Tonight I did double duty so this blog post might just read like meeting minutes, all because I compiled them tonight. I think that’s known as secretary pro tem. Basically I was picked because everyone knows I write the blog post on the meetings anyway. And at least two of my fans were there tonight so I’m up late to get this done!
So I think I’ll copy the meeting minutes direct and place my thoughts within…also you don’t need to know some of the goings-on that a secretary has to record, like seconding and such. So here’s the blog version of our meeting this month.
We did the usual Pledge and invocation, approved last month’s minutes, and found out that our booth at the Salisbury Festival was “extremely successful”, the best performance in 6 years. So the treasurer’s report showed we have over twice our May 2005 balance.
As some of you might know, the Lincoln Day dinner for our corner of Maryland is June 9th, and the speaker will be Maryland Secretary of Business and Economic Development Aris Melissaratos. That’s going to make for a busy weekend, since the Lower Shore Women’s Republican Club has a fundraiser the night before and District 38A Delegate Page Elmore has a fundraiser the next night.
We also found out a longtime member is leaving us to be closer to his grandkids – this will open up a seat on the local liquor board.
Several elected officials were present at the meeting (Sonny Bloxom, Worcester County Commissioner, Phillip Gosnell, the “mayor” of Sharptown (his “official” title is different but same function), and both Gail and John Bartkovich (respectively District 3 on County Council and a GOP Central Committeeperson.) Candidates for office present included Bloxom, Jack Lord, and Michael James (all running for Delegate in District 38B); Ron Alessi for County Executive, George Ossman for Orphan’s Court, and Doris Schonbrunner for Sheriff. If Bonnie Luna had shown we would’ve been 4 for 4 in that 38B race.
At that point, the meeting was turned over to the featured speaker, Michael James. He certainly has made his presence known in the race:
It’s an eyecatching place for a sign if nothing else – figure 200,000 people will go to games this season, and maybe 40,000 to 60,000 will be eligible district voters. And the season works out almost perfectly for the campaign – it’s over just before our primary on September 12 (unless the Shorebirds go deep into the playoffs.)
He is one of those four GOP candidates vying for the two seats representing District 38B, which covers all of Worcester County and the eastern half of Wicomico County. It’s nicely gerrymandered in that I literally live on the edge of the district, one of the few Salisbury city residents to do so. The way the D’s and the courts set this county up as far as delegates go is completely nuts.
James first stressed the reasons why he was running: he cares about the issues, the time was perfect for him to run on a personal level, and he felt that the district was being “poorly represented” by Norm Conway and the late Bennett Bozman. In further remarks regarding Delegate Conway, James noted that Conway “votes how he’s told” and is “fighting for the union bosses” rather than fighting for Perdue employees, for example.
He continued by stating the current delegates voted for higher taxes, against Jessica’s Law (mandatory sentencing for sex offenders), and voted in 1997 to give away $250 million to Baltimore City Schools without any accountability – yet when the state wanted to take over the schools because of poor test results, Bozman and Conway voted against that. In a nutshell, James told the group that our delegates voted with Baltimore City, Prince George’s County, and Montgomery County more than they did the Eastern Shore. Those areas are among the “bluest” in Maryland (Kerry carried Montgomery County by 65 points as I recall) whereas we on the Eastern Shore are among the “red” areas along with the state’s western panhandle.
To put it in short terms, James said he stood for common sense, individual responsibility, and smaller government.
Two questions were asked: on who he’d prefer as a Democrat opponent, James was more interested in seeing a contested primary. I’m all for that anyway as a rule, let the voters decide rather than the party bosses (of whatever stripe) in Annapolis. Tonight was supposed to be the night the Worcester County D’s decided on a caretaker for the seat, but the final decision rests with Governor Ehrlich. On slot machines, James favored slots at the horse racing tracks, but with the exception of Ocean Downs. Because of the contentious slots issue, there was a rumor about a year ago that the Ocean Downs track would be moved out of that area and into a more receptive area for slots, either Pocomoke or Snow Hill (can’t recall which, but it would stay in Worcester County – just farther from the “family” vacation spot of Ocean City.)
James did add that he has connections in Salisbury as he graduated from the then Salisbury State University and his first general managing job was at the Sheraton here in town. He also has family members who hail from this area. To conclude, he said that he wanted his children to be able to get jobs here on the Eastern Shore, and the “Wal-Mart vote was a defining moment for me” to run for the job.
Hey, it was a defining moment for this blog too, so it’s not just him!
Then it was back to business for a bit. We had the appeal for members to upgrade their membership to the status of Elephant Club members. Also, there are two openings on the county Board of Education coming this June.
I noted this a few posts back (since I was there), but it was announced to the club tonight that as part of the spring GOP convention, it was decided that the counties of the Eastern Shore will have its own vice chair in the party apparatus. Of course, Wicomico County would like to forward a candidate for that post. I think we are the largest of the 9 Eastern Shore counties, so I’d say we should get the post.
Personally, I think they may need to split the Eastern Shore up into a northern and southern half, and get a sixth vice chair. But it may be population-wise we are the smallest group anyway.
There is no Wicomico County chairman for the Steele senatorial campaign. I know this got mentioned last month, and it seems like it’s hard to get people to step up for that. I already did the leadership thing once and found out I’m a better Indian than chief.
Ellen Andrews, who is also the county chair of the Ehrlich re-election campaign, then had a short presentation on the petition for referendum regarding the early voting acts passed by the General Assembly in 2005, with Governor Ehrlich’s veto being overriden in the 2006 session. About 52,000 signatures statewide are required to place this on the ballot, the goal for our county is 1,100 – currently they are at 178. As stated awhile back, I did indeed sign the petition, and I have two in my possession for additional signees.
Andrews also announced Governor Ehrlich’s campaign would sponsor a night with the Shorebirds on Saturday, July 1st. The $4 per person price includes the game ticket and an Ehrlich T-shirt. The plan is to sit in one section and show a mass of support. That’s actually a pretty good deal, I can do that.
I have one caveat though. Through the years, I have worked on several campaigns and thus have gotten candidate t-shirts. I think I’ve had 7 or 8, and so far the candidates I’ve had shirts for are 0-fer. It makes me feel like Bob Shrum must feel – granted all of these elections were in Toledo, and that city is at least 2-1 Democrat.
We also found out that the state board of elections told our county board that early voting was on regardless of the referendum (which means Linda Lamone is full of crap since I can tell you where the Board of Elections site says otherwise) and the county should be ready for 2,000 early voters a day. (My guess is that the poor inner-city Baltimore folks will have a nice bus trip to Ocean City during “second season”, with a few stops along the way. Just fill out your provisional ballots like this.) Also noted was that the GOP had gained 30 voters in the last month, while the Democrats had a net loss of 2.
The speaker next month will be County Executive candidate Bob Culver. I think we’re now down to a few “major” candidates who we haven’t heard from – we’re departing from what I’m told is custom and having summer meetings this year, that way we can hear from all who want to speak up. So the next few months should be interesting, especially if I have to take notes like I did tonight!
