Wicomico County Republican Club – Page 7

Odds and ends number 43

More of the small stuff you love! Let’s begin with this.

Up in the Second Congressional District, GOP candidate Larry Smith is challenging his four rivals to eight hour-long debates on various issues. But considering he has more to gain than two of his rivals (who serve in the Maryland General Assembly) that’s probably a pipe dream – not to mention they would likely be in session several nights a week.

But the key complaint Smith has is simpler: “This election should not be decided on who has the most insider endorsements, but rather who would be the best representative of the voters of the district.” All that is true, but if these debates were to come to pass I would hope that a conservative runs them, rather than the debacles we have seen with the GOP Presidential debates and their “gotcha” questions.

I wish Mr. Smith the best of luck in going to Washington.

Continue reading “Odds and ends number 43”

WCRC Crab Feast in pictures and text

I realize this is Labor Day weekend, but thanks to Hurricane Irene the Wicomico County Republican Club was forced to reschedule its annual Crab Feast from last weekend to yesterday. It worked out for me because I had plans last weekend, but these guys – well, they weren’t going to interrupt their fishing.

Still, we had a pretty good crowd.

Those that did attend were feted with crabs (of course), hamburgers, hotdogs, sweet corn, watermelon, and a little bit of political talk.

Continue reading “WCRC Crab Feast in pictures and text”

WCRC meeting – August 2011

Last night’s was an interesting and informative Wicomico County Republican Club meeting to be sure, as County Council president Gail Bartkovich filled us in on some of the ins and outs of county government as it stands now.

As always we began with the Lord’s Prayer, Pledge of Allegiance, and my reading of the previous month’s minutes, with a treasurer’s report added for good measure. But Bartkovich began with some good red meat, announcing the elected school board resolution will be discussed once again – she also detailed how she came to be aware of the changes Delegate Conway proposed in a last-second meeting before the hearing. They were also getting input from the local NAACP regarding both the school board issue and redistricting in a future face-to-face meeting.

The key point of Gail’s discussion, though, settled on the creation of a Charter Review Committee. Required by charter on a decennial basis, Bartkovich announced that 25 county residents (some who had served on the previous committee a decade ago) were volunteering their time and talents – of that group, about 15 to 17 would be selected and the County Council would appoint the committee’s chair, with the committee then deciding on a vice-chair. The selection process would occur next month, with the first meeting (open to the public, by the way) to be held sometime in October and most likely at Council chambers. The series of public meeting would lead to recommendations, which would be voted on by County Council. They would vote whether to present the question to the public at the 2014 General Election. Continue reading “WCRC meeting – August 2011”

WCRC meeting – July 2011

It was a smaller-than-usual turnout, but those who came were treated to interesting information from Wicomico County State’s Attorney Matt Maciarello – not all of which I’m at liberty to share.

Of course, we did the usual Lord’s Prayer, Pledge of Allegiance, and reports, but much of the meeting was devoted to Matt reviewing his accomplishments over the first several months of his term. He also was pleased with yesterday’s Daily Times article which “shows lawyers in a good light.”

Among his accomplishments was improving communication and collaboration with law enforcement. When he took over there were “gangs running amok” and 13 homicides left over from 2010, but his approach of “zero tolerance” and a “Top 25” prosecution list seems to be lowering the crime rate somewhat. Realizing that a small percentage of criminals commit much of the crime, Matt also said he strives for longer sentences and higher bail for certain criminals.

But Maciarello is always asking officers on the beat, “what can we do better for you?” He related the thought that, “when we screw up, people suffer.” That extends to his efforts in the community as well, where he encouraged us to “mentor a child.”

Other accomplishments he cited were cleaning up a “disorganized” budget by cost-cutting and working on their own website along with picking up “low morale” in the office – Matt noted he’d hired the first Hispanic attorney and first woman assistant DA in county history.

Matt had an interesting observation on the local blogosphere when he said “the bloggers were bullying Davis Ruark” into giving them scoops on events. He solved that problem by posting press releases to their website first, guaranteeing access for anyone interested. Being a blogger myself, that insight was most interesting and refreshing.

He then opened up the meeting for questions.

The first asked if more criminals were from out of town, since ECI is so close. Regretfully more are homegrown, said Matt, citing the poor home life some have to endure. He would rather engage in prevention and intervention rather than prosecution, but sometimes that was a choice made by the criminal.

On time served, Matt chided Maryland for not being “truthful in sentencing.” So there were techniques Matt’s office used to keep criminals behind bars longer because “we can’t invent evidence.” It was a problem with shows like CSI which made people believe evidence could be made airtight.

As for drug-related changes, Matt called drugs a “scourge” on the community. But the drug of choice seemed to be pain pills like Oxycontin – “we’re seeing zombies,” said Matt.

Finally, Matt commented on the juvenile system. The problem with the system as it is in Maryland stems from a lack of facilities for the most hardcore kids. It’s why Matt encouraged mentoring to such a degree – “we can be different,” he concluded.

After that, there wasn’t a while lot to report on. The Central Committee had a number of upcoming events, remarked Ann Suthowski, and would make a push at those for voter registration.

Woody Willing noted that Wicomico County produced about 759 signatures for the SB167 petition and the Board of Elections was already preparing for next April’s primary. He also reminded us of the WCRC Crab Feast next month, August 27 to be exact.

After other minor club business was discussed, Gail Bartkovich had some County Council announcements.

First of all, she was looking for volunteers for a Charter Review Committee (prescribed by the county’s charter to be formed every 10 years) which would work toward putting any proposed changes on the 2014 ballot.

Secondly, next week’s County Council meeting (August 2nd at 6 p.m.) would feature Rick Pollitt’s reorganization proposal, so we were advised to either attend or watch the meeting to see what he says.

Gail was asked about the resolution for an elected school board, since there was some controversy over remarks at a prior meeting. As far as she knew, the original resolution was still valid and binding although she would verify it wasn’t a dated resolution. But a new one could be proposed at any time, she added.

Besides Maciarello, her answering these questions may have been the highlight of the meeting. We’ll do it all again on August 22, with a speaker to be determined.

WCRC meeting – June 2011

If you missed this meeting, you missed an opportunity to meet one of the leading candidates to unseat incumbent U.S. Senator Ben Cardin.

Of course, we went through the usual business of doing the Lord’s Prayer, Pledge of Allegiance, and reading of the minutes, but those who attended were really there to hear from and interact with Senate candidate Daniel Bongino.

With his family and campaign advisor Brian Murphy in tow, Bongino told those assembled that this was his fourth trip to the Eastern Shore in 20 days – however, he was hoping his campaign wouldn’t be broken by upcoming toll hikes for the Bay Bridge. Dan portrayed the meeting as a “job interview…you don’t need me, I need you.”

Dan related that he decided to run for the U.S. Senate with “no Plan B…I left it all on the line for this.” But he got into the race to run an “aggressive” campaign against the incumbent. “The other side is not taking prisoners,” said Bongino.

Citing the three key issues as education, health care, and the economy, Dan laid into the left’s three-pronged philosophy espoused by Cardin. Their agenda items always include a price control mechanism, a third-party payer, and coercion of some sort. There’s little or no market component with government involvement.

Government has created a number of systems, particularly in health care, that are ‘designed to fail,” including the Great Society. “We made poverty comfortable” during that era, and to Bongino that was “a travesty.”

He also answered a number of audience questions on Medicaid, competing against Ben Cardin, the PATRIOT Act, our involvement in Libya, ending the Federal Reserve, and immigration. For these queries Dan had a number of compelling answers.

Bongino gave a short economic treatise on why one is more likely to die if they’re on Medicaid than they are with no insurance at all. When one considers cost and quality in spending other people’s money on other people (i.e. how government works) “the most inefficient way to spend money is government, every time.” And since there is no regard for either cost or quality with a third-party payer system “(Ben Cardin) is going to sell everyone up the river with this healthcare plan, and he knows it,” stated Bongino.

In competing against Cardin, Dan said it’s a matter of not forfeiting the minority vote as Republicans are prone to do – telling him otherwise is “garbage.” Yet the Democrats have done nothing for the minority population, said Bongino. “We’re not knocking on the doors (in minority areas,” he continued, “Let them slam the door in my face…but I’m going to fight there.”

Those of the libertarian persuasion may have a couple objections, but Bongino thinks that “we need the PATRIOT Act (because) to abuse it takes an act of God” and dismisses the idea of ending the Fed: “Every country needs a central bank.” Yet there are provisions of the PATRIOT Act he would like to see sunsetted, and his support for a central bank comes with the caveat that they need to eliminate one part of the Fed’s dual mandate to control inflation and unemployment. We will either default on our debt or inflate our way out of it, said Dan.

On the other hand, Dan doesn’t support the War Powers Act. He questioned why we are in Libya and Afghanistan, saying “our boys” were being killed there as thanks from the people who we were trying to save. “We need our kids back…(the Taliban and tribal supporters) will kill us every minute we are there; they don’t know they’ve been defeated.”

He concluded with conceding that there’s “zero chance of deporting 12 million (illegal immigrants)” but believes we need to secure the border first before attempting any sort of immigration reform.

Afterward, the reaction to Dan was generally positive, save for a few items he knew could rub some the wrong way. “Honest and refreshing” was the verdict from one observer.

And you can decide for yourself as I recorded Bongino’s remarks last night.

Still, we weren’t finished. Dave Parker gave us the rundown on Central Committee happenings, which included recommending two new members to the Wicomico County Board of Education. Not that it may mean much – “Martin O’Malley doesn’t care” about the Republican party’s desires, conceded Parker – but we did our assigned task.

He also talked about the Catholic Conference and their support of the DREAM Act (against the SB167 petition drive.) “(Their flyer) reads like Democratic Party talking points,” asserted Dave. CASA de Maryland with their aggressive tactics at public places where petition signatures are being solicited and other illegal immigrant supporters were “looking for ways to disenfranchise voters,” Dave said. A copy of the petition was passed around, with more signatures being added to those already in.

Shawn Jester informed us the next Lower Shore Young Republican meeting will be August 9 and talk about redistricting.

Julie Brewington made a pitch for a new group called the Constitutional Conservatives for Maryland PAC, which is holding a raffle fundraiser. (Once their website is up, there will be a link to it from my site.)

Other internal business discussed was a membership drive and potential scholarship. We also decided not to skip the July meeting, as has happened previously in non-election years. One suggested speaker was Robin Holloway, who is leaving the Wicomico County Board of Education after two terms.

So, since we decided it would be so, our next meeting will be July 25. While it’s likely Robin Holloway would be our speaker, stay tuned. We have about a half-dozen U.S. Senate candidates to go.

Senate hopeful Bongino featured WCRC speaker

For the first time since Brian Murphy spoke to us last July, a statewide candidate will grace the Wicomico County Republican Club stage – ironically, with a boost from the aforementioned 2010 candidate for governor.

Daniel Bongino is making his first political run a challenging one by running in a statewide race to unseat incumbent Senator Ben Cardin. Cardin defeated former Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele in 2006, keeping the seat in Democratic hands after longtime Senator Paul Sarbanes retired following a thirty-year run.

Featuring the tagline, “we did nothing wrong, government failed us,” Bongino’s key issues appear to be the economy, health care, energy, the environment, national security, and immigration. Certainly he’ll discuss these and other topics Monday evening.

The meeting, as always, will be held at the Chamber of Commerce building at 144 E. Main Street in downtown Salisbury. We gather for a social time at 6:30 p.m. with the meeting beginning around 7:00.

It’s likely that Bongino will be the first of several GOP Senatorial candidates to grace our stage, since six people are currently in the race. However, Bongino is coming off a strong second-place finish in my most recent Senate poll, just behind 2010 nominee Eric Wargotz.

WCRC meeting – May 2011

It’s a rare meeting that I get away from with one page of notes, but last night’s Wicomico County Republican Club meeting was one of those occasions.

Not that we did a lot out of the ordinary to start, engaging in the usual opening routine, but the subject matter was a little different. Instead of having a guest speaker, those of us who attended learned the ins and outs of voter registration presented by Anthony Gutierrez and Debra Hickman of the Wicomico County Board of Elections. Most of us will be certified to do mass voter registration drives – an important part of growing the GOP both locally and nationally.

So we had a relatively short meeting, as many of those who normally give reports passed up on the proceedings.

Mark McIver, doing the report on behalf of Andy Harris, wanted to get input from those in attendance on key issues, taking the pulse of the public.

After that, I was pressed into service to give the Central Committee report, so I covered the recent state convention, a few upcoming events, and plugged mdpetitions.com.

We were also quizzed about the status of a proposed scholarship and whether we wanted to send letters to recent registants encouraging them to join the Republican Club.

And that was about it. In a meeting which lasted less than an hour, there wasn’t much to write home about.

WCRC meeting – April 2011

We went back to the future last night, as former WCRC president Marc Kilmer was again pressed into service to run the meeting. It was one of the lengthier meetings in memory; not because of Kilmer’s administration but because our featured speaker had a LOT to say. (Plus it took me a little extra time to read the minutes – the Lord’s Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance were done in an average amount of time, as was the treasurer’s report. I can tell faithful attendees that I condensed the minutes for this meeting due to a lack of reports so next month will move more quickly.)

Anyway, this meeting was devoted to our annual Legislative Update, presented by Delegate Mike McDermott. Anyone who’s heard him knows Mike is an animated and quoteworthy sort, and I had plenty of notes from last night.

Flanked by fellow Delegate Charles Otto, who chimed in occasionally, McDermott described a session where, “by the middle of the session, we’re telling people to get out of the state.” He divided his presentation into three parts: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Those things he deemed good were primarily distilled from “killing as much (bad legislation) as we could.” But he also spent time discussing the origin of his “field notes,” originally notes for self-reference that he eventually thought could become a means of communication with his constituents. Deemed too lengthy for use by the Daily Times, Mike turned to the alternative media in order to get the word out. (I’ve used them on occasion as background information, but will really need them later on.) He hoped that we “felt connected” with Annapolis through that unvarnished filter.

(It’s worthy of stating that I also get communications from other Delegates, but Mike’s and fellow freshman Delegate Justin Ready’s seem to be the most in-depth.)

“You do make a difference,” he said. For example, same-sex marriage “was going to happen,” but “the people who were concerned got active” and support among wavering Democrats from moderate-to-conservative districts eventually eroded. Mike recalled how the pro-gay marriage forces celebrated their victory in getting the bill out of committee, figuring the hard work was over. But as time went on, votes in their favor were siphoned off and the measure was recommitted rather than face a negative floor vote that “could have killed it for a couple years.”

The proposed septic ban, which “would have killed the economy on the Shore,” was thwarted for the session as well – McDermott scored that as a victory.

Mike discussed the difference in approach Democrats have to energy bills at some length. For example, the offshore wind “boondoggle” was no problem to General Assembly Democrats despite the cost it would saddle Maryland ratepayers with. On the other hand, drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale formation under western Maryland would be dangerous. While I think Mike was a little hyperbolic in claiming the Marcellus natural gas would “make Maryland akin to Saudi Arabia,” there is a sizable deposit in that formation which would assist Maryland’s quest to not be a net energy importer. (Pennsylvania and New York are more fortunate in that regard, as the formation mainly lies within their borders.)

Annapolis liberals “did not care about the cost” of their pet items, Mike continued, as their “philosophy of government trumps everything else.”

Another aspect of the session McDermott praised (and was echoed by Otto) was the “cohesiveness” of the House GOP. The freshmen “weren’t quite what (the leadership) had in mind” but instead tended to serve as the “spine of the Republican caucus.” It gave the House GOP “solidarity and purpose” – for example, they had never voted en masse against a budget before but 42 of the 43 members said no to Governor O’Malley and the Democrats this time. (The one holdout, Delegate Wendell Beitzel, likely voted yes because of coal subsidies for his far-western district, said Mike.)

Other victories Mike claimed were getting rid of all but the most common-sense gun regulations and enhancing ignition interlock laws.

Leading off the list of the bad was in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. “It’s so illogical it defies the imagination,” said Mike. Part of the reason was that their slots would come out of the more lucrative out-of-state student population, but McDermott lamented the cost of the whole deal to taxpayers – not just in Montgomery County, but affecting Wor-Wic as well.

He also castigated the handling of the “bungled” Wicomico County straw vote to allow voters to determine whether they wanted an elected school board. As amended, the questions became “confusing,” but the good news is that Mike promised to prefile the bill for next year – obviously as a member newly sworn in this year he didn’t have the right to do so before.

That led to another comment from Mike where he said that “they (meaning the Democrats who run the House) take full advantage of the first year of a new term” by browbeating the freshman members of their caucus. They threaten to change committee assignments or not pass their pet bills if they don’t vote the proper way on “leadership votes.” Perhaps we can “take advantage of (those) displaced” in future sessions, opined Mike.

With all the General Assembly did, though, they failed to address the pension problem. Yet Democrats moved forward on adopting provisions of Obamacare – even though it could be overturned by the courts – to the tune of “tens of millions.” They’ve “written checks with inpunity” against not just us, but our children and grandchildren too.

Much of the ugly centered around two issues: the budget, and the process used to enact the 50% jump in the alcohol sales tax. That was a last-minute measure rushed through without proper debate and despite numerous heroic attempts by Republicans to amend the bill.

Mike’s biggest lament on the budget was that we were borrowing to fund projects which used to be paid in cash, meanwhile drawing down a number of trust funds to dangerous levels. The tax regimen was installed in order to replenish the trust funds.

But he saved his ire for the passage of the alcohol surtax, which Mike claimed would have a trickledown effect on local businesses once jobs in the bar and restaurant industry are lost. “Democrats like to use sin taxes (because it) divides the population,” Mike said, using the example of an appliance salesman he spoke to who didn’t mind the tax because he didn’t drink. Mike pointed out that it would still affect his bottom line if those laid off didn’t buy a new washer or two.

“If there’s anything that enraged me about Annapolis, it was the process…is it frustrating to be up there?” asked Mike. “Damn straight it is.”

Mike also was chagrined at his fellow Delegate, Norm Conway, regarding the state’s budget. While Conway claimed the budget was “morally responsible and fiscally prudent,” McDermott thought otherwise. It was “morally reprehensible” that we saddle ourselves with more debt like bond bills. Mike also chided Conway for the number of bills he chose not to vote on, likely fearing a backlash from either his district or Democratic leadership. (I’ve noted this trend for some time.)

In answering a question about “how do we make them pay for their votes?” Mike felt that, once redistricting was complete, we could get the word out about how vulnerable Democrats were really voting. As an example, Mike pointed out that there were three amendments presented to the bond bill.

Democrats wouldn’t vote for a 5 percent across-the-board cut.

Nor would they vote for a 3 percent cut.

They wouldn’t even go for a measly ONE PERCENT cut, which was at best symbolic. “Is that really unreasonable?” And when pressed about how that would affect his district, Mike had a ready answer: “apparently there’s not a lot of mayors in this place.” He would be thrilled to take a portion of the money and increase the local match because he understands the state’s financial shape.

McDermott also thought it interesting that he received a lot of attention from the Baltimore media as opposed to local news. Yet he got kudos, even from the opposition, for standing up for his district when we were being slighted. (Guess where that alcohol tax millions is going? We get $156,000 while other counties get millions.)

With all that said, the other reports were brief.

Speaking for the Central Committee, Dave Parker thanked the Delegates for their work and invited those at the WCRC meeting to come back in a week for the Central Committee meeting as well as the party’s Spring Convention in Ocean City on May 6-7. Dave also spoke about the national debt ceiling – rather than a crisis, it would simply force President Obama to live within his means for the first time.

I gave a quick update on the postcard situation, while Ann Suthowski filled us in on the topic of a future meeting. Joe Ollinger chimed in with a few words on the “zero homestead exemption” and why we should oppose it, and Gail Bartkovich alerted us to a county budget hearing at 6:30 p.m. next Tuesday at the Civic Center.

Clocking in at nearly 1 3/4 hours, it was a long but informative meeting. We reconvene next month on May 23 – a rare fourth Monday in May which wouldn’t conflict with Memorial Day. It’s the last May meeting until 2016, so let’s enjoy it.

WCRC meeting – March 2011

It wasn’t a particularly eventful meeting insofar as controversy went, but we got to hear from a rookie County Council member who shared his opinions on a lot of issues facing the county. That’s how the first new-look meeting went for Larry Dodd and the remaining WCRC officers. Perhaps the additional structure was nice, as Dodd asked me to compile an agenda and I made it fairly detailed. It did make the meeting run a little long, but not overly so.

After we took care of our normal business (Lord’s Prayer, Pledge of Allegiance, minutes, and Treasurer’s Report – unchanged from the last administration) we welcomed Bob Culver for his first WCRC speaking engagement as an elected official.

Bob told the assembled group that he “was having a great time” saying no to Rick Pollitt’s financial requests and that County Council has “jelled very well” since it took over.

He brought up three key issues County Council had addressed over the last few months; these issues included Bennett Middle School, an elected school board, and speed cameras.

Regarding Bennett Middle School, Bob informed us that the possibility of alternative financing would be more expensive to the county, which has as its goal paying off $10 million in bonding this year rather than borrowing. Culver asserted that the Board of Education had a “secretive” construction fund that wasn’t used, but any negotiations on its use should be conducted away from the press or county Public Information Officer. He also believed that we should attempt to bring other schools up rather than build anew, giving the example of water fountains which do not work at Beaver Run Elementary. An example of a good and comparatively inexpensive renovation project could be found at Stephen Decatur High School in Worcester County, said Bob.

Proposed changes to the elected school board bill by Delegate Norm Conway were “too confusing,” and Bob wanted a straight yes or no vote. Amendments to the bill were being pushed by Mary Ashanti of the NAACP – we need to “make the public know that Norm Conway owns this bill.”

Speed cameras were “a revenue thing,” Culver said, and he worried about both declining revenues as people adjusted to the cameras and using them as a backdoor way to fund the county’s LEOPS program as the town of Fruitland does.

“I represent the people…that’s the neat thing about it,” Bob concluded. He then opened the floor to questions. One surprising statement in his answers was his call for a provision to keep business within the county, citing a local company who lost out on a bid to provide tents for Pork in the Park by just a couple hundred dollars to a Queen Anne’s County firm. He also spoke about early retirement buyouts offered to county employees, stating that the big question about Obamacare’s effects hung over everyone’s heads.

Dave Parker gave the Central Committee report, noting the upcoming state convention in Ocean City and recommending that those interested in running for office or helping on campaigns make an effort to show up – it’s well worth the $50 for the training sessions.

We heard other brief reports from Shaun Jester, who had a twofer as Lower Shore Young Republican president and representative for Delegate Mike McDermott. Mark McIver chimed in with an update on Congressman Andy Harris and revealed that we should expect him in Salisbury at least one day a month to hear constituent concerns. McIver believed Andy’s most recent visit to the area was a success, as it included visits to manufacturing facilities in Princess Anne and Crisfield along with two townhall meetings, including one in Salisbury.

One departure from the norm will occur next month, as for the first time in recent years the Republican Club is taking a hiatus from the Salisbury Festival. But we will be back in 2012, and the Crab Feast will go on as usual August 27.

Two other pieces of business involved internal communications and voter registration. Our June meeting will be a working meeting in order to certify us for a registration push, which should be interesting.

In the meantime, we are considering a speaker for next month; most likely it will be Delegate Mike McDermott who will provide the annual legislative wrapup. See you on April 25th!

WCRC meeting – February 2011

I know, this meeting was so last month. But when you have an election to cover and like to keep people informed on what’s up on the state level this event coverage wasn’t going anywhere.

This meeting was one of transition. After our usual recitation of the Lord’s Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance, longtime Secretary Dave Parker read the minutes one last time and we recieved the Treasurer’s Report from Tom Hughes, who is staying on.

Ann Suthowski asked a question about membership and wasn’t pleased with the answer. “We should have at least 200 members,” she asserted, and perhaps she’s correct. Having said that, though, I’d rather have 50 good, active members than 200 who simply send in a dues check and do nothing else. Although most don’t attend the meetings, the core membership has stagnated or dwindled over the years so maybe the change in leadership will make a difference. (Personally I’d like to see more of a TEA Party influence.)

For the second month in a row, our featured speaker was a County Council member – this time it was District 2’s Stevie Prettyman. Outgoing President Marc Kilmer introduced her by reminding us “the county taxpayers have a friend in her.”

Stevie stated the obvious in her opening – “the last several years have been difficult.” In the next few weeks we’ll get the County Executive’s budget plan for FY2012, which begins July 1, 2011. While the numbers for this fiscal year can change at any time thanks to moves by state government, Prettyman briefly went through the process for passing the budget. The County Council can only decrease the budget or move money around (aside from increasing money for educational needs) but if they can’t pass an alternative by June 15 the Executive’s budget stands.

Digging into a bit of history, Stevie noted that FY2009 was the first time in a decade revenues fell short of the budget, and FY2010 brought us a $10.1 million gap between revenues and expenses – revenues that were shorter still this fiscal year and were threatening to be even shorter next year as the state made cuts and shifted expenses to the county level – she then recited a litany of proposed state cuts. “The low-hanging fruit is gone” for FY2012, she said, adding the budget will have to undergo “significant, permanent structural changes.”

“This is the time when leaders make real choices,” Stevie went on to say. “We need your help and support.” She was “very anxious to receive (the) budget.”

When asked about the capital budget, specifically the proposed Bennett Middle School, she noted that construction funds would indeed come out of the capital budget but bond repayment comes out of the operating budget. Previous Councils “would only borrow what they paid off” but larger projects have changed that approach. Still, our indebtedness is well under what the county’s charter allows, added Stevie.

A questioner asked why the existing Bennett Middle School can’t be renovated – it’s slated for demolition so the high school project can be completed in Phase 4 so that option isn’t really on the table as a permanent solution. (The next night, County Council voted to delay the Bennett Middle School project for a year, citing its cost and the county’s debt level.)

Dave Parker gave the Central Committee report, calling the Lincoln Day Dinner a “fantastic time.” While it was good to hear from our new Congressman Andy Harris, second banana Eric Grannon, the MDGOP’s Third Vice-Chair also made “an excellent impression.” Dave awarded the Republican of the Year plaque to Ed Nelson, who missed the Lincoln Day Dinner, and recounted the story of our Republican Youth of the Year, Margaret Gaetano.

Our next Central Committee meeting is Monday at 7 p.m. with a speaker to be announced. It will be a postmortem on the LDD as well – we are looking to make it bigger and better for 2012.

With an Andy Harris report, Mark McIver excitedly spoke about the new office at 212 W. Main Street and the “good media coverage” the opening received. In Washington the talk was about budget cuts, McIver continued, and while Andy wanted the full $100 billion promised we would get around $61 billion, with $4 billion included in a two-week continuing resolution extension.

Woody Willing chimed in that the club should be more active in pushing for an elected school board.

Joel Dixon, who is still in the running for Salisbury City Council pending Friday’s absentee ballot count, claimed “I didn’t come here to politick” but asked for our vote at the meeting.

Cathy Keim gave us an update on the same-sex marriage bill in Maryland, which has passed the Senate but – as it turned out later – ran into a snag in the House of Delegates.

After nominations were closed, the 2011 officers were elected by acclamation (there were no contested races.)

The new officers are:

President: Larry Dodd
1st VP: Dustin Mills
2nd VP: Marc Kilmer
3rd VP: Carl Kurten
4th VP: Deb Okerblom
Secretary: Michael Swartz
Treasurer: Tom Hughes

Yes, I’m now the chief notetaker for both the Central Committee and Republican Club. Makes sense, doesn’t it?

After Marc Kilmer asked the club to “please treat (Larry) gently,” Dodd thanked us for the support and reminded us that the upcoming city elections affected the county as well.

Our next meeting will be March 28.

WCRC meeting – January 2011

It’s a new year, but many of the same cast of characters met at the Salisbury Chamber of Commerce building to kick off the beginning of a new election cycle.

We first did the usual recitation of the Lord’s Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance, then went over minutes from both the October and November meetings. Following that was the Treasurer’s Report, although the treasury was increasing by the minute as members paid their 2011 dues.

Our speaker for the evening was County Council Vice-President Joe Holloway, who wanted to speak about the capital improvement budget but was prodded by questions and comments into a more general discussion. After being a skeptic about the concept when he first came into office, Joe now believes the recent MACo conference was “very informative.” A lot of interesting things were uttered there as well, said Joe. (I’m not at liberty to repeat them.)

Joe also told us that the latter half of 2010 was sparse as far as legislation went, but this year promised to be different. He cited a number of issues County Council may address: residential sprinklers for new single-family dwellings (which Joe was leaning against requiring,) speed cameras, which Joe stated had “a lot of work to do on them,” the prospect of an elected school board, the comprehensive plan, and the monetary issues of our operating and capital budgets.

The capital budget drew attention from the group as the prospect of taking $14 million in principal and interest from the operating budget usually does, particularly when the County Executive wants to borrow $16 million more. Also on the radar screen is the possible adoption of “special taxing districts” to replace revenue – as Joe said, “you can special tax district anything.” For example, a volunteer fire department could have the benefits of a special taxing district but would risk a loss in donations since it would be assumed the tax would cover all their expenses.

With the asking of a question regarding the wisdom of building the new Bennett Middle School now, the tenor of Holloway’s presentation changed. For him, that would be a “tough call” as he’d have to weigh the current low interest and construction costs vs. the declining revenues we’re receiving. (In fact, the newest batch of assessments are running about 25% lower than the last cycle three years ago.)

Another question regarding school construction which came up was the status of intersection improvements near the new Bennett High School, which was a case of the city perhaps not being ready for the school to be finished a year ahead of schedule. But the questioner called the situation there “a fatal accident waiting to happen.”

Yet a different quandary piqued the interest of a number of people – could the county do without the inventory tax? (This is also referred to as the personal property tax, and apparently we are the lone county in the state charging one.) Obviously the question would be that of how to replace the revenue gained, but quite honestly the onus would be on the County Executive to make do should that barrier be removed. (In the FY2011 budget, the total revenue from the personal property tax is estimated at about $9.7 million.) Meanwhile, Holloway brought up the fact that the county’s budget had increased by $34 million between 2002 and 2008 – they spent plenty during the boom times.

A question of a different sort awaited the group after Holloway finished – did any of them wish to step up and become club officers for 2011? Hearing no willing volunteers, it appears the slate will be as follows:

President: Larry Dodd
1st VP: Dustin Mills
2nd VP: Marc Kilmer
3rd VP: Carl Kurten
4th VP: Deb Okerblom
Secretary: Michael Swartz
Treasurer: Tom Hughes

Of the group, most are already officers. Larry Dodd starts at the top, with Kilmer taking my old spot as 2nd Vice-President. I’m stepping into Dave Parker’s longtime job as Secretary – if I do half as well as he, I would do a decent job. Dave will be a challenge to top.

The aforementioned Parker gave the Central Committee report, putting out the welcome mat for visitors. He went over our advocation of an elected school board, adventures at the Martin Luther King dinner, and the upcoming Lincoln Day Dinner where Congressman Andy Harris and state Party 3rd Vice-Chair Eric Grannon would be featured speakers.

Mark Biehl gave a short Lower Shore Young Republican report, a group where he’d turned leadership over to Shawn Jester. They were taking a bit of a hiatus after a busy election season, not meeting again until April 13. But they would do their annual canned food drive during the late spring.

“I’m having a ball.” Those were the words of newly appointed lower Eastern Shore liaison Mark McIver, so designated by Congressman Andy Harris. “We’ll really be strong on constituent services,” promised Mark, who also revealed that Harris will serve on three House committees: Natural Resources, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Space, Science, and Technology. (But I still want to know if Andy will be on both the Republican Study Committee and TEA Party Caucus.)

Greg Belcher made mention of an upcoming Senate TEA Party caucus event on Thursday, with an effort to carpool to the event from here. (I’ll have more on this tomorrow.)

Joe Collins announced the AFP would meet Wednesday, and they were looking for new leadership as he had to step aside for various reasons.

Upcoming speakers and guests were the subject of suggestions by both John Palmer and Cynthia Williams. Palmer suggested we hear from the County’s internal auditor, Steve Roser, while Williams believed that we should allow Salisbury City Council candidates to speak their piece. (I noted our next meeting was on the eve of the primary, though.)

That next meeting will be February 28, with our speaker scheduled to be County Councilwoman Stevie Prettyman.

WCRC meeting – November 2010

For a meeting which didn’t feature a speaker, we heard an earful from one person.

But as usual, we began with the Lord’s Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance. Then we departed from tradition a little bit because there were several candidates present who wanted to say their thanks, just in time for Thanksgiving. (We didn’t get to the Treasurer’s report until about midway through the meeting and the minutes from the October meeting were inadvertantly left at home by our secretary.)

We began with newly-elected Councilman at-large Bob Culver, who thanked us for the financial and moral support and told us the new Council members had their orientation today in preparation for their swearing in the evening of December 7th. They’ll elect new officers that night and chances are we’ll have a new Council vice-president.

“I’m pretty confident this will stand.” Bob Caldwell was talking about his razor-thin two vote margin of victory. He figured David MacLeod would request the recount he’s entitled to due to the closeness of the race but it’s not likely to change the results. Bob’s a living reminder that every vote does count – if just one person had changed their mind and voted for MacLeod, we’d be awaiting a coin flip.

Charles Otto said the support the club gave “was a blessing to us” and thanked us for it. He pointed out that the budget took a turn for the worse (conveniently after the election, of course) and told us these were the “most challenging times I’ve seen in my lifetime.” But tax increases were not the answer.

Even though she didn’t win, Marty Pusey had some of the most interesting remarks.

She told us that she didn’t decide to run until a townhall meeting held by the Worcester County Americans for Prosperity and featuring Delegates Jim Mathias and Norm Conway. Marty recalled how she asked herself, especially about Conway, “is this the best we can do?” She decided running would be a “win-win” – either she would win or she’d at least make Norm Conway fight for the seat. (Perhaps she was successful since Conway didn’t have enough coattails to pull Gee Williams in.) Marty was also amazed how our message became their message at election time, as suddenly liberal-voting Democrats had a conservative message.

(And you wonder why I told her I’m starting the ‘Draft Pusey for 2014’ movement.)

Marc Kilmer chimed back in that “2010 was a lot better than 2006,” considering our record of local successes. Then he turned the floor over to newly elected WCRCC Chair Dave Parker for the Central Committee report.

First of all, those of us present received our certificates for being elected. (Unfortunately, they are signed by Martin O’Malley.)

But he may have surprised a few people by saying, “I view my job as training a younger leader (for the local party).” And if that wasn’t enough, Dave then told us, “You now have two TEA Party activists on the top of your Central Committee.”

Wait until Audrey Scott, Mary Kane, and the other establishment Republicans read that; in fact, let me repeat it:

“You now have two TEA Party activists on the top of your Central Committee.”

Dave continued by saying the TEA Party and the GOP are “working hand-in-hand” in Wicomico County. Ain’t that a beautiful thing?

The job for the rest of us was pretty simple: “we gotta educate the voters” and “hold people to the fire.”

Parker also shared his “concern” about the Victory Centers, where local candidates and supporters were disappointed to find that their intent seemed to be pushing Bob Ehrlich and Andy Harris moreso than getting local hopefuls elected. He also recounted the Rule 11 controversy for those not in the know.

Turning to the state party, Dave argued “the Chair (of the state party) has to be a fundraiser.” Unfortunately to that end, “we still can be totally ignored in Annapolis.”

Yet, with our local success of getting 6 of the 7 County Council seats (thus, holding veto power over anything Rick Pollitt does) the onus is on the GOP to do things right – if things are screwed up, “it’s our fault.”

Finally, Dave reminded us that the Lincoln Day Dinner is actually slated for Abe’s birthday, February 12, 2011 at Salisbury University.

Yes, it was a much longer Central Committee report than usual, but there was a lot to say. It more than made up for the lack of a Lower Shore Young Republican report or the many candidate campaign reports we heard in months past.

To close the affair, Marc reminded us about our Christmas Party on December 12th and Ann Suthowski brought up the Chamber of Commerce’s Legislative Meeting upcoming on December 16th.

As usual, the WCRC won’t have a regular December meeting; their next gathering will be January 24, 2o11.