Odds and ends number 42
As you likely know, this is the post where I pick out a few items worth a paragraph or three but not a full post. So here goes.
Polling is in the news these days – sometimes as a real reflection of the political scene, and sometimes just to make news and push a particular agenda. There are two recent polls which I believe reflect the latter.
I’m usually not too trusting of polls in which I can’t find a political or geographical breakdown, and a recent Washington Post poll fits this bill. Taken simply as a sample of 1,064 adults in Maryland, the Post poll gives Martin O’Malley a 55% approval vs. 36% disapproval – compare that to the 53-40 split in the recent Gonzales Poll, which I can easily ascertain subgroups and methodology in. Other disagreements: a 50-44 split in favor of gay marriage on the Post poll vs. a 49-47 split in favor on Gonzales and the “key issue” question: the economy was the top choice of 49% in Gonzales but only 32% on the Post poll.
Without seeing the methodology besides the sample size, my guess is that the local Washington D.C. area was oversampled by the Post. Obviously the economy is better there than in some other portions of the state, and since the area is more liberal than the rest of the state (hard to believe, but true) the other numbers seem to point in that direction as well.
A caving on Bennett Middle School?
Update: As projected, District 2 Council member Stevie Prettyman is indeed the one who sold us out in a 4-3 vote. She joined District 4 appointee John Hall, at-large member Matt Holloway, and District 1 Democrat Sheree Sample-Hughes in voting to commit the county to years of debt. Hope the squeaky wheel minority is happy.
According to published reports in both the blogosphere and mainstream media, Wicomico County Council is holding yet another meeting tomorrow morning to discuss the stalled Bennett Middle School project. County Executive Rick Pollitt has already asked County Council to allot a 7 cent per $100 increase in the property tax to help pay for the new school without presenting the remainder of his operating budget. (The phrase for that where I come from is “a pig in a poke.”)
First of all, it’s notable that the meeting will be a daytime meeting rather than an evening meeting, since I thought the intention of having night meetings would be to encourage participation. Perhaps that time worked better within the schedule of the few squeaky wheels who don’t understand that people are tapped out, so no means no. For working folks, it’s not that easy.
And since it will be a legislative session, this will give at least one of the four who originally voted to hold off on the school until funds are more available the opportunity to cave in to the caterwauling of these parents who are more than willing to pay higher taxes. News flash: there is nothing stopping those in Parents in Action from stroking a check to make up the difference in their tax rates; however, the rest of us may want to see a better funding plan for a more affordable school that won’t put those same children who attend the school into decades of watching the county pay for it.
G.A. Harrison opines in his piece that District 2 Council member Stevie Prettyman is the weakest link among the four, and that over the last week there has been a “sometimes mudslinging” campaign against the four who voted to be fiscally prudent – another I spoke to agreed that the County Council is getting “hate mail.” Perhaps supporters of fiscal sanity were a little too complacent.
Of course, there is the slim chance that we are the recipient of some fiscal miracle and the county can afford this project without saddling the next generation in debt or, more importantly, raising taxes on a population which is already overburdened. Harrison suffers from one possible inaccuracy in his report, though – I believe a seven cent rise in the property tax homeowners would result in a staggering 17.5 cent per $100 increase in the personal property tax Wicomico County businesses are saddled with. Certainly local businesses can weather that increase, no problem. </sarc>
Failing that miracle, it bears noting that a County Council which bends whichever way the wind blows is also subject to a primary challenge next time around. I can guarantee you local Democrats will give no credit for voting to raise taxes in the next election and will instead use the 2014 campaign to paint County Council as the obstructionists who rode Rick Pollitt out of a job.
When the time is right, we can build Bennett Middle School – if the state has it as its priority to build schools there will be no “end of the line.” I say call their bluff and hold the line on county spending.
If you can attend the County Council meeting, by all means do so. We need to support the fiscally conservative majority and make sure they can weather the storm presented by a few malcontents who seem to think a new school will solve all our educational problems.
The Maryland Model (part three)
This will be the final part of a three-part series; in case you’re getting caught up here are parts one and two.
In truth, though, this part won’t be based strictly on the Maryland Model. It’s actually going to be a critique of a presentation I ran across, one which is presumably some sort of PowerPoint presentation translated to Scribed for the purposes of disseminating. Called Become a Force Multiplier: 5 Simple Tasks for American Activists, it addresses many of the issues we will face in 2012 with a particular focus on Big Labor’s aspect. (Not surprisingly, since it’s done by LaborUnionReport.com.) More importantly, they note that:
Several of the tactics and action models described herein have been adapted from models used by unions and other Left-wing groups. In other words, the Left is already using these models, you need to as well.
Fight fire with fire, as it is said.
Why add to the debt?
Obviously this post I cite is an oversimplification of the educational approach needed for many children, but I thought it was appropriate to point this out given the fact a small group of parents – backed by an all-powerful school board and sympathetic County Executive and newspaper – are putting big-time pressure on our County Council to approve the debt necessary to build a new middle school.
But Richard F. Miniter, a writer posting on the American Thinker website, makes the case that education can be as simple as applying a little discipline and effort, given the vast library now available to anyone who has an e-reader and cares enough about their child to make sure they learn. And there is a time savings, as Miniter writes:
It also sums down to a little block of time because without having to get ready for the school bus; the bus ride; dispersing to classroom; disciplinary issues in classrooms; having to raise your hand to go to the bathroom; noisy, chaotic hallways scenes every fifty minutes; noisy, chaotic lunch periods; announcements; fire drills; lectures about bullying, respecting alternative lifestyles, or strangers; then preparing for the bus ride home, followed by homework, one can do a better job with a child in two hours than a traditional school classroom setting can in eight.
Now extrapolate that to the building itself. If one can learn in the small space of time allotted to learning at home, it can also be assumed that learning can be achieved in a regular school building, regardless of the age.
Lower Shore gerrymandering in Friday night document dump
Late this evening, the Maryland Department of Planning released their versions (House of Delegates and Senate) of the redistricting map for the General Assembly. For the purpose of this post, though, I’m going to concentrate on Districts 37 and 38.
The new District 37 is a lot like the old one, as they maintained a majority-minority district in 37A which snakes along the U.S. 50 corridor between Salisbury and Cambridge, with a arm of the district heading up toward Hurlock in Dorchester County. But District 37B now makes nearly an entire crescent around the single-member district and swallows up much of the Wicomico County territory formerly in District 38A. Geographically it’s a huge district that takes in all of Talbot County, the southern end of Caroline County, most of Dorchester County and the southern and western ends of Wicomico County, plus a small area near Sharptown. In essence, it moved a little bit southward and eastward.
As for District 38, well, I got part of my wish as it will now be comprised of three single-Delegate seats. The 38A portion, though, now takes in all of Somerset County and the southern half of Worcester County, with a spike running along the U.S. 113 corridor into the Berlin area. I predicted this would happen because it would force two incumbent Republicans (Charles Otto and Mike McDermott) into the same district. Looks like we have our 2014 District 38 Senate candidate now.
District 38B maintains only a sliver of the Wicomico County portion of the existing district, and looks tailor-made for another run by Norm Conway. To me it looks like the western boundary hardly changed so it’s now primarily a Salisbury/Delmar/Fruitland district, as it did move a little bit southward to take in that former 38A territory. The eastern side of Wicomico County and the northern half of Worcester County (except Berlin) now become part of the new District 38C.
So who does this benefit? Obviously the new District 37 will probably keep the incumbents in office, or at least decrease the chance for a non-minority to win the 37A seat. Rich Colburn picked up a decently Republican chunk of Wicomico County but lost quite a bit of Caroline County to District 36. So that is probably a wash. But District 38 was built simply to eliminate one Republican from the area, and the extension of District 38A into Berlin may have been on the behalf of Berlin mayor Gee Williams, who tried for the seat before. Perhaps it’s a more lopsidedly Republican seat, but now it gets only one Delegate.
And I’m stuck with Norm Conway, since I’ll be in the new and smaller District 38B. Unless Mike McDermott moves closer to me, he won’t be my Delegate anymore in a practical sense. But that’s okay – it just means I can give old Five Dollar more flak if he decides to run again, which I hope he doesn’t. Given the fact the district maintained its irregular shape at the western end, my guess is that he will and they eliminated the rural parts of his district to help his cause.
Finally, I’m disappointed with the MDP’s map since it wouldn’t allow me to figure out the new districts close-up – that is unless my laptop isn’t up to the task. So forgive me my wild guesses as to where the districts lie, but before that site failed me I did verify my home is in 38B. Not by a whole lot, though.
Update: This example may illustrate how cut up our area is. Along the first two miles of Mount Hermon Road you can have houses in four different districts. At the far west end of the road and up to Civic Avenue it’s the border between the extreme eastern fringe of District 37A on the north side and 38B on the south side. Then about a mile or so it’s in entirely in 38B, until the road passes under U.S. 13. Then it’s solely in District 38C for a short distance until it crosses a creek just west of Hobbs Road, when the highway becomes the border between 38C on one side and District 37B on the other. Finally, just past Walston Switch Road, the road becomes part of 38C. To use east side landmarks, the airport is in 37B, Perdue Stadium is in 38C, WinterPlace Park is in 38B, and the established part of the Aydelotte neighborhood is on the edge of 37A.
Wicomico County Council: the Holloway & Holloway show
I’m told the fix was in from the start. But last night Wicomico County Council added its newest member in District 4′s John Hall and reorganized. Out was two-year County Council President Gail Bartkovich of District 3 and in was former Council Vice-President Joe Holloway of District 5. He was replaced by at-large member Matt Holloway.
And while Joe Holloway announced the decision was by unanimous consent, the lone Democrat on the body chose to wait until Council comments to express her dissent. Maybe Joe didn’t hear her in the hubbub, but I don’t think Sheree Sample-Hughes needed to take up an attitude, just politely state that for the record the vote was not unanimous.
But this post is more about the direction I’d like to see the County Council take us in.
WCRC meeting – November 2011
I wasn’t sure what to think about the meeting when I found out who the speaker would be, but Wayne Strausburg turned out to be an interesting guest who had a lot of things to say.
Of course, we attended to our usual opening business, but the bulk of the meeting dealt with the prospective changes to our county Charter from the committee of fifteen interested citizens – three of whom were in the room – headed by Strausburg.
Wayne explained his role as speaker would be to relate the process and entertainment of ideas that the Charter Review Committee (CRC) would review on their way to making recommendations to County Council. As head of the group, Strausburg wanted to have a “consensus” on proposals because “we don’t take changes to the document lightly.”
Why it should be Keim for the District 4 seat
Tomorrow the Wicomico County Council has a decision to make, and it’s of paramount importance they get it right.
As many of you know, it was a week ago that we interviewed a half-dozen candidates, all seeking to be on our four-person list that we submitted for the County Council seat. While all six had their good qualities, to me one candidate stood out above the rest and apparently the rest of our body agreed with me because she was rewarded with the highest number of votes.
While I can’t speak to the reasons the other Central Committee members picked her, it was apparent to me that Cathy Keim has a number of assets useful for a County Council member: active in both the political realm and the community at large, she can hit the ground running on the issues because she’s a frequent attendee at County Council meetings. In her application and interview, Cathy touched on a number of subjects which will be hot-button issues in the days to come and demonstrated she’ll be a well-informed advocate for the citizens of District 4. I can tell you she’s already reaching out to interested citizens on a number of issues, looking for input from various corners.
And while it’s apparent that no one can completely fill the shoes of the late Bob Caldwell, I happen to think Cathy will blaze her own trail and help lead Wicomico County in the right direction during these perilous times. This opportunity presents itself to her at a point in her life where she will have both the time and energy to be an outstanding member of County Council, and she will have three years to make the job her own. I have no doubt that she will.
So I encourage the other six members of County Council to select the best person for the job tomorrow and appoint Cathy Keim to ably represent the citizens of District 4. While we gave the Council the requisite number of choices, one stood out. I call on my readers to let County Council know Cathy Keim is the best candidate.
Local GOP selects four for District Four
Last night, the Wicomico County Republican Central Committee interviewed six candidates before selecting four local Republicans to advance to an upcoming Wicomico County Council vote to fill the seat now vacant due to the passing of Bob Caldwell. Selected were former County Council member Bill Carey, local businessman John Hall, Robert Huntington, an airline pilot, and political activist Cathy Keim. A seventh applicant withdrew from consideration just before the interview process began.
These half-dozen candidates were peppered with questions from the Central Committee, which was charged by the county charter to select four qualified citizens for County Council’s consideration. As a body, we agreed that all six candidates interviewed would have been fine additions to County Council, but only four could move on and all four who advanced received a majority of votes from the eight eligible members voting, with one receiving support from all eight present.
Truthfully, I was somewhat surprised at the outcome but had one vote flipped I would’ve had the result I expected – it was that close. I voted for three of the four winners, so I wasn’t dismayed at all. It’s my impression as well that the person selected will probably be a reliably conservative vote.
So it’s now up to County Council to decide the final winner, and they will vote on the matter in an upcoming meeting.
More land off limits to development: a sign of things to come under PlanMaryland?
It was just another item on the agenda Tuesday evening at the County Council meeting, and since I don’t have the record of what happened yet I have to presume it passed without a peep of opposition. (I’d be happy to stand corrected, but I know the resolution passed. Whether it was 4-2 or 6-0, there’s not a dime’s worth of difference in the end.)
With that passage the county was authorized to spend nearly $2 million in state money to purchase easements on 710 acres of land along Nanticoke and Royal Oak Roads known as the Tracey Property – that’s a little over one square mile of territory.
WCRC meeting – October 2011
I suppose we were lucky he didn’t have a lot more to say.
The idea behind having Delegate Charles Otto of District 38A as this month’s guest speaker was for him to give us a rundown of the recently-completed Special Session, and once we went through the regular business of the Lord’s Prayer, Pledge of Allegiance, welcoming of guests, Treasurer’s Report, and a moment of silence for departed County Council members Ken Matthews and Bob Caldwell, it was time for Otto to speak.
After noting that one year ago we were in the midst of a heated campaign and thanking us for the opportunity to serve, Otto termed the Special Session a “success” – if only because they stuck solely to redistricting questions and didn’t make any attempts to raise taxes.
He then showed those assembled a number of the new maps, drawing snickers from some but getting the obvious comparison of District 3 to a Rorschach inkblot test. Yet that configuration received more than the requisite 85 votes (a 3/5 majority) for passage as an emergency bill, so pending any court action these are now Maryland’s Congressional districts. One piece of good news: “Andy Harris can stay in office as long as he wants to,” Otto said.
Candidates sought for District 4 seat
First, the boilerplate:
The members of the Wicomico County Council have expressed their condolences and sincere sympathy to the family of Bob Caldwell, who was elected from District 4 and served on the County Council with honor and distinction, until his death on October 11th. The County Charter states that when a council vacancy occurs before the end of the term of office, the Central Committee of the party to which the respective member so vacating was affiliated, shall prepare and submit to the County Council a list of four nominees for the vacated council seat. Each of the nominees must be of the same political affiliation and reside in the same councilmanic district as the council member whose seat has become vacated.
As Bob Caldwell was a registered Republican, the Wicomico County Republican Central Committee is seeking District 4 Republicans who are interested in being nominated for appointment to the County Council. Interested persons should contact Dave Parker, Central Committee Chairman, at 410 749-4030, or WiCoGOPChair@yahoo.com for complete information about applying. The GOP Central Committee is asking for all materials to be submitted to the Committee by October 31st. The GOP Central Committee will screen all applicants and it plans to conduct interviews on November 7th.
This notice is issued by the Wicomico County Council on behalf of the GOP Central Committee to help inform members of the public and potential applicants of the procedure. When the Committee has compiled its list of four nominees, it will be submitted to the County Council. The County Council will consider and interview the nominees, one of which will be selected for appointment by a majority vote of the remaining members of the County Council.
Wicomico County Council
Gail M. Bartkovich
County Council President
Now here’s what would be on my wish list for someone to nominate.
- A young person, preferably born after me (I’m 47.)
- Doesn’t matter to me if it’s a man or woman; after all whichever gender is picked has the majority.
- Is conservative but is also perceived to be electable for the district, which skews Democratic.
- Acceptable to the TEA Party, which likely goes with the point above, and finally…
- Has already contemplated how to run and win in 2014 regardless of what the district may look like – remember, we haven’t done our redistricting yet.
Not much to live up to, huh? I’ve already had one prospective person call me so I guess the race is on.
Oh, and to those who always say their vote doesn’t count – had one person changed their mind last year and the coin flipped wrong, we might be talking about the Democratic Central Committee making this decision had David MacLeod met his fate instead of Bob Caldwell. Food for thought.
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