity for public use- if that public use is clearly outlined in the General Plan or Capital budget. Both parkland and school sites are goals of the general plan (and at this geographic location) and both have line items in the capital budgets...

So..."under current law"... they (the Carrolls) can't pretty much do what they want... but they can do a lot. So the questions are: If we expend millions and millions in public dollars do we have a right to public access? Is it better- fiscally- to buy land for parks and school sites and stop the development that will cost more money in infrastructure... or not reserve/pay for the land for public use- allow it to be developed- but bear the associated costs of providing adequate facilities? Do we really want to fulfill our goals for Agricultural land, park land and school sites... or are we just talking the talk because those costs are dramatically more than anyone ever envisioned? Should we ever extend our PSA? Under what circumstances? Is the 40K per acre price offered to the Carrolls- open for other farm owners- or just this farm? Can the owners make the same money by transferring their development rights to someone who wants them- say Town Center? Perhaps these answers will be forthcoming at tomorrow's meeting.

Very well said and a very informed reader. I am humbled that I was asked for my opinion, and even more humbled by my pathetic answer to the initial question.

This is not an issue that will be settled soon. It probably will be settled by the next administration and County Council. So, future Council Members and County Executives. Where do you stand on this issue? And what a question to ask, because this one issue is loaded full of implications!

For more in depth background on this historical property click HERE

Tom Snyder who?

2006-01-26T14:08:00.000-05:00

I overlooked this yesterday.

State environmental official is resigning post

The director of the Maryland Department of the Environment's air pollution control division said yesterday that he is resigning to run for political office in Howard County.

Thomas C. Snyder, a 14-year veteran of the department, said his resignation is effective Feb. 3.

"I was not pushed out. It was my own decision," Snyder said. "I like to believe that I'm a strong environmentalist ... and I feel I can make an impact in Howard County, where we have a big growth problem that I'd like to talk about."

Snyder, 50, who lives in Ellicott City, said he will announce later what he's running for.

His decision to step down comes as his agency is rewriting air pollution rules proposed by the Ehrlich administration in November.

Well who is he and what is he running for? Rumor has it he may run for County Executive. He is a registerd Republican living in Ellicott City. Will Merdon have a primary? Good, it will help him sharpen his message.

Interestingly enough he has a letter to the editor in the Howard County Times today.

Inter-agency cooperation will help prevent tragedies

Honestly, I am active in the party and I never heard of this guy. Ok, maybe he was the guy people mentioned to me last summer that may come from State Government and run for District One. I don't remember if he was the guy or not. Point is what kind of support from the Party does he think he is going to get? The Centeral Committee by its own rules will remain neutral in a primary, but some of the most active members of the Central Committee are active on Merdon's campaign. If Tom Snyder ever showed up at a GOP Club function I would not know about it.

He has every right to run. But you would think he would have some kind of track record with the local party. Don't you?

Much ado about nothing...

2006-01-26T13:56:00.000-05:00

The Ho Co Times tries points out a couple of issues I have already addressed here.

Take a look for yourself. Dems deny party feuds, but some disagreements emerge

and its sister article

County GOP sees chance for wins, despite numbers

The best quote in the "Party Feuds" article is this gem:

"It sounds like a modern-day political Peyton Place where you need score cards to keep track of debt tolls and allegiances," said Keith Haller, CEO of Potomac Incorporated, a non-partisan political polling firm in Bethesda.

I wouldn't characterize the Democrats that way at all. They hold the majority of elected seats in all but one body - The State Senate - and have for a while. Even the "non-partisan" Board of Education is made up of all registered Democrats save Diane Mikulas the lone registered Republican.

However, as the "GOP sees chance..." article points out and no one should over look this fact.

As of Jan. 12, Howard County had 60,885 registered Republicans and 80,753 registered Democrats, according to local election officials. The county also has 33,914 voters who are not affiliated with either party. Republican wins will "very much depend on voter turnout," said Gimpel, adding that independent voters tend to support Republican candidates in the county.

Look at County Council District One. I am not calling this out because of Merdon, but because it is a swing district in a swing county. Merdon would not have won District One twice with large margins if it wasn't for three factors (among others):

1. GOP turn out
2. Cross voters from the Democratic Party
3. Independents

Although it is interesting to ponder the personalities and circumstances in Council District 2 and House District 13, and the possible implications for the election it all remains to be seen.

County Council District 4

2006-01-26T11:14:00.000-05:00

Josh Feldmark, who recently declared his campaign for this open seat, is the current chairman of the Columbia Council. Mr. Feldmark lives in the same precinct as Mary Kay Sigaty, and was elected to the Columbia Council while Ms. Sigaty lost in a Columbia Council race.

It is conceivable that Mr. Feldmark and Ms. Sigaty will split the base they both share in the Logfellow area of Columbia. However, based on what I learned this is Mr. Feldmark's race to lose.

Not to say that Ms. Sigaty is not a credible candidate. I have met her. I don't agree with her on some issues - but she is as sincere and dedicated to public service as are the other candidates (Mr. Feldmark and the GOP candidate Tom D'Asto).

Mr. Ulman's success in the 2002 election was, in large part, due to River Hill, which was still upset with Ms. Sigaty's participation in the school redistricting committee decision to move River Hill High Scool children to Atholton only a few months earlier before the election. For those voters it was pay back time. Voters have short memories, and they probably are comfortable with the redistricting at this point (it has been four years).

Mr. Ulman is likely to back Feldmark since Mr. Feldmark’s wife is Mr. Ulman's special assistant on the Council.

Guy Guzzone will likely support Mr. Feldmark. If you inspect Mr. Guzzone's campaign expenses you will notice in Mr. Guzzone’s finance report that he paid Mr. Feldmark for campaign management before Mr. Guzzone bowed out of the County Executive race.

Mr. Ulman now lives in River Hill and is firmly establish there. As such he may be able to rally much support for Feldmark from River Hill. Among the highest voting precincts in the county in 2002 were Longfellow and one of the precincts in River Hill.

Point is that Mr. Feldmark has strong Democratic support in a strong Democratic district.

To add to Ms. Sigaty's problems is the preception of holding a BofE seat that she would have to vacate if she won a council seat (after serving only 1 year of a 4 year term). The result would be an added burden that the rest of the BofE would have to deal with a very heavy work load without her. How long would it take for a new County Executive to appoint a replacement? Do you think the BofE (which is dominated by Democrats) is going to support her run? Perhaps she should give up the seat now so a that a new member can get acclimated. Remember, the board is going to turn over 5 members this year.

Joan Lancos, Ulman's GOP opponent in 2002, is reportedly helping with Ms. Sigaty's campaign. I suspect that they are both still resentful of Mr. Ulman's campaign tactics in 2002. Perhaps they have other mutual interests, but I wouldn't be aware of them. I wonder if Ms. Sigaty will throw her support behind any County Executive Candidate. Support Merdon and risk alienating the Democrats in her district, and the same treatment that David Rakes is geeting, or swallow hard and support Ulman given the facts mentioned above. A coup for Chris Merdon if Ms. Sigaty supports him in the General Election and not to be considered outside the realm of possibilities.

None of this bodes well for Tom D'Asto, the current GOP candidate on the surface.

However, think about this. If Mr. Feldmark is the man to beat in the Primary, and he has support from Messrs. Ulman and Guzzone it is almost a lock for Mr. Feldmark. If Mr. Feldmark wins the Primary then Mr. D'Asto needs to get Lancos/Sigaty support in the General Election in order to expand his base. If D'Asto can pull that off then why wouldn't Ms. Sigaty go ahead and endorse a Republican for County Executive. Merdon is a moderate and Sigaty is an independant and both are willing to compromise for the right reasons. I don't know her well enough to know if she would be willing to cross party lines to support D'Asto or Merdon, but the fact Joan Lancos crossed party lines to support her perhaps Ms. Sigaty is of like mind.

It would also help if Mr. Ulman stumbles in his campaign for County Executive.

Ulman Campaign Kickoff

2006-01-25T22:52:00.000-05:00

Ken Ulman is kicking off his campaing on February 4th at 10AM in Columbia. A real announcement party.

He posts the announcement on his web site www.kenulman.com

Thing is, I thought Ken Ulman already kicked off his campaign when he issued a press release to the Post, Times, and the Sun.

For example, this is from the Howard County Times.

Ulman announced his campaign Nov. 18 in a press release.

His campaign will focus on enhancing the community's commitment to "diversity, acceptance and opportunity," he said, adding that he would unveil a specific platform in January. He added that he will work to ensure that the county maintains the high levels of service in public health, education, the environment and other areas that it attained under Robey.

What is my point here? When it was announced that Chris Merdon would be holding an official announcement on November 19th, Ken Ulman ran to the fax machine on November 18th and released a press notice that he too would run for County Executive. Look at the press release. No details about his position - he even says so himself. One of many ME TOO moments I expect to hear from Ulman over the next 9 months.

Now some people will say that is politics and if you can't take it get out of it. Let me make these couple of points before you, dear reader, go on to something a lot more interesting (assuming you got this far).

Why did he do that? The question is tongue in cheek. It was pre-emptive. He wanted a distraction from Merdon's announcement. He didn't want Merdon to make a big splash in the papers (solo anyway). He wanted to cool things down for the Merdon campaign.

So now that Ulman has announced that he will once again announce his entry in to the Howard County Executive Race at an official announcement party, what will Merdon do prior to February 4th? If I know this guy he is going to take the high road and let Ulman have his day in the sun and beat him at the polls later.

For a guy who said he was going to campaign on issues and not pull any of this petty stuff I would say Ulman is off to a great start. Not surprising to me. He set the tone for his campaign in November and an Ulman Administration.

HoCo Hayduke: Money...it's a gas

2006-01-25T17:31:00.000-05:00

HoCo Hayduke: Money...it's a gas

Hayduke's perspective on Larry Carson's article this morning. I will say again, the real story is "How much do our elected officials interfere in the established processes in the Department of Planning and Zoning?"

Funds flowing for 2006 races

2006-01-25T08:30:00.000-05:00

Larry Carson had more to say about fundraising.

I think it is important to know who where the money is coming from. That is all it tells us though. It doesn't mean that those who give money get influence in return.

Development is a hot button issue in Howard County. Without a PLAN development can overstress our infrastructure (schools, roads, sewers, public safety, etc). To many people development is a four letter word.

Developers are an important part of this community. Some are practical and thoughtful about the community and others are thoughtful about squeezing every dollar they can out of an acre of land. Because they have such a large impact on the quality of life in any community they should have a strong voice in community and government affairs. Our elected officials need to balance out a lot of competing priorities and arguements.

Killing Comp-Lite last year was the right thing to do.

What I would like to see in Larry Carson's next article is how the Department of Planning and Zoning is being run. Who is exerting undo influence in that department? Our elected officials are supposed to stay out of the day to day business of Planning and Zoning. I want to know are they keeping their hands off the department or are they exerting their influence in those processes?

Look at Clarksburg in Montgomery County.. Could that or is that happening in Howard County?

In the end, I am not anti development or anti developer. We need a strong partnership that will better the community. We don't need undue influence.

Pittsburgh Steelers II

2006-01-24T23:00:00.000-05:00

I have been trying to restrain myself from saying anything more lest I jinx the Steelers. If you are a Steeler fan you know exactly what I mean.

My previous post on the Steelers is here

Can you believe how Pittsburgh destroyed Denver.

I remember reading on ESPN.com that Denver looked like the new Super Bowl favorite. I think Carter was the only writer on the site that picked Pittsburgh.

Well sports fans - Pittsburgh has won seven in a row five of them on the road and no one, including me, thought they could do it. Sorry, Pittsburgh has been trying to get back to the Super Bowl for 10 years where that ass, O'Donnell, threw two interceptions to Dallas (then the Jets picked him up for $6M - good riddence. Honesly that is the only thing I don't get about Chris Merdon - he actually likes the Jets). We should have been their last year - hell we were 15-1.

It has been 25 years of hope and hanging on to that pride. You stick with the Slash, and Maddox, and hope Batch has some magic in him. You cling on to any glimmer of hope. You ignore that nasty rumors. You watch games that they should have won and just hope for a better game the following week.

Then. Then this 23 year old kid comes along and and and you are just beside yourself. You know it. The Steelers have been missing one thing. A Quarterback like Terry Bradshaw. Guess what!!!! Now we have one in Big Ben.

This guy plays like a seasoned pro and he has the running backs and receivers, although I wish we still had Plexi Glass (that is Plaxico Burress) to help him out.

I initially thought Denver would be a ground game. Then a friend of mine told me he thought the Steelers would play Antwaan Randel El heavily and increase the passing game. He was right on both occassions.

Our Defense is awesome and destroy the Colts and the Broncos.

As a Steeler fan I am humble enough to respect the Seahawks. They have come a long way to get here too. But the Steelers are only 4 point favorites. What!!!! Not so bad when you think about it. The Steelers are 4-0 when favored to win the Super Bowl (1974, 1975, 1978, 1979(, and 0-1 as underdogs, by 13 1/2 points when they lost to Dalls 10 years ago.

Well, I am taking that Monday off because I am going to be either very happy or very depressed.

Howard County Races Shaping Up

2006-01-24T12:12:00.000-05:00

Governor: In the Democratic primary the candidates will be Baltimore’s Mayor, Martin O’Malley, and Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan. O’Malley deserves credit for taking on the tough job of running Baltimore City. The problem is that he has been whining about it and blaming others ever since. We will see a bloody Democratic primary. Doug Duncan will have a field day with O’Malley and soften him up for Ehrlich if O’Malley wins the primary. O’Malley’s has unnecessarily alienated the two most prolific fundraisers in his party (Angelos and Schaefer). This should hurt O’Malley in a primary in that Duncan has never had more than $1 million in his campaign account and Duncan needs help raising money and O’Malley pushed Angelos and Schaefer into Duncan’s corner. Governor Ehrlich will run with all the advantages of an incumbent. He is a good fundraiser, his poll ratings are good. Although Michael Steele won’t be his running mate they will still be on the same ballot.

The Democrats want Government House back and they are going to pull out all of the stops. Any doubts, then read a quote from Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., a Democrat who represents Prince George's and Calvert counties.

"GOP leaders 'are going to be flying high, but we're going to get together and
we're going to shoot them down. We're going to bury them face down in the
ground, and it'll be 10 years before they crawl out again,'?"

Senate: Sandy Schrader will be defending her seat, and Allan Kittleman will be defending his father’s seat to win his own full four-year term. Jim Robey is moving to Sandy Schrader’s district to challenge her for her current seat. He knows that he can’t beat Allan Kittleman, mostly because of the large part of Carroll County that Allan represents won’t elect Robey.

House of Delegates: Democrats dominate Howard County’s delegation at a ratio of 6:2. This could change based on the outcome of the District 13 race. A Democratic loss of 2 seats would make the ratio 4:4, so the Senate District 13 race could decide if the GOP will get a clear majority in the delegation. I think the Republican State party is going to be spending a lot of time in District 13.

District 9A: Gail Bates and Warren Miller will run for four-year terms. It appears as though they may have a third candidate for this race setting up a Republican primary.

District 12A: Split between Baltimore and Howard Counties the current representatives are Steven J. DeBoy, Sr. (D) and James E. Malone, Jr. (D)

Wikipedia.org reports that potential GOP candidates are: Don Murphy (politician), former two-term Delegate, lobbyist for a union and nudist organization and Joe Hooe, 2002 Republican nominee; Johns Hopkins graduate, Lansdowne firefighter, small businessman and Maryland State Inspector.

District 12B: Currently held by Elizabeth Bobo (D). No GOP candidates have emerged.

District 13: Currently held by Shane E. Pendergrass (D), Neil F. Quinter (D), and Frank S. Turner (D). What is interesting about this race is that Quinter declared his intent to seek Ben Cardin’s congressional seat. Then he changed his mind. Problem is that Guy Guzzone (D) at the time declared he would join the Pendergrass/Turner slate thereby freezing out Quinter.

Republicans on this ticket will be Mary Beth Tung, Lorettta Gaffney, and Rick Bowers

This race will be the most competitive in Howard County. Although the district leans Democratic, the Democrats will have a difficult time keeping all three seats. Republican Mary Beth Tung, as a first time candidate in 2002, was the top vote getter in the Primary (out of 6), eventually losing the general election by only 2000 votes, less than 2%. (from Wikipedia)

County Executive: Well the field seems is set for a General Election match up between Chris Merdon, and Ken Ulman. It remains to be seen if the Democrats will have a real primary even though Harry Dunbar has declared that he is running.

I admit my bias; I think Merdon has the best chance to win as County Executive. Consider that in the 2002 general election for all Council districts 53% of the vote went Republican, yet Jim Robey got 58% of the vote for the County Executive race –only a slight increase in the previous race. This was primarily due to the fact that Robey ran as an incumbent and he hadn’t raised income taxes yet. This could translate in to a win for Merdon who has great name recognition and is considered a moderate by most of the County. Although Ulman won by a wide margin in his district, he ran for an open seat in a heavily democratic district, but a lot of people are turned off by how he managed his campaign and the tactics he employed against Sigaty in the primary and Lorsung (R) in the general.

With a strong candidate and very hard working campaigner like Merdon, and Councilmatic voting trends in 2002 as a whole, indications are he is in good shape to win this one.

County Council

District 1: Tony Salazar is the only declared Republican candidate and Courtney Watson is the only declared Democratic candidate. See my previous post on this topic.

District 2: No Republicans have emerged to challenge first term Councilman David Rakes who won in 2002 with 60% of the vote. Patrick Black is the yet to officially declare himself the GOP candidate. Councilman David Rakes still hasn’t made his intentions clear although his Democratic “friends” have. I expect that Calvin Ball will get the Democrat nod in the primary.

District 3: Donna Thewes of North Laural has declared her intent to run for the seat that is being vacated by Councilman Guy Guzzone who is running for the House of Delegates in District 13. Running for an open seat in this district will give the GOP a shot at winning control of the council. Thewes will have her hands full campaigning hard in this district. Even though Guzzone won 66% of the vote Thewes doesn’t have to worry about the incumbent factor. Thewes does have to worry about Jennifer Terrasa, Democrat, who has raised $8,350 and has $6,118 in cash on hand. Thewes has a fundraising advantage over Terrasa and over $3,000 more in cash – she will need it.

District 4: Ken Ulman won his council seat by 58.5% of the vote in 2002. Given the manner in which he ran his primary and general election campaigns I expect a repeat performance in the general election for County Executive.

Tom D’Asto is the declared GOP candidate with $970 in cash.

Mary Kay Sigaty is the declared Democratic Candidate with $764 in cash. Given her long tenure in Howard County politics she has very good name recognition in the district. Also, Sigaty is a current member of the Board of Education. She will cut her term short on the Board of Education if she wins this seat. This will be a campaign issue that D’Asto will rightfully exploit.

Update 10:50 PM - Just informed by Hayduke and another source that Josh Feldmark of Wild Lake in Columbia declared his intent to run for this open seat. Some people seem to think that he stands a very good chance at winning it all.

District 5: The Howard County Republican Central Committee appointed Charlie Feaga to fill the unexpired term of Allan Kittleman when Allan was appointed to serve the remainder of his late father’s term in the State Senate. This district went Republican by 72% in 2002. Greg Fox is the declared GOP candidate. He got a very early start on his campaign. He is as hard working as Kittleman and Merdon. He raised $16,000 and still has over $9,300 in cash. Donald Dunn may be the Democrat sacrificial lamb in this race. The Democrats need a hard working credible candidate in this race if only to tie up Fox’s money.

Another word on fundraising (for now).

2006-01-23T05:57:00.000-05:00

The next flurry of campaign finance reports are due in August. Being an election year we know it is going to be very busy for County candidates and difficult for them to raise money.

I give it to Merdon and Ulman for pulling out all the stops now because after the General Assembly session this winter you are going to hear a giant sucking sound.

No, it isn't Ross Perot.

With a US Senate seat and with Government House at stake the GOP and Dems are going to suck all the money out of Maryland. Local candidates are going to have a hard time funding their own campaigns and will be left to fend for themselves. I think they are going to have to get more grass roots oriented (a lot more low cost $25 events). The GOP is only going to fund races that they think they have a chance at and only if it makes Governor Ehrich's next term easier.

Robey has $6,100.00 in the bank? Is he going to self fund against Sandy Schrader? Is he counting on his old friends. Does he really think Sandy Schrader is beatable? Vernon Gray couldn't beat her! Plus Robey is a carpet bagger. He is leaving his current district so he won't have to run against the unbeatable Allan Kittleman. This is a seat the GOP is going to defend. Robey is going to need lots of money with his tax and fee raising record that polls showed would not go well in Kittleman's district. So he thinks District 13 will be friendlier? Well pass out a $.03 property tax cut and maybe you will get a few people to forget about the 30% income tax increase. Apparantly some people have. Byron Macfarlane of Woodstock had his letter to the Sun editor published Is that really how he sees it? In a future post I will publish every single tax and fee increase that Robey forced down our throats and the position of every County Council member on each of those issues. Mr. Macfarlane and his ilk needs a slight reminder that an election year tax cut is not laudible - it is pure politics.

Back to Courtney Waton, my friend, David Wissing, at The Hedge Hog Report, speculated that Courtney raised most of her money this summer when speculation was that she might run for County Executive. Turns out to not be the case. Courtney raised most of her money (56%) in 2005 after declaring her candidacy for District One. In fact the entire summer was pretty arid for her in terms of fundraising, until September when she received $2K in personal donations. Mr. Wissing sent a mea culpa.

I got some comments about an earlier post when I called Courtney ambitious. Well, I need to clarify that statement. Ambition can be a good thing and a bad thing. Anyone aspiring to political office better be ambitious. If they want to represent my interests they had better be able to do so forcefully but professionally. Now some our candidates for local elected office are ambitious, but they are not professional nor diplomatic. They want to force their way of doing things down our throats. Courtney Watson, from what I know and have seen, is ambitious for the right reasons. That isn't to say she doesn't aspire to higher office. Despite protestations to the contrary - I don't think she was prepared to run against Merdon.

Next post on fundraising will be a comparison of the Campaign Finance Reports of Robey, Merdon, Guzzone, Ulman, and Watson going back as far as possible. I am going to look at who is giving money to our local candidates. Stay tuned....

County Exec Fundraising Part II

2006-01-20T22:17:00.000-05:00

Merdon Campaign Finance Analysis

Total raised from January 2005 to January 2006: $177,627
Organizations: $107,576 (60%)
Individuals: $70,051 (40%)

Total raised in December and January: $89,189 (50% of all 2005 activity)
December: $20,535.00
January: $68,654.00

Organizations: $55,874 (31.5% of all 2005 activity)
December: $16,685
January: $39,189

Individuals: $33,315 (18.8% of all 2005 activity)
December: $3,850.00
January: $29,465.00

Those associated with Real Property (developers, contractors, etc): $30,100.00 in 2005 representing 28% of total organization contributions and 17% of total contributions.

Geographic Breakdown

Organizations: $40,697 (23%) of his funding comes from outside the County.
Individuals: $20,925 (12%) of his funding comes from outside the County.
Total: $61,622 (35%) of his funding come from outside the County

I am not making any comments here. Compare the numbers to Ulman's, keeping in mind that Merdon outraised Ulman.

Relative to my earlier post and the Baltimore Sun article - you be the judge.

County Exec Fundraising

2006-01-19T09:27:00.000-05:00

Before we can get a look at the most recent Campaign finance reports for our presumed County Executive Candidates here is the balance each campaign reported as of January 19, 2005:

Merdon: $89,605.00
Ulman: $49,246.00
Dunbar: No Report

Ulman's January 18, 2006 report is already posted and reports $196,000. Where did he ge another $150 Gs?

What is widely expected to be an expensive race (over $500,000 per candidate) fundraising remains a key factor. Ulman looks in good position.

The Baltimore Sun reported today that Merdon has over $222,000 in his campaign war chest.

Larry Carson's article in the Sun is slanted.

"Both candidates got money from development interests, and they said that is not a
problem."

Carson goes on to report in some detail on Merdon's relationship with developers while mentioning only one contribution from a builder to Ulman.

"Merdon also got several large contributions, including $6,500 from local businessman J.P. Bolduc and his wife, plus $6,250 from two of Bolducs' family businesses. Another $6,500 came from a combination of personal and corporate gifts from the Lundy family. Builder Harry J. Lundy has been involved in several county campaigns. Merdon got $1,000 from Nick Mangione, whose family owns Turf Valley where development plans have stirred controversy."

Is that a hatchet job or what? No where does he detail the contributions from developers and related interests that Ulman has received. Is the reader left with the impression that Merdon is closer to developers than Ulman? I think so...

In the interest of being fair and balanced lets take a closer look at Mr. Ulman's finance report.

Ken Ulman Fundraising Analysis January 2005 thru January 2006 (I have rounded the numbers).

Total raised $165,000
Organizations: $79,500
Individuals: $85,500

After declaring he is a candidate for Howard County Executive it seems as though fundraising picked up extensively:

Total raised December and January: $122,300 (74% of all 2005 activity)

Organizations: $63,700 (38% of all 2005 activity)
December: $39,400
January: $24,200

Individuals: $58,700 (35% of all 2005 activity)
December: $31,000
January: $27,700

When reviewing the contributions of Organizations I attempted to identify those organizations with an interest in development (a big issue in Howard County).

These are not excluded to strictly developers, but include any entity with an interest in Real Property in Howard County. They could be real estate agents, title companies, mortgage companies, etc.

In this category in the 2005 period Ulman raised $29,700. Far more than what Larry Carson would lead you to believe in his article.

December: $20,000
January: $4,000
This represents 37% of total organization contributions and 18% of total contributions.

In reviewing the breakdown of contributions geographically

Organizations: $29,620 (18%) of his funding comes from outside of Howard County
Individual: $39,500 (24%) of his funding comes from outside of Howard County.
Total: $69,120 (42%) of his funding comes from outside the County.

It pays to have a great mailing list.

I couldn't get any reports from the State Board of Elections this morning. When I do I will post a Merdon analysis.

HOCO GOP New Leader

2006-01-18T13:45:00.000-05:00

Brian Harlin, formerly vice chairman of the party central committee, is the county GOP's new leader. He said the post fits well with what he does for a living.

Howard Rensin left since his business is requiring a lot more of his time. Referencing Howard Rensin as outspoken is kind of obvious. He led the party he is supposed to be outspoken. Isn't Wendy Fielder outspoken?

Harlin to head county GOP

A lot of speculation that Howard Rensin may have been forced out of the Chairman position.

Not so.... No conspiracy here. It is actually a lot simpler. Rensin doesn't have the time to commit to the GOP effort in an election year. Harlin does and is ideally suited to the role. Rensin recognized it and stepped aside. He should be given credit for not letting the role go to his head, accepting the reality of the competing priorities, and stepping aside for the good of his party.

I would give Wendy Feidler credit for doing the same.

County Council District One

2006-01-17T11:13:00.000-05:00

Little fan fare has been made about Tony Salazar's entry into the County Council Race.

Tony first came on to the political scene when he challenged Congressman Cummings in his re-election bid. One thing I noticed about Tony in that race was his passion for the district and the passion his team of volunteers had in his campaign.

I have met Tony on a number of occasions and am very impressed with his dedication to Howard County, his background is suited to the County Council, and is very approachable.

This district, stretching from Ellicott City through Elkridge is predominately Democratic but the Republicans have managed to win it over the past four election cycles - and by large margins.

The declared Democrat in the race is Courtney Watson, immediate past Chair of the Board of Education. Courtney comes from a political family (her father is a former County Executive) and she seems to aspire to larger roles in politics.

I have met Courtney, and she is pleasant enough. Others have told me they find her personality to be well - political. They say, if you aren't a name or someone important she will walk right past you.

Running the school board is a difficult job. She had a lot of challenges with O'Rourke, redistricting, grade fixing scandals and the release of the school board report on the issue, reinstatement of administrators that the PTA was very upset about, charges from a former Board Member that the BofEd failed the students, Charter Schools, etc. It may come to haunt her in the general election.

Hedge Hog Report on Howard County

2006-01-17T11:10:00.000-05:00

I haven't been very diligent in keeping this blog up to date. I wont' go into my list of excuses.

David Wissing, The Hedge Hog Report, has a great deal of information on the political developments in Howard County. Granted it is a Republican perspective it is a good summary of current events.

CLICK HERE