monoblogue

I had a couple interesting comments to the last post so I decided to use the occasion for another post as a way to answer and extend the remarks on things happening locally.

The first portion answers “First Timer’s” comment.

I do live in Wicomico County, but my outrage at the so-called Dream Team is limited because of two factors, the most important being a lack of time perspective. I have no basis of comparison to a pre-2003 City Council to judge the current crop by. To use the term given by some with a touch of arrogance, I’m what’s called a “come-here.” For all I know, it could have been much worse back then! The second factor is that in about 14 months we can get rid of any of those people we desire to at the ballot box, provided anyone runs against them.

I have to admit that 2005’s election didn’t provide me a lot of comfort as far as the mayor’s race went. The guy I liked didn’t make it out of the primary, and the loser (Donald Long) pissed me off at a forum when he started ragging on Wal-Mart. I hate that anti-corporate bullshit. So I was holding my nose voting for that one – reminded me of most municipal elections I voted in back in Ohio. But since I live in District 2 and I got to hear Debbie Campbell in person at a candidate forum, I did vote for her. She seems like a passionate advocate for her neighborhood and the city of Salisbury.

As far as the worksession fiasco, I don’t care much for the tactics but I assume since Mike Dunn is the Council President he gets to set the rules for that as he sees fit. Obviously, open meetings statutes govern some of his actions but I don’t see that in this case. Not accommodating Debbie Campbell’s simple request does seem very strange, though…perhaps some of her pet passionate issues are on the agenda and they want no dissenting voice. Or, maybe Mike Dunn is bringing his 100 supporters of the Salisbury Mall site project to the meeting and needs the extra chair.

Now, to CD’s comment. I think he’s the type that would label me a “come-here.”

I have experience in the (fill in the blank) project is going to save the local economy scam. Back in the early ’80’s, because Baltimore had a “festival marketplace” and it was successful, the politicians in my native city of Toledo thought they could “save our dying downtown” by building one, which was called Portside. But there were two elements of common sense missing in their calculations:

1. To have a “festival marketplace” you need shops that people actually want to buy things from at a reasonable price.
2. If you want to be cold, walk along Toledo’s riverfront in January. It’s a lovely walk in the height of summer (when Portside first opened) but only the hardy walk there in the winter.

The timeline kind of went like this: In May, Portside opened. Business was great until about Labor Day. Come November, the first shops began to close because they couldn’t support the rent, which was parallel or higher to that of the local enclosed malls (which have tons of free parking and are close to where people actually live, unlike Portside.)

The experiment lasted about 2 or 3 years before the mostly empty Portside closed for good. Now it’s a science museum.

They tried the same argument with the new Mud Hens stadium. It’s a beautiful ballpark (you’ll see it this summer as Toledo hosts the 2006 AAA All-Star Game) but its economic impact: negligible. There’s a few added nightclubs and eateries downtown but nothing like what some forecast.

So saying that any project of the nature of Dorchester’s Hyatt project is going to “save the economy” immediately has to be taken with a grain of salt. Much more long-term economic impact would result if Wal-Mart builds that distribution center in Somerset. However, saying that, I think there is potential for this project to help the Dorchester economy moreso than Blackwater does now (as I argued.) I also think the environmental impact is way overblown by those who are more interested in stopping development in general than saving the Chesapeake in particular.

I would like to make one further point though as a caveat. A lot of the success of that Blackwater development depends on one thing: where will the jobs that support the incomes necessary to afford these homes come from?

By Mapquest’s calculations, it’s 28 miles from Cambridge to Seaford, 32 miles to Salisbury, 58 miles to Annapolis, and 65 miles to Dover. That’s a helluva commute, especially with gas being $2.25 a gallon or more. So most of these people are going to have to find work locally. Obviously with the increased population there is more demand for professional services (like doctors, dentists, lawyers, hopefully architects) and eventually for trickle-down positions like food service, lawn care, etc. The key is the professional jobs because you’re not going to live out there unless you OWN the restaurant or lawn service.

And, may I add, that the idea that development pollution is going to kill the entire ecosystem is even greater horsepatoot. Nature has a pretty good way of cleaning itself. We are a LONG way from becoming like the I-95 corridor. The Chesapeake ecosystem is going to outlive both of us and any kids we have.

I do have some additional comments as well. It’s funny how people that live in a place most of their lives have such a negative attitude about it whereas newcomers generally rave about the same place. I’m on the other side of this phenomenon now. I was very much the Toledo-basher when I lived there for most of 40 years, much like many of the comments I read on the local blogs here. In general I like this area – sure it has some faults but they’re fixable if someone wants to get the courage to apply the solutions. (I know, that’s the hard part.)

But to me, because the area is growing and there’s interest in even more growth, that is a great thing. Part of it is job-related, but part of it is having other people find the “diamond in the rough” we have here. I think it’s pretty cool that where I work, we have people who are native to Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Alabama, Tennessee, New York, Hawaii, a whole bunch of Keystone State natives, a sprinkling of people from this area, and little old me from Ohio. Most people I worked with in Toledo were lifers there.

So I suppose my perspective on a lot of issues facing the Eastern Shore is one of the outsider looking in. Hell, there’s still many large portions of Salisbury I’ve never been in (and some I’m glad I haven’t.)

I notice that a lot of posting locally in the local blogosphere has been on account of the Salisbury Zoo. Think I’m going to do some research in a couple places for another post. That and maybe show up there sometime. On the other hand, Joe Albero and his handy camera have probably shown me much more there than I wanted to see!

Today I came across a letter to the editor in the Daily Times. In it, the writer noted many of the struggles she’s gone through to get her site plan approved with the county and state, simply because she lives in an area adjacent to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge.

The point of her letter was to ask why a homeowner can be held to a stricter standard than a developer. And she’s right…not because the developer should be held to a stricter standard, but because she should be held to a less onerous one. What she describes in her letter is absolute overkill on the part of Dorchester County and the state of Maryland.

She notes that her father, a onetime state senator, would oppose the proposed development. Therein lies the rub with me.

Although I’m ambivalent about the golf course (there’s plenty to choose from here and participation in golf seems to be on a decline) the idea of Cambridge and Dorchester County getting a shot in the arm with an influx of 3200 new homes has its appeal. I want to live in an area that people want to come to and make it their home. And these people would likely help out the city of Cambridge by creating new jobs for non-development residents, everything from the initial construction to the service and professional needs of the additional people. That creates a spinoff effect.

The same goes for the Summerfield subdivision planned for Snow Hill, which would create more than a thousand new residences over a multiyear period. I honestly believe that the additional growth would be good for the Eastern Shore. We’re not going to turn into the I-95 corridor overnight, contrary to what many believe. There’s always going to be open spaces, simply because not all of the land can be developed as it’s situated in lowlying areas.

But back to the BNWR, which, according to its website, has 500,000 visitors a year. Since the admission to the refuge for all intents and purposes is $3 (some get in for less and people can get multivisit passes), that means the impact on the area from admissions alone is $1.5 million. I’ll estimate that once overnight stays and meals that are consumed by out of area tourists are factored in, the impact could reach $5 million a year.

We all know that, once a piece of land becomes Federal property, it’s pretty much going to stay that way, particularly if it’s a natural refuge. (But if it were a military base, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation would be all for the military leaving.) So the BNWR will remain regardless of this development, and most of its 27,000 acres (by my calculations that is 42 square miles) will exhibit little if any effect. I see little chance of a drop in tourism there.

So the $5 million impact will continue (maybe it’ll drop to $4.5 million the first couple years until people realize that the development did little harm.) As an aside, this development may even be somewhat better for the environment since who knows what runoff occurs from the farmland that’s there now. Many’s the time in the spring in these parts that you catch a whiff of “natural” fertilizer. Moreover, additional tax revenue will come in from improved property values, and newly created jobs to cater to the added population. Yes, some will be offset by additional expenditures incurred for more government services like police, fire, and schools; but on balance the area should benefit while losing little of what it has now.

This leads me to an extremely short-sighted comment by gubertorial candidate Martin O’Malley, who is the current mayor of Baltimore. In a recent campaign stop in Caroline County, O’Malley claimed that it was cuts in state aid that were spurring development (hat tip: Delmarva Dealings.)

For one thing, what does O’Malley know about growth, considering Baltimore is losing population? Secondly, putting local governments in a position to depend on handouts from the state rather than trying to prosper through growth results in the same thing that always happens when there’s too much dependence on government: stagnation. Someday the spigot stops and towns are left to their own devices. To me, Cambridge is trying to break that cycle and should be commended for seeking a private-sector solution.

If the state of Maryland is going to use Blackwater as a poster child for a push to restrict growth, it’s someday going to end up in the same boat as many of the other “blue states” (and even red ones) that are losing population because of a declining local economy. Investment in development should be encouraged, not shunned. Sadly, the Democrats in Maryland, with their fringe environmentalist allies in this case, are throwing up more roadblocks to progress than is good for the people of this area.

This morning I (along with 15 or so others) had the pleasure of attending a seminar sponsored by the local GOP with pointers on running for elective office. It’s something I’ve thought about doing from time to time, although for two years I actually held an elected office (because I ran unopposed.) My name was on the ballot for the Republican Central Committee in Lucas County, Ohio in 1998 and 2000. I think I lost the second election because my opponent’s name came first on the ballot.

And that was one thing our speaker, Dr. John Bartkovich, noted about this year’s election. It’s a Maryland election law that the party controlling the governor’s office gets its candidates listed first on the ballot. Personally, I think that’s a bit odd, but hey, that’s the law (until the Democrats try to change it for this year.) So Republicans have an “excellent opportunity.”

It’s actually a pretty simple thing to put your name on the ballot here in Maryland, assuming of course you’re a Republican or Democrat. There’s not even a petition involved like there is in Ohio, unless you’re running as an independent. You make an appointment with the Board of Elections and fill out a form. If you’re planning on spending over $1,000 on your campaign then you need to set up a bank account and pick a campaign treasurer, otherwise you fill out an affadavit stating you’ll spend less. (Hmmmm… a place to use those accountant skills my school aptitude tests said I’d be good at?) Hand the board a filing fee ($10 to $290, depending on office) and away you go.

In Wicomico County, where I live, we have all of our elected county offices on the ballot this year. The really funny thing is that, aside from the State’s Attorney position requiring Maryland Bar membership, there’s few qualifications specifically listed. Theoretically I can be a Judge in the Orphan’s Court. (This position has evolved from Colonial days, it’s now basically the equivalent to what I’d refer to as Probate Court and deals with wills.) As Dr. Bartkovich said, you need “no experience, just a fire in the belly.”

Currently Wicomico County and the Eastern Shore is in transition. While Democrats outnumber Republicans as far as registration (it’s about a 55-45 ratio), no Democrat governor or presidential candidate has carried the county since 1986 (when the GOP candidate only had 18% of the vote statewide.) Basically, many Democrats here would be described as Zell Miller Democrats. They don’t really go for the ultra left-wing issues like the moveon.org crowd does. So they register Democrat and vote GOP, at least for state and national offices.

The key to winning most races is name recognition. For some races it takes money for media, but in many instances it can be as simple as standing along Route 50 and waving a sign. However, the key races of interest to Dr. Bartkovich will likely take plenty of money. One is the County Executive race, since this will be a firsttime position (it was created by an initiative voted on in the 2004 election.) The next priorities are unseating two of our Delegates, the infamous duo of Norman Conway and Bennett Bozman. We actually have candidates already for that, but John would like a person from Wicomico County on the ballot (both of the GOP candidates live in Worcester County.) That race will probably take $40,000 to have a prayer since both incumbents have plenty of money on hand.

There will be a lot of help come September once the primary is over. Both parties will know just who their officeseekers are, and can put the full weight of the party apparatus behind those folks. So I get the feeling some of my fall weekends might be spent pitching in here and there. But it should be fun! Almost as fun as harassing the union thugs working the polls back in Toledo.

So it was an hour and a half well-spent. It was a good way to stoke the political passion I have, and who knows, once I get settled in down here, I just may toss my hat in the ring.

A veto override that was buried under the furor of the Wal-Mart tax bill a couple weeks ago got new legs this week as another voting bill was prepared for introduction into the Maryland General Assembly. This bill would give a blanket restoration of voting rights to felons, most likely just in time for this fall’s election.

Under current Maryland law, passed in 2002, felons already can have their voting rights restored after a three-year waiting period from their prison release date, as long as all parole and probation requirements are fulfilled and any fines or restitution due paid up. But since that election-year measure didn’t kick enough votes into Kathleen Kennedy Townsend’s column to make her governor (she lost to Gov. Ehrlich), in 2006 the Democrats (sponsor of the bill is black Democrat Delegate Salima Siler Marriott) want to toss away all the restrictions and make sure all those felons, mostly black, and mostly potential Democrat voters, get their chance to vote the survivor of the O’Malley-Duncan and Mfume-Cardin (among others) Democrat primaries into office.

If you’ve read my blog for awhile, you may recognize the name of the bill’s sponsor. Salima Siler Marriott has been quoted before in my predecessor blog, ttown’s right wing conspiracy. This came from a Washington Times story I cited on ttrwc in November:

Delegate Salima Siler Marriott, a black Baltimore Democrat, said Mr. Steele invites comparisons to a slave who loves his cruel master or a cookie that is black on the outside and white inside because his conservative political philosophy is, in her view, anti-black.

“Because he is a conservative, he is different than most public blacks, and he is different than most people in our community,” she said. “His politics are not in the best interest of the masses of black people.”

Of course, a group called Justice Maryland, which states itself as a “statewide organization comprised of individuals and organizations united to identify and reform those parts of Maryland’s justice systems that perpetuate the cycle of poverty and racial injustice” is pressing for passage of the bill. JM Executive Director Tara Andrews noted that Governor Ehrlich could attract the felon vote by not vetoing the bill. Yeah, right.

One thing I noticed on the Justice Maryland site is that it’s a project of another group called “Health Care for the Homeless.” Sounds innocent enough, but here’s a list of items they advocate for. Most of that fits right in with the Democrat socialist agenda. And that’s fine, but not everyone who hears of the bill and gets the lecture on the unfairness of denying those who have paid their debt to society the right to vote (even though they already have it) will get to see the agenda of all the groups pressing for it.

Speaking of the right to vote, there’s a lot of comment lately on the veto overrides of election law “reforms” that were pushed by the Democrats in 2005’s General Assembly session. Supporters of these measures said that it would make voting easier and increase turnout. Somehow I think all the extra turnout will vote Democrat this fall, just a hunch I have.

The reforms include early voting for the five days preceding Election Day, eliminating the requirements for a written request citing a specific reason that one cannot make it to the polls (in other words, absentee ballots become freely available to anyone for the asking), and voting via provisional ballot.

Two good commentaries I’ve found on this open invitation to electoral fraud are from Blair Lee in the Gazette (hat tip: Duvafiles) and on Soccer Dad’s blog.

In my opinion (and that’s why I have a blog, to express it!) I think if we’re going to have all these so-called reforms, it’s only fair to require a photo ID at the polling place. And it doesn’t have to be a Maryland driver’s license, we can take a few thousand dollars from our state’s surplus and post ads in the newspapers and send a letter to anyone with a suspended license that Maryland ID cards are available from the local DMV offices free of charge with the same valid identification as required for getting a driver’s license. (As I recall about changing my license over from Ohio, it was two forms of identification and some sort of proof of address like a utility bill.) So that takes care of the phony “poll tax” argument that’s sure to be raised.

When I first became registered to vote in Maryland, Wicomico County sent to me a wallet-size Voter Identification card, which has my relevant districts on it (everything from City Council to U.S. Congress), party affiliation, registration date, and date of issue, plus my address and a bar code/ID number that I assume is unique (and I had to sign it.)

The back of my driver’s license has some sort of hieroglyphics on it that I assume is a bar code of some sort as well, plus a unique number. Maryland ID cards could be set up the same way.

Here’s how I think we can take care of most of these problems.

The first thing that has to be done is that somehow the database for driver’s licenses has to be tied to the voter registration database, so that anyone who has an address on one that doesn’t match the other can be notified prior to the election, sending a notice to both addresses. It shouldn’t be THAT hard, after all, you can register to vote at any DMV office. Plus it may be possible for future voter ID cards to have the same photo as the driver’s license/photo ID does.

If you go to vote at the polling place, you would take your driver’s license/ID card and your voter ID, the official would check the photo ID’s, scan in the barcodes, and direct you to a waiting computer voting station that would also receive the information on who’s supposed to vote there, generating a unique ID number that has the voting station terminal number, the ID numbers on the cards, and the time/date of voting. If the person attempts to vote at more than one place, the two ID numbers should pop up in a check as being entered twice, and all attempted votes by the person could be invalidated.

If you vote by absentee ballot, there would be a section to enter your driver’s license and voter ID numbers, similar to that of a standardized test. Again, if a number came up more than once, it invalidates all attempted votes.

Provisional ballots could be handled in a similar way to absentee ballots, but printed on an as-needed basis. Also, I would have the computers shut down at the end of voting time, with two poll workers going out and ascertaining the last people in line at the closing time. These stragglers would get specially colored provisional ballots, basically to show that they were in line when the computer polls closed.

I know it’s not foolproof, as anyone could get a stack of phony ID’s or figure out a way to get past the requirements. One devious route I could see Democrats using would be for a planted BOE worker to get the voter ID numbers for registered Republicans and flood the system with phony absentee ballots with those ID numbers, tainting the likely GOP votes.

Oh, by the way, I know that Republicans are always the ones accused of electoral fraud (as in Bush stole the 2000 and 2004 elections) so I’m sure that Democrats would NEVER stoop to those tactics to hold on to power and get back the governor’s chair in Maryland, would they? I know I’m just talking in the abstract with my example, right?

Sure.

Last night I finally made it to another Wicomico County Republican Club meeting. The last two (in October and November) were cases when I looked at my computer Favorites list at 11:00 at night, spied the club’s link, and said to myself, “ah dammit! I missed the meeting tonight!”

But not last night. I did show up a couple minutes after the scheduled 7 p.m. start time, but now knowing that the first half hour is kibbitzing before the meeting is gaveled to order. During that time, I found I have at least a couple semi-faithful readers, which is cool.

So the pledge was taken, the meeting minutes from November approved, the club has a lot more money in the bank then it did this time last year, and our dues will go up $5 to $25 a year. Sounds fair enough. Also, the meetings will stay on their current 4th Monday of the month in the same place for at least another year.

The bulk of the meeting was remarks by our guest speaker, Worcester County Commissioner Sonny Bloxom. (Worcester County is the county immediately to our east, which is home to tourist attraction Ocean City.) He has tossed his hat in the ring for a GOP nomination for Delegate from District 38B, which is my district.

(Just an aside to those non-locals. Maryland has 47 State Senate districts and 141 House of Delegates districts, three for each Senate district. Some of these House of Delegate districts share the exact same boundaries as the Senate districts, and elect 3 basically at-large Delegates from the entire area. A few, like my District 38, split into two areas, with the larger area having two Delegates and the smaller area one. And there’s a couple that are split in thirds – much like I’m used to from Ohio politics.

And I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more hacked up and gerrymandered political map than the map of Districts 37 and 38, which split Wicomico County. I live on the extreme western edge of Senate District 38, which covers the eastern half of Wicomico County plus all of Worcester and Somerset Counties. House of Delegates District 38B is the pretty much the Wicomico/Worcester portion.)

But Commissioner Bloxum had quite a bit to say. Early on, he quoted Maryland Senate President Thomas V. “Mike” Miller (this from the Baltimore Sun, January 11):

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 put them in the ground, and it’ll be 10 years before they crawl out again,” the Prince George’s County Democrat said.

Key components of Sonny’s initial remarks were emphasizing a focus on growth issues. He noted that Worcester County had a comprehensive growth plan, and thought that it would be a good idea to take something of that nature to at least a regional, if not state, level. Bloxom emphasized his experiences with the task force seeking a location for another Chesapeake Bay crossing, with a particular trend that he spoke of being people who work on the Western Shore choosing to live on the middle part of the Eastern Shore because of the more rural lifestyle.

At that point, Bloxom opened the floor to question those present about what they thought the issues were.

First out of the box: social issues. Bloxum stated that, “he believes in what the Bible says.” In particular, he cited a court ruling that reopened the question of gay marriage. Further, he noted that even though any attorney can do the legalities for a same-sex couple to have advance directives, power of attorney, and wills similar to a married couple, the gay lobby is using these and other items to “nibbl(e) away” at the current Maryland laws. In Bloxom’s eyes, marriage is between a man and a woman. Since the court ruling threw the constitutionality of existing laws into question, one possible remedy would be to change the Maryland Constitution to state that marriage is between a man and woman only. Bloxom also wants to see a ban on partial-birth abortion in Maryland, a stance sure to appeal to many on the Eastern Shore.

He disagreed with Governor Ehrlich, though, on some issues, particularly the closing of the Eastern Shore DRILL Academy (for delinquent youth.) Bloxom thought that there was still a need for some smaller local juvenile facilities, rather than a large warehouse approach.

And, of course, the recent Wal-Mart issue came up. It’s a bad precedent, stated Bloxom, as it puts the state into the business of dictating to private employers how much they have to spend on health care.

(An irony that just occurred to me, since our company did this – what benefit would it be then for a company to look for a health insurance plan providing the same or even better coverage for less money, if the savings from that plan could be eaten away by this Wal-Mart tax?)

All in all, a very good start to the campaign to unseat our two Democrats. Here’s the press release for Sonny Bloxom, he was kind enough to send it to me.

Final meeting remarks were made by our club president, who announced that Wicomico County gets to host the tri-county Lincoln Day dinner this year, and they were working on getting a nationally-recognized speaker. Also, he whimsically noted that, under Maryland election laws, the party who has the governor’s chair is billed at the top of the ballot, so we needed a full slate of candidates for all the county offices.

Hopefully I’ll string together two months of attendance in a row and comment on February’s meeting. And if any of you don’t know who I am at the meeting, I’m the guy who was sporting the University of Michigan sweatshirt. Yes, despite the fact I’m from Ohio, I am a fan of the “team up north”, the maize and blue.