Stephen Abrams (District 2) is running for reelection to the School. Along with retiring member Sharon Cox, he remains the most conservative member of the Board. Much to my surprise, no serious challenger has yet emerged to challenge Abrams even though it isn't too hard to imagine a rather long list of people and organizations supportive of such a challenge.
Abrams ran for the County Council unsuccessfully as a Republican in 2006. He would have practically needed to double his vote total in order to have won a seat. However, school board races are nonpartisan. The incident in which the Republican who gave up his slot on the ballot so Abrams could run accused Abrams of assault and extortion was also not the type of press most politicians seek, though the charges were ultimately dropped.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Anyone Challenging Abrams?
D18 Caucus and Democratic Hispanic Club Events
I got to hear Chris Van Hollen's thoughts on the SCHIP override attempt at both the District 18 Democratic Caucus event at Cafe 1873 in Kensington on Sunday and the Democratic Hispanic Club event at the Pooks Hill Marriott. It'd be churlish to complain since I'd bring it up at every opportunity myself if I were head of the DCCC.
Perhaps after denying health care to kids despite promising otherwise in 2004, President Bush and the GOP will propose to take away canes from old ladies. Besides, most chairs of the DCCC end up invisible in their districts since they have to travel so much around the country supporting other Democrats. Rep. Van Hollen clearly is not taking that route.
Former Del. Helen Koss received the first annual District 18 Democratic Caucus Legends Award. She represented District 18 in the House for four terms beginning in 1971, and gave a very gracious speech accepting the honor. A number of elected officials besides Rep. Van Hollen came to congratulate her and to kibbitz with local activists, including Sen. Rich Madaleno, Delegates Jane Lawton and Jeff Waldstreicher (and former Del. Carol Petzold), Councilmembers Marc Elrich, Nancy Floreen, and George Leventhal, and Central Committee Members Vic Weissberg and Oscar Ramirez. Pete Fosselman did double duty as both Kensington's mayor and helping serve the food at the restaurant. (Quick food review: delicious, I ate more than I intended.)
Speaking of Oscar, he did a great job as the MC at the Democratic Hispanic Club Award Ceremony--undoubtedly making his girlfriend and parents who were in attendance very proud. His former boss, Rep. Joe Baca, was the keynote speaker and introduced by Chris Van Hollen. Van Hollen also had kind words for Rep. Al Wynn, who presented one of the awards. While it is traditional for DCCC chairs to support all Democratic incumbents, I bet Donna Edwards wasn't too thrilled. Wynn and Edwards jousted for the support of the crowd (and also bought equal amounts of space in the official program).
The Democratic Hispanic Club gave Poder con Ganas awards to three people: El Zol 99.1 Host Pedro Biaggi, MoCo Recreation Department Director Gabriel Albornoz, and Through the Kitchen Door Founder Liesel Flashenberg. Quite a few elected officials came to support the awardees and the Club. Del. Ana Sol Gutierrez helped MC the event. Delegates Jane Lawton, Jeff Waldstreicher, Heather Mizeur, and Susan Lee attended as did Sen. Mike Lenett, Councilmembers Mike Andrews and Duchy Trachtenberg, and School Board Members Judy Docca and Shirley Brandman. Two candidates for the Gaithersburg Council also came and campaigned. (No doubt my list is incomplete.)
Van Hollen Introduces AMT Fix
Congressman Chris Van Hollen's office issued the following press release today:
Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) today introduced bipartisan legislation that would correct a severe inequity in the AMT tax system and resolve the AMT Incentive Stock Option (ISO) crisis. The AMT Credit Fairness and Relief Act would eliminate the injustice imposed upon hardworking Americans caused by the unintended and unanticipated effects of the AMT as it relates to Incentive Stock Options.
The AMT tax treatment of ISOs has had a devastating impact on countless employees, often resulting in a tax burden of up to and exceeding 300 percent of these employees’ annual salaries. Workers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars in tax prepayments on projected income they never received.
“The goal of this legislation is to restore a basic sense of fairness to a section of the tax code that has gone tragically awry,” said Congressman Van Hollen. “While everyone should pay a just and proportionate amount of tax on money they actually make, no one should lose their home, savings, and retirement to a wildly disproportionate tax on phantom income they never saw because our tax laws failed to anticipate the circumstances in which a number of our citizens now find themselves. I am grateful to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their support of this initiative as we work to correct this unintended defect in the Code in a prompt and bipartisan fashion.”
The AMT Credit Fairness and Relief Act, which Van Hollen introduced with Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX), Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA) and Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-MN), builds on and extends the AMT ISO relief legislation passed in the 109th Congress. Under Van Hollen’s bill, all employees and families will pay a fair tax on money actually made, and employees and families who have been unable to pay the severely disproportionate taxes imposed on phantom income they never received will be relieved of that unintended liability, related interest and penalties.
Monday, October 15, 2007
O'Malley's Special Session
Both House Speaker Mike Busch and Senate President Mike Miller advised Gov. Martin O'Malley against a special session. Although there is no broad agreement among Democrats about how to address the budget problems of the State, O'Malley has decided to take a risk and call the special session. Delegate Saqib Ali sent me a link to a nice article in the Baltimore Sun summarizing the current state of play and the Governor's tax proposal:
O'Malley today did not take a stance on a slots referendum, but said he is "inclined that way" to break the stalemate between the House and Senate.
Seeking to erase the budget deficit and increase spending in some areas, O'Malley wants to raise the state sales tax rate from 5 percent to 6 percent and broaden that levy to cover more services. He would cut the property tax by 3 cents per $100 in assessed value, double the cigarette tax to $2 a pack, and increase the car titling tax.
He has also proposed overhauling the income tax structure to charge lower- and middle-income Marylanders less but top earners much more, raising the corporate income tax rate from 7 percent to 8 percent, tying gas tax increases to the cost of construction materials, legalizing slot machine gambling, and closing what he calls corporate tax "loopholes."This is going to be a tough special session with a lot of wrangling among Democrats. I say among Democrats because the Republican goal appears to be to sabotage the Democrats on the decision of GOP legislators to oppose slots in a special session after having supported it in the past and expressing a willingness to consider it in the regular session. Of course, one wonders if the Democrats will really need any help due to sharp disagreements within the party over slots, tax increases, and spending priorities.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
No Green so No Purple . . . for Now
The Governor's proposed budget makes clear his transportation priorities in the official MTA outline of the governor's budget, provided to me by the Office of Sen. Rich Madaleno (D-18). The Baltimore Red Line is listed under "construction program" and will receive $96 million in state funding over the next six fiscal years (FY08-13). In contrast, both Corridor Cities and the Purple Line are listed under "development and evaluation program". The Purple Line will receive a paltry $2.2 million and Corridor Cities is slated for only $7.6 million over the next six fiscal years.
If you don't take my word, you can take the word of Glen Orlin, the pro-Purple Deputy Council Staff Director of the pro-Purple Montgomery County Council:
If projects in Montgomery County were to garner (an optimistically high) 30% of the $750 million that the [governor's] proposal would make available for new construction projects, that would translate to an addition MDOT investment of $225 million in new projects here, enough perhaps to fund only the top three projects from the Council/Executive list. This would leave nothing for the remaining 11 projects on the list, not to mention the Purple Line, Corridor Cities Transitway, or the widenings [of] the western portion of the Beltway and upper I-270. Furthermore, of the new funds generated by the proposal, a higher proportion of it is not available until the back end of the FY 09-13 period.The lack of money to build the light rail makes one wonder why the Planning Board is in any hurry to write it into the County's functional Master plan. I'd be curious to know if writing it into the functional Master plan would allow denser development along the proposed light rail even though the State clearly is not proposing to even begin construction over the next six years (not to mention it doesn't even know if this is an viable project yet in terms of ridership or cost). One can easily see why the developers of Chevy Chase Lake are pressing so hard to write the Purple Line into the functional Master Plan if that is the case.
Despite the lack of funding, this remains a critical time in the fight over the proposed light rail. MTA will soon release ridership numbers followed by the draft EIS (that's Environmental Impact Survey in case you're not yet hip to the alphabet-soup development lingo yet). Both will play a key role in determining whether it is feasible to apply for federal funding and thus the overall viability of the project. And while the State may be short of cash now, that can change rather quickly, so don't expect activists to lose interest even though it looks like the light rail won't be built over either the short or medium term.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Crossing Georgia
Adam Pagnucco of Crossing Georgia sent me the following news:
Last night, the Crossing Georgia committee made its case before the Maryland state senators and delegates in a well-coordinated presentation in which we outnumbered the ICC and the Purple Line forces combined!You can see photos of the Crossing Georgia committee with all the members of the District 18 delegation, Delegates Jane Lawton, Ana Sol Gutierrez, and Jeff Waldstreicher and Senator Rich Madaleno, at http://www.crossinggeorgia.org
Ten residents - FECA President Shawn Marie Jarosz, Doug Goldenberg-Hart, Bob Bock, Oscar Sodani (webmaster of our site), Maida Schifter, Carla Kish, Joe Davidson, John Howley, Mike Ravnitzky and me, along with Eileen Cahill of Holy Cross Hospital, testified about the horrors of crossing Georgia at Forest Glen and the need for a new Metro entrance. The project has the support of the Montgomery County Executive, a majority of the County Council and the entire District 18 state delegation.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Trail Tunnel Staying Open
The Washington Post reports that the tunnel under Wisconsin Ave. linking the paved and unpaved sections of the Capital Crescent Trail will remain open during construction of a new building at the Woodmont East property located at the intersections of Elm St. and Woodmont Ave.
This news was confirmed at the Planning Board meeting today. The lawyer for the developer confirmed that they agreed to keep the tunnel open during construction, though trail advocates are still fighting to make sure that the detour exit from the tunnel is safe and easy (i.e. comes out on Bethesda Ave. near the trail rather than on Elm St. which requires biking down Woodmont Ave).Developers planning a 12-story hotel and residential building in downtown Bethesda have agreed to keep a nearby tunnel for the Capital Crescent Trail open during construction, a move that cyclists and other trail users say was necessary for their safety.
The joint venture of Rockville-based Federal Realty Investment Trust and Chevy Chase-based JBG had planned to close the trail just east of an 800-foot-long tunnel that runs beneath Wisconsin Avenue near the Bethesda Row shopping and restaurant district.
. . .The tunnel connects the popular path between Silver Spring, via East Bethesda and Chevy Chase, and the Bethesda Row area before the trail continues toward Georgetown. Although construction on the building would not begin until 2009, county planners found out how important the tunnel connection is when developers proposed closing it while the project is being built.
"We realized we needed to look at that aspect much more closely," said Rose Krasnow, development review chief for Montgomery County's planning agency. She said the agency received hundreds of e-mails protesting any closure.
Debates over the Woodmont East project are far from over. Community members met with Councilman Roger Berliner to voice their support for a park at that location, one of the few remaining bits of open space in downtown Bethesda. The project requires Council approval due to the existence of easements for the Purple Line and for Reed St.
The developers debate the size of the Purple Line easement with the County but say that they are willing to give the County the land it needs in exchange for abandoning Reed St. and giving them permission to build. Park proponents aptly reply that the developers are offering nothing since they don't have the rights to the land they propose to "give" to the County.
I doubt that the developers will give up fast--they haven't hired an expensive attorney from Holland and Knight in order to scale back the project and the profits. On the other hand, the number of people lining up to testify at today's Planning Board meeting from around the area (Edgemoor, Chevy Chase, East Bethesda, Coquelin Run, and DC) and the large numbers who showed up to meet with Councilman Berliner to advocate for a park also suggest that park advocates won't give up easily and have strong community support.
What Do a Texas Hold 'Em Tournament and a Presidential Forum Have In Common?
They are common to me because I immediately went from the Forum last night to a Texas Hold 'Em tournament making for a rare daily double (to borrow from the racing industry) on a Wednesday night.
Texas Hold 'Em and Presidential Forums have as much in common as state sponsored gambling initiatives. Sort of like balancing the budget on the backs of gambling addicts such as what is being proposed in Annapolis (to benefit the racing industry).
Maybe there is not an answer to my question just like there is no answer to the question "who won the Presidential Debate last night?"
Six of the eight Democratic Presidential candidates appeared at Forum held at the Kensington Armory on Wednesday night. It was sponsored by virtually every Democratic club in the county (27 as of last count) which maybe rarer than my aforementioned daily double. Think about it; when was the last time that many Democrats agreed on anything?
Well the Democratic candidates did agree last night and the unifying theme was W, as in the President, as in Mr. Weapons of Mass Destruction, as in he lied and soldiers died.
George W. Bush hangs over both political parties in a way no other President has in my life. Neither Reagan at his zenith nor at his nadir can match our current President for unifying folks. Last night's Forum was no different.
The Forum was interesting to those of us who consider politics part-fascination and part-sport, sort of like "American Idol" where everyone is their own personal Simon Cowell. Granted that is a very small universe, but it is a passionate one.
From the couple who stood outside the Armory reminding people that it is Patriotic to Impeach to those passionately for one of the candidates
inside it is like holding low cards and hoping the flop comes your way. You are not mathematically eliminated and so hope springs eternal and so you put some money down in the hopes that your cards will prevail.
Now if you were a causal voter you were nowhere near the Armory. But for the nearly 200 people who did attend it was a chance to hear the surrogates for six of the eight Democratic candidates remind us of why we like to talk politics.
Granted even in an hour and a half -- the length of the Forum -- the audience was limited to one minute responses to some complex issues facing our county, which is hardly fair. However the alternative of Perot flipcharts and CNN monologues would have limited the audience to the six surrogates only -- and this blogger.
"So who won?"
I can tell you who won the Texas Hold 'Em Tournament last night (Johnny O) but I can't answer who won the debate; because it is still before the heavy betting begins -- which is just before the flop. So call this the "pre-flop" maneuvers and it becomes real on Monday January 14th across Iowa, provided Michigan does not recalibrate things.
Just like Texas Hold 'Em where certain cards are generally losers and not even worth an ante-in, you can still play since it is still not impossible to draw a winning hand by using the community cards which is what all those candidates not named Clinton or Obama are hoping for -- that the country will sour so much on the current inhabitant -- and that with the right cards they can be the party's nominee.
So if you are near the back of the pack you bluff and bluster and hope for the best. In this case you hit the hardest at the front runner. Therefore it was no surprise that the harshest criticism came from Sen. Gravel's and Rep. Kucinich's surrogates. Still the overall tone was tame and I think the current officeholder had a lot to do with the unification so don't have anyone tell you that this President can't bring people together.
This quote from the John Edwards surrogate "Where do the Democrats get the tag of fiscally irresponsible when you have the record deficits of Reagan and Bush One and Two?" turns the conventional wisdom of the causal voter on its head so thanks Mr. President for unifying us Democrats under the banner of the fiscally prudent party.
Buzz Clinton
The audience was decidedly pro-Clinton probably because: 1) she is the front runner (there I go again with another gambling term) and 2) her local campaign folks did an excellent job of getting their people out. But what impressed me most about the Clinton folks is how many new activists she has. Every successful campaign I have been a part of has included one part experienced hands and one part new activist. And it is the newbies who are the folks that really create the campaign buzz. Call it Buzz Clinton.
Obama The Exploitor
Obama is like the player sitting at the table with the second best hand and needs to exploit things to unsettle the front runner. He brings part moxie and part brains to get an advantage. His surrogate, St. Senator Jamie Raskin, provided both. Their supporters were about half of the Clinton folks but maybe that had to do with Obama being in town so many of his supporters were at his low dollar fundraiser listening to the real thing rather than the excellent imitation by Raskin. Obamaites are also like the Clintonistas in that they have several new faces mixed in with veteran hands.
The other four candidates had less than a handful of supporters each at the event.
Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul as soulmates
I think Kucinich speaks to the soul of Democrats much like Ron Paul speaks to the soul of devoted Republicans; I doubt either will be elected but if you are a Democrat and don't agree with core points of the Representative from Cleveland you might want to check your party affiliation. As his surrogate, Steve Cobble, said after reminding the audience that the problems America faces need "big and bold responses and with Kucinich you get little and bold" (referring to his diminutive size) you had to like the fight in him.
Check with Montgomery County Cable to see the debate
Cable Channel 16 recorded the debate and it will be shown at a later date. When I find out when I will post a message on this blog. But I will tell you that the six surrogates (Clinton, Edwards, Gravel, Kucinich, Obama, and Richardson) were well prepared and did a good job of speaking not about themselves but about their candidates.
So what do Texas Hold 'Em and a Presidential Forum have in common?
Probably that having the best cards in your hands does not guarantee victory and being the obvious front runner as Hillary is does not guarantee her nomination. The Iowa Caucus is 90 days out. It has not become an "ABC" race -- Anybody But Clinton race -- but anyone else is going to need to have the community cards at the table go their way to unseat her.
Will MD's Tax Rates Exceed DC's?
While Gov. Martin O'Malley's tax plan would raise taxes on all who earn more than $150,000, it would stick it the hardest to taxpayers earning more than $500,000:
But under new rates proposed by O'Malley, Montgomery residents earning more than $500,000 would pay a combined rate of almost 10 percent -- 6.5 percent in state taxes and the existing 3.2 percent county levy. That surpasses Virginia's top rate of 5.75 percent and the District's 8.5 percent. Maryland's current top income tax rate is 4.75 percent.Obviously, the vast majority of Montgomery residents won't pay higher taxes as a result of these increases. However, legislators rightly worry than this could discourage people from settling in the Montgomery. Tax rates can influence where affluent taxpayers, the kind who pay the most in taxes, choose to live. This is why it makes sense to make federal tax rates more progressive than state tax rates--most people don't want to leave the country while state borders, especially in Maryland, are easy to jump. Del. Sheila Hixon, Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, has nevertheless agreed to sponsor the legislation:
Moreover, more than 80 percent of the $163 million expected to be generated by the governor's income tax plan would come from Montgomery taxpayers, according to an analysis by the Comptroller's Office. The state would collect less in income taxes from many other jurisdictions, including Prince George's.
Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) and Senate delegation leader Rona E. Kramer (D) have said they fear that such a burden and the sticker shock from the combined rate could hurt the county's ability to compete with its neighbors in Northern Virginia and the District. Although a family on, say, River Road is unlikely to pack up and leave Potomac for McLean, opponents of the tax plan say that newcomers to the area might choose not to live in Montgomery.
Among the Montgomery lawmakers who back O'Malley's tax plan is Del. Sheila E. Hixson (D), chairwoman of the House Ways and Means Committee, who has introduced legislation in past years to raise the tax rate for high-end earners.Of course, there is a big hole in Del. Hixon's logic. If we raised the money locally, it would all stay in Montgomery and rates here would not have to rise nearly as much to maintain services. Indeed, Hixon's argument is actually a reason to oppose the tax package. I think Montgomery residents have often been willing to pay higher tax rates than Virginia because of the quality of services received. However, when taxes shoot past those of the District, many may be ready to cry uncle.
Hixson acknowledged the awkward situation for lawmakers in trying to represent their constituents and support the Democratic governor. She said that the governor's plan might have to be tweaked to make it more palatable and suggested that the higher rates could be limited to a two- or three-year period.
"It's going to be a problem politically and every other way," she said.
But she said that if the $163 million is not raised at the state level, it will have to be raised locally to continue to offer services residents expect. "We value services," Hixson said, "and we've always been willing to pay for them in the past."
I have no problem with the idea that the rich in Maryland should pay more. In the short-term the economic impact would be low. The long-term economic impact may be harder to swallow as the cumulative decisions of very high-income taxpayers bite.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Municipal Devolution in MoCo? Don't Go There. . . .
The County Council unanimously rejected Rollingwood's appeal of the Council's decision against allowing Rollingwood to vote on incorporation as a municipality. In honor of this decision, it seems a good time to post an interesting piece by Bill Neil. I posted my views sometime ago but I thought it might be good to have an alternate perspective.
Bill Neil is the former Director of Conservation for NJ Audubon Society. He served on Governor O'Malley's Transition Team for Planning and Smart Growth and was a candidate for the Democratic seat on the Montgomery County Planning Board. He serves on the Steering Committee for Democracy For America (DFA) in Montgomery County. The views expressed are his alone.
Whatever the merits to the very specific tug and pull between the Montgomery County Council and Rollingwood Village of Chevy Chase's bid to become a municipality, this relatively new resident (two and a half years) with a long experience in New Jersey pleads: don't go down this road. It is a true and human failing that power structures and governments become complacent, if not worse, over time, and that the impulse to create a new structure "closer to the people" always has some merit and some appeal, but on the whole, and despite some of my recent testimony on growth policy, we who live in MoCo should be largely proud of our government and its past accomplishments.
I write from the perspective of a citizen who has grown increasingly active in Rockville, MoCo and Maryland politics, and who draws upon 13 years of front line land-use politics at the state level in New Jersey for a statewide conservation organization. New Jersey, which I have described as a "21st Century technology state with medieval governmental Jurisdictions" had 566 municipalities the last time I checked, suggesting a feudal map of Germany, and the League of Municipalities has wielded veto power in the legislature over many a reformers dream.
The municipalities, not the counties, unlike most of Maryland, have land-use powers, and when New Jersey has acted, famously, towards environmental reforms, it has acted with state regulations, including the creation of our Pinelands Commission (1979) and Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission (1969), regional entities that have set national precedents. In 2004, New Jersey bucked the national trend against new regulatory bodies and created the Highlands Council to protect its hilly watershed region in the northern part of the state. That achievement took 15 years to enact - and the main obstacle along the way was the cry to protect municipal "home rule."
Compressing a lot of time and history to make a point, "progressive" political and environmental reforms in New Jersey have a long tradition of emanating from the powerful Governor's office, starting at least from the time of Woodrow Wilson, and working through the legislature to balance entrenched municipal power at the local and county level (our past infamous Hudson County and Atlantic City machines are most prominent in the "don't imitate" column).
Looking at the problems of the Metro DC region, and Maryland - Governor O'Malley has reminded us in his Aug. 18th address to the Maryland Assoc. of Counties that we have "the second worse commute in the nation" - also especially air pollution (and therefore Global Warming) and the problems of the Bay - we have to face the fact that the solutions are regional in scope - and therefore multiplying jurisdictions will only amplify our already monumental hurdles in these policy areas. Progressive Montgomery County has already dropped the transportation-transit innovation ball for far too many years since the completion of our Metro system. (Many have labeled the Inter County Connector, the ICC, the wrong solution from the last century.) Even if we co me up with new funding for new mass transit and stay inside the county - everyone knows that real progress even for our own county residents must involve Prince Georges County, DC and our two prominent Virginia neighbors. That's because the existing Metro system just doesn't match up well with our diverse new employment destinations, there are not enough jobs in PG itself, and the general traffic flow - if that's what one can call it, is from east to west, towards northern Virginia. Thinking of the troubles of the Purple Line with very local opposition groups, do we really want to foster greater governmental fragmentation looking forward to our brave new 21st Century? I don't think so, whatever the merits on the feel ings and sub-plots of the Rollingwood Village-MoCo turf struggle.
When I hear the appeal to the notion that the best government stems from "being closest to the people," this Jersey native remembers not only the colorful history of the infamous local machine politics but also the woeful lack of environmental enforcement at the local government level - which always had the power to act but rarely chose to utilize it. When in the anti-regulatory 1990's, the Republican dominated legislature wanted to devolve state permitting powers to the local level, I spoke out strongly against the idea, citing the tradition of municipal corruption in New Jersey, much to the outrage of the League of Municipalities lobbyist, who publicly called upon my employer to reign me in for besmirching municipal honor, such as it was. When I replied I was ready to read from a long, long list of local officials who had been indicted or gone to jail, I wasn't taken up on the cha llenge, perhaps because the legislature didn't want to get tied up for days as I went over the record year by year, town by town.
I'll close with some local color from Tony Soprano's home state to emphasize that we in Maryland shouldn't head down this path. Manchester Township, a "sleepy" south central locality not too far from the Jersey Coast, became the municipal "wanted poster" in the 1990's for outrage when a good chunk of the local government resigned, was indicted or went to jail for wholesale fleecing, outright stealing from the municipal purse on a systematic scale that drew gasps from even jaded NJ spectators. The fact that many thought the culprits were emboldened by the fact that so many of the township's residents were senior citizens new to the area and therefore not watching closely only added salt to the public's wounds.
And my very local memory of where I lived, in the NJ Highlands, rural Bethlehem Township, during the 1990's, even leaves me with a bit of a lump in my throat, after witnessing a government transition that ended in a physical stalemate with the opposing parties with their hands literally upon each other's - throats. The background was how much development was coming and whether our township should become the state and regional depository site for - are you ready - nuclear wastes from regional atomic power plants and hospitals...with the prospect of great $ local rewards for worrying about one's daily radiation dose. If we said yes it was going to be our problem for centuries...sure to bump up citizen interest....As the feelings intensified, the local election didn't have a smooth last transition meeting and the parting scene, with opposing parties locked in choke holds and the NJ State Police being called to the scene (we didn't have a local police force) to pry the parties apart....left a lasting impression with me that, sometimes, just sometimes, the government closest to home might be profitably traded, if you will forgive that term given the state of current Wall Street jitters, for one just a little bit more removed from local passions….
Greetings to you all from
Bill Neil
Friday, October 05, 2007
Purple Line Focus Group
On Monday night, the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) held a focus group meeting on the Purple Line at B-CC High School. Mike Madden, the Project Manager, was accompanied by Lead Engineer Joe Romanowski, Engineer Harriet Levine, Engineer Deirdre Smith, and Public Outreach Person Kacie Levy.
Representatives of a number of different groups were there. In addition to the ACT, other pro-development and pro-Purple people included the MoCo Chamber and the Bethesda Urban Partnership (BUP). Community representatives came from the Town of Chevy Chase (Councilwoman Kathy Strom), East Bethesda, and the Riviera, and the Greater Bethesda-Chevy Chase Coalition--a group in favor of protecting the existing trail.
Although they are still officially assessing which route is best and whether any Purple Line route is justified, the tone of the meeting was that MTA firmly believes in the light-rail option along the Capital Crescent Trail and the ridership numbers will back them up. The official MTA Purple Line website reinforces this conclusion as it has a section on benefits but does not weigh them against potential costs of the light rail system.
The ridership study attracted a lot of attention at the start of the meeting. The BUP representative expressed concern that the ridership study would underestimate use because people are increasingly willing to walk more than 15 minutes to ride it. MTA expressed some sympathy with this view but ultimately made clear that they intended to estimate use based on surveys. My own sense that the willingness to ride naturally drops with distance and rapidly beyond a 15-minute walk.
The MTA representatives explained that they did not know much about ridership estimates--the experts on this topic were not at the meeting. However, they made clear their firm belief that BRAC (the base realignment process) would generate relatively few additional trips to Medical Center and not make a high-speed bus route along Jones Bridge Rd. more sensible than the light-rail route along the Capital Crescent Trail.
There was a fair amount of confusion when I asked whether the ridership would be based on existing development or development generated by the Purple Line. Building a light-rail system would permit and result in much higher development in Bethesda, Chevy Chase Lake, and Silver Spring under current law which links development to transportation.
At the end of the meeting, I was unclear on how fast the Purple Line would go. At one point, it was stated that it would run at an average speed of around 30-35mph. However, I also thought I heard that it would run around 40-45mph. MTA outlined that the speed of trips is critical to attracting ridership which made me wonder how many would ride outside of rush hour as one can drive as fast and to the exact location instead of a stop.
No mention or claim was made for traffic reduction by MTA which seems wise since its potential to take cars off the road appears dubious. After all, it is unclear how many will leave the roads for the light rail. Moreover, the new development permitted by the light rail will dump additional traffic onto roads near the stops (e.g. Connecticut Ave). The light rail appears to be less of an attack on existing traffic and more part of a smart growth strategy to promote greater density and public transit use within already developed areas.
MTA explained that they had to adhere to the Council of Governments (COG) model for future growth in estimating ridership order to have a shot at winning federal funds. Clearly, both supporters and opponents will be looking closing at the ridership numbers when they are released at their Fall meeting.
The trail was another issue discussed at the meeting. At one point before the meeting officially started, Mike Madden objected to calling the trail between Chevy Chase and Silver Spring part of the Capital Crescent Trail. However, the maps produced by MTA actually use the same name. MTA explained that within the tunnel under Wisconsin Ave., the trail would run above the proposed light-rail system. The floor to ceiling space would be as small as eight feet which MTA conceded was tight. Outside, the trail will be about 11 feet from the light rail and separated by some sort of fence outside.
Trees were also a matter of concern. MTA says that they want to avoid destroying any more trees than are necessary. They explained that the width of the right-of-way varies along the route from Bethesda to Silver Spring and that the full right-of-way was not needed for much of the way. Of course, they acknowledge that thousands of trees will have to go if the light rail is built. In the portion near Chevy Chase, the right-of-way is the minimum size needed so it will not be possible to replant trees alongside either the new trail or the light rail there.
MTA presented information a grass track option for the Purple Line. The group was shown appealing photos from light rail systems in France with grass instead of the conventional stones along the track. In addition to the obvious benefit of being more attractive, Mike Madden said that it could also help reduce noise. MTA had no information on the initial cost or the maintenance costs.
At one point in the meeting, it was candidly stated that it was unclear if grass tracks were feasible since the short and long-term costs are not known. However, Mike Madden later said in response to my query that they would not have presented it if they did not think it would be feasible but that positive community support would be needed to make it happen. Your gentle correspondent encouraged MTA to develop numbers on the cost.
Mike Madden expressed a direct willingness to work with communities on dealing with a variety of issues such as safety, noise, and access to the trail. Kathy Strom and I brought up the issue of people, especially kids, needing to be protected from the light rail. In the Town of Chevy Chase, the light rail would directly adjoin the Town with the trail being on the other side.
In general, the overall cost remains an interesting issue. No information is available on the cost of flying the Purple Line and the trail over Connecticut Ave. among other fixes needed to make it work. Mike Madden stated that he still intends to run the light rail at grade through the University of Maryland though the Chancellor of the University has publicly opposed this idea.
The State would be wise to gather independent estimates on cost. MTA favors the project and knows it needs to keep the estimated cost low in order to qualify for federal funds which naturally creates pressures for lower, albeit plausible, cost estimates. I imagine this is why so many public projects like this tend to cost far more than expected (visit the "Big Dig" in Boston for a prime example) to the detriment of public budgets.
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Presidential Campaign Forum and Political Pulse
Democrats to Hold Presidential Campaign Forum at the Kensington Armory on October 10th. Congressman Chris Van Hollen to give Remarks
Democratic Presidential candidates Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, Barack Obama and Bill Richardson are sending representatives to the 2008 Presidential Campaign Forum sponsored by a coalition of twenty-three Montgomery County Democratic organizations. Congressman Chris Van Hollen will make opening remarks.
The Campaign Forum will take place on Wednesday, October 10, 2007, at the Kensington Armory, 3710 Mitchell Street, Kensington, Maryland. The event will begin at 7:00pm. Admission is free and open to everyone.
Charles Duffy, the host of Cable Channel 16’s local political program The Political Pulse, will moderate the event and Channel 16 will record the event for re-broadcast. To submit questions for the campaigns, send email to mcdempresident@yahoo.com
The Campaign Forum will offer brief opening statements by each campaign and Mr. Duffy will pose questions submitted by the audience. Questions may also be sent in advance to MCDemPresident@yahoo.com . An official timekeeper will limit responses.
A Campaign Fair of Montgomery County representatives of the Presidential Campaigns will have information tables set up to meet with voters, sign up volunteers and give out literature in preparation for the February 12, 2008 Presidential Primary in Maryland.
Directions to the Kensington Armory are: North on Connecticut from the Beltway about 1 mile to right at Presidential Forum sign at Knowles Avenue.
Washington Post Reporter John Wagner who writes about MD state politics in Annapolis will be on the Political Pulse TV talk show on Thursday, October 4th at 9:00 p.m. and Tuesday, October 9th at 9:30 p.m. John has written a series of articles about MD Governor Martin O'Malley's proposals to solve the $1.7 state budget deficit and also the connectedness between the state and county budgets and how the budget issues are resolved at the state level will directly effect Montgomery County. John has also written about the approaches of MD State Senate President Mike Miller and MD Speaker of the House Mike Busch regarding the budget deficit.
The Land of Cotton: Uzbekistan, Not Dixie
KHIVA. When I was a kid, National Geographic published a book called Inside the Soviet Union. Its chapter on Central Asia explained the marvels of the Kara Kum canal which brought water to the desert and allowed cotton farms to flourish here. As it turns out, rather than a modern marvel, the book described an ecological nightmare.
Cotton is a thirsty crop, requiring lots of water, so it is seemingly not a natural crop for a desert country like Uzbekistan. Yet the Soviets made Central Asia a center for cotton growth and the Uzbekistan still depends on it for most of its export earnings. Bukhara and Khiva are both surrounded by lots of cotton fields. I saw a literal mountain of cotton as I passed through Urgench traveling between the two cities.
Most of the Amu Darya river is diverted into canals in order in order to feed the thirsty cotton. The results were obvious when we saw the Amu Darya. The riverbed, which formerly filled a wide valley, was mostly dry as the photo shows. In some years, no water reaches the Aral Sea which has been drying up for decades. As Chasing the Sea, an interesting piece of travel lit about Uzbekistan, describes in riveting detail, the country’s major fishing port, Muynak, is now tens of miles from what is left of the sea.
The overuse of pesticides has heavily contaminated both the Amu Darya, the Aral Sea, and the water table of the whole region. The problem is exacerbated by the shrinking of the Aral Sea because salt from the exposed seabed is blown all throughout Central Asia, leading some to talk of a new "white desert" around the former sea. Climate change in the area in accelerating as the Aral no longer moderates the extreme heat of summer or cold of winter.
I saw a few fishermen trying their luck near the pontoon bridge over the Amu Darya. However, I wouldn’t dream of eating their catch as the river is a chemical soup. I suppose the one consolation of the Amu Darya’s demise is that the pontoon bridge doesn’t have to float much—a good thing given its poor state of repair. The bridge has metal patches on patches.
I suspect that is little consolation to the people of Karakalpakstan, the region of Uzbekistan closest to what is left of the Aral. The region has experienced an ongoing health crisis of catastrophic proportions due to the poisons in the air and water. While the damage is severe, the change is not irreversible. Kazakhstan has put a dike between the northern and southern part of the Aral Sea and the Little Aral, as it is known, is filling up again and now even supports a fishing industry.
However, neither Uzbekistan nor other countries in the region have the will to greatly reduce the acreage dedicated to cotton growth—a necessary step to increase the flow of water in the Amu Darya. It is too lucrative for the elites and there is no substitute industry it and the employment it generates, though many of the people who work in the cotton fields live much like serfs. Schools are even closed and children dragooned to work in the fields. Cotton is still picked by hand in Uzbekistan.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
East Germany on the Amu Darya
BUKHARA. I’m in Bukhara, Uzbekistan and staying at the Bukhara Palace which does not make a good first impression. A pile of concrete, it is conveniently located within easy walking distance of nothing. The service at the front desk is as charming as the architecture—a real taste of the total indifference which was the hallmark of Soviet service. The rooms look like they were decorated by the guy who failed to win the contract for Marriott’s Hot Shoppes cafeterias back in the 1970s.
Perhaps the saddest aspect of the Bukhara Palace is the fact that this building was constructed after the demise of the Soviet Union. Still, it has its moments. One former Peace Corps Volunteer told me that he and his girlfriend used to sneak in and ride the glass elevators up and down for evening entertainment. And yes, he admitted that this was before they had consumed any alcohol.
I’m in Bukhara to attend a conference on civil society in Uzbekistan which might as well be sponsored by the Ministry of Truth. The conference has every imprimatur of government approval from the police escort from the hotel to the conference site to the television cameras to the official reception on behalf of the local Hakim (i.e. regional governor). Apparently, I have been on Uzbek TV.
The word surreal only begins to hint at the strangeness of this conference. Most of the attendees appear to be graduates from the Castro school of public speaking in that they believe speaking longer is better though no one has Castro’s charisma. Frequently, I could not possibly have told you what had been said over the last five minutes—it reminded me of when I tried to watch television after being under anesthesia.
Local officials attending the conference were mostly predictable or incomprehensible, though one local attendee made a refreshingly candid assessment regarding self-censorship by the local media. However, the foreigners hailing from democratic countries were truly astonishing. One explained how it is well known that human rights had caused thousands of deaths over the course of history. Another said how she thought it was great that the president’s picture was in every classroom because this would help build national feeling.
The Turkish representative explained repeatedly at great length about his country’s grievances regarding EU rejection and the Cyprus question, though I was left perplexed about the exact relationship to the conference topic. Perhaps the subtext was that Uzbekistan should not bother adhering to democratic norms because it won’t get what it wants from the West anyway. At least someone was blaming Europe instead of America for a change, though America is not at all popular in Turkey either. My own talk went over well, primarily for its brevity.
The representative from Kazakhstan had a lot of passion and was a welcome breath of fresh air. He quite forthrightly said that “of course” everyone knows that the last Kazakh elections were fraudulent. Yet, he also pointed accurately to areas where his country had made progress in building civil society. Maybe I won’t be the only one who finds it hard to get another visa to Uzbekistan.
If this sounds like a somewhat amusing "through the looking glass" experience, it would have been if only lasted an hour but two full days were interminably tedious. It was very taxing to constantly think of ways to speak in favor of democracy but without criticizing the country so much that it would make it impossible for the Embassy to invite more speakers or the few remaining NGOs to operate here.
It sure gave me a glimmer of insight into living in a Communist or authoritarian nation and how deforming to the soul it must be to constantly engage in such self-editing throughout one’s life. However, I did at manage to set the record straight and explain that the U.S. does not execute "small children". I also spoke out against that the idea that journalists should be "responsible" and support the "national interest", pointing out that what is in the national interest can be hotly debated as the Iraq War demonstrates.
Our hosts were extremely kind and attentive. We had two sumptuous dinners held within the courtyards of old madrassahs. I guess membership does have its privileges. Of course, you have to play by the rules. When I tried to take a short break to rest my ears from the translation device and to get outside for a few minutes, I was effectively tracked down and politely asked to return to the conference.
However, I did get taken away in a police car by the end of stay—only because the tour bus for our windshield tour of Bukhara was full so they asked if I would mind riding with the police escort. The policeman kindly took me back to the hotel after the end of tour when the rest of my group headed for the airport to return to Tashkent. It really is the only way to travel--everybody yields to police cars here.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
The Road to Samarkand: More from Uzbekistan
SAMARKAND. Even the most jaded tourist should find it hard not to be moved by Samarkand. The Registan (pictured above) is one of the great architectural wonders of the world. The city should be overrun with tourists, like Florence is every summer. While many cities have to invent reasons to entice visitors, Samarkand is an ancient city with fabulous buildings and history.
In many ways, the setting is ideal for tourism. Although Samarkand unquestionably contains some of world’s greatest Islamic architecture, the city is no hotbed of religious fundamentalism. Few women wear so much as a head covering, let alone full chador or the burkha common on the Afghan side of the border.
Alcohol is served openly, and consumed widely, and the Registan is even less religious than the average west European cathedral. Virtually all of the old madrassahs are home to more souvenir stalls than mullahs. You’re far more likely to be asked politely to inspect a silk carpet than chastised for immodest dress.
While it is fashionable to attack tourism in the United States and the Caribbean as producing only low wage jobs, Uzbekistan could desperately use the hard currency and the jobs produced by visitors. Millions of people from this country work abroad, often under dire circumstances, as part of an effort to support their families. Remittances play a critical role in sustaining Uzbekistan.
Yet, despite the collapse of the Soviet Union, the city is barely on the world tourist map. The absence of tourist facilities is not the problem. There are good, fast trains between Tashkent and Samarkand. The city has quite a few B&Bs and more would undoubtedly sprout or expand as resourceful Uzbeks (well, really mainly ethnic Tajiks in this town) moved to challenge the famously indifferent state hotels if the demand should rise.
The Government of Uzbekistan unfortunately stifles what ought to be a fast-growing sector of the economy. Getting a visa to Uzbekistan is quite difficult and slow despite the incredible $150 processing fee. One tour guide based in another Central Asian country who regularly brought tourists into the country was denied renewal of his one-year visa, most likely as an effort to get twelve visa payments out of him instead of one.
However, the guide decided that the visas were expensive and that he didn’t want to spend a large portion of his life reapplying for visas. The shortsighted regime drove away someone who was bringing money and jobs into the country even as sections of the population are getting restive due to rising prices and wages which don’t keep up with them.
However, visas are just the start of the Uzbek bureaucratic nightmare. All hotels must register their visitors with OVIR (Office of Visa and Registration) which checks every day on the number of tourists. Meanwhile, tourists must carefully maintain slips of paper confirming their registration as well as the most detailed customs form I have ever encountered. I guess this creates employment in a roundabout way since both hotels and the police have to hire extra people to handle all of the bureaucracy.
The Government claims that growth is strongly positive but long-time observers believe that the official reports are works of fiction and that growth remains negative. It’s no myth that prices are up though. The cost of a ride on the Tashkent metro has gone up from 150 to 250 sum. This price rise, equivalent to eight U.S. cents, has now put the metro out of the reach of many locals.
Monday, October 01, 2007
Welcome to Uzbekistan! Me and the Militsia
TASHKENT. The State Department sent me to Uzbekistan to speak about U.S. elections and the role of political parties. This week, I'll be writing about what I saw.
Flying to Uzbekistan
As you might guess, there are no direct flights between Washington, D.C. and Tashkent. My own plans entailed flying to Frankfurt on United and then changing to Uzbekistan Airways. However, United cannot check your bags through to Tashkent because they don’t have an inter-airline agreement with UzAir, so you’re better off flying Lufthansa (or a United codeshare which is really a Lufthansa flight).
At Dulles Airport, I managed to change the ticket to an earlier Lufthansa flight—a nice surprise since the incredible unfriendly telephone agent at United (on the dedicated Premier reservation line no less) hectored me that it was impossible to change my business class ticket. I guess sometimes things are possible on the day of travel which you can’t do on other days.
Arriving in Tashkent
I could write a whole paragraph about how nice the seats and video screens are in Lufthansa business class. Life is simpler on Ubzekistan Airways. Instead of animation, the safety videos look a lot like home movies. They also did not have enough visa forms on the plane which is a pity because the forms are long and you have to fill them out twice so they’d make a good activity on the long flight. But the flight was safe and the service was good which is what really counts.
The arrival in Tashkent is the local equivalent of the running of the bulls in Pamplona. The passport officers are famously few in number and very slow. It can take hours for them to process just one full flight so everyone races for passport control when the bus from the plane to the terminal arrives. Unlike in the United Kingdom, lining up is not a local strength which makes it even trickier.
I had been told that I was on the VIP list which meant I could avoid this challenge. However, the man at the VIP minibus insisted I wasn’t I the list so I joined the masses on the regular buses, carefully placing myself by the doors so I would be in good position to jockey for a spot at passport control.
I got pulled off the bus at the last minute. As it turns out, my name was on the list for the minibus for arrivals associated with the international cotton fair rather than the regular VIP bus. Even in VIP land, matters don’t move at warp speed. I was glad I managed to secure third place in the passport line as it still took 10-15 minutes. In typical fashion, someone who knew someone managed to cut even the VIP line.
Militsia on the Metro
Tashkent’s Metro is a real jewel. All of the stations are lined with marble and many are decorated with crystal chandeliers. The Metro is even designed to survive an earthquake, a good thing since tremors leveled the city in 1966 (memorial pictured above). It costs 250 sum, around 20 U.S. cents, to buy the blue plastic token which lets you ride anywhere in the system. Unfortunately, it is illegal to photograph the Tashkent Metro, also designed as a bomb shelter, so don’t even try as the militsia are all over the place.
Don’t worry, however, the militsia will find other reasons to stop the intrepid tourist. I got halted by a group of three of them while changing trains at Amir Timur stop as I was feeling weary after walking around the city for six hours. They asked to see my papers and I produced a photocopy of my passport and visa prepared for just such a special occasion. They asked why I was in Uzbekistan.
Prior to arrival, a friend has warned me that all Uzbek officials are like horses—they can smell fear—so after my initial shock I just feigned boredom and confidence and I got my papers back just in time to catch the next train. The militsia man at my stop also tried to waylay me but I just pointed behind and said (in English) “I’ve been checked already” and he saluted smartly, considered polite here, and let me go on my way.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Van Hollen: Congress Delivers Largest Increase in College Assistance Since The GI Bill in 1944
Chris Van Hollen on the new education law:
“Every year, some 200,000 students do not go to college in America solely because they cannot afford the cost. Help is on the way.
“Last week, the 110th Congress fulfilled its election-year promise and sent to the President’s desk legislation that will help millions of students and families pay for college by reducing the cost of student loans and increasing Pell grants. This was done at no new cost to the taxpayer by reducing subsidies to banks and other lenders. I was proud to be a co-sponsor of this vital bill, which the President signed today.
“This new investment in college financial assistance is critically important. In today’s economy, a college education is as important as a high school diploma was a generation ago. Yet college costs have grown nearly 40 percent in the last 5 years and the federal investment in education has not met the need. From 2001 to 2006, the maximum Pell grant increased by only $300, or 8 percent - frozen by the Republican-led Congress at just $4,050 for the last four years. As a result, students and their families have had to take out more loans, accumulated more debt, and, in many cases, forgo a college education altogether because the costs are too great.
“This new law will increase the maximum Pell grant by $490 in just one year, and by $1,090 over the next 5 years. This will restore the purchasing power of the Pell grant and make it easier for the 5.5 million students who receive these grants to afford college. The bill will also cut the interest rates in half on new need-based federal student loans, from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent over the next four years, slowing the accumulation of debt and saving the typical student borrower – with $13,800 in need-based student loan debt - $4,400 over the life of the loan. And as students repay, they will never have to spend more than 15 percent of their yearly discretionary income on loan payments. Young people should not have to choose between paying their rent and paying off their loans.
“The new law will also provide assistance to those who choose critical jobs in public service by offering loan forgiveness after 10 years of service to military service members, first responders, law enforcement officers, firefighters, nurses, public defenders, prosecutors, early childhood educators, librarians, and others. It encourages young people to become teachers by providing up-front tuition assistance for undergraduate students who commit to teaching in high-poverty communities or high-need subject areas.
“My constituents in Maryland – where almost 50,000 students take out need-based loans to attend public colleges and on average graduate with over $14,000 in debt - will see tangible results from this law. Over the next 5 years, Maryland students, including the nearly 70,000 who receive Pell grants, will receive over $370 million in loans and assistance.
“Today, we’re going to help open the door to college to ensure the best possible future for our young people. We’re going to harness the ability and ambition of our best and brightest and encourage them to enter public service. And we’re going to help students afford advanced degrees, so the United States will remain on the forefront of innovation and discovery in a competitive global economy. We made that promise to the American people last November, and today we are seeing it through.”
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Uzbekistan
I am off to Uzbekistan so I am going to have to watch Maryland Politics from afar until the 27th. Blogging on Maryland may be a bit light though I hope to fill you in on Tashkent soon.
On Reforming the Process for Filling Vacancies in the General Assembly
In a post from just over a year ago, I pointed out that the obscure Democratic Central Committee was a rather powerful group of people. Recently, the Montgomery County Central Committee selected a new senator in District 39 and two new delegates in Districts 16 and 39, and there has been a lot of buzz surrounding the process for filling vacancies for the General Assembly. Some are outraged at the process and the decisions and calling for special elections to fill vacancies.
A special election would be a good reform if it were implemented sensibly. Appointments made by the Central Committee should only last until the next scheduled regular general election for either the General Assembly or for Congress. Under this scenario, the recent spate of appointments made by the Central Committee would only last until 2008 instead of a full three years.
Holding special elections immediately would be a mistake. As I outlined awhile back, participation in the Democratic primary--the key election in most races in Montgomery County--is only around 20 percent of the electorate even in years, like 2002, where interest in General Assembly races is relatively high. It would be much lower if only one state legislative race were on the ballot so the quality of the democracy touted by advocates of special elections would be relatively low.
Moreover, the County Board of Elections would somehow have to find a way to staff polling places for first the primary and then the general election--a very tough task even in regular election years. It would also be expensive to hold these special elections. If a delegate won election to the Senate, the Board would even have to go through the whole cycle twice with two sets of low turnout special primary and general elections.
Having the special election in conjunction with the presidential election would not eliminate appointed senators and delegates but would at least cut down on their length of service as appointees and allow for more immediate involvement by voters. Moreover, these special elections would probably have even higher turnout than the regular elections for the General Assembly as turnout in presidential election years in even higher.
The Central Committee should also work on reforming the process of selecting appointed members of the General Assembly. The meetings should surely be held in halls big enough to accommodate the candidate, their supporters, and anyone who wishes to watch. The interview should also probably go beyond opening and closing statements and include questions from members of the Central Committee.
Other aspects of the process should also be discussed. Should members of the Central Committee be able to vote for themselves or participate on the Committee while they are a candidate for an appointment? One tends to think not except that this has been part of the process for a long time in Maryland. Kirill Reznick is hardly the first member of the Central Committee to cast a vote for himself. Nevertheless, it seems time for a debate about whether we should allow this to continue.
This sort of process is (regrettably?) common in Maryland. Treasurer Nancy Kopp presumably had the right to vote on her election to that office since she was a delegate when first elected. Members of the General Assembly are also often chosen as judges. In some cases, these are real bloopers (google Judge Palumbo to see what I mean). However, Kopp was an excellent choice as treasurer. I can easily imagine Jeff Waldstreicher being a judge someday. His service as a delegate in District 18 should not disqualify him.
Serious consideration should also be given to requiring members of the Central Committee to cast their votes openly. Our legislators have to take open positions as elected representatives, though their committee and delegation votes often remain obscure. Perhaps members of the Central Committee should have to vote openly as well.
One final note: the choices for delegate the other day are not as strange as some suggest and let's not forget that the Central Committee was, after all, performing exactly the role which they were elected to do. I know little about District 39 but Kirill Reznick's presence on the Central Committee indicates not just a conflict of interest but that he was not an unknown. In District 16, Reggie Oldak's strong fourth-place showing in 2006 garnered her a lot of support but my guess is that others (e.g. the incumbents) were unhappy that she challenged the incumbents.
Moreover, the attacks by supporters of the two perceived frontrunners Don Mooers and Reggie Oldak, even if quite mild (e.g. see the comment earlier on the blog), may have hurt both candidates as it often does and tempted the Central Committee to look for an alternative. The choice of Frick was a surprise to me but he has apparently been active in his district's Democratic club and a less shocking a choice than some thought.
Of course, no one has to approve of the choice of the Central Committee and the voters will have a chance to express their votes, though unfortunately not until 2010. I would not be surprised to see a more contested primary than usual in District 16. Reggie Oldak built a lot of name recognition in her last bid and it will be interesting to see if she makes another go for it.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Steele for DC
Yesterday, Michael Steele joined former Republican Rep. J.C. Watts in advocating for D.C. voting rights in an opinion piece in the Washington Times. The bill, drafted by Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA) and sponsored by Joe Lieberman (I-CT) in the Senate, would give one seat to DC and one at-large seat to Utah, thus preserving the partisan balance even while finally giving the nation's capital real representation in the House. Utah would have received the 436th seat in 2000 according to the Census.
Republicans refused to bring up the bill for a vote in the previous Congress but Speaker Pelosi brought it up for a vote and the House has passed it. The Senate should pass it and President Bush should sign it. It's a good bill and it's long overdue.
Who The Frick Is Bill???
Otto Von Bismarck was once said to retort that there are two things you should never being made: sausages and legislation. Well you can add closed ballot elections of the MoCo Democratic Central Committee to that list. In the strangest set of circumstances I had seen in almost thirty years of observing elections, Bill Frick was selected the new Delegate from District 16 (Bethesda and Chevy Chase) to replace the ailing Marilyn Goldwater on the very first ballot. Goldwater stepped down less than one year after she pledged to finish her entire four year term.
Ho hum you say. Sure but as one veteran political observer mentioned to me last night that if they had a pool of who was going to win and in what round no one would have guess Bill Frick in the first round. The money collect could have been used to completely cover the capital campaign that the Central Committee is embarking on to upgrade its equipment.
Otto where are you when we need you.
The eleven candidates spent time and money wooing the 23 members of the MoCo Central Committee for the past month. It had several very worthy candidates. And most insiders were assuming that the selection would be either long time party activist Don Mooers or Regina "Reggie" Oldak who came in forth in a three person race last September. But someone tell me who had Frick in first???
Probably it is best summed up by another political observer when Jane Lawton beat two veteran party insiders in same format in 2005, "they seem to like the person the know the least." Then again that idea went out in the final vote of the night so Otto was right on the mark.....
If there was one universal comment from the now apparent Frick bandwagon "he is a great speaker and a charming young man." I would not know about being a great speaker as I was not allowed in the room when he spoke (they went alpha order). By candidate six I was in the back back room cranking my neck to see everyone.
Ok here is the blow by blow -- assuming you are still reading this far down -- the Central Committee had three times as many people as they had seats for everyone considering that they had four vacancies to fill (two on the Board of Elections, one for District 16 and one for District 39). Just like last month everything could have ended unceremoniously if the local Fire Department saw the overcrowding.
Things that need to change
Why would the Central Committee expose itself to horrible PR and egg on its face because they don't want to spend the ducats to get a room that could hold everyone??? I guess democracy (small "d") went out the window when the big "D"s gather.
So the Central Committee would only allow in the room if you were a member of the Central Committee, an elected official, the candidates and when your candidate was speaking they got to bring in 5 people. So everyday folks who wanted to see the proceedings were thrust out. Not very democratic for the Democratic Party. All I will say is if the BOE (Board of Elections) treated the party observers the way the Central Committee treated the attendees they would have raced to the courthouse to stop it. What is good the goose is good for the gander. Strike one for the Central Committee.
No Q&A just opening/ closing statements
Next because the list of District 16 candidates totaled eleven by the time everyone had their five minutes for an opening statements no one wanted to ask a question because then they would be subjected to eleven answers to parse through. Tell me that there is better way to elect our representatives to Annapolis. Strike two.
Things Leading up the vote
So one hour of candidates giving opening (and closing) statements, followed by zero questions in a room of the connected with outsiders on the outside, we get the first vote. If no one gets a majority on the first ballot then they drop off the lowest people until someone gets a majority. So with eleven running and 23 total votes you knew that some of the candidates would be shutout. But who had seven with goose eggs?
Closed Ballots have got to go
Finally, all of the members of the Democratic (and Republican) Central Committee are elected by the members of their party. So as a public official you have to make tough choices. But how would the public react if our elected officials voted on high profile issues such as the war in Iraq via closed ballot?? You are right -- zero. So why does the Central Committee get to have a closed ballot of the most important vote they will ever make? Why the answer is obvious -- they don't want to let everyone know who they really voted for? Tell me you like that in your elected officials. We know what US Senators voted for John Roberts as Chief Justice and I think that is a bit more important than which person is sent to Annapolis as Delegate. Strike three for democracy among the Democrats of the Montgomery County Central Committee.
There was no democracy among the Democrats
Strike four would be to allow this format to continue. It is not that the Central Committee is a collection of bad people. I know most of them. And I like them. I love politics (why else would I force my way into a crowded room to see this stuff). But why not open up the process? Where is the transparency? Where is the democracy among the Democrats? If you don't want to have people know exactly where you stand on the issues then don't run for public office; and the Central Committee members are publicly elected every four years (last done September 2006). Stand up. Be counted. Let us know who you voted for.
I am sure that Bill Frick will do a great job as will Kirill Reznik (who won the final vote of the night on the first ballot over Hugh Bailey by a 12 to 11 with Reznik voting as a member of the Central Committee). I also like previous winners of this process (read Jane Lawton and Susan Lee) but still this is a poor way to run a railroad -- or elect our officials. The system needs to change.
We need a room big enough to hold everyone. We need those voters (the Central Committee) to at least ask questions of the candidates. Does not matter if you asked them in private; again elected officials have mark-ups and hearings on things that they have already decided their position. We more transparency. We need democracy in our elections. The Central Committee needs to be more democratic (small "d") or it should get out of the business of selecting our officials. Of the 32 members of the MoCo Delegation now five of them have gotten elected the first time to their seat via the MoCo Democratic Central Committee.
It is the 21st Century. We can do better.
And the Winner in District 16 is . . .
Bill Frick. According to what I've heard, Bill Frick received 12 votes to 6 for Don Mooers, 4 for Reggie Oldak, and 1 for Chuck Butler. Delegate Frick now has three years to establish himself as an incumbent. However, it will be interesting to see if the primary in 2010 was more heated than in 2006 due to the level of interest in the seat. The Central Committee has now selected two of the three delegates in District 16.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Help the Families of Wounded Service Members
Got some extra frequent flyer miles you can't use? Maryland Representative Dutch Ruppersberger created hero miles, a program that gives the family members of wounded troops free plane tickets to visit their loved ones who are recovering in military hospitals.
Van Hollen on Petraeus
“The testimony by General David Petreaus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker today offered no new information from what the Bush Administration has put forward in recent weeks. The whole purpose of the so-called ‘surge’ was to create political space to enable the Iraqi government to undertake political reconciliation. The GAO report on Iraq released last week underscored that this not happened, with Iraq only meeting one of eight legislative benchmarks. And in the assessment of our intelligence community, as enunciated in the declassified NIE of August 2007, the Iraqi government will become more precarious over the next six to twelve months. Our brave American service men and women are sacrificing daily for a policy that has no end in sight. A policy of ‘more of the same’ is no strategic vision, strains our military to the breaking point, and enables Iraqi leaders to dither endlessly instead of reaching a political consensus over the future of their country.”
Budget Forum Impressions
Last night's budget forum at the Kensington Town Hall was well attended by local activists as well as a number of local elected officials. One could also not fail to impressed by the number of citizens who took time to learn more about the budget crisis and to take their hand at trying to solve it. Many thanks to Dee Schofield of the District 18 Democratic Caucus who worked hard to put the forum together and to Sen. Rich Madaleno and Secretary Eloise Foster who walked us through the budget maze. Here are some quick and dirty impressions from the forum:
Elected Officials: In addition to Sen. Rich Madaleno on the podium, all three delegates from District 18, Jane Lawton, Ana Sol Gutierrez, and Jeff Waldstreicher, were there. Councilwomen Duchy Trachtenberg and Nancy Floreen listened closely and booed amusingly when the issue of cutting aid to the counties, especially for teacher retirement, was mentioned. The senior assistant to Executive Ike Leggett didn't look too thrilled by that idea either. Sen. Mike Lennet and Councilman Marc Elrich also came to the forum. Kensington Mayor Pete Fosselman and Town Councilman Al Carr were there to graciously welcome everyone to their Town.
The Budget and MoCo's Legislators: The budget is going to place our legislative delegation in a tough bind. Do they stand firm and oppose slots like their constituents even though this is the revenue raiser least likely to impact Montgomery? Do they oppose tax increases which will fall disproportionately on county residents? If the governor threatens to slash support for teach retirement or some other program dear to the heart of Montgomery, does the delegation see his bluff and dare him to cut funding for teachers in the state's largest county which provided a motherload of votes for him? Let's hope that our county and legislative leaders are strategizing hard to have a plan when the budget finally comes up.
Eloise Foster is someone I had not met before getting involved with the budget forum. However, one quickly sees why three governors have trusted her on budget issues and two of them have appointed her as budget secretary. She is smart, knowledgeable, and discreet yet also does a good job of outlining and defending the basic approach and priorities of the administration.
Blair Lee is a Democrat who drives many progressives up the wall because his columns seem way too supportive of conservatives. After the forum, I heard him commenting eloquently and sharply on the current budget crisis. A fierce defender of Montgomery's interests, he knows the issues well and would be a worthy adversary in any debate on the topic. We can expect him to advocate vocally against more taxes unless Montgomery's legislative leaders bring home something bring for the County--and it better not be something we already have or were promised in his eyes.
Immigration. The anti-immigration posse were handing out flyers to everyone entering the Kensington Armory and were under the delusion that denying services to illegal immigrants would save Maryland $300 million. Not only would it would be illegal to deny many services, including schools and emergency health care, it would also be extremely shortsighted even from a selfish perspective. Keeping kids out of school seems like a great idea if you want to increase crime and create a class of people who have no skills, no attachment to this country, and only a poor command of the language. The irony is that most illegal immigrants go to great lengths to avoid government because they don't want to be sent home so they are actually less likely to use government services.
District 16: Tonight, the Montgomery County Central Committee will choose a successor to Del. Marilyn Goldwater. Reggie Oldak and Don Mooers, both considered strong candidates, were at the forum, as was at least one member of the central committee--District 18's Vic Weissberg. Dana Beyer, a former candidate for delegate in District 18 and now an aid to Councilwoman Duchy Trachtenberg, was arguing hard for Reggie Oldak. Oldak came in a strong fourth in last year's Democratic primary. Others tell me that Mooers may have the edge. We'll just have to wait and see what the central committee decides.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Budget Forum Tonight
Governor Martin O'Malley's Budget Secretary Eloise Foster and District 18 Senator Richard Madaleno will lead a public forum on Maryland's budget shortfall on Monday, September 10, at 7:30 p.m. in the Kensington Town Hall (the Armory).
Foster also served as budget secretary under Gov. Parris Glendening, and Madaleno previously served as lobbyist on Montgomery County budget matters for former County Executive Doug Duncan. American University Government Professor David Lublin will also serve as a panel member.
The panel will explain the budget process and discuss the pros and cons of different ways to bring the FY08 budget into balance. Charles Duffy of Political Pulse will moderate.
Audience members will have the chance to fill out a budget worksheet and try to balance the budget by selecting from among various expenditure cuts and revenue increases. The current projected shortfall for FY08 is $1.5 billion.
"We plan to give the audience the same kinds of options the Governor and General Assembly will be considering." said Madaleno. "We want this to be a realistic exercise. It's a chance for citizens to learn about the budget process and to participate in finding a solution."
Event organizers are asking those who attend to bring their calculators, said Duffy. Their completed budget worksheets will be collected, and the results tallied and released after the event.
The budget forum is sponsored by the District 18 Democratic Caucus, the Greater Silver Spring Democratic Club, and PREZCO. The event is free and is open to everyone.
Friday, September 07, 2007
O'Malley Ponders
O'Malley keeps giving us clues as to how he intends to balance the budget. Interestingly, the major papers report somewhat different tidbits to their readers. Today, the Baltimore Sun let us know that O'Malley expects the State to raise and to broaden the sales tax:
O'Malley has been talking for months about the need to modernize Maryland's tax code to make it "inclusive and fair." He has yet to offer a specific proposal, but he said yesterday that based on discussions with legislative leaders, an expansion and increase in the sales tax will likely be a part of the final compromise. Maryland's sales tax, designed when the state's economy was dominated by manufacturing, does not tax most services, such as shoe repair, haircuts and advertising.Meanwhile the Gazette says no special session if legislative leaders cannot reach consensus by September 30:
‘‘The clock is ticking. The lieutenant governor and I already have a pretty good working idea of the number of steps that will be required to close this huge gap we inherited and hopefully we’ll have leadership consensus by [the end of] September,” O’Malley (D) said in his strongest comments to date.The Washington Post warns us that O'Malley may not fully fund the Thornton Plan for continued increases in education spending:
During a radio interview, O'Malley questioned whether it would be "prudent" to include the full amount in the fiscal 2009 budget that he is required to submit to lawmakers by January.
"Whether we're able to do the sort of inflationary kicker at the degree to which it was originally locked in five years ago . . . remains to be seen," O'Malley said on "The Marc Steiner Show" on Baltimore's WYPR (88.1 FM). "I'm not sure it would be prudent to do that, given the $580 million that just came in. But that, again, is something that has to be worked out with the General Assembly and leaders there."
O'Malley later told reporters that the state might consider capping future funding increases at a percentage less than dictated by the formula or holding off on increases until the state budget crisis is solved
