Annapolis Politics

(You Should Be) Obsessed With The Deficit

2010-12-30T09:11:00.002-05:00

Once a week--sometimes twice a week if I'm feeling frisky--I stop by the Sajak Pavillion and pay a visit to my allergy doctor for a scheduled dose of magic serum that will hopefully increase my tolerance to grass pollens and cats before 2012. Each visit involves a shot in both arms, followed by a 20 minute waiting period, after which I present my arms for inspection much like a dog presents itself after rolling over in the hopes of earning a treat. Since there isn't any cell phone reception, the situation requires some reading (only of magazines--don't worry!). Having exhausted the office's supply of Automotive Weekly magazines, and determining which version of the Porsche 911 I would like (this one), I found myself in some uncharted territory via a November issue of Time magazine. Enter Joe Klein.

Time, apparently, wanted 2 columnists to write about the same topic, which was the economy. I think the idea might have been to have 2 opposing viewpoints, which didn't come close to happening. Anyway, I couldn't let this article go by without comment.

In his article, Klein spends the first however many paragraphs dismissing the sincerity of the most recent promises to reduce the deficit, then announces what he considers to be the "larger problem", which is that people are "spending so much time and effort bloviating about long-term deficits and so little trying to untangle the immediate economic mess that we're in".

"In the long run we are all dead", the famous Keynes quote, does well to describe the problem that Klein ignores. Politicians focusing on short term problems to gain next-term election have gotten us where we are! What the shit, Joe??!!

In the interest of time (I have to take my little cousins to a place called 'Pump It Up' soon), let's skip down to the last paragraph of the article, so Joe and I can have a nice chat.

Again, I'm not opposed to long-term deficit reduction, so long as it's equitable.

Remember, this is not the 'larger problem'. Jobs are fickle--they will come back, as long as government policies don't prohibit them. If we spend another 3 stimuluses to gain an extra 50,000 jobs, the deficit is even more of a problem. K?

But I do wonder why these righteous burghers are leading the charge on this particular issue and are so obviously AWOL on a more pressing problem: finding a way to encourage productive investment that creates jobs while discouraging the financial speculation that creates bailouts.

[looking up the word 'burgher'...right...ok...apparently it means a complacent member of the middle class.]

OK! So the logic here is that encouraging productive investment is what we need, and the secondary logic is that financial speculation creates bailouts.

Rich people invest money productively. They buy stuff then hire people to run the stuff they buy. This creates jobs, which is our short-term concern in this little exercise. Rich people get more money through lower taxes, which can only be accomplished by lowering deficits.

Also, financial speculation does not cause bailouts. Politicians' pens cause bailouts. On a more analytical level, pressure placed on financial institutions by government agency directives leads to irresponsible financial behavior. Speculation, which by the way is way too vague of a term to possibly have meaning in Mr. Klein's argument, is good because (1) it conveys pricing information to the market, (2) it provides liquidity to markets, (3) it decreases the likelihood of non-competitive pricing by suppliers, (4) it encourages the sustainable level of consumption, and (5) it reduces risks borne by manufacturers by allowing them to pre-sell at a fixed price.

If that last paragraph didn't seem relevant, don't worry; the topic of speculation wasn't relevant in Joe's original article either.

For starters, there needs to be a stiff sin tax on speculation.

A sin tax! Could Joe be any more anti-free market? Also, how would you determine what "speculation" is? 73

"Attention, any investment that has a risk of losing more than 10% is sinful and will cost you a tax of $500,000."

At the very least, the resplendent Olympians should work to put their squalid McMansion in order

— by launching a public-service campaign against excessive executive compensation and devoting their considerable energies to encouraging our smartest young people to go into careers that produce jobs, not deals — before they're allowed to lecture former assembly-line workers about the sacrifices they have to make in order to balance the budget.

[Economic & Business Theory: Explode].

The Joe Klein Business Interview:

[Joe Klein]: Are you a smart young person?

[College Graduate]: I'm pretty smart--maybe not the smartest.

[JK]: Ok well if you're not the smartest, you can go into a career where they only focus on deals.

[CG]: Huh? Umm, ok, so like...every career?

[JK]: No! The best careers are for the smartest people...the careers that produce jobs.

[CG]: Like I said, I'm not the smartest, but I'm pretty sure that when you make a deal, you need to hire more people to fulfill whatever promises you made in the deal, and that creates jobs. Am I wrong?

[JK]: I knew it--you are a financial speculator!

The Invisible Hand Still Reaches For The Hot Girl

2010-12-23T10:30:00.002-05:00

From my experience sending out political emails, I understand the value of a catchy subject line, or in this case a catchy post title. I could have used a title like "laissez-faire economics", which is sort of what this post is about, but then you would have ignored it and signed on to facebook, and now here you are!

Everyone's heard of Adam Smith's famous 'invisible hand', a metaphor for the theory that society's best allocation of resources will be achieved by everyone pursuing their own individual self-interest in a marketplace. Why then, are firms necessary? If individuals can go to the market to get everything they need, why do they become involved with firms? If you think about it, firms are organized in the exact way--centralized, planned, authoritarian--that is rejected by the invisible hand. It's a question that The Economist takes on. The answer, they argue, is due to the high transaction costs associated with going to market, as well as the collective expertise that can be achieved by a company of people.

It's the same reason you join any group--to be more successful than you could be on your own. If you are a great baker but aren't good at accounting, you might want to become part of a bakery so that you can focus on baking and they can keep track of how many people buy your snickerdoodles. If you are a commercial airline pilot, you need to become part of a firm so they can buy the plane you fly, attract the customers that need you to fly them somewhere, and negotiate with the government to make sure you don't fly in restricted airspace.

I'm reminded of a scene in The Beautiful Mind, the movie about the Nobel-Prize winning economist John Nash. In the movie, Nash comes to his breakthrough idea when a group of young women walk into the bar, with one of the women being the most attractive:

For the purposes of our little discussion here, let's call this super-hot woman "Hillary Clinton". The invisible hand would predict that all the guys would hit on Hillary. But Nash reasons that if everyone tries to impress Hillary, only 1 guy could potentially attract her, leaving the loser guys with no girlfriend. And the loser guys would not be able to hit on Hillary's friends, because Hillary's friends are offended that they weren't the original target of the guys' affection. So in Adam Smith's scenario one guy wins and the others lose. Nash reasons that the best outcome is for all the guys to go after Hillary's friends--and not Hillary at all! At least then, all the guys would have a girlfriend, even know nobody would be dating a supermodel. "Adam Smith was wrong", the Nash character announces to his confused friends as he passes by all the Hillarys in the bar to go back and develop his theory.

In both the example of the firm and the 'non-cooperative games' to which Nash's theory is referred, Adam Smith's theory shows some weakness. As an undergraduate economics student, I was forced to tattoo Adam Smith's name on my left bicep as a show of appreciation for the so-called father of economics. "How could he be wrong?", I wondered, a foray into philosophy that was surely a result of a hangover and daydreaming during a class I really didn't care about. I asked this guy, who was my faculty mentor, and remains the smartest person I think I've ever met. The brilliant power of Adam Smith, he advised, was that despite a couple scratches on the fender, the Smith-mobile is still driving in the fast lane. (We're using a car metaphor now--try and keep up!). Despite the odd theory or exception now and then, it still remains mostly true that the best outcome is achieved by everybody doing what's best for them in a market free of coercion.

Taking the position that we are free-market experts, economists from the Chicago School argue that humans are 'economic robots'--that every decision they make is the result of the analysis of all available data related to the transaction. This of course is not possible--most people can't know if a cotton shirt at Target is cheaper than one at Walmart--but you will try! Maybe you ask your friends that shop at both places; maybe you know that milk is cheaper at one place than the other and you assume that all prices at that place are cheaper; maybe you're rich and you hire a private shopper to investigate and get you the best price. In any case, the Chicago school model still might be the best model to use because it just might be the best predictor of what you're going to do.

Free-Market advocates don't have to worry--there is still room on your right bicep for Hillary's initials tattooed inside a heart.

County's First Speed Cameras Will Make People Drive Slower

2010-12-20T10:15:00.000-05:00

Newly installed speed cameras on the B/W Parkway will be the county's first examples of the devices, although my extensive dealings in P.G. County have familiarized me with their implementation. (I try to stay out of Montgomery County, where the use and consequently the avoidance of speed cameras have been perfected.)

So, do speed cameras really work? Yes! Of course they freekin' work. There is a speed camera on one particular road I take to work every day, and when I'm on that part of the road, I'm very careful not to exceed the speed limit. And I know that this speed camera is in a good spot, because I lost control of my Isuzu Rodeo one rainy day 7 years ago on that exact portion of the road, probably because I was going too fast.

The next question is are they safe. My pre-research hypothesis was that while the cameras might be successful at reducing speed, they might likely cause more accidents because paranoid drivers like myself would be staring at the speedometer instead of the road. In fact, a criticism like this stands on strong ground for red light cameras, which have been showed to be a revenue-generator at the expense of driver safety. To my moderate surprise, speed cameras have been found to decrease not only speeding but also accidents and fatalities.

So, the only downside apparently to speed cameras is that people want to go places fast and now will have to budget like an extra 200 seconds in their morning for when they have to decrease their speed from 73 mph to 65 mph on 295. After all, the cameras don't give tickets unless you're a certain amount over the limit. This is not something that the government should care about, unless they are particularly concerned that the increasing scope of 'big brother' will anger voters and cause them to not get re-elected, which isn't really that good of an argument anyway considering public safety in involved.

But, motorists do have a valid gripe here. Speed limits are somewhat arbitrary. I imagine that speed limits are set by politicians who follow the recommendations of traffic engineers who take into account how much the road curves, how wide it is, if kids are playing nearby, and if people usually drink coffee in the car and therefore can only have 1 hand on the wheel. But do the limits know what time of day it is? Do they know the weather conditions? Do they know if you have a vehicle that handles well like my beautiful Ferrari does? (Note: I do not have a Ferrari). No, the limits don't know squat--they just sit there posted on signs telling you what you can't do. How rude. In fact, you can get a speeding ticket if you are going under the speed limit, if the officer determines that you are driving too fast for the conditions. If discretion can be applied to determine when a safe speed is less than the posted limit, why can't I put the cruise control on my 7-Series to 71 mph when leaving work from the restaurant at midnight? (Note: I do not own a BMW 7 series and I also do not work at a restaurant.)

Anyway, it strikes me that speed cameras are one of the most effective ways of reducing speeding and improving safety.

Theft of City Money Goes Unpunished

2010-12-13T21:35:00.001-05:00

According to a recent press release, the theft of eleventy billion Annapa-bucks has been fully investigated, with the governing authorities "declining to press charges".

(Elevnty billion Annapa-bucks equal $150,000. This is an homage to a family in my neighborhood--we'll call them the Smith family to protect their identity--that created 'Smith-bucks' that they gave to their kids when the kids did something good. The problem came in the currency conversion; Smith bucks were redeemable at a 1 to 1 ratio with real bucks, and the Smith's had to devalue their currency or risk their kids bankrupting the family at a recent Disney vacation.)

Mayor Joshua J. Cohen announces that the Annapolis Police Department has concluded its investigation into the theft of more than $150,000 in checks and cash from the Finance Department. During the course of the investigation, a City employee was identified as a person of interest; however, the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office declined to file criminal charges. The person of interest is no longer employed by the City.

I have some sympathy for the city. You can't always account for every Tom / Dick / Harry that tries to rip you off. I once had an employee leave a pan of chicken in the oven and run off with a check for $17,000. He crossed out the company's name and wrote his own name, forged my signature, and made it approximately 45 minutes before the check was cancelled and he was fired. I'm also currently in the process of installing security cameras, much like the increased measures the city took in response to this matter.

Sometimes it takes a problem to lead you to a better solution. Much like myself, the city's fortunate this wasn't a bigger disaster.

10 Random Rules About Life, For People That Are Confused About Stuff

2010-12-04T17:07:00.002-05:00

1. If you choose to cross the street where there isn't a crosswalk, you give up the right-of-way. A car probably still won't hit you, because they don't want you to fly up and crack their windshield, but you should be aware of oncoming cars and speed up the pace of your walk if the cars have to slow down because of you. Walking slowly across non-crosswalked portions of roads is frowned upon in the same fashion as is going out in public without wearing pants.

2. If you ride on an elevator with someone, you are not obligated to talk to them, but you should be prepared to make eye contact and smile so they know you aren't creepy.

3. If you have a headache, just take the advil. Trying to 'tough it out' is not appropriate.

4. There is heavy traffic every day. Don't be a jackass; leave a little bit earlier for work.

5. Once you have done a task in more than 1 country, you are permitted to describe your execution of that task as "global". Example: I went to Cancun for spring break; therefore, I am a global traveler.

6. Don't ever say "I'll do this, but I don't want to." If you do something it means you want to do it. Or you don't want to deal with the consequences of not doing whatever your thing was. This makes sense, trust me.

7. Bank of America should be avoided at all costs. If I ever become 'big money' (a.k.a. 'Kate middleton money' or 'find an oil field money'), I swear I will start a bank and you can do your transacting with me. Every time you make a deposit, we send you a cookie, and when you call customer service it rings my cell phone. Limit 100 customers.

8. Paying $20 extra to fly economy plus is worth the extra leg room. Don't be afraid to upgrade!

9. Having multiple vices is a sign of mental stability. Before entering into a relationship that requires you to trust someone, make sure their life involves one of the following things: cussing, alcohol consumption, caffeine addiction, eating too much red meat, driving a car that gets less than 18 mpg, or watching meaningless television. Vices to be avoided include drug abuse, laziness, womanizing, and most actions that would be considered a crime.

10. Don't make fun of people for using technology that you don't know how to use. Texting, listening to music from a playing-card sized device, etc. are all things that improve the way the work works. Facebook addiction satisfies an acceptable vice, as described in rule #9. We like to use gadgets to do stuff, and we don't make fun of you for mailing paper letters or listening to Barry Manilow on 8-track, so back off.

Alert: Obama Wins Presidency

2010-11-28T22:52:00.002-05:00

Time to have a little fun with The Capital's editorial staff, who ran an editorial that--much like the title of this post--has urgency only in the fact that it's been going on for a long time. "Our say", they say, is that Washington is going to have to worry about the budget deficit. Alert the press!.....what?? Oh. They've been alerted.

Washington may be hard of hearing, but it is not stone-deaf. If the electorate shouts loudly enough, it reacts. And here's what the voters were saying in this month's election:

Nice [sic] right off the bat with the 'stone-deaf' bit. Good editing, editors. My favorite spelling error is when "it's not" turns into "it snot", a space-bar mistake that I myself rely on Spellcheck to correct. Also I really hope I don't have any errors in this post, because then I would look like a jackass.

Government has gotten too big and can't keep spending money it doesn't have. We've had to cut household expenses back to what we can afford, and we don't see why you politicians can't do so as well. Get this done - or we'll find someone else who can.

This is an editorial comment that was appropriate, like, BEFORE the election. Wtf? In case you didn't realize, most of America did find other people who can reduce the deficit. Or at least say they can. Also, a report from Obviousville confirms that you can't spend money you don't have, at least in the long term, even if you're the government. Also #2, which specific household expenses do you think the editors had to cut? Pipe tobacco? Cognac by the fireplace? Sailboats? What are some other stereotypes?! Actually, that sounds like an awesome lifestyle...does anyone have any VSOP.....

As Sheila C. Bair, the chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., wrote inThe Washington Post recently, "total federal debt has doubled in the past seven years, to almost $14 trillion. That's more than $100,000 for every American household." Our long-term structural deficit, and the borrowing needed to sustain it, could easily destabilize our finances and wipe out any recovery.

National debt always goes up during war times, but even so, the editors--or 'my homies' as they will be known for the rest of this post--are correct in having concern over ballooning debts. My homies use the term 'structural' deficit to highlight what I just touched upon. War expenditures and economic downturns surely produce cyclical deficits, which are easier to ignore because politicians can proclaim that everyone will resume finding gold bars in their storage sheds once some miscellaneous miracle happens, then they don't have to address the problem. A structural problem implies that even if all the bullshit turns into roses, there would still be a financial imbalance. Also, my guess is that one of my homies bet another one that he/she couldn't reference 'Sheila C. Bair' in a published work, and that bet is now paying off big.

The first remedy Congress has in mind - symbolic but important - is a moratorium on earmarks. This is the practice of slipping funding of individual projects into bills and committee reports, avoiding hearings and circumventing the usual federal budget process.

First of all, does anyone not know what an earmark is? Earmarks are the embodiment of inside-the-beltway politics. Earmarks are why Congress has terrible approval ratings but people's own Congressmen have high ratings. And earmarks are a relatively small portion of the budget. I would be stunned if Congress voted to decrease the advantage of being an incumbent just to save 1% on the federal budget. Plus, I suspect that if specific earmarked projects were ended, some type of direct discretionary funding to states would pop up, which negates the whole point, but is still better (see below).

Earmarking is a treasured perk of the most senior legislators, a way of pleasing constituents (and perhaps rewarding campaign donors). That does not mean that all earmarked projects are bad. But the Tea Party movement has swung the Republican leadership into the anti-earmarking camp, where they are being joined by some Democrats and President Barack Obama.

I tend to agree that not all earmarked projects are bad. I mean, after all, the federal government is a government, and governments are there to spend money on necessary projects that the private market will not facilitate. However, the bigger the particular government that's spending the money, the less likely it's spending money on the right thing. I would much rather the feds give money to the state of Maryland, who then gives the money to Anne Arundel county, who then gives the money to my homeowners association, who then builds a lazy river and pool house in my backyard. See how government can work for you?

Earmarks, however, account for less than 1 percent of federal spending. Two recent reports have sketched out the painful changes that would be needed to really reduce deficits.

Life is full of 'painful changes'. I recently had to downgrade cognacs from VSOP (Very Special Old Pale) to XO (Extra Old), so I know what it's like to make painful changes.

One is by former Clinton White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles and former Republican senator Alan Simpson of Wyoming - the co-chairmen of a presidential deficit reduction commission that is supposed to report its findings on Wednesday. The other is by the independent Bipartisan Policy Center. Both documents have been under withering attack - by conservatives because they recommend raising some taxes, by liberals because they seek cutbacks in Medicare and Social Security.

Fat chance that I'm going to look up these reports, so let's just ignore that paragraph. However, if any proposal is hated by both sides of the political aisle, it's probably a good proposal.

Before joining such denunciations, people need to grasp the facts laid out in the Bipartisan Policy Center report: Medicare and Medicaid consume 21 percent of federal spending. Social Security accounts for another 20 percent. Defense requires 20 percent. Other mandated spending (on such things as veterans' compensation, unemployment insurance and food stamps) takes up 17 percent. Paying the interest on the national debt requires 6 percent.

Translation:
-necessary evils, defense, government waste, and bullcrap mandated by law account for 84% of the budget.

So everything else is just 16 percent of the budget. The budget can't possibly be balanced just from that 16 percent.

It's even worse for the city of Annapolis, where 85% of the budget is salaries and wages, 10% is corruption, 7% is illegal payments to bloggers, and -2% is money regained by stealing the lunch money from St. Mary's students and midshipmen.

Also, without knowing the numbers off the top of my head, I initially doubted the claim that the federal budget 'can't possibly be balanced' by a 16% adjustment'. Then I looked it up. OMG. The federal budget deficit for 2010 is 49%. The government proposed spending 49% more money (like $1.2 trillion more) than they plan on taking in. Take a second to absorb that, then take a minute to pour yourself a cocktail, because XO cognac is the only thing that will make spending $1,200,000,000,000 that you don't have seem like an acceptable thing to do.

Deficit reduction will be the big domestic political challenge of 2011, and possibly for years after that. It urgently needs presidential leadership. And it will require our two polarized political parties to come together and strike a compromise in the national interest.

If that seems like too much for today's pols, they should remember the message of the election. If they can't do it, the voters will find people who can.

Entitlement programs and mandated spending must be overhauled. Hopefully the voters can provide the accountability to make this happen. It's not just the political challenge of 2011; it's a challenge for many political and socio-economic cycles to come.

Small Business Saturday

2010-11-25T09:29:00.000-05:00

....is this Saturday.

LINK.

Here are some local businesses I've enjoyed.

Incentives Are the Difference Between Public and Private Sector Workers

2010-11-18T10:19:00.002-05:00

It was probably a year ago that I cancelled my subscription to The Capital--not in protest or anything because I do enjoy reading it, but for 2 reasons. First, I found that on most days I would just recycle it without reading anything, and second because I found a more efficient way to line my outdoor table for eating crabs. I kept my paper box, however, because I still wanted to receive the lovely landscaping flyers and community propaganda and that type of stuff can't go in the mailbox!

Consequently, it's more difficult to use letters to the editor as blog fodder. The best source of opinion now is probably the commenters on the Capital's web site, a crowd of probably 30 regulars that sling entrenched opinions from the comfort of computer screens. Little known fact: every year the online opinion world competes in the "Mom's Basement Bowl", whereby competitors try and type the nastiest slur possible while eating a bowl of chips and dip. Last year I came in 5th place. (My dip was too thick and my chip broke in half just as I was about to lay into the Deputy Streetsweeper. Major disappointment.)

So I was looking through the comments on this story, and a mini debate erupted regarding workers in the private sector vs. the government sector. The current paradigm of course is that private sector workers think that government workers meet for happy hour every day at 2 pm on a beach in the Bahamas, and government workers think that private sector workers ignore the vital role of government employees, which the private sector workers are too greedy and selfish to ever do themselves. As always the truth is somewhere in the middle.

There are lazy people and hard working people in both sectors. The Annapolis City Clerk, for example, is one of the best government employees I've ever come across. The base city clerk salary I think might be $70-$75k, with benefits pushing the total compensation to $90k ish off the top of my head. Fair cost to taxpayers? Could someone willing to work for $20k less do the same job? Does a private sector worker making $50k require the same job skills? Hard to say.

The problem is incentives. Private sector employees have an incentive to work hard because if not they will get fired. Businesses pay their employees with their money--it's an investment. If the investment doesn't pay off, the employee doesn't work there anymore. I can't really think of an example of tenure in the private sector. Maybe unions offer some type of protection for seniority, maybe other examples exist that I don't know about. But governments are a different story. The people that pay the salaries of government workers (you) don't have a say in how these workers do their jobs. That's the problem. Government managers don't have as profound an incentive to keep their workers productive because they are paying them with a third party's money.

My guess is that workers that coast through their jobs (in either sector) are workers that have no mobility, either upward or downward. Or 'outward' I guess--gotta get all the 'ward's in there. With no fear of being fired, and no possibility for advancement, why work hard? Maybe an intrinsic work ethic keeps you busting your butt for a while, but eventually you realize you get the same money no matter how much work you do.

I do think the government has been trying to place more incentives for pay raises based on merit. I think this only on the basis of knowing that my brother, who works for the IRS, makes more money if he does more stuff like get continuing education or whatever. Even so, a recent study found that all things considered the average federal worker makes double what the average private sector worker makes. Theoretically a cost of living raise should match inflation, but the raises received by government workers have outpaced inflation by 33% since 2000.

Some job requirements of government workers wouldn't be tolerated by the private sector. The city clerk, for example, has to work from 7 pm to 11 pm every other Monday night, and sometimes has to stay at the office until midnight in case candidates want to file for election at the 11th hour. How much overtime would have to be paid to a private sector employee to do the same?

I am confident that good and bad employees exist in both sectors. I am also confident that government is less efficient than the private sector--much of my political belief system relies on this confidence. The government will never be able to provide the same incentives that markets do, which I believe is why we should have as little government as possible.

Brothel Raided

2010-11-16T19:50:00.000-05:00

A brothel?! Geez.

This particular operation involved illegal immigrants, but whether we talking about illegal citizens or just criminal citizens that are here legally, I take it as a sign of importance that zoning laws are enforced.

It's kind of like how there's no such thing as a routine traffic stop. All the stuff about the number of unrelated people living in a house, number of cars in the driveway, etc. can help law enforcement snuff out bigger stuff like this.

Pensions: You Mean Paying Someone to do Nothing Doesn't Work?

2010-11-15T13:06:00.000-05:00

The Capital highlights a problem that has been creeping up since, well, since pensions began. (See HERE and HERE). Labor economics theory predicts that a person will be paid an amount roughly equal to the value of what they produce. The key here is that a person has to be producing something of value, i.e. working, in order to earn a salary.

Unlike 401K's, which are investments that provide a variable rate of return, pensions are guaranteed future payments.

Problem #1: Pension funds rely on markets to grow their asset base and meet their obligations, and markets are variable.

Problem #2: The longer somebody works for a company / the government, the bigger the pension. So, the more well trained the workforce, the more of an advantage a company has, but it also has a higher future labor cost, so it has a relative disadvantage. See the paradox?

Problem #3: The burden of funding pensions falls disproportionately on the employer as compared to other fringe benefits.

Problem #4: Taxpayers are on the hook for existing pension obligations--they cannot be adjusted ex post facto.

The main problem is #1. Pensions assume a certain rate of return that probably won't happen. 5 years ago, AACo's pension was like 98% funded. Now it's 85% funded according to one of those articles up there. This is because the rate of return on their assets was not what they expected, and they couldn't divert enough of our tax money to make up the difference.

Pensions have already destroyed the competitiveness of American automakers, who might very well shift their pension liabilities to you and me. Governments aren't competitive in anything, so their pension cost goes directly to us.

Fringe and retirement benefits need to be able to move up and down (specifically down) with market movements. Pensions do not allow for this. More appropriate benefits would be 401K's or other investment accounts. Hopefully the transition can be made soon enough.

What Makes A Successful Entrepreneur

2010-11-14T23:29:00.003-05:00

1. Be Passionate and Have a 99% Commitment.

The most important thing in starting a successful business is not having a good idea or product. It's not even having a good team or being well capitalized. It's having passion; it's having the vision and determination to know that even though other people could do what you do, your way of doing things is going to change the world. This passion should manifest itself into a 99% commitment to your business. Anyone who tells you that you should be 100% committed hasn't really thought it through and is just bullshitting you. Your dear mother, who raised you and is the reason for everything you are today, has fallen ill and is in the hospital. You cut out of work early to go visit her--THAT'S the 1%. To start a business, the rest of the 99% of you has to be committed to the business, and you must be willing to make sacrifices.

My experience: I started my business 2 weeks after my 21st birthday, and a year before receiving a good degree in a relatively good job market. While my friends were moving up the corporate ladder during the day and exploring the 'youth + money = fun life' equation, I was working. I slept at the office as much as at my house, and picked up odd jobs to pay the bills. The pinnacle came in one month of 2005, as I remember, when I worked 120 hours in each week of the month. I slept every other night and ignored every other aspect of my life. Is this how it should be forever...of course not. But it's what was needed at the time.

2. Have a Hatred of Failure--Not a Fear of It.

There's no denying that being a successful entrepreneur requires a certain disposition towards risk. On occasion, this is going to mean you fail. No single bet should be so great that could potentially bankrupt the company. If things you try fail, you can't let it dissuade you. You have to learn from your screw up, double down, and vow that the same mistake will never happen again. If you're failure results in the company going under, use it as a chip on your shoulder to start the next one.

My experience: In addition to my main company, I've had 2 unsuccessful spin-offs during the 8 years in business. I had a deli in 2005 that basically broke even for a year, but prospects were declining, and I was tired of working for free at a job with miserable hours. More painfully, I was a co-owner of a college bar where I operated the kitchen for about 14 months. Initial projections were wrong, and despite 4 menu changes and continuous improvements over that time, I lost like $65,000. Boo. As I write this, a year and a half after it's over, it still makes me sick. But that's the correct feeling. My experiences gained are invaluable, and I try and use them as motivation to keep on pushing forward.

3. Don't Lose Track of the Money.

This seems obvious, but it can be difficult. This advice is particularly important for young entrepreneurs, but anyone owning a business for the first time or recognizing a life-long dream can fall victim. Owning a business can be thrilling. You have total creative power to bring your vision to fruition, and sometimes the passion (remember from #1 that passion is involved) causes business owners to turn a blind eye to the money. Sometimes you are so exited to serve that new recipe; to get home at night completely exhausted from a day's work; to romanticize the experience, that you ignore the common sense analyses that are needed to make sure you'll be able to pay the bills. Every decision made must be the best effort to maximize the long term profitability of the business. Now does this mean that the cheapest option is always preferred? No! Certain investments yield long term results. However, profits need to be realized somewhat quickly. If cash flow is achieved through slim margins or debt, the long term health of the business could be in jeopardy.

My experience: I lost track big time. As mentioned, I was a young know-nothing when the company started. After I graduated from college (year 1 of the business), the company grew by 500%. I didn't know what to do, so I did what I thought I should do--what 'real companies' do. I hired too many managers and took out a lease on a office that did nothing to increase revenues or profits. By the time I realized this, I was $75k into debt with a business model that shouldn't have needed more than $10k in capital. Total jackass maneuver on my part. Moreover, I was paranoid that customers wouldn't trust a 21 year old kid to deliver on promises, so I gained business by underpricing our services. Even though I now increase prices each year, our old customers are far less profitable than the new customers, and they will probably never catch up. Eight years ago, I essentially sold out to 'buy' cash flow, and today the effects are still being felt.

4. Dream Big.

Especially for companies in early stages, it's quite easy for owners to get caught up in the day-to-day and ignore the long-term. This is not good. 'Appropriate egomania' is the oxymoron that I would use to describe the requirement that you believe that you can do things better than anyone else, and that the possibilities for your business don't stop at what you can see in the near future, but rather are infinite. Take the time to think about a 5 year plan, and make sure that every thing you do in the short term fits in to where you want to take the company in the long term.

My experience: It took me a long time to learn this lesson. Like many entrepreneurs, I was heavily involved in operations in the beginning because I couldn't afford to pay someone else to handle the day-to-day operations while I focused on strategy. My 'holy shit' moment came from a business competition, sponsored by the founder of Under Armour, that gave $15,000 to the winner and $7,500 to 2nd place. I delivered a great presentation, highlighting all the logistics and details that I thought made us the best. After the judges deliberated, they started with their presentation...."Before we announce the first and second place winners"--they turned to me--I knew right away I hadn't won. "Brian, we think you can grow faster than you think you can. Scalability, reproducing what you do now over and over again: that's the future, that's the business model". I was devastated, but the judges rightfully recognized that I wasn't dreaming big. While the other businesses offered figures for what their total potential market was--numbers in the hundreds of millions of dollars that would probably never be realized--I mentioned only what I charged the current customers. If you don't think you can be big, then you can't. So think it.

5. Luck.

Shit happens. And at least some of the shit needs to happen in your favor for you to be successful.

My experience: I started my company because I knew how to cook and I was in a fraternity. I was in a fraternity because a friend bugged me to go to a rush event and some guy bought me a piece of pizza. I was at the University of Maryland because I had met a professor at the yacht club I used to work at, and because I was denied admission to the University of Pennsylvania (assholes). I knew how to cook because my paper route wasn't keeping up with the rising cost of Air Jordans in 1997, and I figured a restaurant was better than folding sweaters at the Gap. If any of those things hadn't happened, I probably wouldn't own a business today. The goal is to be well prepared to when fortune falls in your favor, you can capitalize on it.

Want to know more:

Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs, from Maryland's 'Godfather of Entrepreneurship'

Book: Good to Great

Book: Built to Last

Lower Corporate Taxes Mean More Jobs, Which Means More Tax Revenue

2010-11-10T22:14:00.000-05:00

Let's get something out of the way first. I love corporations. I think they're great. The public tends to support the abstract of small businesses over that of big businesses, even though every big business was at one time a small business. Moreover, I don't hate on corporations for making big profits, even obscene profits. If a company does such an expert job at whatever they do to earn a profit of a billion dollars in a quarter, more power to them. As long as the market is free of coercion, profits represent mutually agreed upon transactions that make both the buyer and the seller better off than they were before. If a company makes $1 billion, it means that people like me and you are $1 billion better off than we were before. Do you and I want to figure out how to build our own cars?...to mine the aluminum, shape the rubber for the tires? Do you and I want to drill for oil in deep ass water in the middle of hurricanes? No...you and I can't even make it to the bank before it closes. We need corporations so we can pay them to do what they do best, and sell them the things we do better than them.

Partially because people don't like corporations, but mostly because states want more money, there is always talk about closing tax loopholes and collecting more money from corporations. I'm all about abiding by the law, but there's some things to think about.

If taxes are high, businesses will try to avoid them. For our purposes we'll talk about the legal ways. For companies doing business in multiple states, they'll concentrate operations in the states that give them the lowest tax burden. They will hire workers in those states, and those workers will create income, property, and payroll taxes. States with high taxes will chase businesses out and actually lose tax revenue, even though they tried to raise the tax rate, a concept credited to an economist named Arthur Laffer.

Businesses want low taxes, but almost as important is consistency. If a certain tax, fee, permit, or bureaucratic red tape exists, even if it's terrible, businesses can figure out a way to deal with it if they have certainty for the future. Just so you don't think I'm making this crap up, I've found some examples of this whole concept at work for your reading pleasure.

When Daimler merged with Chrysler, they headquartered in Germany to enjoy an effective tax rate 23% lower.

Google, Facebook, and others use legal multi-national businesses to pay a 2% effective tax rate.

Iceland slashes corporate tax rate and enjoys higher tax revenue.

Former Annapolis Mayor Commits Suicide (30 years ago) Due to Budget, and Other Observations

2010-11-07T20:37:00.007-05:00

Really? Geez. That tragic piece of history, previously unknown to me due to age and other detriments, at least offers the refreshing bittersweet quality that an elected official would actually care that much about taxpayer money.

A friend of mine's father was in charge of preparing a county budget, and as a kid I always chuckled when he worked late during "budget time", because I wondered what was going on during the majority of the months during the year when it was not budget time. The truth is, there's a reason why municipal budget officers routinely garner some of the highest salaries in government. Government finance is complex, plus you're spending other people's money, and those people often get pissed about how you are spending it.

Josh Stewart took a look at historical budgets and provided his insights in the paper today. Josh, I imagine, finds himself in a place I've found myself many times before. It's a lonely place, where untold hours of digging through boring documents yields results only marginally different from what other, lazier people who didn't look anything up will claim to have known all along.

So, here's some stuff that stuck out to me.

Consider these inflation-adjusted figures: In 1990, the average Annapolitan paid $302 in taxes. Ten years later (in 2000), it was $257. Today, it's $394.

(Man, they must have a used a really early base year to calculate those inflation adjusted figures. In 2010 dollars people are paying like $5k-$10k ish and up just in property taxes. If you don't care about base years, just ignore this writing. It's inside parentheses; it's ok. Shout out to my statistician homies who care about this nonsense.)

This isn't an "in my day a Coke cost a nickel" situation. Theoretically inflation adjusted (a.k.a. "real") figures would stay roughly the same as long as the level of services stayed roughly the same. In 2000, when the real per capita tax was $257, we had police and firefighters. In 2010 we have police and firefighters, but real per capita tax is 53% higher. I can't emphasize enough the difference between 'real' and 'nominal' figures. A 53% increase over 10 years in nominal terms is equivalent to, say, a glass of wine with dinner. A 53% increase over 10 years in real terms is like chugging heroin out of a fire hose. So what's the main difference in the political landscape that occurred between 2000 and 2010? That's right: blogging! We require annual bribes to avoid publishing detrimental things about politicians we know are doing a bad job. Your tax money paid for the heroin hose I am using while writing this post right now! Just kidding.

Moyer stands by her fiscal policy and has a stack of reports that give a glowing view of her eight years in office. Yes, her budgets grew, she said, but only because she chased millions in federal grants and tackled long-planned construction projects.

So, for 8 of the years responsible for the 53% real tax increase, Moyer was mayor. If her claims that she "chased" more money are true, then the real tax rate wouldn't have had to increase to fund the budgets. Plus, if anything I would guess that Mayor Cohen is more likely to chase money, as he still finds favor with the state party peeps that hand out those grants and governmental transfers. Is there any reason not to assume he'd be able to get the same amount of federal grants? (Answer: no)

Governments have only a loose incentive to be responsible with money. The stronger and more direct incentive is for them spend money in a way that helps their short term political career. Time shall ever bear witness to how the city deals with this problem.

Mindless Blogging

2010-11-06T19:40:00.005-04:00

When I saw a letter to the editor entitled "Republicans Offer Mindless Opposition", I knew I had to spring into action. Everyone knows that Republicans offer mindless support; get with it. Anyway, time to bring back my favorite type of post: the unilateral debate*. Here's how this works. I will post the original text from the letter in a different font, then go point-counterpoint with the letter writer, gradually propping up or shooting down all of his/her arguments. The beauty of this is that the person cannot defend themselves, and consequently all of my points are made eloquently and convincingly, allowing me to persuade everyone as to the accuracy of my insights.

(*"unilateral debate" is the worst name ever, and I literally stopped writing this post for a minute to try and come up with a better name. But then my coffee became ready, and I stopped caring. If you have a better name for this I'll be happy to include it.)

In deciding how to vote. I hope that your undecided readers will carefully weigh what the Democrats and Republicans have done for the American people the past four years.

How people decide who they are voting for always fascinates me. The mysterious "undecided voter" is ever the subject of political rhetoric. And rhetoric, as defined by my high school government teacher is "the philosophy of talk....bullshit....I don't know". The more I learn about political rhetoric, the more correct I realize Mr. Kirby was.

Here's an homage to undecided voters.

Let's continue. Charles from Gambrills is about to drop a Democrat talking point bomb on us. Let's diffuse them one at a time.

The record is clear. In the face of mindless Republican opposition, the Democrats have pulled us back from the brink of depression,

A recession is defined as 2 consecutive quarters of contracting GDP. A depression is a little more abstract, assumed to be 2 years of recession in a row or downturns that have such a level of severity that they cannot be explained by business cycles. So, are we in a depression? No. But did the Democrats save us from it? No. However, the bigger problem is that government economic policy is most likely to affect short term results at the expense of long term growth.

made sure that millions will soon have access to medical care,

which is going to reduce employment, increase premium s, increase taxes, and reduce long term economic prosperity.

made education affordable for millions of students and put us on the road to recovery.

I think the education thing is meant to distract us so I'm just going to ignore it.

If the Republicans win, they intend to sweep away these reforms for the American people and go back to the failed Bush/Cheney policies that ran us into the ditch. We have seen the Republicans in action the party of no has done everything in their power to obstruct the progress our country so desperately needs. The Republicans even oppose President Obama's long term plan to balance the budget while providing a short term stimulus to repair our dangerously deteriorated bridges, dams and airports.

Republicans intend to sweep away Obama/Pelosi/Reid reforms: true.

Failed Busch/Cheney policies ran us into the ditch: false*.
My car is in the shop because I ran it into the Busch/Cheney ditch: false (a runaway tire hit it on the beltway).
Republicans are the party of no: false.
Obama has a long term plan to balance the budget: comical. Also, it's easy to balance the budget if you raise taxes--that's the whole problem.

*The recession was caused mostly by loose credit and a housing price bubble, particularly as a result of Fannie and Freddie. R's and D's I'm sure share the blame for lack of oversight, but it was Democrat Barney Frank who had the most power to affect the policies that led to the recession, but denied the existence of a problem even as the recession had started:

The Republicans have no credible plan to recover from recession. The Democrats are better able to balance the budget, witness President Clinton's large surplus and President George Bush's massive deficit at the end of their terms.

I don't know if Clinton had a surplus at the end of his term, and I'm not going to find out because I've already looked up a lot of shit for this post. So, if he did have a surplus, it's because of a positive business cycle, capital gains and income taxes from an asset bubble, and lack of a major war. Plus, using the deficits at the end of 2 particular Presidents' terms to prove that Democrats better balance the budget is the worst way to prove something since O.J. Simpson's glove.

Also, the credible way to recover from recession is to let producers keep more more of their own money so they can hire more people and invest in future production.

If the Republicans win the next election, they intend to go back to the disastrous policies of President Hoover that led to the great depression. Having run the economy into the ditch, they now want to run it off the cliff.

It takes a real cynic to believe that politicians purposefully want to ruin the economy.

For the country's sake and your own. Please vote Democrat.
CHARLES G. MCINTOSH
Gambrills

For my sake and everyone else's, I'm glad people voted Republican.

Harvard Academics Agree: Budget Balancing Is Best Done By Reducing Government Spending

2010-11-05T09:25:00.000-04:00

The reason that many big government types love the economist John Meynard Keynes is that out of all of Keynes' ideas, they are able to single out his recommendation of government spending to stimulate the economy as support for what they want to do politically. The major argument against deficit spending (other than the fact that your kids eventually have to pay for the money you borrow) was that government spending 'crowds out' private investment. When the government prints money to spend on programs, the money supply is increased. When the supply of anything is increased, it's price goes down. So when the supply of money is increased, interest rates go down, and the private sector doesn't invest their money (in business improvements) because the return on investment isn't as good.

With the Federal Reserve announcing QE2, which is exactly what I just talked about in the last paragraph, The Economist picked a good time to talk about the issue. In Britain, they announced some "austerity measures", which is the proper British way to announce that a bunch of government jobs were being cut.

In America, reducing government is of course prohibited by the 88th amendment to the Constitution, so we tried to raise taxes. The money wasn't even used to balance the budget; it was used to pay for new tomfoolery and ballyhoo.

Now, normally this move could be supported by a cadre of Harvard economists. However, in this case, research by professors from Harvard and elsewhere conclude that the 'crowding out' theory holds water:

It found that a 1% rise in government consumption as a share of GDP eventually reduced private-sector consumption by 1.9%. Temporary spending to pick up economic slack may be useful but the long-term benefits of austerity seem clear.

Return To Glory

2010-11-04T21:36:00.002-04:00

Hey party people! It's been a long time. We're getting the ~~band~~ blog back together! Now that the business of getting actual politicians elected has been accomplished, it's time to re-focus on what the world has been clamoring for: wandering and purposeless rants conducted safely from my living room couch. If you feel that not enough people express their opinions on topics that you don't really care about, then this blog is for you!

Here are the rules, some of which are new.

1. The content can be about anything, not just politics. The only requisite is that it interests me, and hopefully you too will find either the content or the entertainment value worthwhile.

2. No advertisements. Nothing against blogs that try and monetize, but that's not my deal.

3. Rumors are allowed. Here's why:

I found myself involved in an internal debate regarding the professionalism of publishing a rumor, and after nearly 6 minutes of deliberation, I have determined that publishing rumors is acceptable for the following reasons:

-I will never publish anything that I know to be false.

- I offer a disclaimer and do not claim such rumors to be facts.

- Publishing a rumor offers the readership of this blog a chance to research the rumor to see if it's true, and if it is true, we have contributed to the body of knowledge. In other words, if I publish a rumor about something crazy going on, then like 8 people keep their eyes peeled for crazy goings on, we are more likely to find out the craziness if it is really happening.

-'Professionalism' implies a profession--i.e. a money making exercise--and seeing that this blog is a consuming asset rather than a producing asset--i.e. I don't get a red cent for doing this--I can be as professional or unprofessional as I want.

4. I get super annoyed by the spam, but blogger claims to be able to automatically detect spam so I'm going to leave the comments unmoderated for now and see what happens. If you leave a comment it will most likely be posted. I can only remember deleting 1 comment and it was when the daughter of an elected official was called an awful name by the commenter. It doesn't matter to me if you are anonymous or use a fake name, but your right to free speech will be balanced by my prerogative to deny useless or inappropriate comments.

That's about it. Happy Reading!

Sister City Program Suspended

2010-01-12T16:46:00.000-05:00

The blogging world lost its battle cry against wasteful city government today as Mayor Cohen announced he would spend the remaining $27,500 in the sister city budget to mitigate the deficit in the general budget.

For a long time, former Mayor Moyer denied that the Sister City Program cost the taxpayers any money. Recently the city admitted to spending money on the program, but I still have not been able to find a line item for the program in the city's budget. My best guess is that it exists as part of the Boards and Commissions Budget, or as a part of the Mayor's Special Projects Budget.

The old Mayor didn't even acknowledge our financial problem, so Josh's efforts are a step in the right direction. It remains to be seen if the contractual positions that have been added will be more than balances out by job cuts or monetary savings elsewhere.

Here is the press release:

Annapolis, MD (01-12-10) – As part of his continuing effort to attack the city's financial deficit, Mayor Joshua J. Cohen announced today that he is redirecting the $27,500 remaining in the Sister Cities program to the general fund for the current fiscal year.

"Now is not the time to be spending $27,500 on the Sister Cities program when we are struggling even to fund essential services," said Mayor Cohen, whose administration is focused on eliminating an estimated $6.5 million budget deficit for FY 2011.

The Mayor also is convening a group of community stakeholders to review the Sister Cities program and recommend ways to explore public/private partnerships that would provide long-term benefit to the city.

"A strategically thought-out international exchange program has the potential to add value to our economic development efforts, as well as our educational and cultural institutions within the city," Mayor Cohen said. "It is time to take the Sister Cities program out from under the umbrella of city government and make it a more community-based initiative."

Individuals who have accepted the Mayor's invitation to review the Sister Cities program and make recommendations include:

Linnell Bowen, Executive Director, Maryland Hall for the Performing Arts Reginald Broddie, Chief Professional Officer, Boys & Girls Clubs of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Bob Burdon, President and CEO, Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce Connie Del Signore, President and CEO, Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Conference & Visitors Bureau Kevin Maxwell, Superintendent, Anne Arundel County Public Schools Joe Rubino, Director of Governmental Affairs, U.S. Naval Academy.

Annapolis first began as a Sister City in 1980, partnering with Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, Canada. Since then, Annapolis has partnered with many other cities, including Wexford, Ireland; Dumfries, Scotland; Tallin, Estonia; Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Rochefort, France; Richmond, North Yorkshire; and Newport, Wales.

City Council Meeting 1/10/10: Live Blog

2010-01-11T19:25:00.017-05:00

Merry 2010, blog followers! The city has truly taken a step forward and I can't believe nobody told me about this yet. When I set up my computer here, I did my typical search for internet signals and took my typical pessimistic tone. When the possible connections came up, I noticed an unsecured connection at full strength labeled "CCC"......"City Council Chambers"?!! Unbelievable. After a torturous time with a Mayor who was slow to embrace such pesky technologies as the internet and airplanes, I am tickled to see the adoption this blogger-friendly policy.

A mini-budget workshop has been going on since 7:00, the highlight of which came when Alderman Arnett asked for assurances from the finance director that the city council would not be jailed for violating the provision in the city code requiring a balanced budget. I once asked for assurance that I would avoid jail time, and was immediately "jinxed" by my lawyer, who didn't allow me to talk until I paid him a sum of money adequate to buy him a tailored pinstripe suit.

7:31

The Mayor just promised, I believe, to maintain the current tax rate and level of services. These types of promises are notoriously elusive when coming from a politician, so I will get verification from the city clerk that these words indeed were uttered in the record.

7:32

Alderman Israel just noted that we have 200 more employees than other cities this size, a nagging thorn that was quickly softened by the quasi-accurate statement that we have many more special requirements than other cities our size.

7:32:30

I'm done covering the work session because it's passed its allotted time. So let's focus on appearances! All Aldermen are present, a positive sign, and most are wearing suits and/or ties (where appropriate!). Alderman Arnett continues his commitment to facial hair, a strategy with the clear dual purposes of intimidating neighboring Ward 7 Alderman Ian Pfeifer and creating the aura of having the wisdom of the ages. Also there is a tall Christmas tree in city hall that has been nearly taken down, except for a few ornaments at the very top of the apparent 9 foot tree. Let's hope this obvious dereliction of duty on the part of Aldermen Paone and Kirby will not be a sign of things to come.

7:41

Meeting time. There is some type of award being presented, which I have decided to ignore because the word "insurance" appears in the name. While the award is being presented, let me direct you to an example of what political satirical writing is supposed to be.

There is another award being presented to a resident of Ward 1 for voluntarily clearing snow from driveways. He seems equally happy to receive the award and to not have to stay for any more of the meeting.

7:52

We are "privileged" to hear a presentation on overtime cost reduction. The report identifies lack of top-down management, poor monitoring procedures, and certain federally mandated overtime pay (for police and fire) as chief drivers of overtime. The most curious thing I saw was the declaration that certain "budgets were artificially reduced during the 2009-2010 plan preparation". Wow. Every April 15th I attempt to artificially manipulate budgets, without any success. Doug Smith explains that this means that a certain group of insiders knew that a particular budget would be high, but submitted a lower budget estimate as a motivational tool to reduce spending.

8:06

2009 Snow Emergency Report!
-emergency routes were cleared but was difficult to keep up with other streets
-priority is 1. emergency routes, 2. connecting streets, 3. businesses, 4. residential streets
-parked cars impeded plows
-300 calls to the 1 staff person at the water works plant
-county residents given the city emergency number (wtf!)
-city streets in Kingsport not even added to the 'street responsibilities'
-level III emergency
-general plans out of date
-all departments had independent plans and didn't know what the other departments were doing

8:21

Alderman Paone just gave it to CAO Doug Smith a little bit...."I personally spoke with you on Wednesday, and roads we talked about were not cleared after that discussion. What gives?"

Also, neither Alderman Pfeifer, Kirby, nor Silverman have said anything yet. They are clearly being dominated by Alderman Arnett's beard.

8:24

A lot of people are blaming the county for this, and blaming the county has been a trendy thing to do for like 8.2 years. The 8 years are not this Mayor's fault, but he should be concerned with the .2. As a former county councilman, Mayor Cohen pledged more cooperation with the county. There will be many more opportunities to showcase this partnership.

8:32

Comments from the Public:

Vincent Leggett: Supports renaming Obery St. to Bertina Nick Way.

Sam Brice: As a city employee, I see the city needing to (1) decide exactly what it wants to be and fund itself accordingly, (2) stand up to face and FUND our problems, (3) recognize that employees are the most valuable asset to the city and city needs to fund them adequately. The "second" thing he wants to talk about is the budget. "Stop creating new programs". The "third" item he wants to address is revisions to the ethics commission.

Herb McMillan: Let the public speak at the beginning of each meeting. "Budget has been balanced on the back of the taxpayers" as property taxes went up by 100%. City employees need to take pay cuts and some employees need to be cut. Net gain of 5 contractual employees is not the right direction.

Will Small: Police spend a lot of time on "trivial issues" and "trumping up allegations". Please add to city bicycle lanes.

Tony Evans: It snowed in Wisconsin when I was a teenager. More heavy vehicles and better planning are needed for snowstorms.

9:00

Public Hearing on CA-09-09: City Manager Form of Government

-Anne Lawrence: supports council manager form of government

-Dave Cordle: supports both charter amendments (city manager and tax cap). Be a representative government and listen to what the people want.

-Tony Evans: No such thing as a "water walker". Opposes city manager.

-Lee Fitting (sp?): As a consultant to city governments, council manager forms of government provide structural benefits.

-Bob Burdon: Chamber of Commerce opposes the CA. Now that we have a new administration, the timing of the CA is inappropriate and wasteful.

-Bill Kardash: ABC (Annapolitans for Better Community) supports the CA and the council manager form of government. We need to take politics out of operations.

-Trudy McFall: The fact that Doug Smith serves against the provisions of the charter is the latest example of why we need a city manager--the Mayor has too much unchecked power.

-Marcia Marshall: Favors council manager charter amendment b/c it fixes fundamental flaws in our government especially the fact that the city council has very little authority.

-Will Small: Supports the council manager CA.

-Gil Renaut: ditto.

9:31

Public Hearing on CA-10-09: Property Tax Cap

Bob Burdon: Chamber of Commerce opposes the tax cap because it hamstrings governments.

Herb McMillan: I am representing the 3,000 people that signed the tax cap petition in 2 months. "3,000 of us want a tax cap". County is in a better position than the city and they have a tax cap AND they fund schools. Tax cap measure is prudent.

Sam Brice: "I don't think this council needs to enact a tax cap. They just need to pay attention to the tax dollar."

9:43

Public Hearing on O-52-09 and $-56-09: Registration and Maintenance For Foreclosure Properties.

Mike Malinoff: DNEP needs better ability to track down people responsible for foreclosures.

9:54

I typically try not to do this, but I'm just to bored to stay for the rest of this meeting. I think any patience I have depletes as I get older. I try and find out about this stuff tomorrow. Goodnight!

Live Blog Questionable

2010-01-11T16:25:00.000-05:00

There is a city council meeting tonight, and I will be in attendance. I am looking to expand my food service conglomerate to a secret location downtown and I have take this opportunity to butter up the members of the historic commission to grant me a liquor license where one doesn't currently exist. Does anyone have Alan Hyatt's phone number.......

In any case, I don't know if I'll be able to live blog. Hopefully I can pick up an internet signal. So, if you don't see a live post by 7:36 tonight, just check back tomorrow morning for the whole recap.

City Council Meeting Cancelled

2009-12-21T15:50:00.001-05:00

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE PUBLIC HEARING HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER. THOSE MATTERS TO BE HEARD AT THE PUBLIC HEARING WILL BE RESCHEDULED.

However, the Annapolis City Council will hold a special meeting and take legislative action at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, December 21, in City Council Chambers, 160 Duke of Gloucester Street, Annapolis.

To view the meeting's agenda, please click here. For more information, please contact Seth B. Zirkle, Legislative and Policy Analyst with the Office of Law, at (410) 263-1184 or sbzirkle@annapolis.gov.

2009-2013 Standing Committees

2009-12-15T18:01:00.000-05:00

Alderman Ross Arnett III

City Council Meeting 12/14/09: Live Blog

2009-12-14T19:42:00.025-05:00

It works! I'm here...with a new computer, a new internet connection, a new city council, and a new the same cynicism that has vaulted this blog to the 56th most popular local political blog in the General's Highway Corridor!

7:44

Ok, sorry for the late start. Had to set up the new internet connection and it took me a minute. Many new and old VIP's are here, and Mayor Cohen has started off the meeting with a brief statement from each Alderman of which ward they represent and where that is. If you are new to this politics stuff, here's the location low down:

Ward 1: Downtown
Ward 2: West Annapolis and Germantown
Ward 3: Parole
Ward 4: Outer Forest Dr.
Ward 5: Hunt Meadow and Central Forest Dr
Ward 6: Robinwood, Tyler Heights, other random streets
Ward 7: Inner Forest Dr and Bay Ridge Dr/Ave
Ward 8: Eastport

7:47

The most disturbing thing I've noticed so far is how tall Kenny Kirby and Ian Pfeiffer are. Being the only Republican, Alderman Paone in my opinion needed to rely on his menacing stature, voice, and trial lawyer experience to get his bills through. But if Kenny Kirby puts on like 7 lbs of muscle, he will clearly be the most menacing member of the council. I plan to immediately contact Alderman Paone for an emergency strategy session after this meeting.

7:49

A bit of procedural consideration: Attention Eastport residents: I like you. My last post was not meant to offend you. Please appreciate the attempt at humor and please know that I agree with like 97% of the stuff you fight for. Oh, and I know there are people from all wards involved in your causes. No hard feelings? Great.

7:55

Josh says he aims for 'efficiency' and to be 'the best run city in Annapolis'. Also, the third Thursday of every month from 1:15-4:15 will now feature a legislative work session aimed at increasing transparency and understanding of the issues. This of course also means that every third Thursday of the month from 11:15-1:15 I will be hosting a political tailgate in Hillman Garage.

Too many changes! Now, all Monday meetings will be BOTH a public hearing and legislative meeting. This is really not a change at all, as the distinction between the 2 types of meetings was much like the current distinction between commercial banks and Savings & Loans after the banking crisis of 1981: nothing.

New public testimony policy: when the buzzer goes off, stop talking.

8:05

The public is speaking...time to test this new policy.

The first speaker is Julie Stankivic and she outed a controversy that I haven't gotten to yet! Ross Arnett, an economics professional and chief understander of the budget, was left off of both the finance committee and the economic matters committee. The committees don't have chair-people yet, and word on the proverbial street was that this snub might be the result of a failure to properly promise his vote for a certain chairperson*.

*Rumor alert.

I will post the committee list for you tomorrow (or some other day).

8:12

Herb McMillan: "Reverse the trend; cut the budget".

Resident of Miami Ave: "The time to cut the budget is now".

Steve Samaras: "Brilliant selection of Doug Smith."

8:16

I went to high school with Steve's son, Drew, and he produced one of the most memorable moments of my high school life. In government and law class, Drew asked the teacher how fast over the speed limit do you have to be going to get pulled over. Our teacher, Mr. Kirby, reclined to an incredible angle of nearly 180 degrees horizontal in his chair and said "Drew, it's the limit".

8:18

Public hearing time. Like half of the room just left. I imagine they were supporting this, not with testimony, by simply by their presence.

O-03-09: limiting the height of building accessories in the MX district to 100 feet. "Accessories" appear to be clock towers, indoor theaters, and other things associated with the Park Place development.

8:24

Although my view from the back is obstructed, Alderman Arnett appears to be sporting a winter beard. I once tried to grow a winter beard, only to experience failure after 4 weeks of not shaving produced only the appearance of neglected hygiene.

8:27

A reader of this blog has cleverly utilized the comment technology, as I have received his real time complaint that I didn't list the committees. So, friend, per your request:

Economic Matters:
Alderman Israel
Alderman Paone
Alderwoman Finlayson

Finance:
Alderman Israel
Alderwoman Hoyle
Alderman Pfeiffer

8:30

(Still talking about the height of Park Place).

Park Place representatives: "We want you to help us out". What they actually said I don't know, as a late afternoon coffee manifested into an early evening bathroom break while they were talking. But I'm assuming they said that.

8:37

While listening to the PPP (Park Place People), Josh leaned back in his chair to a modest reclining angle that I estimate to be 100 degrees--barely leaning back. I will call Mr. Kirby (not Kenny Kirby) to see if he gives lessons.

Also, I would like to say that I use the moniker "Josh" not as a sign of disrespect, but in recognition of a commonality we have. We both have economics degrees from the University of Maryland. Sharing the experience of learning about 'Neo-Keynesian policies' and 'production possibility frontiers' while continuously being told to "Fear The Turtle" produces a "bond of lifelong boredom" that affords its bearers the right to call each other by any name or nickname they see fit.

But if he asks, I'll call him Mayor Cohen.

8:47

I've spotted a woman crocheting while listening to the proceedings of this meeting! Wow. If ever there was proof that meetings are boring, such proof exists in the fact that crochet is the reprieve from the monotony.

8:50

People disrespect the General's Highway Corridor. Here are the 5 best things to do on that stretch of beautiful Anne Arundel County, listed in reverse order for added drama:

5. Go bowling! As my favorite comedian says: Some people have their own bowling ball AND their own bowling shoes AND.....no friends. My ball is called the Activator*, my shoes are black Drexel lace-ups*, and....does anyone want to hang out tonight?

(*this is actually true.)

4. Buy a Christmas tree from Matthew Weller's stand.

3. Go to Lures. Locals owners that welcome you to their dream.

2. Bet on when the billiard supply store will go out of business, only to reopen as another billiard supply store.

1. Get on I-97 without driving on Aris T Allen Boulevard.

8:57

If they don't stop talking about Park Place soon, I'll be forced to write more jokes, and political humor can get old real quick.

9:06

Serious business now...public hearing on O-47-09: to prohibit the use of a taxicab's horn to announce its arrival. Those damned noisy taxicabs! I know what you are wondering: and the answer is: former Alderman Stankivic sponsored this bill.

Robert Eades (owner of a taxicab company): "This is totally stupid".

Alderman Paone is asking a series of questions that alerts me to the fact that he thinks it's stupid too.

9:11

All of the Aldermen are seated at acute (less than 90 degrees) reclining angles--they are actually leaning forward! That's just silly. A couple years of practice, and maybe they can learn to recline like a Mayor.

9:14

Alderman Arnett just pointed out that it's Maryland law that you can't honk your horn for any purpose other than an emergency. What a spoilsport. Oh wait. His point is that this law is already redundant of state law. So he thinks this bill is stupid too. Good point Ross*.

(*also on the economics-degree first name basis).

9:16

Devin Heritage: Let's not create unenforceable laws.

9:16:30

A red-haired person just walked in! Exciting! The audience now includes:

-a red haired person
-a woman still crocheting
-someone with so little regard for free time that he is live blogging a city council meeting
-various city workers that more or less have to be here
-a taxi company owner
-several other people who have yet to distinguish themselves

We now move to a public hearing on O-59-09, which would update our stormwater regulations to conform with state law.

9:23

Voting time! There is nothing on final reader because the new mayor and council want to learn more about the bills before making a final vote. All of the following were passed on first reader and referred to committee. The bills sponsors and co sponsors are listed in parentheses.

O-66-09: Clarifying Mobile Food Service Permits (Hoyle)
O-67-09: Rezoning of a Part of Duke of Gloucester St (#214) (Israel)
O-68-09: Changes in the Way Legislation Is Passed (Israel)
O-69-09: Establishing a Financial Advisory Committee (Israel)
O-70-09: Order of Voting (Rotating Sequence with Mayor Voting Last) (Cohen, Paone)
R-73-09: Establishing a Citizens Committee to Review Alcohol Laws (Israel)

Budget amendments passed over Paone's objection.

Adjournment: 9:37.

Eastport Residents To Offer Solutions To Budget

2009-12-10T10:23:00.001-05:00

Eastport has always been special....sort of like when you are at a family gathering and realize the need to turn to your child and say "Little Suzie, just ignore Uncle Ralph--he's special". You may remember such groups as 'Eastporters Against Gunshots", "Annapolitans United Against Crime", and most recently "Eastporters With Big Expensive Houses Against Another Eastport Resident With A Particularly Big and Expensive House".

What you may not know is that Eastport residents have long been active in community affairs. Here is a partial list of some of their lesser known causes:

1517-Eastport residents give Ferdinand Magellan 1 end of a long rope in advance of his circumnavigation of the world. Already knowing the world was flat and not round from their Wednesday Night Armada Races, Eastporters wanted to have a tug-of-war with New Zealand for ultimate nautical bragging rights.

1691-Eastport Witches For Home Cooking forms to combat the spread of restaurants. (The first restaurant wasn't really recognized until the mid 18th century but the Salem witchcraft trials were in 1692 so just pretend the Eastport witches could predict the future). Starting on the ground that now houses Rockfish, the women cast a spell that prevents any restaurant from being successful. Fortunately for us foodies, before the witches could move down Chesapeake Ave (then known as the Chesapeake Brownish/Red Dirt and Rocks Path), they were burned at the stake by members of the Franyo and DeCastro families.

1861-Inspired by the Confederacy, this is when the first attempts to secede from Annapolis are traced to. With land supply routes owned by the enemy and after decades of brutal Harbormaster regimes, radicals are relegated to "storming City Hall" once per year, followed by 72 consecutive hours of drinking at Davis' Pub.

Late Twentieth Century-The Chart House Restaurant replaces the old Trumpy Boat Yard. (Remember, the witches didn't get down that far.) Soon thereafter, the Eastport Civic Association is formed. The mutual support of the neighbors allowed them to dine at a restaurant that represents the decline of the Maritime Industry while simultaneously complaining about the decline of the Maritime Industry.

In any case, Eastport has a cause once more, and this is a good one--budget reduction / tax increase prevention. I have obtained an advance* copy of the letter they plan to present this Monday at the City Council meeting**.

(*I say 'advance' to make myself sound awesome, but for all I know this letter could have been printed 2 weeks ago.)

(**I will be at that meeting live blogging.)

We will be using the tried-and-true 'letter to the editor format', where their ideas are listed in bold and my commentary is in normal font. Ward 8 unites!

1) Eliminate Contract Employees (Savings - $4.0 million): Contract employees have mushroomed into a political patronage system. As the Blue Ribbon Commission pointed out, this practice should be stopped until the City Council develops proper guidelines and oversight for this method of providing city services.

Ok....$4 million is a big nut, as they say. Contract employees are really bad when you have a cunning person that uses them for patronage, as they allege and as is true. However, contract employees are easier to fire and their benefits aren't determined by the union contract. So IF we get the better oversight, contract workers can actually be more beneficial than municipal employees. The financial horror of all horrors for the past 8 years was that the vague "contractual services" budgets for many departments were spent on contractual workers, only see see many resolutions aiming to convert those contract positions into full municipal jobs. Certainly that has to stop, and until the process has its checks and balances, I agree with this suggestion.

2) Consolidate 18 Departments into 6 (Saving $3.0 million): Given the six figure salaries for many Department Heads, and the cost of associated staff, City Department should be focused on our most immediate priorities. Also consider consolidating the City and County fire departments into one unit.

Absolutely beautiful work by those drunk sailors. Just kidding. About the sailor part. For an outsider looking to do business in the city, there are at least 4 places that can claim to be the "go-to" source for permit information: DNEP, Economic Affairs, Planning and Zoning, and Special Project Coordinator. The redundancies are glaring and there is no doubt in my mind that departments started to reward the Mayor's friends turned into running jokes about how much money could be spent without providing any benefit.

3) Eliminate City Grant Program (Savings - $0.5 million): We can all see some benefit in charitable giving, but the City simply doesn’t have money to be giving away. Additionally, there is little accountability for how these tax dollars are being used. Leaving charity to the private sector will allow the citizens to realize the tax deductibility of giving, and restore control how their money is spent.

This issue has been hotly debated and probably needs more attention than the 5 sentences I'm about to give it. I think everyone agreed that there was too much dependence on the city for funds. Alderman Stankivic introduced a bill (which I believe passed) requiring non-profits receiving city money to prove they raised a certain portion of private money. The ironic problem is that a lot of private money often times has the requirement that non-profits get public money, because they take it as a sign that the government somehow approves of the work. The next problem is that non-profits want money from more than 1 government. An NP getting 90% of its money from the state might need the other 10% from the city to get the 90%, and if the city totally closes the coffers, they would be screwed. For the private sector charitable giving to really produce the right incentives, the state and federal coffers would have to be closed as well. Good luck. And the last problem is that many people don't want to see the effective charities denied money, perhaps even in our current budget situation. Even as a mean emotionless Republican I don't know if I would favor totally eliminating the grant program. But I don't have a better solution either.

Ok, turned out to be 9 more sentences (plus the phrase "good luck").

4) Cut Non-essential Programs (Savings – TBD): Things like the Sister City Program, Sea Level studies and such come to mind. In a period of financial crisis, all the “nice to do” stuff must be set aside.

Goes without saying. The challenge will be Josh and the council's interpretation of "essential". Even so, all these types of programs probably account for half a percent of the total budget.

5) Audit the Transportation Department (Savings - $1.0 million): The overtime expenditures for many departments is spiraling out of control. The Transportation Department, however, appears to be the primary culprit.

The poor transportation department has the dubious honor of being the only department singled out by EAT (Eastporters Against Things), and for good reason. The transportation department reminds me of when I put a $3000 non-refundable deposit on an office space I never used, then leased an office for 3 years that COST me money instead of MAKING me money because I had to hire another manager and extra delivery driver, nearly bankrupting the company that has since afforded me the opportunity to buy the computer I'm using to write this post. In other words: poor management. There will always be overtime for police and fire because their union contracts say that OT is required for holidays, plus you never know when there's going to be a crime or a fire. But for the transportation department--supposedly the king of schedules--to have a schedule so poor as to rack up millions in OT....fully support this "audit".

6) Outsource New Recreation Center to YMCA (Savings - $0.5 million): As you may be aware, we have a new multi-million dollar Rec Center, but there’s no money in the budget to operate it. A possible partnership with the YMCA might offer an opportunity to recover from this expensive budget omission.

No real plan here other than to explore a "possible partnership". But, as I remember, this is the new headquarters for the Parks and Recreation Department. It seems silly to have Parks and Rec employees there already and have to hire someone else to run the building. Unless the YMCA pays the city for using the building, which would be appropriate, I can't see how this would make all that much difference. But I'm with them in spirit.

Now I will explain what the real deal is.

85% of the budget is salaries and benefits. Reducing that cost is the only possible way to prevent tax increases. EAT has good ideas, and consolidation of departments would go a long way. Even so, Josh has the biggest opportunity with his upcoming union negotiation. The union contracts come up every 4 years, conveniently, so that the incoming mayor can negotiate for themselves. I distinctly remember being at Ram's Head, drinking a Copperhead Ale while Josh had a Miller Lite, listening him explain to me that the city has considerable negotiating power especially in tough times. What they come up with is crucial.

The next thing to watch out for is fees. Lowering taxes by raising fees is like paying off your credit card with a loan from the mafia. Silly. The enterprise funds (water, sewer, parking, etc., which generate the fees) are supposed to generate at least what it takes to administer the fund. For example, parking fees should at least pay for the parking enforcement officers. In practice this does not happen, and I wouldn't be surprised if your "taxes" didn't go up but the cost of a residential parking permit was $1,564.87.

And the last budget buster is the Capital budget. For many people, the capital budget is a separate magical land where hundreds of millions of dollars of projects are planned, funded by bonds, executed, and done with. Sadly, there is a connection between the general budget and the capital budget, and it's debt service on the bonds we issued to fund the magical projects. This year, debt service is almost $6 million or 7% of the budget. For you math majors, if 85% of the budget is for personnel, 7% goes to debt service, the city hall roof is falling, and the city dock water is rising, how many extra projects can you slip into the capital budget. Answer: like negative $100 million worth.

Should be a good council meeting.

The Cohen-Smith Era

2009-12-07T08:54:00.002-05:00

Politics makes strange bedfellows. That was my pickup line to get Mrs. Politics to give me her phone number. But I believe it was also said by a famous person. (Or maybe not so famous.) In any case, I'm confident that at least 3% of people recalled this quote upon learning that Doug Smith was appointed as the City Administrator and leader of the Cohen Team.

As with many things, I have thoughts about this matter. First, the unavoidable hypocrisy from both Smith and Cohen cannot be ignored, and critics are right to point it out. I mean COME ON! YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING. I would describe Cohen and Smith as no less than (policy) enemies during the campaign. If there were 2 knocks against Josh, it was that he was too opportunistic / never finished anything, and that he was too closely tied to Moyer and the other Democrat higher-ups. If there was another knock against Josh, it was that he didn't support city manager. The latter was more of a strategic problem than a qualification problem--as Doug Smith chaired both the City Manager effort and Ward 1. And since Ward 1 is an important voting block, there we were.

Josh made efforts to appease the city manager folk because he knew his policy stood to lose their vote. I could be confusing candidates, but I doubt it, and I'm almost positive Josh promised to hire a 'credentialed administrator', assuring CM supporters that his CA would be just like their CM, and imploring people not to confuse Moyer's lack of leadership with a breakdown in our structure of government. Focusing on the one department head that excelled under Moyer rather than the 15 that would have done better with a CM, Josh emphasized that only he could promise to retain the services of Chief Pristoop, as the other mayoral candidates would be subject to the police chief chosen by the CM.

By all appearances, Josh was Doug's last choice to endorse. McFall was his candidate in the primary, and an endorsement from the ABC City Manager group was withheld until Cordle "suddenly realized" that a "change a language in the bill" was the only thing separating his lifelong view of the role of Mayor with the CM structure that Smith wanted. I don't know if Doug would have ever supported Chris Fox, but I do think that Chris' support of CM from the get-go impressed Smith, as Doug was quite helpful throughout the campaign.

It seems that Josh was the only one not surprised by this appointment. In Doug's own words:

Josh did surprise me by asking me to come in as city administrator. We were on opposite sides of the city manager issue, but I said from the time he announced for the primary that I thought he would be a very good mayor. The issue of city manager was always about structure, not about personalities. And while we might disagree on one issue, that doesn’t mean we can’t work together. More importantly, there is a long list of things where we do agree.

Normally in politics I would suspect cynical motives: money or power. In Doug's case, I am actually entertaining the possibility that he is most concerned with bettering the city. WORA Pres. is a pretty pain in the butt job that does not guarantee future elective or appointed office, and Doug spent his own money on the CM issue which is like the ultimate proof of dedication to an issue. In the end I think Doug just decided that he could better help the city as its administrator than fighting for an issue that the incoming Mayor would surely fight against. It will be interesting to see how vociferously the CM people continue the fight, and if/how Dough would support a measure that threatens his job and his boss' power.

Josh could only have 2 possible motives: political strategy or improving the city. A quote from Josh's farwell letter to his county council constituents might shed some light: Politics is like water -- they both tend to follow the path of least resistance. Rather than resist Ward 1 and the CM people and lose their vote in the next election, have them involved in the process.

I read a book once (actually I read it twice, going against all my bedrock beliefs) that talked about the "tyranny of the OR" and the "genius of the AND". If you could only pick one motive OR the other, knowing Josh, you'd be forced to assign political strategy and get really mad. There is no doubt that he created political value with this appointment. The genius happens if Smith was appointed because of his political value AND his skills in running operations. In that case, Josh is a good politician AND a good public servant.

Cohen Team

2009-12-04T11:32:00.000-05:00

Annapolis, MD (12-04-09) Mayor-Elect Josh Cohen announced his Core Administrative Team today, committing to advance his goal of making Annapolis the best run city in the state.

"This group of individuals is made up of professionals who are
passionate about Annapolis, possess a solid work ethic and a strong background in both public and private sectors," Mayor-Elect Cohen
said.

As part of the Core Administrative Team, the Mayor-Elect named the
following appointees:

Doug Smith, Chief Administrative Officer
Karen Hardwick, City Attorney
Tim Elliott, Director of Finance
Kimla Milburn, Director of Human Resources
Gail Smith, Director of Services
Phill McGowan, Public Information Officer

The Mayor-Elect also hosted a bus tour of city facilities for newly
elected council members, as well as new members of his Administration.

The tour included at least twenty facilities with stops at the Truxtun
Park Recreation Center, the Water Treatment Plant and the Police
Station.

Shropshire Guilty

2009-12-03T18:00:00.000-05:00

Read HERE or HERE.

Maryland Unemployment Tax To Increase By 50%

2009-11-25T14:10:00.000-05:00

HERE is the letter explaining the increase to employers.

HERE is an Associated Press article saying how terrible the increase it, including a reference to local businessman (and friend of this blog) Chuck Ferrar.

As usual, I was ahead of the curve on this issue--not because I'm a good blogger--but because I own a business that will be heavily affected by this ridiculous increase. I've been circulating a letter to whoever will listen for a few weeks, now, and now I'll share it with you.

--------

November 10, 2009

To Governor O’Malley, Legislators, and Whom It May Concern:

The purpose of this letter is to urge you to consider much-needed changes to unemployment laws in the state of Maryland. Specifically, I would like to express my anger at the outrageous shift in the rate tables for the upcoming fiscal year, and to outline the need for special consideration for seasonal businesses.

I am a lifelong Maryland resident and graduate of this state’s flagship University. In 2002, I started Gill Grilling Company to provide daily meal service to Fraternities and Sororities at the University of Maryland. Through hard work and sacrifice, a simple promise to provide food to a student who had none has turned into a thriving business. Gill Grilling Company has created literally hundreds of jobs in the seven and a half years we’ve been in business, and we currently employ 20 employees on a full-time basis—offering benefits rarely found in the hospitality industry: daytime hours, paid holidays off, paid vacation, supplemental insurance, and retirement IRA plans. Our efforts to provide value to the market and conduct business in a responsible manner were rewarded by the Small Business Administration, which awarded this company the distinction of “Young Entrepreneur of the Year” for 2003.

One problem with our business is its seasonal nature. Much like a teacher’s schedule, we only work during the typical “semester” time-frames during which normal classes are in session. During our lengthy breaks, our employees collect unemployment, causing our company to always be assigned the maximum unemployment rate allowed by law.

Currently that maximum rate is set at 9.0%, and this year-to-date my company has paid $16,935.37 to the Unemployment Insurance Fund. I recently received a notice that the maximum rate will be increasing to 13.5%. Much like the change in sales tax from 5% to 6% was not a 1% increase but rather a 20% increase, this increase in unemployment rates represents a 50% increase in taxation on businesses like mine. If we were to increase the cost to our customers by 50%, we’d be run out of business. The fact that the state of Maryland is willing to impose such an increased burden is appalling, and shows politicians’ ignorance of this fact: my company creates jobs. The private sector creates jobs. The $30,000 I will pay in unemployment taxes next year could be used to create jobs; to provide a valuable service; and to further increase the income tax base in our great state. The message to businesses is clear: the state of Maryland doesn’t understand the benefit its businesses provide, and is unconcerned with the burdens these policies impose.

Outside of the overall increase in rates, this company’s particular situation emphasizes the need for unemployment reform with regards to seasonal employers. Let me say that I understand the need for unemployment insurance and I support the philosophy in many situations. There will always be unexpected job loss due to illness, layoff, misfortune, and the like. The existence of unemployment insurance provides a needed buffer to families faced with such a situation, and I think that’s a great thing. However, unemployment loss should serve the interests of those who experience unexpected loss of employment. For companies like this one, employees claim unemployment benefits not because of a sudden event, but rather in the form of repeating conscious choices not to look for supplemental employment because they know they can get money without working. This practice has to stop.

I have spoken at length with officials from the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation, and have been assured that the current regulations offer no relief to seasonal businesses. Several of my employees have chosen a year-round pay structure, but are still able to collect unemployment due to a clause that allows unemployment benefits to employees when physical work time is reduced, even if the employee is getting paid.

During my research of this issue, I came across the website for the Department of Labor of the state of Kansas. They advise “Unemployment insurance cannot solve the problem of joblessness. Only more jobs can reduce unemployment”. I will be a part of the solution. I will create more jobs. I just need your help to make it happen.

Thank you for your consideration and support.

Sincerely,
Brian Gill

Probably No Live Blogging Tonight

2009-11-23T09:21:00.001-05:00

A thousand apologies.

Mayor Cohen Has A Blog!

2009-11-21T13:57:00.001-05:00

This is gonna be great! http://www.mayorcohen.com/ is the official blog of Josh Cohen.

Come to think of it, there are many reasons why this will not be great:

-It will inspire more people to become "blog stalkers", sucking otherwise productive people out of the private sector.

-It is much harder to take someone's words out of context and use it against them when the entire context exists in print for everyone to see.

-There are more blogs to read each day, reducing the number of people viewing this blog and the amount of time each person who does visit can spend here.

What I would love to see is an official Twitter page where Josh tweets his activities at several points during the day. "Visited a sister city today", "My pen ran out of ink while signing the union contract", "Stressed out cuz expenditures exceed revenues". Technology at work.

Update: I can't believe it.

The Future Of Democrat Leadership

2009-11-21T13:22:00.000-05:00

Normally I avoid driving home in rush hour traffic on Fridays, but yesterday I found myself unavoidably stuck in agonizing traffic, so I decided to double up on the agony and ponder the future of the local Democrat party.

Here's where we find ourselves. A former Democrat county councilman is Mayor, creating a vacancy in the County Council since the city elections are offset. By law, the county council itself can decide on who fills the vacancy.

The spot must be filled with another Democrat, and there appear to be 4 leading candidates: sitting Ward 3 Alderman Classie Hoyle, sitting Ward 4 Alderman Sheila Finlayson, county board of appeals member William Moulden and former Mayoral candidate Trudy McFall.

Fortunately for you, rush hour traffic on a Friday simulates the experience of psychotropic drugs, allowing me to think like a Democrat, and I'm happy to report that I'm now confident I can predict who will be the next county councilman from the 6th disctrict.

It will be Classie Hoyle, and here's why. The Republican majority on the council will not want a Democrat that would run a strong race in 2010. Of all the candidates, Hoyle would likely best satisfy that requirement since she already lost a county council race for this seat and she was on the wrong side of a nasty issue that came up during the election.

The real genius of this prediction is how everything plays out after Hoyle's appointment. I envision the Democrat bosses sitting in their gardens sipping Perrier and zinfandel, tickled that the Republican plan crafted in a smoke-filled back room will actually bring about exactly what the Dems want!

Hoyle's appointment to the county council only 14 days after being sworn in for another term as an Alderman leaves a vacancy on the city council for Ward 3. There would have to be a special election, which is not as good as an appointment by the central committee, but not to worry--it appears to be impossible for a non-Democrat to win in Ward 3. Guess which Democrat Cohen Transition Co-Chair and Primary Election Winner lives in Ward 3??? You got it. With residency requirements rendered irrelevant and financial troubles addressed, Zina Pierre wins the Ward 3 seat.

Moving right along, the only direction for Cohen is up, up, up! The bosses expect a victory from State Senator Astle over E.R. doctor and overall handsome fella Ron Elfenbein. Little do the voters know, it will be Astle's last election. Cohen won't want to run an actual campaign in District 30 because of the pesky Republican voters in Arnold and Edgewater. Too risky! Remember, we* need a sure thing. So, Astle resigns in 2013, creating a much more direct route for the start of the Senator Cohen dynasty. And wouldn't you know, Pierre will have completed 3.9 years of paying her dues as an Alderman, ready to receive full machine support for her run for Mayor.

(*The use of "we" and other stylistic writing in this post does not represent my personal wishes or beliefs, but rather is an attempt to put you, the reader, in the mindset of a Democrat strategist trying to ensure the burial of Republicans for 40 years.)

Ironically, the person who this works out worst for is Hoyle, who may or may not win reelection in 2010, and is left out of the long term plans.

If you find this post difficult to follow, just read it while in traffic on the Beltway and I assure you everything will be perfectly clear.

City of Annapolis Interactive Crime Map

2009-11-11T08:52:00.002-05:00

I don't know if this is new, but the press release says its new, and I haven't seen it before. So there.

Interactive Crime Map

Cohen Transition Team

2009-11-11T08:49:00.000-05:00

I envision the transition team for Josh being more a formality considering how easy the transition is for a person of his ideology and particular city experience. Does someone with such steadfast views and experience with running city government need people to tell him about running city government? HERE are the people who will do just that.

It's interesting to think about Josh's motive for selecting each of these people, and each person's motive for accepting the offer, especially for the following people:

Zina Pierre (co chair)
Greg Stiverson (co chair)
Reza Jafari (Cohen's fundraising chair)
Carl Snowden (newly appointed to HACA)
Dick Franyo (Boatyard, Sailing HOF)
Jeremy Parks (developer, Park Place)
David Prosten (Sierra Club, which endorsed Josh)
Chris Trumbauer (Cohen's treasurer)
Sandy Cohen (1 guess)

There are plenty of other people, probably close to 100 in total. It will be interesting to see if these people are involved just for their expertise, or as a courtesy to candidates involved in the election, OR if this is the first step in finding these people paid jobs with the city.

Eric Hartley re: Hoyle's Handling of "The Flyer"

2009-11-10T13:00:00.000-05:00

LINK.

Hoyle's about-face

Posted: November 10, 12:43 pm | (permalink) | (1 comments)

There's a reason Alderwoman Classie Hoyle's about-face on the racist, homophobic attacks against her political opponent seemed sudden: It was utterly insincere.

At last night's Annapolis City Council meeting, Hoyle introduced a resolution condemning attack fliers against Scott Bowling and calling for an investigation by prosecutors.

Before the election, when asked about the attacks, she either didn't return calls or refused to condemn them, simply saying she hadn't seen the flier and had nothing to do with it.

Later -- conveniently, after winning the election over Bowling -- she issued a statement calling the attacks "repugnant and offensive" and saying, "I absolutely reject the actions of any individual or group that circulated it."

A sincere change of heart? Apparently not. Last night, Stewart got Hoyle's attention as she walked past the press table on her way to her seat and asked her about the flier.

Hoyle said she had only seen it "on the computer." She said she had asked a number of people and didn't believe the print edition, so to speak, it was actually distributed in the city at all. I asked why someone would go to the trouble to make it and not distribute it.

"I think it came out of the other camp," Hoyle said with a smile, then walked to her seat.

Her resolution, however, says the flier (which said, among other things, "Keep us from Sin and Sexual Assault. Bowling will be danger to us all and our children - He is WHITE & GAY = SIN") was distributed around the city.

Later in the meeting, Hoyle said she had not heard about the flier until Election Night, which is a little hard to believe, since just about everyone else in the city who follows politics was buzzing about it. Hoyle publicly pledged to donate $500 out of her own pocket to a reward fund to find the person responsible.

Dave Miller, Bowling's partner, spoke during the public comment portion of the council meeting and called Hoyle's after-the-fact condemnation -- when she had already perhaps benefited from the noxious attacks by winning re-election -- "grandstanding."

That sounds about right.

-Eric Hartley

City Council Meeting, 11/9

2009-11-10T00:01:00.001-05:00

Let’s cut to the chase. It’s hot as shit in here because infinity people showed up to the city council meeting. They came for the Energy Park work session, and decided to stay for what promises to be an “energy” filled portion of the ‘public testimony’ portion of this ‘not a public hearing’ meeting.

7:51

A city employee won an award for saving the city money, and was entitled to 10% of his savings in the form of a savings bond, which is like working for years to save the animals and getting paid in a fur coat.

7:52

Committee reports are starting, which are meaningless, so let me say this. It’s good to be back. Back in the private sector, thriving, an astute observer and watchdog for the people. I know many of you were anticipating reading these thoughts as they come to me, but city internet access being what it is, you have been left totally disappointed. And if you are looking for even more disappointment, I invite you to examine the city hall PA system, which I liken to a cell phone conversation with your hand over your mouth in the middle of a hurricane.

Before we get started, for your reference, here is the flyer everyone is about to talk about.

7:55

The meeting theoretically started 25 minutes ago, and nothing has been accomplished. But don’t worry!! Here comes the public to speak. First up, Zina Pierre!

Zina: “I support Hoyle’s hate crime legislation”.

Me: “That bill (which is not even on the agenda) is a load…a day late and a dollar short as they say. Or where the you know what was Hoyle BEFORE the election when this came out, as they also say”.

Zina: “I support Carl Snowden”.

Another lady: advocates the investigation of the Bowling/Hoyle flyer.

Karen Jennings: Green party condemns flyer. “Annapolis was already a gay-unfriendly city”.

Cynthia Carter: against the fees charged for the new recreation center. “I haven’t seen the flyer but I heard about it and I support Hoyle in her condemnation of it.”

8:01

For the record, I would bet several thousand dollars that somebody running for city office in the most recent election knew about “the flyer” before it went out.

8:02

Cliff Myers: “I’m almost 52, and there comes a point in one’s life where you can’t parse words. What happened in the city was pretty ugly, morally repugnant, and abhorrent.” Flyer caused “irreparable harm”. It’s time to align elections with county and state. 25% turnout = it ain’t working. Partisan elections are useful.

Mayor: “Happy birthday”

Cordle: “I’m contemplating legislation to shorten this (upcoming council) term to 3 years”.

8:05

Dave Miller: said everything elegantly and perfectly about the flyer and the council’s lack of action, especially from Classie. “I spoke with Classie Hoyle’s campaign manager the Friday before the election to tell her about the flyer. I find it reprehensible that Classie took no action on this despite knowledge of it, and gained advantage from it. I demand that Classie condemn this, deny all involvement, and help find the sources of funding and development. I call on Classie to resign her seat since she doesn’t have the moral fiber to deny this act.” The speech was like 4 times as long as that but I couldn’t keep up with the typing. Very frank, direct, and correct words.

After this heartfelt speech, most of which was directed at Classie, Classie turned to Finlayson and was laughing. Un-fucking believable.

8:11

Someone tell Sam he is not the only victim of this flyer.

8:13

Classie Hoyle: “My campaign manager did not relay this to me. I found out about the flyer when the results were rolling in on Tuesday night. I will contribute $500 to the reward fund tonight”.

8:14

Scott Bowling: (note to readers, he was the victim of the flyer): “I care about this city. I obviously was not elected, partly due to events that no Annapolitan should be proud of. This is not about losing an election, it’s far greater. My character and reputation were impugned. My name to whatever degree has been tarnished. My belief in civil discourse quite frankly has been shattered. As with most disappointments, opportunity often presents itself. Ward 3 is probably one of the most diverse wards in our city, but as you really go through the ward and observe, we still remain very divided, and that is very unfortunate. We are not divided by roads; the divisions go further. Since leadership has not come from this body (the council), we absolutely must change the level of discourse. We must end the divisiveness and the notion that character assassinations and attacks are part of the norm and the political process. We must end the ability of individuals and fictitious groups to put out materials without accountability, as they know the board of elections has no teeth and they (the groups) will never be held accountable. Our city holds a place in the country’s history—we can certainly do better than what we’ve seen in this election. I have filed requests with the state attorney general and US attorney asking for a complete investigation. As I’ve said, and many have said before me, the actions of this election are really unacceptable and degrading to our city and to our place in history. I am committed to providing the leadership and stamina to ensure that the antics of this election never occur again. Hate crimes have no place in our state or in our city, or anywhere. I am committed to ensuring as much as I can that the individuals responsible for the hateful and bigoted flyer are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. This isn’t about Scott Bowling, because I tell you, I hope each and every one of you has read that flyer. I want to think about the silence that has prevailed up to tonight, because I bet if the names on the flyer were replaced with the names of other candidates, we would be talking about this a lot differently.”

8:22

Guy on crutches: I am here to support Snowden and his appointment to HACA.

Robert Eades: “Find out who put out this garbage.” Robert loudly supports Carl Snowden while concurrently taking a shot at Trudy McFall. “The community loves a person who could bring some fairty (sic) to public housing”. “Just like people are rallying around Scott, as they should, you should rally around the poor people in your wards and communities”. True.

8:28

Trudy McFall: “This has been a really ugly election filled with smears and illegal activities. There were no consequences and people were emboldened to the point until we get to what happened to Scott.” The antics were “cranked up” including what happened in signed emails from Democrat party officials. Trudy is recounting this. “Nobody inside the Democrat party did anything to stop it, investigate it, or do anything. What has come home to roost is illegal, hateful acts in the name of elections in this city”.

Mayor: “I would call on you and anybody involved in the hate blogs to step up and help”.

Mcfall: “excuse me….”

Mayor: “no excuse me, you had your 3 minutes!! You have been a part of these hate filled smears and attacks against me for years”

(holy shit!!)

Mayor: “your smears over the past years hurt my family and my grandchildren”

McFall: “my criticisms were always issue based”

Mayor: “never”

8:33

Pastor: anti-flyer.

Apparently R-71-09 (which is not on the agenda) is the resolution that condemns hate crimes.

The mayor looks exhausted from her argument with Trudy. For the record, Trudy won on speaker points*.

(*Speaker points were invented by my 11th grade speech teacher to give a chance of winning a debate to people with inferior arguments. I once lost a debate on speaker points, and was confused for several years as to why a fuel that was 95% gasoline and only 5% ethanol was a solution go global warming, which was the debate topic. However, since everyone is now selling these 10% ethanol blends, maybe speaker points are given to…the winner.)

8:39

I have never met Tony Spencer, but I believe his title is “Director of Things Taxpayers Do Not Want To Pay For In Tough Economic Times and/or Things Duplicated In Other Departments”. He seems nice though.

8:41

Kungel, KUNGEL…I’ve finally learned Arthur’s last name. Anyway, let me ignore his comments and talk about something else. I have announcement: I have adopted Maryland Ave. as my official economic area/neighborhood in Annapolis. It’s great. There’s a dance studio owned and operated by a Georgetown East Elementary School teacher—she’s there whenever she’s not teaching our children. There’s a cigar shop, a coffee house, and an Irish bar—3 establishments that would sustain my own survival for quite some time. There are jewelers for when you propose to your fiancée, furniture stores for when you guys get married, art galleries for when you and your wife want to class up the home—and that Irish bar for when your wife drives you crazy. The road is bricks, which is historic. You can see the Naval Academy at one end and the State house at the other—a perfect endorsement of Annapolis’ charm. The antiques stores and the funny gift shop give a good reprieve to what you find downtown. I love it! Support Maryland Ave!

8:47

Arthur was given more than his allotted time. People seem to be amused. Arthur always has interesting points but they only deal with city matters in the most abstract of ways, to put it gently. “At least he doesn’t talk about what’s on the agenda”, a VIP seated next to me remarked.

8:48

Nick Berry (Annapolis Democrat Central Committee Chair): “Vital that elections be honest and transparent. Slime against Bowling has no place. ADCC strongly supports full investigation of this travesty.”

David Prosten (Sierra Club): I didn’t hear what he had to say because (1) I was talking to someone else and (2) the PA system is terrible.

8:52

The temperature has cooled down by probably like 10 degrees. I’m quite comfortable right now, except for my left posterior, which is uncomfortable due to my wallet--which is not thick with money--but rather credit cards, symbolizing debt.

Zastrow Simms: “Carl Snowden has fought the good fight for citizens of HACA”.

Lady involved in an EOE lawsuit: I commend you for fighting for your rights. The lady mentioned Annapolis blogs!! Shout out! “Classie did not know”.

Sharon Kennedy (Historic Preservation Commission): supports concept of energy park.

8:58

What is this energy park??? Why was this not a campaign issue?? I know the campaign issues. This must be a “new issue”. Yikes. I’ll have to investigate.

8:59

Ooohh, we’re now in a public hearing for a “memorandum of understanding” with the energy park people (R-63-09).

Tony Evans: classic case of thinking “I’m acting globally”. I believe Tony just said he’d been to windmill parks in Pennsylvania and China! His point (I think) is that we are behind the curve in energy generation and this is a chance to step forward. Move quickly. Note: Tony ended his testimony 1 second before the buzzer went off, showing a high level of talent and earning himself 200 speaker points.

Alan Hyatt: I didn’t get all of Alan’s testimony but I imagine it started with some type of legal jargon and ended with Alan being $3700 richer than he was when he came here today. I strive for that type of career.

Minor Carter: “I’m here to talk about electricity, but I must warn you, I’m not encumbered by a great deal of knowledge on this issue.” “We don’t need another lawsuit so don’t screw it up.”

Not an Annapolis resident: energy park is good.

9:20 (nearly 2 hours after the theoretical start of the legislative meeting)

No legislation has been voted on. Tony Evans has informed me that what is happening is that the group which submitted a failed bid to operate the energy park is trying to get the council to reconsider.

9:20:30

Bathroom break.

9:31

Still hearing publicly about the energy park.

9:45

Classie Hoyle: “I’m sitting here wondering why, with 2 companies that have compiled so much talent to work on this project, why we have to make a choice”. I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that after she said that, 50% of the room rolled their eyes and 2 people actually got up and left.

The Mayor then tried to explain to her whey 2 competing private companies might not be willing or able to collaborate.

9:53

Its seems that the losing bidder, “Seven Seas”, was actually the company the city would have preferred, but they failed to provide proof of financial backing in a timely manner, so the next best company was contacted. When they promptly proved their financial ability, they were awarded the right to develop the project. At least that’s what I gather from how these people are arguing with each other.

9:59

The winning bidders seem competent too. These real estate and venture capital guys are really smart.

10:05

On the 19th, the 2 parties are presenting to the city council. Classie just said “Madam Mayor, I had not anticipated a long meeting on that day, with it being the 100th anniversary of the NAACP”. Wow.

10:08

Finlayson just said something for the first time in the meeting, and it was an appropriate and useful comment. On a side note, I saw the honorable Alderwoman at a polling location on election day. She was dancing and swaying sort of effortlessly, much as I imagine someone would at a rave while under the influence of some hallucinogenic drug. I’M SURE SHE WASN’T ON DRUGS, so don’t try and get me in trouble for saying that. I contrasted her emotional appearance with my actual emotions, and I realized it must be the feeling of a politician running unopposed.

10:12

Incredibly, the parties are now talking about collaborating, making the people who rolled their eyes at Hoyle seem like jackasses.

10:19

Paone just said that the “father of solar energy” is here right now. Sam said it too, but I believe Fred.

10:35

I believe Kenny Kirby is almost as tall as Paone. But not as menacing. And he doesn’t have a fan club.

VOTING!!

Sam wants to move R-70-09 and R-71-09 to the front of the agenda but they haven’t even been introduced and nobody knows what they say. But, the council will vote on them anyway.

Paone just said “I for one don’t have a copy of those bills” and everyone told him don’t worry about it, just vote.

Finlayson just asked the Mayor if they can merge the bills. The mayor said “I suppose” then asked the city attorney. After giving his trademark deer/headlights routine, he said the fastest way to do it would be to merge the bill. The answer, of course, is you can do whatever you want. Just make a motion to do it, then you can vote on whether to merge it or not. Problem is, Israel is an expert on elections procedures, and he’s lecturing everybody on the intent of all these boards and processes, and now everyone forgot what they wanted to do, which was to merge 2 “phantom” bills that only exist on the desks and in the minds of the Aldermen (except Paone). Isn’t city government fun?

10:41

City government is fun.

10:41:30

R-70 (Classie’s bill) is passed on first reader. Goes to public hearing.

R-71 (Sam’s bill) is also passed on first reader.

O-20-09: Newsracks in the Historic District. (NEWSRACKS! WHO CARES). Apparently nobody cares, and the ordinance was POSTPONED.

R-31-09 is the resolution accompanying O-20 and that was also POSTPONED.

O-49-09: Boat Shows (leasing the 2015 rights to the same people who have always done it). PASSES 8-1 (Stankivic)

O-26-09: Open Space Zoning District: PASSES 9-0.

O-28-09: Billing for Emergency Medical Services: PASSES 9-0 I think.

O-33-09: Establishing Standard for Use of Overtime: FAILS (it wasn’t even seconded).

O-36-09: Display Requirements for Sale of Fertilizer: PASSES 9-0.

O-44-09: Authorizing Police to Use Tasers: PASSES 9-0.

R-49-09: Fine Schedule for Violating O-44: PASSES 9-0.

O-46-09: Concentration Limit on Housebarges: PASSES 9-0.

O-48-09: Notice of Hearings and Permitting Procedures for Port Wardens: PASSES 9-0.

O-57-09: Lease of City Dock for 2010 Race Across America: PASSES 8-0 (Cordle just left.)

O-59-09: Stormwater Management Standards Conforming with State Law: POSTPONED

R-61-09: Support for Continued Funding of the Choice Program: PASSES 7-0. (Cordle is def. gone for the night and Stankivic abstained).

R-65-09: Annexation Procedure: POSTPONED.

PASSED ON FIRST READER ONLY AND REFERRED TO COMMITTEE:

0-65-09: R2-NC Zoning District Uses

R-66-09: Tolling Zoning Approval Expiration Dates

R-67-09: Street Rights of Way in Mary’s Mew Subdivision

R-68-09: Authorizing the Mayor to Negotiate Short Term Leases With Existing or Prospective Market House Tenants.

R-69-09: Naming the Gorman St. Building after Mayor Moyer.

11:25

Alderman Stankivic voted “no” on the first reader for the Moyer naming bill and now the Mayor is being a little short with Julie regarding procedure on the Carl Snowden appointment. A little late night fun. Paone and Stankivic want an opinion from either the Attorney General or the State Ethics Commission regarding a possible conflict of interest regarding Mr. Snowden. The Mayor wants them to accept a letter from the city attorney and her assurance that she’s “had a conversation with the attorney general”. Carl Snowden IS APPOINTED TO HACA. No roll call was taken.

Adjournment: 11:32 PM.

Carl Snowden Appointed To HACA

2009-11-09T23:39:00.001-05:00

....With ample persuasion from the Mayor and despite objections from several Aldermen.

Live Blog Emergency!

2009-11-09T19:45:00.001-05:00

Ughhh...there still isn't internet at city hall and everybody who has wireless internet has it password protected! So, my thoughts will be live but you won't see them until after the meeting ends. I will work on this for next time.

Shooting

2009-11-09T13:10:00.000-05:00

Shooting (Sunday, November 8, 2009, 1:38 AM) – Officers went to the 1100 block of Madison Street for the report of shots fired. One victim was found with a gunshot wound to the right leg. He was transported to shock trauma. Neighbors reported hearing the sounds of an altercation before hearing several shots. The investigation is continuing.

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Whoops

2009-11-08T09:43:00.000-05:00

With this post I've got to take care of some procedural issues.

First, I will make a triumphant post-election return to council meeting live blogging on Monday, bringing you all the emotion and fallout from Tuesday.

And second, I have to apologize for a post that has not been made yet. I know that sounds weird, but here's what happened. I figured out a way to blog from my "smart" phone, where I can compose an email on the phone, send the email, and have the email's subject be the blog title and the email's body be the actual blog post. To test my capabilities of posting something I am viewing, I took a picture of my television and followed the blogging procedure on my "smart" phone, forgetting that my "smart" phone is not working correctly and is not sending any emails out. So, if the phone smartly fixes itself while I'm not near my computer, you will see a meaningless picture of my television (I'm watching soccer), which I will delete later.

Finlayson and Cordle Want to Name City Building After Mayor Moyer

2009-11-06T15:34:00.000-05:00

R-69-09

The bill lists the following evidence as to why Moyer should have a building named after her:

-first woman Mayor
-40 years of service, from First Lady to Alderman to Mayor
-founding GreenScape, Annapolis Conservancy, and "the City's numerous Street End Parks"
-completion of a fifteen-year backlog of capital projects, finishing each project during her administration, including the facilities located at 145 Gorman St

Now, I'm not saying some of this stuff doesn't matter. The first woman Mayor in 300 years has gotta be worth something. However, if this honor is bestowed upon the Mayor, here are some other awards and honors that could be gifted:

-The Einstein Medal, given to any person who figures out what a Street End Park is, or the Al Gore Internet Award, bestowed upon anybody giving the Mayor credit for inventing parks.

-The Ellen O. Moyer Ceremonial HVAC Trophy, given to the vehicle taking up the maximum amount of parking spaces downtown without patronizing any businesses near those parking spaces, and/or destroying a previously established business without a plan to encourage future business success.

-The Moyer MHPSRDFPA (Market House Police Station Racial Discrimination Firemen Pension Award), a joint prize awarded in collaboration with the Bar Association to the lawyer with the most billable hours in defense of lawsuits where the city is named as a defendant.

-The Ellen Loves German Heritage Award, given to anybody who wears socks with sandals in public.

-The Facebook award, given to the social networker that accumulates the highest amount of non-reciprocating, resource consuming friends in the style of the Sister City Program.

-The Obama Award, pioneered by Cohen, Fox, and Cordle, given to any politician that mounts a platform of "change" from the previous politician.

-The Citizen Bravery Award, given to any citizen that fulfills their civic duty by testifying at city council in the face of condescension and dismissal of one's opinion.

-The Nepotism and Favoritism Agreement, more of a technical document that is included in the welcome packet for all new city employees.

-The 'That's Not My Job' Medal, given to a Mayor or Police chief when they respond to citizen concerns of violence by saying "You should start a neighborhood watch".

-The Welcome to the 21st Century Award, given to any Mayor who writes their own emails, flies in airplanes, or writes their own blog posts with more frequency than 1 time per year.

The Worst Thing From The Election

2009-11-06T13:42:00.000-05:00

Aldermanic Endorsements

2009-11-01T10:00:00.000-05:00

Ward 1
Dick Israel. Running unopposed, so this is easy. Regardless of policy views, you can count on his knowledge and positions to be well researched and have reasoning. Any rumbles of discontent for Israel running after promising to (possibly) leave after one term for health reasons have deferred to the respect due this incumbent alderman.

Ward 2
Fred Paone. Also unopposed, but it wouldn't matter. A solid legislator and independent thinker, Fred often makes funny comments that are printed here and increase the popularity of this blog, and he remains the only person with an official fan club. Also, he stands 9 feet tall, a menacing sight.

Ward 3
Scott Bowling. This is a 5 star special endorsement, a candidate offering a rare combination of dedication to the issues and community service, logic, and willingness to accept a $12,600 salary while in the prime of one's bill-paying life.

Ward 4
Sheila Finlayson. I don't want to say "no endorsement", but it's likely I would have endorsed any candidate the Republicans would have put forward. Since they/we didn't, here we are.

Ward 5
Jim Conley. I've met Silverman (Conley's opponent) and he seems to be nice, but I support the tax cap and Conley is basing his whole campaign on that, which makes him at least 60% likely to vote for an actual tax cap bill if he's elected.

Ward 6
Greg Stiverson. Another 5 star special. Every time Greg writes about an issue, it's the most insightful and accurate position statement on whatever it is he's talking about. Greg is always 3 steps further than anyone else when considering appropriate solutions to city problems.

Ward 7.
Jennifer Monteith. I've met Jennifer once and believe her to be a human resources professional. As we all know, 85% of the city's budget is on salaries, and whereas salaries are determined by union contracts, and whereas human resources professionals know about union contracts, let it be resolved that she share some tricks of the trade and save the city some money.

Ward 8.
Ross Arnett. Brave move on my part to break party lines on this one, but Arnett has broken party lines while on the council. Plus he's an economist, which I would have been had I not decided to flip burgers for fraternity members. His experience and work on the council-manager and budget are enough to outweigh the fact that he has a full time job and has been criticized for being slow to respond to citizen concerns.

The Soon-To-Be-Famous Cohen Postcard

2009-10-31T13:24:00.005-04:00

It might be hard to see, so I'll summarize. It's a Cohen piece with Obama's picture that says "continue our progress by voting for the following candidates", then shows Cohen along with the African American Democrat candidates running on Tuesday. Noticeably absent are the Caucasian Democrat candidates, prompting obvious cries of racial politics, divisiveness, the same old story, and certainly NOT the politics of change and bringing people together.

How Much Money Does The City Make From Parking

2009-10-22T16:55:00.004-04:00

This isn't what I would call a "hot button issue" right now, but I had to look this information up today, and I want to write it down before I forget it. I actually called city finance director Tim Elliot to verify this information, and was immediately reprimanded the the Political Bloggers Alliance (Local 637) for breaking their "RAM" business model for blogging: Rumors, Attacks, & Misnomers.

So, for no particular reason other than you might like to know, here are some facts about parking costs and revenues in 2010.

-The parking garages are managed by Park America. The city will pay them $1.02 million and they will manage and staff the garages and 2 lots owned by the city.

-The garages and 2 lots will generate about $3.7 million in revenue (which the city gets).

-The garages and lots will produce a surplus (profit) of about $800,000, after accounting for depreciation, the money paid to Park America, debt service on the bonds issued to build the garages, and other expenses.

-If you want to know how much money each specific garage produces, you can look at the budget for the Central Services Department.

-The garages and lots are collectively known as "off street parking" and the budget details can be found in the "off street parking enterprise fund".

-The on-street parking is listed in the budget as "parking operations". Parking operations are listed in the budget for the transportation department but as of last year they are actually a part of the police department.

-Expenditure on parking operations is estimated to be $739,000. $680,000 of that is salaries and benefits for parking enforcement officers, and the rest is gas for their vehicles, and other things.

-Parking operations revenue is budgeted at $1.8 million: $900,000 each from parking meters and citations.

-Parking operations therefore results in a surplus (profit) of about $1.06 million.

-The city plans to collect $78,500 through the sale of residential parking permits.

So, to answer the question that is the title of this post:

$800,000: profit from off-street parking (garages and lots)
$1,061,000: profit from parking operations (meters and tickets)
$78,500: sales of residential parking permits
_______
$1,939,500 total 2010 profit associated with parking.

Bowling vows to repeal 54% increase in Liquor Fees

2009-10-20T11:39:00.002-04:00

For Immediate Release

Contact: Scott Bowling, 443-822-3170
Corey Stottlemeyer (301) 331-8028

Bowling vows to repeal 54% increase in Liquor Fees

(Annapolis, MD, October 19,2009) Today, Scott Bowling (Candidate for Alderman, Ward 3)
denounced Mayor Ellen Moyer, Finance Committee Chair Classie Hoyle, and the rest of the
Annapolis City Council for the 54-percent increase in liquor fees for restaurants, taverns,
package goods stores, and hotels and vows to introduce a budget amendment to repeal this
increase when elected on November 3rd• These fee increases on residents and businesses that are buried in the budget and passed by the Council under a cloud of secrecy must end.

According to The Capital editorial on Sunday, October 18,2009, Finance Committee Chair,
Alderwoman Classie Hoyle stated "the liquor license fees were in the budget, had anyone
bothered to look". The Capital goes on to say, "That's the problem: The council thinks it's the
taxpayer's responsibility, not its own, to know about fee increases. The Alderman would rather
tell us about awards and plastic bag bans."

"Once again, the Mayor and Council are going out of their way to hurt our local businesses in
Annapolis," said Bowling. "Worse yet, they are making these laws in a vacuum. They are not
talking to the businesses that are affected by the fee hikes."

These new fees come on top of a 30-percent increase from the previous year, placing liquor fees
in Annapolis significantly higher than Baltimore City and other Maryland municipalities.

"In these tough economic times, the Mayor and City Council should be working with businesses,
not taxing them," said Bowling. "Unfortunately, this is what we have come to expect from
Alderwoman Hoyle, Mayor Moyer, and their cohorts at City Hall."

"At best the Council was negligent in approving these fees without a more transparent process," said Bowling. "At worst, they were deceptive."

####

Yes, This Blog Is Alive

2009-10-18T22:33:00.002-04:00

I'm going to take a minute to address the following comment that I received on my most recent blog update:

Paul A. Richards said...

IS THIS BLOG ALIVE?

No postings for 3 weeks -- then a political ad. Is this a Fox blog?

Please explain.

October 17, 2009 7:14 PM

Short answer: yes the blog is alive, and no, it's not a "Fox Blog".

And now for the long answer*.

(*Note: blogs are known for long answers to short questions.)

I started this blog like 2 and a half years ago to combat boredom. Having recently underwent ankle surgery, I was looking for a way to entertain myself without ruining the surgical precision of Dr. Holt, so I decided to use my limited writing talent and limited knowledge of politics to produce a blog that was of interest to a limited number of people.

When I started the blog, my life was RELATIVELY stable. I enjoyed a modicum of free time, and the blog thrived!

These days, the life is not so stable. My basement keeps flooding, Mrs. Politics wants me to take her out to dinner all the time**, work is growing ever busier, and various other factors have conspired to minimize my free time. Since I have no intentions of using this blog as a career or a money maker, it gets last priority and I post if and when it suits me. Lately, it's been not that much.

(**Note to Mrs. Politics: just kidding! Sometimes I have to exaggerate to increase the popularity and ratings of this blog. And if this blog is popular, we are a popular couple! Work with me.)

I am working on the Fox campaign. That's not a secret. Because my time is limited and because my opinion is biased, you see Fox updates and promotions here. However, this blog is not a "puppet" of the campaign. There are differences between policies that I advocate here and what the next Mayor of Annapolis advocates on his campaign platform.

Don't worry! Election day is November 3rd. On my calendar, November 4th is scheduled as "Bars and Cigars". But starting November 5th, I will return to my "pre-campaign and pre-crazy-work" level of blogging, and all will be well once more.

Also I hope to live blog the next council meeting, so mark your calendar!

Chris Fox TV Spot

2009-10-16T12:26:00.002-04:00

"Fox For Mayor" Trivia Team Takes Second Place In Trivia Grandchampionship

2009-09-20T12:08:00.002-04:00

Every Monday at the Sly Fox Pub there is a heated trivia competition. The questions are researched by an employee of Sly Fox, and up to 30 teams participate.

Mrs. Politics, ever the trivia savant, was on a trivia team aptly named "Fox For Mayor". Points were accumulated from week to week, and the top-performers were invited to participate in a playoff featuring a different format and more difficult questions.

The playoff took place this past Monday, with the "Fox For Mayor" team taking second place! Mrs. Politics, noting that posts on this blog don't always have to be about politics, asked that I post an announcement about the accomplishment.

I agreed to make such a post, and failure to do so until now has been a source of fodder from my better half for the past 6 days!

So here it is, hon. Congratulations!

Is Zina....Staying In?

2009-09-19T16:27:00.002-04:00

That apparently might still happen. Everyone be on rumor alert.

Zina Pierre Stays In The Race.

Democratic Process Influenced By Failure of Journalism

2009-09-18T23:52:00.003-04:00

This is a continuation of this post. I could have included all this info in the same post, but the more posts you make, the more hits you get on your blog. And the more hits you get on your blog, the more likely you are to win the lottery. Why do you think people write such drivel on blogs?

(Note to bloggers: just kidding. Just trying to entertain the masses.)

(Note 2.0 to bloggers: don't write drivel.)

So, everyone likes to make fun of the media, and for good reason---many media outlets are terrible. In Annapolis, we have the misfortune of having only one major newspaper, The Capital, which is particularly infamous for inaccuracy. This blog named itself to point out the shortcomings of the newspaper. The bumper sticker "End Capital Punishment, Cancel Your Subscription" serves the same purpose. On the rare occasions in my life when I have spoken with people important enough to have their names/stories told in The Capital, I've heard horror stories of quotes that began as "Mrs. Politics is a great girlfriend" and ended as "Mayor Moyer kicked me in the rear end".

The Capital totally missed this story. The Post and The Sun missed it too, but they have an excuse because they actually have other real stories to write about. The Capital should have uncovered this long ago. I would have uncovered it myself, buy my legal team advises me that the farther away I stay from the court system, the better.

Imagine how different the campaign would have been if Zina's legal history was reported a year ago when she entered the race. Sam Shropshire, a sitting alderman, is facing highly publicized legal troubles....and he received 9 votes. NINE. VOTES. Before this campaign, Zina Pierre had no name recognition in this town. If somebody that nobody knows was labeled as having such problems, would their campaign have even gotten off the ground? Probably not. Instead of (essentially) a 3-person race, would it have been Josh vs Trudy? Who knows what the outcome would have been?

As it is, the media missed the story, Zina was elected, and now has withdrawn. The Democrat central committee gets to pick the replacement. Cohen certainly has to be a front runner. Will McFall lobby for the nomination? I would. One can't help but think that if the media did its job, she might not have had this burden.

Pierre Withdraws From Race; Central Committee Can Choose Replacement

2009-09-18T21:37:00.006-04:00

Whenever something confuses me in politics, I always look for the most cynical explanation possible. Such an approach is usually accurate in ascertaining the truth, and has served me well on several occasions where suspension of total disbelief was a good quality to have.

One day after Zina Pierre was officially certified as the Democrat nominee for the Mayoral election, details of legal problems surfaced. The Capital sent out an email confirming that, in the face of these revelations and citing personal reasons, Zina had decided to drop out of the race. I believe The Sun will run a story tomorrow.

To quote a poker promo from ESPN: this is beyond fairy-tale, it's inconceivable. So what now? You're going to like this. Section 4.20.150 (C) of the city code allows a candidate nominated for office to decline their nomination within 10 days of receiving that nomination. And wouldn't you know it: it's less than 10 days since Zina received the nomination. And wouldn't you also know, section 4.20.160 allows the central committee--in this case the Democrat Central Committee--to fill the vacancy with WHICHEVER CANDIDATE THEY PICK.

Here's the email from the chairman of the Democrat Central Committee:

Dear ADCC Members and Friends,

Zina has withdrawn her candidacy after the revelations of her legal
problems. We in no way urged her to do so and left it to her judgment. We feel
sad for her and all her supporters.This puts a great deal of importance on
the ADCC, that by city code is charged to name a successor by October 2. ADCC is
under no City Charter/Code restraints in our choice and we then must establish
the procedures for our choice.

We will have to meet shortly. Our meeting for September 23 is still on.
Let me know if these dates are available to the elected members: Sept. 24, 25,
26, 28, and 29. In the meantime, consult with Democrats in your wards, our
elected officials, and your own thoughts.

Still, Victory in ‘09!
Nick

The statement that "we in no way urged" Zina is of course believed by everyone to be fucking bullshit. I'm sorry to cuss but it's such an arrogant attitude that one is left with no other articulation of one's feelings.

The email chatter has been off the charts on this issue, so I'll pass that along to you. In addition to the email chatter, I've had several verbal conversations about what's happening. My promise to you, the blog reader, is that I will plagiarize equally the thoughts I heard from emails and those from phone conversations.

I enjoy email chatter, because it tends to offer the most cynical and far-fetched explanations of any given event. And as we learned at the beginning of this post, that makes it correct. Even the most amateur politico could follow the storyline. The "chosen candidate", Josh Cohen, gets in the race because he has the backing of the machine and thinks he can win with their money and influence. The "machine" is defined as Mike Busch, John Astle, Ellen Moyer, and the Democrat Central Committee. The machine got Sam Shropshire elected in this manner, and they're at it again.

I guarantee this info about Zina is not new. The machine likely dug it up when Zina jumped in the race, but sat on it in hopes that Josh would win straight up and they wouldn't have to use it. When Zina won, they sprung into action--and they worked quickly because they knew the code says Zina would have to resign within 10 days of winning the primary. I mean, think about it....Zina knows politics. She worked for Bill Clinton, and runs a lobbying firm. She had enough expertise to beat Cohen--despite his machine backing; and to beat Trudy McFall--who ran a perfect campaign for 2 years. You mean to tell me that one setback would be enough to convince her to drop out of the race for personal reasons?? Shenanigans!! I call shenanigans! The legal problems seem to deal with economic circumstances. So Zina is facing economic hardship...just like half of freeking Annapolis! A clever candidate could spin that in their favor...not bow out of the race.

You know what else is interesting?? People always talk about "ending the partisanship"...the bickering between Republicans and Democrats. But this wasn't the Republicans sticking it to the Democrats--this was Democrat skulduggery all the way!! "Incest Partisanship" is what I call it--don't be surprised if that term catches on. Heck, the Republican candidate hasn't done anything political in, like...8 years! It's not enough for the machine to retain power for their party; they have to retain power for their lineage.

Now, as far as I know, Josh has not yet been officially selected as the replacement for Zina. I know Josh on a quasi-personal level, and I will say that he's been pleasant on the few occasions we've ordered beers from the same bartender. He's commented on this blog before, and is more than welcome to offer an explanation. But this whole thing reeks of a sinister plan executed as designed.

Edit: After posting this, I spoke with someone who I consider to be reliable and knowledgeable, and that person swears the machine had no prior knowledge of these issues. It's hard to believe but I guess it's plausible. Could it possibly not be Cohen that is chosen by the central committee?

There is still much to consider. First, as the first commenter says, what a failure of journalism. If the Capital spent as much time researching their candidate profiles as they do the Home of The Week, we would have known about Zina's problems long ago.

...which brings me to another point--Zina deserves blame. The charges against her, if intentional, represent characteristics we don't want in a mayor. There were questions--including on this blog--about Zina's candidacy when she entered the race. And for every question answered, we have 3 new ones in its place.

Pierre

2009-09-16T00:02:00.000-04:00

Zina Pierre is unofficially the Democrat nominee.

Low Turnout So Far

2009-09-15T17:37:00.000-04:00

A few votes could decide it!

Primary Election Day in Annapolis....

2009-09-15T10:10:00.002-04:00

...is today. If you don't know where to vote (there are new polling places), click HERE.

City Council Meeting 9/14/09: Live Blog!

2009-09-14T18:55:00.015-04:00

Many people tell me that the live blogs are their favorite feature on this blog. I am proud of that compliment, because turning the painfully boring into something useful and interesting is a key skill for anyone seeking a future career in economics. Some people have told me that they follow the live blog while watching the telecast of the meeting on television. Wow. In some jurisdictions that's known as 'double jeopardy', and is prohibited by law. I haven't heard of that much masochism since Mrs. Politics agreed to go on a first date with me more than 3 years ago*.
(Within 2 weeks of that first date, Mrs. Politics left for Spain--with a one way ticket and no plans to return. This is a true story.)

7:13

There is a work session going on right now, preceding the council meeting. Arthur, the historian whose last name I don't know, came up to me expressing anger. Trudy McFall, he says, always brags about how she goes to everything. "Is she here now?...no". Technically he is correct, but I pretended to ignore him just so he knows that he can't be a ghost writer of this blog.

7:15

Arthur just asked Tony Evans "what if there's inflation". I will now permanently ignore him.

7:15:30

Actually, deflation is a scary thing. I think it's scarier than inflation and I'll tell you why. With the case of inflation, the economy and the authorities can react. Employers can raise salaries to keep up with cost of living, banks can raise the interest rate on loans so that they make a real (meaning inflation-adjusted) profit, and central banks can raise their target interest rate to try and 'ease the expansionary pressure'. If you have deflation, it's harder to do the opposite. It's more painful and difficult to lower wages, even if the cost of living falls more than wages and your standard of living increases. Plus, interest rates don't rarely go below 0%. Banks would have to be SURE of deflation to actually pay you to take a loan. Conclusion: inflation and deflation are both scary. Inflation is the bigger concern now.

7:26

ALERT: SHROPSHIRE PLANS TO RE INTRODUCE CITY MANAGER BILL. So far nobody support him, including Doug Smith apparently.

7:29

An early start! Not a heavy crowd, but several luminaries. All elected officials are here. Alderman Israel sports a fresh haircut and receives a compliment from the Mayor. How nice. I have since learned that when receiving his new buzz cut, he requested "give me the Doug Smith". Funny.

7:32

A new 2 a.m. bill is on first reader, and there are people here who do not like this. The mayor knows this, and tries to deflect some ire by reminding people that there will be a public hearing for this bill, and that hearing is not taking place right now. As a result of her suggestion, nobody did anything different.

7:36

There are several council meeting hallmarks to look for when you are watching a meeting. The most famous is Alderman Shropshire addressing the crowd on television, but there's also Stankivic voting "no" on a first reader, committee chairmen cancelling their meetings, Alderman Paone growing another 6 inches, and the city attorney declining to comment on something. Tonight, I'm looking for something special--more than 2 Alderman asking to be added as co-sponsors to any bill submitted by Alderman Israel, an event that reflects the belief that Israel actually researched the legislation he submitted.

7:39

The public is now allowed to speak. First is candidate Cohen, opposing the 2 AM bill (on first reader). He pledges that, if Mayor, and if this bill passes, he will try to repeal the law when he becomes mayor.

THIS will tell you about 95% of what you need to know about the 2 AM "Bar Wars" back story.

7:42

A common theme is that even for things that might make sense, we should wait for the next council to consider it. I guess this makes sense for big issues, but city government shouldn't shut down just because there's a campaign going on.

(Note: There is a campaign going on. The primary is tomorrow.)

7:43

Arthur is telling the council the same thing he told me earlier. They seem equally appreciative of the information.

7:51

Minor Carter: Midnight bars knew what they were getting into when they opened.

7:54

Alderwoman Finlayson just made a surprisingly lucid argument, asking Minor "we make changes all the time to laws that were previously in place...are you telling me we shouldn't consider ever changing anything". I use the word "lucid" in the hopes that it means logical--I apologize for not knowing the meaning of the word, it's just that there's not that many chances to use the word 'logical' or any of its synonyms while at a city council meeting.

7:56

Tony Evans: The Market House is an example of why outgoing councils shouldn't decide on things. Tony calls Ward 1 a "tax colony" for the rest of the city, perpetuating the Ward 1 superiority syndrome that has plagued Annapolis for longer than this blog can document.

7:59

Ugh, more people are testifying against the 2 am bill, and my fingers are getting tired of typing. So, until something different happens, I am not going to type. Here is how it works. There is a certain population of Ward 1 who really does not want more 2 am licenses. They claim that the extra 2 hours of being opened cause exponential damage to their flower pots, and overall quality of life. Broadly, they are not all that interested in suggestions to enforce the laws (i.e. nuisance, vandalism) that already exist, or to recognize that parking reform could be a solution--since most people who urinate in flower pots do so on the way back to their illegally parked cars. They also tend to define fairness not necessarily as a level playing field for businesses, but as full disclosure of the unfairness at the time of inception of the business.

I tend to think of this as a squeaky wheel problem...the people who vigorously oppose this are also the people who come to meetings and are politically active. If you surveyed every citizen of Annapolis--not to mention the tourists on whom the city depends to create revenue--and more than 25% of those people opposed the 2 AM idea, I would do the unthinkable and let a Ward 1'er actually write a paragraph on this blog!

8:06

While various citizens debate with various Aldermen, let me take a moment to address a comment I received on my last post. The commenter suggests that blogging is so "passe", suggesting that I should "twitter" the proceedings of the meeting. I want to nip this idea in the but. For those of you that don't know, Twitter is a torture mechanism created by the Internet itself aimed at making obsolete the social networking site you just learned about, and making you feel inferior for not understanding what is a tool of only modest effectiveness.

The Internet has become self-aware, much like the robot in I Robot and the computer in War Games. First it created MySpace, which was replaced by Facebook due to the latter's ability to weed out creepy people. Sadly, Facebook actually requires people to mutually acknowledge that they are friends in real life before they can be friends on the web site. With Twitter, you can search for your favorite celebrity, non-celebrity, friend, victim, or other entity, then unilaterally sign up to "follow" that person, which allows you to receive 140-letter updates of what the person you are following is doing or thinking at any given time.

Twitter is useful in some circumstances, but one outlet for me to articulate my brain activity is more than adequate.

8:19

In my life, I have heard the words "Ward 1 Sector Study" just as many times as I have heard the words "would you like a lime in that", a correlation that highlights the measures a sane person must take to counteract the effect of political involvement.

8:28

Voting Time.

Shropshire moves to add CA-08-09, a new city manager charter amendment.

They are doing something regarding the new parking fees but it's not on the agenda and I can't hear what they're saying.

O-25-09: Requires the Public Works Department to establish and implement at 10-year water and sewer plan. PASSES 9-0.

O-32-09: Directs the order of voting for a roll call to be a "rotating sequence". FAILS 5-4 (I think...the PA system is too damn inaudible.) (voting no: Moyer, Israel, Cordle, Stankivic, Arnett).

Bills Passed on First Reader:

O-27-09: 2 AM licenses.
O-50-09: Lease of dock space for a sailboat race.
O-52-09: Rules for foreclosure properties.
R-56-09: Fines to accompany the foreclosure ordinance.
R-54-09: To declare September 2009 as "Family Day"! (Not a joke). Rules suspended. "Family Day" adopted on final reader.

There are some appointments and budget revisions that you may want to look at, perhaps particularly Carl Snowden to the HACA board.

September 28th meeting moved to October 5 because of Yom Kippur.

910: adjournment.

Live Blog Tonight!

2009-09-14T11:44:00.000-04:00

Tune in at 7:30.

Best Business Decisions Ever

2009-09-13T13:55:00.005-04:00

I gave you the worst, and here are the best:

7. Andy Grove was the President of Intel when their business had grown on the back of memory chips. Seeing Intel's market share being lost to competition in Asia, Grove asked his CEO what the Board of Directors would do if Grove was fired and a new President was hired. The answer was that the new CEO would get the company out of the memory business, an idea that was inconceivable to the company's managers. So, Grove symbolically fired himself, and returned as a "new" CEO with a directive to move into a new business. That new business: semiconductor processors.

6. Ed Washburn franchises a couple of automotive businesses to his military buddies in Utah. Two thousand miles away, a self-made millionaire named Jim Hinman was working as an unpaid football coach in Maryland when one of his players bet him he couldn't make another million dollars. Hinman sent a representative to Utah, bought Washburn's automotive businesses, and created Jiffy Lube International.

5. A small electronics company called Computer Tabulation Recording Corporation decides they have good products but they need a more regal sounding name to accompany their expansion into Canada. Company President Thomas Watson decides the company new name will be International Business Machines--IBM.

4. At the turn of the century, Americans were thrifty (much like Mrs. Politics, to the benefit of yours truly). A bottle cap salesman recognizes the value of throwing something away after one use--the value being that customers keep coming back for more. So, King Camp Gillette invents and sells the disposable razor.

3. Amadeo Giannini formed the Bank of Italy in the early 1900's with the philosophy that banks should serve the customers, not themselves. Offering loans as low as $10, this microcredit was a century ahead of its time. When fires blazed in San Francisco in 1906, Giannini decided to take all the gold from the bank's vault and hide it in his fireplace, enabling the bank to give loans 2 days later using for a desk a piece of wood on top of 2 barrels! The bank quickly became the biggest in the state, and today Bank of America is the biggest in the country.

2. Henry Ford, known as a great innovator but also a great asshole, decides to reduce hours in the workweek and double the salary of his workers to $5 a day. The move reduces Ford's 370% employee turnover rate, and marks the beginning of the idea that an employee-employer contract is more than just paying the employee the lowest wage possible.

1. The McDonald brothers opened their first restaurant in 1940, following a normal business model. Ray Kroc, a Multimixer Milkshake machine salesman, hoped to sell 1 milkshake machine to any given customer. The McDonald brothers needed 8 machines! Intrigued at how a restaurant could be so busy as to need 8 milkshake machines (each producing 5 milkshakes at a time), Kroc goes to meet the brothers. He convinces the brothers to sell him the McDonalds name and starts franchising food "factories" that amassed $28.8 billion in sales last year.

The Worst Strategic Business Decisions Ever

2009-09-12T15:53:00.003-04:00

The 5 worst business decisions of all time, listed in reverse order for added drama:

5. William Orton, President of Western Union, declines to purchase Alexander Grahm Bell's 'Bell Telephone Company' for $100,000, calling the telephone an "electrical toy" that families would not use.

4. Decca Records refuses to offer a record deal to The Beatles. "Guitar groups are on their way out", according to an awful judge of talent.

3. My decision to take over restaurant operations at a crumbling building in a college town with a bad reputation for food, which cost me nearly as much money as the Mercedes I currently covet.

2. Ross Perot passes on the chance to buy Microsoft for $6-$15 million.

1. The creator of the World Wide Web (not the Internet...2 different things) decides to offer his invention to the world FREE OF CHARGE.

U.S. Population Getting Older....

2009-08-21T13:23:00.004-04:00

...despite our best efforts to get younger. This cool animated graph shows that demographics are switching to a higher percentage of people over 65.

Can we say "health care cost ramifications"?

You, Too, Can Analyze Campaign Finance Reports

2009-08-20T20:53:00.003-04:00

A commenter on a previous post suggested that "some ambitious blogger with an economics degree" take the time to review the campaign finance reports recently submitted by the mayoral candidates*.

(*This is not an exact quote...I didn't bother to look it up. Because I don't have to. Because this is a blog. Not NBC.)

I am happy to inform you that almost anyone, regardless of the level of economics accomplishment you've achieved, can successfully analyze a campaign finance report--and I'm here to tell you how.

You don't really need intelligence--what you really need is time. and a cynical attitude. Every person who donates to a campaign has a motive. The most romantic of the motives is altruism--some people donate to campaigns because they truly believe that candidate will be the best for the city. Some donate because they think they will indirectly benefit from the candidate, such as a builder donating to a pro-development candidate. And some people plan to benefit directly, in the form of a job with the incoming administration or some type of business steered their way. Sometimes it's hard to tell one type of donor from another, but here's what you can look for:

-amount of donation. the maximum donation to a mayoral candidate is $2500, and this is typically done by businesses hoping to recoup this cost and then some. If you've got a donor for more than $2500, you've got a violation. If you've got an odd business, you might have a candidate with interests different than those of the citizens of Annapolis.

-type of donors. Individual donors typically represent a grassroots campaign, and business donors typically represent a stakeholder campaign. This is highly generalized but can be a useful tool.

-location of donors. One can assume that the amount of donors from the city proper can be used as proxy for votes, whereas the amount of donors outside of the city proxies either the level of business ties or the amount of friends of that candidate.

-amount of money raised. People like to support a winner, and it can be argued that the amount of money raised by each candidate sets rough odds as to who is the favorite. The caveat is that the people who don't donate money may not vote for candidates proportionate to the amount of donations those candidates receive.

-ending cash on hand. Pretty logical: the more money a candidate has in the bank, the more propaganda they can promulgate between now and the election.

That's about it I think. I'm confident that anyone reading this could look at the campaign reports and come to the same conclusions I would. Hopefully you have more time to do it than me!

Re: Last Post

2009-08-19T18:47:00.001-04:00

Seems implausible.

Gilbert Renaut said...
Total rubbish. We've had serial "rumors," first that I would withdraw and endorse McFall, then that I would withdraw and support Pierre, and now this one. They're all made up.

Renaut & Taylor To Withdraw and Endorse Cohen**

2009-08-19T15:06:00.002-04:00

**High level rumor alert.

People confirming or denying would be helpful, particularly any of the 3 people named in the post's title.

Legacy Damage Control: Mayor to (Possibly?) Host Market House Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

2009-08-11T10:54:00.004-04:00

Annapolis, MD (8-10-09) - Mayor Ellen Moyer announced today, the Market House
will host a special Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on Friday, August 14, 2009 at 11
a.m. to celebrate the new businesses that have joined the community. At this
event, the Market House will officially welcome Atwater’s, Flowers by Donna’s,
Homestead Market and Maryland Federation of the Arts who are joining Vaccaro’s
and BankAnnapolis.

WHAT: Market House Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

WHEN: Friday, August 14 at 11 a.m.

WHERE: Market House
25 Market Space
Annapolis, MD 21401

Market House is a 220-year-old landmark in the center of historic downtown Annapolis’ business district whose prime mission is to provide a gathering and shopping destination for those visiting the center city. Today, Market House is in the midst of an ongoing transformation to better meet the needs of those who shop, work, and visit Annapolis offering a variety of goods and services from locally-owned
businesses. For more information about Market House, please visit www.markethouseannapolis.com.

The Mayor, by all allegations, has been on a quest to establish her legacy. Here are the 2 things she has been trying to get people to remember:

1. Green-ness
2. Not the Market House

It has been speculated that she will attempt to use her green "credibility" to obtain some green-related cupcake employment at the state level after her term expires.

Now, the press release states that the Market House itself will host this event. Being a building, the Market House will probably have a problem identifying with the audience, which leads me to believe that a city official or at least some sort of animal will assist with hosting duties. I'm interested to see if the Mayor herself will host the event.

If she does, I can inform that the correct emotion to feel is anger. Notwithstanding the joy of new risk-taking businesses displaying capitalism at work, Ellen Moyer celebrating the success of the Market House is an oxymoron on the same scale of "mainstream blogger". The press release describes the city's continuous mismanagement of the Market House as an "ongoing transformation", a joke on the same scale as "financially successful blogger".

Cohen to Announce Endorsement

2009-08-11T10:06:00.001-04:00

....From the police.

Cohen To Make "Special Announcement" on Tuesday

2009-08-10T21:26:00.002-04:00

Greetings!

Please join Councilman Josh Cohen, candidate for Mayor of
Annapolis, for a special announcement this Tuesday, August 11, 2009 at 12 NOON
at the Court House, 7 Church Circle, Annapolis. Take a lunch break and
show your support for Josh! Please let us know if you
can join us.

I once made an off-color joke to Mrs. Politics that she didn't find so funny, prompting her to deliver a "special announcement" of quite another sort. Let's hope Josh has better luck.

I'll try and report on what he says.

City Finally Admits Sister City Program Isn't Free

2009-08-05T17:48:00.004-04:00

If the Department Of Economic Affairs is the pinnacle of needless government expansion, then the Sister City Program is the definition of misplaced priorities. The city is spending $5052 to teach 3 French students how to sail a 36 foot sailboat, part of the Sister City program with one of our sister cities in France.

The mayor visited France in the summer of 2007, when she went to Europe for 2 months, by boat, and learned about cognac and bicycles.

I have come to expect that money will be spent without regard to the economic circumstance of the city. I'm not surprised and I don't have much more to say about the arrogance and ignorance displayed by the administration. I don't care if it was "scheduled far in advance" or "part of a reciprocal program".

What I'm more interested in is that the city admits to spending money on the program. For a long time, the Mayor claimed that she and Aldermen traveled across the world on their own dime, which nobody believed. It was thought that the 'education and training' budget was tapped for the sister city program.

The article claimed that the trip was funded through the 'Sister City Program', but I could find no such program in the budget. What I did find in the budget was that the Mayor's personnel budget is up by 11%, and the Mayor's "other operating expenditures" were up 29% ($80,000)!!

You may also be interested to know that the Public Information budget is up 86%. The personnel budget for that office is more than $192,000....and there's only 1 full time employee.

Umm...are we being punked?!

Controversy Over Partisan City Manager Piece On City Web Site

2009-08-04T20:50:00.003-04:00

Occasionally you will hear me reference "email chatter". What happens is that various people appear on email distribution lists--some who are concerned about issues, some who like to hear themselves speak, and some who are elected and feel they need to provide inside information. Many issues of the day are debated over email chatter. Typically these emails are only good for clogging in-boxes and making people think that I'm important because my blackberry goes off all the time. But, at their best, these email exchanges actually produce enough annoyance to prompt action by a government official.

The other day, somebody involved in this email ring noticed a piece on the city Web Site by Alderwoman Finlayson defending the strong-mayor philosophy and condemning the city manager philosophy. "Facts" from supporters of the city manager were allegedly misrepresented, and the supporters (who are organized and have financial resources) were pissed. The city Web Site, they argued, should be for facts, and a response to this political trick was needed.

The next 20 emails or so were a combination of "this is only the beginning from this bunch" and "here's what you should do about the problem". Some pointed out that Finlayson was lying. Others said a pro-city-manager piece should be put on the web site. Others excused themselves, opting to pour and consume a Canadian Whisky with ice.

Yesterday's emails started out decrying the lack of democracy. Some pointed out the city web site is not supposed to be a giant press release. Others suggested the matter should go to the attorney general for ruling. I poured another glass of whisky.

I then missed some of the propaganda, because I was bidding for an item on Ebay, which I lost. Minor disappointment. When I returned to neglecting work and following emails, Alderman Arnett had agreed to post an opposition piece on the city web site. Unbelievably, somebody found a web site policy from De Pere, Wisconsin, and Alderman Cordle promised to introduce legislation proposing the city adopt the "De Pere model"! I immediately predicted an increase in worldwide whisky demand.

Greg Stiverson ascertained that the post on the web site was in violation of the following city web site policy:

The city maintains the website as a vehicle to communicate information to
citizens and visitors. The website is not maintained as a public forum for
debate of public policy issues.

So, now the piece has been moved off the city web site and onto the city Let's Talk "blog". Alderman Cordle still plans to draft legislation. Aren't you glad you read this post?

Here is the Let's Talk blog post and Finlayson's dubious presentation.

Renaut To Possibly Withdraw, Would Support McFall**

2009-08-04T20:31:00.005-04:00

**Super rumor alert. From this blog.

Hard to say how much weight this carries. Gil was a relative latecomer to the Democrat race, if I remember correctly. I could envision a scenario where he ran on behalf of his Ward 1 comrades to broker such a (city-manager-supporting) deal as this, and I could also envision a scenario where he ran because he knew he would have the Ward 1 votes, which just might be enough to win in a diluted primary race.

Edit: THIS says the rumor is fake.

Violent Crimes Down, Pristoop Deserves Credit

2009-08-03T16:42:00.005-04:00

The Capital reports that violent (type 1) crimes are down by 44% when comparing the first 6 months of 2009 with the same months of 2008. Type 1 crimes include murder, rape, assault, robbery, and reading blogs with advertisements on them. Just kidding.

So, why has this happened? Admittedly I'm not a keen enough observer to offer a detailed explanation, but I've got to believe it's because of Chief Pristoop. The Mayor offers little guidance:

It doesn't happen overnight. We've been trying to develop a willingness to
partner with police, especially where the inclination is not to partner with
police.

The results might not happen overnight, but it seems the trend did. At the end of Chief Johnson's tenure, crime went nowhere but up. A search of "crime" or "police chief" on this blog would give you more of a picture, but it goes something as follows. Crime was steadily increasing, but when a series of particularly disturbing crimes happened (in tourist areas), stuff started hitting the fan. The police department was famously understaffed, and while there was criticism for Chief Johnson, many attributed the problem to a lack of leadership by the Mayor. Rather than address problems brought up by HACA President Brown, Mayor Moyer identified what she thought was the problem: "I guess he doesn't know how to read".

BUT:

Moyer is still the Mayor...and crime is going down. And it started going down pretty much as soon as Pristoop took over. In economics, changes are often analyzed ceteris paribus, which means that every other variable stays the same except the one at which you are looking. It's one of the most improbably scenarios ever, but I'll tell you how it applies here. The assumption is that the 2 people most capable of reducing crime are the Mayor and the Chief. The Mayor stayed the same, the chief changed, and the level of crime changed. Conclusion: the chief is doing a good job. Chief Pristoop would agree:

This crime reduction is not an anomaly. We work very hard every day
... and we are going to continue to work very hard at reducing the exposure of
the community to violent and property crimes.

People are hearing less gunfire and seeing fewer people out there doing
street-level nuisance crimes. That is a true measure of a safer city. People
honestly believe and see improvement. I am hearing that every day.

I hope he keeps it up.

The World's Biggest Companies

2009-08-03T16:19:00.004-04:00

By market capitalization.

In case the print is too small:

1. PetroChina

2. Exxon Mobil

3. Industry and Commerce Bank of China

4. China Mobile

5. Microsoft

6. Walmart

7. China Construction Bank

8. Johnson and Johnson

9. Proctor and Gamble

10. Royal Dutch Shell

11. HSBC

12. PetroBras

If The Moyer Administration Is Our Guide, Property Taxes Need A Cap

2009-07-30T08:49:00.006-04:00

A couple of weeks ago Mayor Moyer took the offensive against critics who say property taxes have been allowed to grow too rapidly under her administration. Due to my extensive experience with having money taken by the government, I feel uniquely qualified to rebut some of the claims made by the Mayor.

The editors noted, accurately, that the city's property tax rate was last increased in 1999 to 68 cents and that today it is 53 cents. This is a 15-cent reduction, something no other jurisdiction has achieved over the last 10 years.

The Homestead Credit is what allows the Mayor to make this goofy claim. So, the amount of property taxes you pay is calculated by the tax rate times the value of your house. If either one of them goes up, your taxes will go up. For the majority of the Moyer administration, the value of your house went up like crazy. The fact that the tax rate went down doesn't mean the city saved you any money. The reason that other jurisdictions haven't lowered the rate that much is that they limit the growth of the taxable value of your house to 2% per year, and the city lets it grow at 10% per year.

During the same period of time when property values were going up statewide, the county tax rate was going up by 2.1 cents. In fact, the county tax rate over the last 10 years - at 54 cents in 1999 after going up to 56.1 cents in 2005 - is now 1.7 cents less than the 1999 rate.

By law, a resident of AA County cannot pay an increase in property taxes of more than 4.5% over the previous year. This is due to the tax cap. Here are the collected property taxes in the city, going back to 2002, and the percent increase over the previous year:

2010 $34,536,000 (budget) 9.6%
2009 $31,489,000 (proj) 11.7%
2008 $28,190,000 12.7%
2007 $25,011,400 7.6%
2006 $23,245,060 6.3%
2005 $21,862,569 7.9%
2004 $20,248,310 6.3%
2003 $19,049,000 4.7%
2002 $18,187,380

THIS IS CRAZY! The best way to increase city revenue is to successfully lobby the state and county for more money. You know this wasn't happening because the Mayor doesn't even talk to the county executive. The next best way to increase city revenue is to increase fees because at least people can control how much they use and reduce their cost (water, sewer, etc.) The worst way to increase city revenue is to raise property taxes, because the citizen has absolutely no control over how much they are paying without moving, which is really hard to do. Look at those percentages! Remember, if we were looking at the county, none of those percentages would be more than 4.5%. Property taxes increased more in the city than in the county in every year of the Moyer administration.

If you live in the city, your tax bill includes taxes for all three jurisdictions. As the assessed property value rose, the state property tax rate went up, the county property tax rate went up and the city's property tax rate went down 15 cents. The city could have done what most jurisdictions did, and simply maintained or increased the property tax rate to really take advantage of increased value.

This is the ultimate pot-calling-the-kettle-black situation. The city took massive advantage of increased home value, allowing their assessed base to grow by 10% per year. Lowering the tax rate "mercifully" lowered the increase in your taxes to, say, the rate charged by a car dealership--instead of the rate charged by my credit card companies. In 2008 and 2009, the city maintained the tax rate in such a ridiculous fashion that your property taxes actually went up by MORE than the 10% which is inconceivably arrogant.

The editorial ends with, "Does Annapolis need elected officials who will reduce spending - or a law that does it for them?" The last statement suggests the editors have already started an argument for the city tax cap, an idea that would certainly lower our excellent AA + Bond rating, eliminate our stable economic outlook and eventually bankrupt the city. If the tax cap is their agenda then the editorial is an example of manipulation of public opinion.

I recently made the argument that a good bond rating is at least partially a measurement of the city's willingness to stick it to the taxpayers. The increase in property taxes proves my point. Contrary to what politicians might say, good finances can actually be achieved by cutting costs as opposed to always raising taxes. Hopefully the next Mayor will realize this, but since they probably won't, we need a tax cap to realize it for them.

Mayoral Debate Last Night

2009-07-29T10:20:00.008-04:00

Paul Foer hosted a debate for Mayoral candidates last night, and you know the rule--when more than 1 candidate is in the same place, we write about it! Paul, realizing that writing about his own debate would constitute "100% bullshit", asked me to write a bit about the event. In return, I promised to keep the BS level to between 20%-44%.

All of the candidates were repeatedly invited. Six of the nine attended: Cohen, Fox, McFall, Pierre, Renaut, and Shropshire. Don't know where Cordle was. Don't know where Sears-Deppa was. Word is that Wayne Taylor was hosting his own meet and greet somewhere.

The debate was much more moderated than the recent HACA forum. Paul asked questions, either of his choice or submitted by the audience, and would interrupt candidates if they answered something that was not the question, or if they exceeded their time, or if they were "grandstanding". (Josh Cohen requested permission to grandstand, to which Paul replied "don't you always?"). The candidates were all able to practice avoiding a question when an audience member asked what they knew about "corporate memory" and "city employee hiring practices". Now, I switched from the business school to the behavioral & social sciences school halfway through college, but I have never heard of 'corporate memory'. The person who asked that question must have been some kind of consultant.

I thought the debate went well, with the first half focusing on general things, and the second half focusing on transportation. The candidates reaffirmed their positions on the city manager, and the budget woes. Regarding transportation, the general agreement was that the bus system, ADA compliance, sidewalk usability, and overall management of transportation was laughable. One could argue that Paul interjected a bit more of his own philosophy than was appropriate. One could more successfully argue that Paul has been building credibility on a wide variety of issues, and mentioned those issues to spur debate. One could most successfully argue that a bit of interjection made the debate entertaining, which is a requirement when listening to 6 people talk about the same thing for 2 hours.

Here's what I thought about the candidates' performances:

Josh Cohen:

Josh was characteristically somber and well informed on the issues. Perhaps in a reflection of his personality, he suggested that the reason the city and county haven't been able to get along is that the city has failed to approach the county in a position of humility.

Best Moment: Candidates were asked to distinguish themselves from the candidate sitting to their right, an apparent attempt to get them to attack each other. Josh was sitting at the end of the table, with nobody to his right, and Shropshire was sitting at the other end of the table. Josh got up and said "Sorry Sam, but you are not to my right". Get it? More liberal? Political humor!

Three Word Summary of Closing Statement: Development, Spending, Attitude.

Chris Fox:

Chris is looking more and more comfortable as he participates in more events. He hasn't had as much experience in political-type events, which actually benefits him at these events because he hasn't had experience lying to the public or failing to answer questions. He stuck to the platform he has been developing: let's save money wherever possible, let's bring professional city management, let's bring common sense to government: such as equipping buses with air conditioning.

Best Moment: When asked how he is different from the other candidates, he looked at the other candidates, smiled, and said "I'm the only one here who's guaranteed to be on the general election ballot". The audience laughed, as did the other candidates--certainly a nervous laughter that reminded them of their tough fight ahead.

Three Word Summary of Closing Statement: Common Sense Decisions.

Trudy McFall:

In 11th grade speech class, we could win our debates either on content or on "speaker points". I think Trudy did really well on speaker points. She smiled a lot, was engaging, and communicated her vision reasonably well. She made it a point to emphasize 2 things: her attendance and involvement in even the most laborious city meetings, and her experience running both public and private organizations.

Best Moment: "I started my business like most small businesses start--sitting with my co-founder at a desk in a small room with my entire life on the line, determined to make it work".

Three Word Summary of Closing Statement: Experience Running Organizations.

Zina Pierre:

Zina does well at these events and this was no exception. She doesn't support the city manager, but made efforts to reassure voters that accountability would be maintained under her administration. She seems to keep locals in mind, making sure to oppose the idea of moving a city ladder truck nearer to Parole, saying that seniors in a nearby 6-story high-rise would be put in greater danger.

Best Moment: When talking about transportation, Zina went on a bit of a tangent. Paul interrupted her, reminding her that the question was about her experience with the bus system. 'Our bus system sucks' was her response, and then she sat down, realizing that no further elaboration was needed.

Three Word Summary of Closing Statement: Reform, Revitalization, Reinvestment.

Gil Renaut:

Gil's style is what I envision my style would be were I to run for office. He answers the questions without a lot of flash or puff, and is able to convey vast knowledge of the issues and vast sense in approaching problems. He does well to position himself as a Democrat candidate somewhat unique from the other candidates, perhaps more conservative than his primary election opponents.

Best Moment: When talking about the city manager, Cohen said there would always be politics in local government, to which Gil responded 'I think we can take the politics out of potholes'.

Three Word Summary of Closing Statement: Bring People Together.

Sam Shropshire:

Sam was certainly the most grandiose of the candidates, offering passionate and typically idealistic justifications for his policies. In some instances he seemed to stick to his rehearsed views on general topics rather than address the specific questions, even when abruptly interrupted by Paul for doing just that.

Best Moment: An audience member asked about the Market House, saying 'how did this happen? It wasn't just the mayor...the council voted on it', to which Sam replied 'yes, there were 7 or 9 votes for Site Realty, but we were 7 or 9 unprofessionals and we didn't know what we were doing'.

Three Word Summary of Closing Statement: No Tax Cap.

Buy Local In Annapolis

2009-07-28T13:39:00.004-04:00

Patronizing locally owned businesses is hardly a new concept. In the days before sophisticated logistical networks, 'buying local' was the only thing you could do. Today, we have the choice to buy from locally owned businesses, regional or national chains, and even multinational corporations.

Efforts to formally support local businesses have begun to surface. 18 months ago, as part of a wild environmental bill, the city suggested it should pay a premium of up to 10% to purchase locally sold goods. And just last week, the Maryland Buy Local Week was honored by the Governor with a picnic.

I found out that people who support buying local also are prone to supporting environmental concerns, and I also learned that '350' is an important number in this arena. I believe that 350 ppm of carbon dioxide is the sustainable environmental amount. The person who told me this suggested that '350' can be applied to the buy local philosophy, perhaps with each of us spending $50 a month on 3 local businesses that we would like to see stick around.

Consequently, I have compiled a list of local businesses that I like, which I will list hear--with wards--for your convenience! Any person suggesting a business that I omitted will win an imaginary prize. Note: I have to agree that the business is good, a highly subjective exercise. Note #2: All good suggestions will be added to the list below. Note #3: '*' denotes a business that, if gone, would significantly affect my personal consumer habits.

Ward 1

Sly Fox Pub*
Paradigm
On Pointe Dance
Ruby Salon
Luna Blue
City Dock Coffee
WRNR radio*
Chick & Ruth's
Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre
Maryland Hall (the artists)
The Big Cheese
Dock Street Bar and Grill
Joss

Ward 2

Regina's
Giant Peach
Graul's*
West Annapolis Gallery (Liz Lind)

Ward 3

Caffe Pronto*
Annapolis Car Doctors*
Pit Boys

Ward 4

ummm...? The best I can figure, the only businesses in Ward 4 are the ones in the Ledo's/Five Guys shopping center, and, like, the car wash on Spa Rd. near the Severn Bank building. Didn't think that was ward 4, did ya'? You know what, they just added touchless washing. I'm there.

Ward 5

Wine Cellar in Clock Tower Place

There is also a butcher's shop there, and it's freeking awesome to have a butcher shop around because they are hard to come by. I've never been there, but I hope it's nice.

Ward 6

True Value Hardware (True Value is a chain but I believe they are locally franchised, plus there are only about 7 businesses in ward 6, all in that same shopping center, unless I'm wrong, which is rare)

Ward 7

Bay Ridge Wine and Spirits*
Mexican Cafe (honorary ward 7 member)

Ward 8

Davis' Pub
Lewnes' Steak House

Imposter Attempts To Sabotage Bowling Campaign

2009-07-21T17:09:00.002-04:00

Apparently, someone using a POP3 email server sent an email to the city clerk posing as Scott Bowling and purporting to withdraw from the race. The city clerk--who is one of the best city employees I have come across--immediately identified the false communication and notified the real Scott.

Scott's campaign sent out the following communique:

The rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated:

Dear Friends, Neighbors, and Supporters:

Earlier today, a fictitious e-mail was sent to City Clerk, Regina Watkins-Eldridge and copied to various media outlets. I want to thank the City Clerk for contacting me immediately to confirm that this e-mail was a malicious hoax. Her prompt and professional attention has precluded the damage that this e-mail intended to create.

The e-mail was created and sent from a free e-mail server by an imposter posing as me (although spelling my name incorrectly twice.) It attempted to indicate my withdrawal from candidacy for Ward 3 Alderman. The e-mail was replete with punctuation, grammar, spelling, and factual errors. It is shameful that someone would endeavor to waste the Clerk's time with this nonsense, and my campaign will be working with the proper authorities to investigate the origin of this e-mail.

I want to assure the voters of Ward 3 that I remain fully engaged in my candidacy. I look forward to meaningful debates on fiscal responsibility and accountability, the proposed tax cap, comprehensive planning, traffic, safety, and the need for a Council-Manager form of government with my fellow candidates. I appreciate the bipartisan support my campaign is receiving from the voters of Ward 3, demonstrating the importance of the issues in this election.

Baltimore Sun Profiles Chris Fox

2009-07-21T10:26:00.004-04:00

See HERE for the original article or read below for the text.

By Olivia Bobrowsky
July 19, 2009

Chris Fox landed his first job before he turned 7. He took up a paper route, mowed lawns, shoveled snow and then served hot dogs on a street corner in Washington from the age of 12 to 19.

In all those years, the 35-year-old Annapolis resident said he never wanted to get into politics.

That was before he left his stand, bounced around the hospitality industry and opened an Irish pub on Church Circle in 2002. Since then, repeatedly trekking up to city hall to fight business policies made him grow tired of the current administration.

He quit complaining in 2007 and started a petition to join the 2009 mayoral race. Five-hundred signatures later, the independent candidate is officially on the ballot.

"Our nation was founded by regular people who were mistreated by their leaders," Fox said. "We need to stand up and fight."

Although Fox's fight stems from his business grievances, his biggest issue concerns the proposed city manager form of government. He's encouraging Annapolitans to sign the petition to push forth the referendum, and said if he's elected, he'll hire a professional city manager right away.

But he clarified that it's not enough to change the title of city administrator and call it a day. If he's elected, he said he'll make sure the city manager focuses on day-to-day operations, including the budget - giving aldermen more accountability.

A city manager would have had the oversight to sidestep the Market House issue, he said. But it's too late for what-ifs, so Fox has developed a comprehensive, long-term plan for the property. He wants to divide Market House into two parts, a cold side and a hot side. A wall would separate a fresh market and deli from vendors who serve hot food.

"When you have pizza next to flowers and fudge, the airspace is never going to work," he said. A malfunctioning heating-and-cooling system led to a legal battle over the property in 2006. "I've had structural engineers look at my plan and they say it's very feasible and cost effective."

Fox urges the city to avoid a long-term deal regarding Market House until the next administration takes over. Then, he wants the space filled with locally owned and employed shops.

Annapolis' businesses come into play again as part of Fox's proposed solution to the city's public housing problem. He wants to get physically and mentally capable residents out of public housing and into local jobs through a tax credit program.

"It's not feasible for them to drive in a car to Baltimore or D.C. to go to work," he said. "Local businesses have to be part of the solution."

Eric Brown, the executive director of Annapolis' Housing Authority, said Fox's solution is "worthwhile" to explore, although it all banks on whether the city can afford it.

"The Housing Authority is looking to continue a partnership with the city with respect to enhancing affordable housing opportunities in the area," said Brown, who doesn't endorse any candidate.

In order to fund such a program, which Fox proposes would reward businesses with a one-time tax credit of $2,000 per public-housing resident hired, Fox emphasized the need to cut expenditures. For example, he said, the city's decision to spend $75,000 predicting where the water level will be in (ninety-)five years was excessive.

Still, he doesn't support the proposed cap on property taxes. He'd like to lower the taxes, if possible, but said imposing a limit is irresponsible.

"You can't handcuff local government into making necessary expenditures," he said. "What if they [government officials] have to raise taxes by a penny and they can't do it?"

All of these issues, he said, revolve around common sense, a message that's reflected in his campaign theme. If he were in office at the time, he never would have let Market House sign a 20-year lease with Site Realty, he said. And if he's ever in office, he'll make sure no business has to suffer all the little headaches he's had as owner of the Sly Fox Pub.

Joe Mack, an Annapolis real estate appraiser who has known Fox for about seven years, said Fox will serve the city well even though he's never been involved with politics.

"His lack of experience is one of his greatest attributes because he doesn't have any serious political affiliation," Mack said. "There's no room for partisan politics in a small city government."

Experienced people are the ones responsible for most of Annapolis' misfortunes, Fox said.

"We need someone who loves this town and has a good vision regardless of experience," he said. "I don't think anyone is more qualified."

Property Tax Cap!

2009-07-20T10:30:00.004-04:00

My favorite politician is Herb McMillan, mostly because I agree with almost everything he agrees with, but also because he gives it to you straight. I once attended a campaign meeting for Herb where he was soliciting advice, and his own father-in-law told him he had to stop coming across sounding so mean! I love it.

Perpetually the fiscal conservative, Herb has spearheaded an effort to put a tax cap measure on the ballot. I originally decided to support the measure blindly, as a political courtesy. When people began debating the issue, however, I realized that some research and factual support would be necessary.

Then, a local yokel published an anti-tax-cap column in the paper, which immediately gave me a forum to broach the topic. I will first deal with the column, as well as the "the county can do it" argument, the "the county can't do it argument", and the "everybody hates taxes until they start losing services" (liberal) argument.

Guest Column: Life in Annapolis will be less pleasant if city adopts tax cap

In his 1964 acceptance speech for the presidential nomination of his party, the Republican icon Barry Goldwater made the point that the American people had made the mistake of following "false prophets."

I already don't like where this is going. In an effort to prepare myself for what I expect to be the sour tone of this article, I've poured myself a cup of grapefruit juice.

His solution was to "return to proven ways - not because they are old, but because they are true." Goldwater was talking about conservative principles, but his words could be applied to present day "false prophets" who are disingenuously seeking to apply a "tax cap" to Annapolis city's efforts to fund its budget.

This is the second mention of 'false prophets', a term used in religion to as a part of a profound belief system. Relative to the notion of false prophets, a municipal tax cap is mundane, and those seeking to apply such a cap are not "disingenuous"; but rather, "logical".

Furthermore, Goldwater's reference to false prophets, while perhaps a lesser degree of profundity then biblical prophecy, still was used to define the most essential philosophy of conservatism: the value of freedom over collectivism. Here is the context from the speech:

In this world no person, no party can guarantee anything, but what we can
do and what we shall do is to deserve victory, and victory will be ours. The
good Lord raised this mighty Republic to be a home for the brave and to flourish
as the land of the free-not to stagnate in the swampland of collectivism, not to
cringe before the bully of communism.

Now, my fellow Americans, the tide has been running against freedom.
Our people have followed false prophets. We must, and we shall, return to proven
ways-- not because they are old, but because they are true.

We must, and we shall, set the tide running again in the cause of
freedom. And this party, with its every action, every word, every breath, and
every heartbeat, has but a single resolve, and that is freedom.

The initiative is nothing more than a right-wing ploy to make it impossible for elected officials to address the needs of the city. The ''I've Got Mine'' crowd currently pushing for this misguided legislation likes to portray their efforts as nothing more than putting limits on "government waste." The truth is that tax caps end up limiting the ability of state and local municipalities to maintain a just and workable society.

It's a conspiracy! Right-wing extremists say they just want to keep more of their hard-earned money, but we know they want our society to crumble beneath our feet! I, for one, will never forget that government is wise, and will look out for my family just as well as I could if I were actually able to control my own destiny!

P.S.: rich people smell.

In a recent article (The Capital, July 6), one of the leaders of the cap movement made the point that, "If the county can maintain schools and provide public service with a tax cap, then so can the city."

Statements like this show just how out of touch with reality the tax cap proponents are with the conditions in Anne Arundel County.

Note: the "county is/isn't doing it" argument will be covered below.

First off, anyone who knows anything about our schools knows we are not maintaining them on any acceptable level. Far too many of our children attend classes in substandard conditions. In addition, the system currently has a billion dollar maintenance backlog. The county executive's consistent answer to this tragic situation has been to throw up his hands and remind everyone that Anne Arundel is "a tax adverse county."

The city of Annapolis has a maintenance backlog without a tax cap, and without any semblance of a responsible homestead credit. City property taxes are allowed to rise meteorically. Conclusion: the maintenance backlog is more a function of management than constraints of a tax cap.

When a city limits taxation it makes the rich richer but at the same time it makes it difficult, if not impossible, to maintain the services and institutions that allow communities to remain viable.
If you don't believe it take a look at California, that state is currently operating under a misguided initiative instituted in 1978. This "cap" on property taxes has forced the Golden State to deny medical care to 1 million children, cut college scholarships, shut down countless state's parks, end benefits to welfare recipients and lay off thousands of state employees.

Enough! When a city limits taxation, it makes EVERYONE richer. Every time somebody wants to lower taxes, a liberal claims that essential services will grind to a screeching halt. Police, fire, and schools are not what will be cut; instead, maybe the government will stop paying over a million dollars to fix a door. And California? California! No doubt the state is experiencing losses related to business cycle downturns, but the cuts you mention have been driving the budget deficits that are crippling California. This from an article in The Economist on July 9:

High taxes, coupled with intrusive regulation of business and greenery taken to
silly extremes, have gradually strangled what was once America’s most dynamic
state economy.

Our American Revolution was fought largely to protest unjust levels of taxation. It is also true that politicians sometimes go too far in their demands for additional revenues. People of all political stripes need to understand there are times when it is both prudent and appropriate to raise taxes.

There is also a time where it is both prudent and appropriate NOT to raise taxes, perhaps when the entire world is in recession, unemployment is at it highest level in 26 years, NOW, etc. Frustratingly, most politicians don't understand this. Even if their idea to invest or spend more is not wholly awful and worthless, they feel pressure to make their name and fully ignore the timing of what they are trying to do.

Since the age of Ronald Reagan, countless false prophets have tried to make us believe we could have both low levels of taxation and a high quality of life. Unfortunately, modern schools, roads, and police and fire services cost money to maintain.

Note to scared readers: police, fire, and roads will still exist in the land of a tax cap. Remember that a tax cap doesn't even cut taxes!!! If you listen to liberals, you might think that the money taken from you by the government is decreasing!! GASP!! Not the case...the tax cap would only limit the growth of how much they can take from you (to the lower of the rate of inflation or 4.5% per year).

Those who tell us we can have the aforementioned and still place limits on the amount of revenue a county or city takes in are living in a dream world. When politicians go too far in raising taxes the problem should be solved through the ballot box.

It's too bad that the problem of confusing newspaper columns can't be solved through the ballot box. Here is a summary of the logic of that last paragraph:

essential services + limited government = dream world. (wrong logic)

politicians who raise taxes = should be voted out. (good logic)

taxes should be controlled by elected politicians and not a statutory mandate. (implied logic that if stated would have made the paragraph more understandable, although still wrong, because politicians cannot be trusted to spend money wisely as a general rule).

In short, when it comes to solving the modern day problems in our county the financial hands of our leaders are tied. If the residents of Annapolis are smart they will avoid making the same grievous error and ensure that city leaders have the ability to raise the revenues required to allow our city to grow, thrive and most importantly maintain the ability to meet the almost certain challenges of the 21st century.

If there is anything that our leaders have figured out, it's how to raise revenues (taxes).

I'm done with this columnist from Severna Park, but if you're not, you can read HERE.

"The County Does It, So Can The City"

This argument will be at the forefront of the argument made by supporters of the tax cap. The county executive described Anne Arundel County as a 'tax averse county', and the data would probably support that. The homestead credit is 2% (city of Annapolis: 10%), there is a property tax cap (city of Annapolis: no cap), and the piggyback income tax is 2.56%, which is the second lowest of all 23 Maryland counties.

Further support of this argument lies with the fact that the city does not have schools. The city's main operating expense is labor (about 85% of the budget), and the problem of maintenance backlogs can be addressed through the capital budget.

"The County Really Can't Do It"

Opposition to the tax cap argues the point that the county really can't sustain a tax cap. County budget officer John Hammond acknowledged that a "fair criticism" of the tax cap was the hardship it placed on keeping up with repairs, particularly to schools.

"People Always Complain About Taxes Until Their Trash Doesn't Get Picked Up"

I wish I knew how many unnecessary taxes were paid because some politician scared the voters into thinking that the hospitals would turn them away unless taxes were raised immediately. Governor O'Malley was able to increase sales taxes by 20% as a measure to balance the budget, only to concurrently pass some health bill that spent another $500 billion in new money.

The most important thing to remember is that the tax cap does not propose to cut tax revenue! It only proposes to limit its growth to what can be considered a fair level. If the city can't figure out how to maintain the same level of services with a guaranteed income stream that increases by 4.5% every year, then I will be happy to explain it to them for a very reasonable price.

Who Is Right?

I really, REALLY would like to say that supporting the property tax cap is a no-brainer. The only reason why it's a slight-brainer is that the city's only means of taxation is the property tax--they don't have sales tax, or income tax. Maybe it's because I had too much grapefruit juice, but I figure I should verify that the city's hands are sufficiently untied to meet the service requirement of the citizens. Tragically, I had to do some research, but I feel comfortable to present the reasons to support a property tax cap in Annapolis. While writing these reasons, you will see that many of them overlap with other aspects of city government, or perhaps reforms of city government. Issues don't exist in a bubble, and it's beneficial to see each issue as part of an overall vision of how local government should be executed.

-The city is not losing any money. Limiting the growth of something is way different than reducing it. I couldn't find data for Maryland (after looking for like 45 seconds), but judging by the national data, the rate of inflation will fall below 4.5% and be the cap on property tax revenue. The city can control the property tax rate, so they still have control over property taxes (subject to the cap). If you think inflation rates would be low and you wanted to play it safe, you could set the cap at the rate of inflation plus 1%, with a max of 4.5%. It would still be better than the current situation, which saw the budget increase by 6-8% in most years of the Moyer administration. In any case, the budget would still be allowed to grow.

-Services can be sustained. In other words, I am not convinced that the city is on the brink of financial disaster, and I am convinced that there are areas that can be cut before essential services would be affected. The Moyer administration was characterized with expansion, the pinnacle of which is probably the Department of Economic Development. With a director, a staff, and a healthy special projects budget, the department is good for over a half-million dollars in cost. And that doesn't include the rent on their building on West St., which is somehow listed as "0". Eliminating this department would be a great place to start, and would provide significant savings without affecting essential services.

-The city will be forced to become more efficient. There's nothing like a law to change the way you do things. How can the city become more efficient? Cutting jobs is certainly one way. To look a step further, there is perpetual talk about combining services with the county: police, fire, public works, etc. The county headquarters lies in city limits, for goodness sake. A tax cap would encourage the city to take a real look at this and could provide savings to the taxpayer.

-The city will have to find creative ways to secure revenue. 'Governments getting creative with revenue' is normally a scary thing, but the city is fortunately constrained by jurisdiction. Lobbying efforts to get money from the county and state would gain more importance, and fees for the Enterprise Funds (water, sewer, dock fees, parking fees, etc) would probably increase, but at least the taxpayer could control how much they use those services. Perhaps more importantly, the city would be forced to look to expand their tax base. This could come through annexation, or through property already within the city limits: public housing. Many Annapolitans would cite public housing as centers for crime in the city, and many would support a reduction in public housing. A property tax cap would certainly be better received if it was accompanied by a reduction in crime and an increased tax base.

-The city will have to find creative ways to cut costs. Similarly, I envision a world where the city would be forced to make a significant structural change to the benefit of the taxpayers. The number one driver of costs is labor (salaries and benefits), and the determinant of that is union contracts. A property tax cap would give the city negotiating position with the unions to say "hey, we can't give you everything you want, because we have to comply with this law".

-Lower property taxes will attract businesses. Since we will be eliminating the department of economic affairs, we have to figure out a way to develop the economy! Lower property taxes will do this. Lower property taxes will mean lower rents, lower fixed costs for businesses, and an easier pill to swallow for entrepreneurs making risk/reward decisions. With competition coming from the neighboring county, this would be a welcome change to the business environment in the city.

-City economic situation will reflect overall economic situation. As noted, reliance on transfers and grants from other jurisdictions would gain more importance. It has been shown that in tough economic times, these transfers are reduced. The city, therefore, would be forced to cut back in tough economic times, which is also a welcome change. As it is, politicians seem to be oblivious to current economic circumstances, willing to incorporate tax and fee increases without remorse.

-Maintenance projects can be funded by bonds, and debt payments could be excepted under the cap. A maintenance backlog has been cited as an example of why the county's property tax cap isn't working. An astute observer (meaning someone who read the top part of this post) would note that the city also has a backlog, and does not have a tax cap. Bond funding for maintenance projects would still be available! As the city will tell you, they receive a very favorable interest rate on bonds, minimizing the cost of borrowing that money. Furthermore, debt service can be exempted when computing the spending allowed by the tax cap. Along with a requirement that bond funding be used only for infrastructure projects, this would allow the cap to work while permitting investments in infrastructure.

Moyer, Miron, and Others Named In Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

2009-07-14T10:28:00.003-04:00

See HERE or HERE. Hat tip to Arundel Muckracker.

Here are the allegations as summarized by Eye On Annapolis:

-Mayoral Appointee Mike Miron approached her and other women asking if they wanted to see his “pussy”. (He was carrying a cat at the time)

-Mayoral Appointee Mike Miron routinely commented that because of her race (presumably) she would not have been allowed in certain establishments in years past

-Mayoral Boyfriend Dale Maddox reached under her blouse and groped her while the Mayor watched

-Mayoral Boyfriend Dale Maddox referred to her as “Aunt Jemima”

-Mayor Moyer refused to address the issues and despite having been a witness, claims she did not believe Ms. Blakeney

You Too Can Be A Blogger

2009-07-13T19:07:00.003-04:00

The only book that has permanent territory on my coffee table is called 100 Bullshit Jobs...And How to Get Them, by Stanley Bing. As a public service, and during this harsh unemployment, I am going to reproduce Mr. Bing's section on the number 13 BS job: Blogger. Fortunately 'lawyer' is also on the list of bullshit jobs, and I therefore have no fear of being sued for copyright infringement. Away we go.

Blogger

$$: Relatively small, but prospects for high-paying bullshit job in the future are virtually assured.

Bullshit Quotient: 92. Sometimes you piss off the wrong people.

(The maximum number is 200, and the only job in the book achieving this level is 'Being Donald Trump'.)

Skills Required: Ability to upload thoughts, vapors, resentments, insights, lack of insights, rumors, stuff you've heard, stuff you haven't heard, truth, lies, semifact, appropriated wisdom, logrolling, political and sociological venom, self-promotion, and other cultural effluvia on a blank screen day in and day out; must possess the impression that one's quotidian brain activity is of interest to others. Helps to be funny but when that is impossible, being hateful often suffices.

Duties: Write all day. Write all night. doo-dah.

Famous Examples: Wonkette. All the blogs owned by Murdochian online minimogul Nick Denton--Defamer in LA, Gawker in New York--tend to be the creme de la creme of the genre, with vast knowledge of who is attractive and vulnerable to abuse. Others, like Matt Drudge and Jim Romanesko, are not bloggers per se but packagers of other people's digital fart and, at times, actual journalism.

How to Get It: Set up a Web log by establishing a site. That is your blank slate. Don't leave it blank for long. Start writing, and by writing, I mean filling up the screen with words. Try to do this all the time. Let no notion or twinge go unexplored. After a while, your natural human tendency to be appropriate or kind or thoughtful or to edit yourself in any way will decay, falling away from you like a dead husk. This is good. When it's gone altogether, you'll find your output will be staggering. It's not that hard to write when the activity itself is the only job requirement.

The Upside: The is one of the bullshit jobs you can do immediately, with no training and no prior experience. You can also become very famous, since the established media, increasingly devoid of excitement and ideas of its own, has taken to siphoning off daily blogging activity as a much better and more interesting alternative to actual news.

The Downside: You need a full, daily dose of imagination, guile, bile, and people pouring nonsense into your head that you can repeat.

The Dark Side: Your skin glows an ethereal white, your eyes become rheumy and bloodshot. Hair erupts in horrendous places. You don't care. You are now nothing but a conduit through which pass all the rare gases of the universe. You are, in short, a blog.

Fox Officially Files Candidacy

2009-07-09T15:42:00.005-04:00

Yesterday, Chris Fox filed a certificate of candidacy, and officially became the first candidate to qaulify for the general election.

Candidates who run as a Republican or Democrat have to participate in the primary election process, and a continuously updated list of those candidates can be seen HERE. As an independent, Fox had to obtain 500 signatures from registered city voters, with a minimum of 5o from each ward. The signature drive took the Fox campaign to hundreds of doors in each of the wards, and its recent completion signifies a spot on the general election ballot.

I am providing you with the following press release for further enjoyment:

Chris Fox
www.FoxForMayor.com

Press Statement Contact: Devin Heritage
FOR IMMEDIATE RELASE 301-717-0167
JULY 2, 2009 devin@foxformayor.com

Independent Candidate Fox Officially Files Candidacy

Annapolis, MD – Chris Fox officially filed for candidacy to run for the elected position of Mayor of Annapolis, Maryland today. Fox is running as an independent candidate, which requires him to secure 500 signatures from registered voters in the City of Annapolis in order for his name to appear on the ballot this Fall.

On June 30, 2009, the City of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County approved Fox’s petition to run for Mayor of Annapolis. Fox is a longtime downtown resident and business owner that believes the partisan bickering at City Hall has only hurt residents of Annapolis.

“Republicans and Democrats vote along party lines; it is my fear that the council all too often considers other motives when voting on legislation.” Fox stated, “When voting the only consideration should be ‘What is best for Annapolis?’”

Fox plans to run a grass roots campaign focusing on a number of key issues but not limited to:

· A need for a City Manager form of government
· A reduction in property taxes through government transparency
· Creation of a thriving market place
· Providing a clear path through job placement for residents of public housing.

Bio for Chris Fox:

Chris was born in Prince George's County, the 13th of 16 children. He now resides in downtown Annapolis, where he has lived for the better part of the last 14 years.

After working in the restaurant industry around the country for several years, Chris opened Sly Fox Pub with his brother Andrew Fox in 2002. The brothers revitalized a historic property on Franklin St. and Church Circle, setting out to create a casual atmosphere to serve locals and offer a refreshing alternative to the downtown restaurant scene. It was this business venture that sparked Chris's interest in politics. Frustrated with the city's policies towards local businesses, Chris began to follow the political process. Fox soon came to the conclusion that being part of the decision process ultimately results in better solutions. It is this commitment that drives his mayoral campaign.

Chris is not what you would expect from a politician--far from it. Fox is what you would expect your neighbor to be: concerned about the community, unafraid to tell it like it is, and willing to fight for his beliefs. Fox understands that some may characterize his current political experience as a disadvantage, however, Fox feels the city of Annapolis can only benefit from a Mayor unbiased by party lines and focused on the needs of Annapolitans. Annapolis voters can bring about the day when an elected official is finally able to bring common sense to government.

Candidates Given 2 Days To Find Campaign Chairmen

2009-07-09T09:15:00.003-04:00

So far, I have memorized roughly 3% of the city code, and frequently quote it during parties and stand-up comedy routines. Since I am helping with a mayoral campaign, I made it a priority to read the city code about campaigns.

Most people know that campaigns need committees, and those committees need treasurers. However, there is another requirement in the city code regarding campaign staffing, and it is NOT a campaign manager. The code makes no reference to a campaign manager, and you don't have to have one. The code does make mention of a campaign chairman, who has to live in the city and meet certain other requirements.

Rumor has it that the city attorney was on the phone yesterday, informing candidates that their candidacies were invalid because they didn't have chairmen. Of all the candidates that filed for office, only 3 had chairmen listed on their applications. Why these applications were accepted in the first place remains a mystery. The ultimatum was: find a chairman by Friday, or withdraw the candidacy.

This marks a change in election code enforcement. The election code review committee, as well as chairs of the election board, lament that they have no teeth to enforce the code. The only means of enforcement was thought to be referral to the state's attorney for possible prosecution. You might remember that Alderman Sam violated election code by (1) not filing a campaign finance report because his apartment flooded and (2) used city hall chambers for a clear campaign event--only to have nothing happen.

I guess something happened this time. (I don't know if Shropshire's campaign was one of the offenders.)

Good Bond Rating Not Always Good For Citizens

2009-06-29T15:34:00.003-04:00

From time to time this blog features posts about "bonds", which many people will remember are secret tools of high finance that are given to people who are either (1) awarded an MBA or (2) sworn into public office.

The city, possessing access to these bonds, can periodically issue them for the purpose of raising money to pay for things. Since the bond is a loan from an investor, the city must repay the value of the bond plus interest in order to attract said investors.

So, how do we know how much interest is paid? One determinant is the city's bond rating, which is issued by Fitch's, a company that gets paid to come up with bond ratings. The city recently issued $26,970,000 in bonds, which were rated at AA+. (The highest rating is one level above this: AAA).

The city was quick to tout the AA+ rating, and the story is featured on the city website. From the whole report, the city selected some excerpts that they use to propagandize the public:

Fitch Ratings assigns an 'AA+' rating to Annapolis, Maryland. The 'AA+'
rating reflects the city's stable employment and tax base, strong financial
position, and moderate direct debt burden.

The city's financial condition is strong, characterized by ample
reserves in the general fund.

The Stable Outlook reflects Fitch's expectation that the city will
maintain a healthy level of financial flexibility through prudent fiscal
management, despite broader recessionary pressures and a softening real estate
market.

Now, a higher bond rating typically means a lower interest rate that the taxpayers have to pay back to the investors, which is a good thing. And, the report points out several features of city finance that are indeed good. BUT, a good bond rating is not always a good thing!

A bond rating is solely a measure of the city's ability to repay its bondholders in the future. Potential investors can then use the rating to assess the default risk of a bond, and can determine the rate of return they need to receive to take on the risk of loaning money to the city. A bond rating is a pricing mechanism--it reflects certain financial practices of the city, BUT IT ALSO REFLECTS THE CITY'S ABILITY TO STICK IT TO THE TAXPAYERS. A spend-happy city could still receive a good rating if they've proven they are committed to raising more taxes. This could be accomplished through rising home values, higher tax rates, or development of new taxable properties. Take a look at some of Fitch's specific observations:

City efforts to expand and diversify the tax base through redevelopment and
periodic annexations have been successful, with the recent opening of the Park
Place mixed-use development, which includes a 225-room Westin hotel.

Long-term development prospects are constrained due to the limited land
area and the large portion of the city that is considered historic.

So, to maintain a good bond rating, the city's first option is to expand the tax base by allowing development. Is this a good thing for citizens? Many would say no--think 1901 West. As the land becomes more scarce, the city will be pressured to either reduce spending or raise the tax rate. Which do you think they will do?!

Beware the sound of one hand clapping.

City Council Public Hearing 6/22/09: Live Blog

2009-06-22T18:52:00.028-04:00

Due to family obligations, I typically can't attend city council meetings, or anything else that happens on Monday nights. I can watch meetings on television and blog the telecast, but you might realize that at that point I would be blogging from my living room with no interaction with the underlying events, and perpetuating a stereotype that the International Bloggers Association, Local 505 has been trying to fight for some time now.

Much like George Washington, I have stepped up in a time of need. Showing great heroism, I bring you--back by popular demand--a great post--the people's post--a live blog!

6:56

The VIP section is already full and there aren't any chairs for Tony Evans. Effect on entertainment: -6.

6:59

There are a lot of people here, and I suspect they are not going to talk about anything on the public hearing agenda (ten year water and sewerage plan, the comprehensive plan, and support for the MD theatre for performing arts at park place). The Annapolis Business Association has been publicizing tonight as a chance to speak on R-47-09, which is a bill on first reader tonight that proposes to delay the implementation of new parking fees until August 1. I have been put on rumor alert that there may be an attempt to "fast track" the bill tonight, whereas "fast track" is defined as suspending the rules and voting on a bill all 3 times without a public hearing as would normally be required by, umm, the rules.

7:02

Breaking News! A member of the VIP crow--one who is actually a Mayoral candidate--just blackmailed me! He wouldn't let me plug in my laptop unless I updated him on an upcoming announcement from TV "reality" couple John and Kate (plus 8). They are getting divorced.

7:08

8 Minutes late so far. Effect on Entertainment: -4. However, there are a whole lot of people here, so the possible entertainment value could be high.

7:17

Just started. Standing room only crowd. There is somebody here talking about reusable grocery bags, for reasons known only to Sam Shropshire and Walter Williams*.

(*Walter Williams knows everything).

7:21

The Mayor is making a point to tell everyone that there are 3 bills on the agenda for public hearing. This is important because she knows that EVERYONE is hear to talk about the parking fees, and she wants to let them know that they are out of order.

For the first bill on public hearing, O-25-09, nobody testifies.

7:22

Alderman Paone asked the Mayor to change the agenda to take parking fees, because he has sense. The Mayor refused, because she has power. Alderman Cordle seconded Alderman Paone's motion, and Alderman Paone's shoulders were tired (from carrying Alderman Cordle...get it!! Funny.)

7:24

Alderman Paone just referenced the "possible" suspension of rules that I talked about earlier. This is why Alderman Paone has a fan club and nobody else does. Actually, I think I created a fan club for 1 other person, but I will have to check the blog archives to see who it was.

7:27

Something just happened that represents everything that is wrong with the management of the city. Alderman Finlayson said "don't we have to operate under a balanced budget, meaning if we take away the parking fee money, don't we have to find another way to get the money?". A normal person might say "yes, just cut the freeking budget! we all have to sacrifice". Alderman Stankivic, however, said "we can do what we did in the past: ask the finance director to shimmy things down". ASK THE FINANCE DIRECTOR TO SHIMMY THINGS DOWN! THIS IS HOW CAREFULLY THEY ARE SPENDING YOUR MONEY.

7:31

Alderman Arnett: "I have not yet heard of a mechanism" to make up the money in the budget if we cut these fees.

7:34

The mayor just asked Bob Burden to review some parking law called "12-04" and come up with revisions to the law. Following suit, I called my mortgage broker and asked him to choose a color to paint my guest bedroom. Tomorrow I will call to tell him that I don't have a guest bedroom. I don't even like guests.

7:36

Mayor: "Certain city employees are like certain business employees and cannot park elsewhere...they are in and out, in and out." This is in reference to the point that nearly 200 spaces in the Hillman garage are taken up by (non-paying?) city employees, in addition to the monthly passes held by businesses (that pay for them).

7:41

It's hard for me to hear because (1) the PA system is not that good and (2) the VIP crowd in the back is mumbling things under our breaths as if we have a crystal ball and already know each and every correct course of action for the next 25 years.

7:43

Listening to the council (and listening to the person sitting next to me*, from whom I am about to steal this quote), the council ONLY CARES ABOUT THE MONEY. They could give two 'you-know-whats' about the affect on business.

(*not the same person that blackmailed me).

7:44

Ok, R-47-09 passed on first, second, and third readers with the following attributes:

1. an amendment saying they have to find another funding source OR cut spending to equal the money they are losing for delaying the fees one month.
2. WITHOUT public testimony.
3. WITH a suspension of the rules that prevents public testimony.
4. 9-0 unanimous vote.

Implementation of parking fees are delayed one month.

7:49

Back to public hearings, now concering the comprehensive plan (R-32-09).

Citizen: "expand Aris T Allen to 3 lanes and put a 3 lane traffic circle at Forest/Chinquapin Round Road."

Mayor: "Forest Dr. is a county road. We have no control."

Doug Smith: "Specific Goals: 1. relocate 30% of parking spaces off of city dock by 2013. 2. Find a possible tram route and acquisition of property in next 2 years."

Mayor: "For your information, this is already planned and looked at."

Me: "Specific goal number 3: create City Economist position and fill it with a qualified blogger/amateur economist".

(8:01)

Arnett just worked in a mention of the Rules Committee. Kudos for that.

McFall: "Reduce amount and density of development. Limit most buildings to 1-3 stories tall".

8:06

Alderman Paone has not said anything for a while. I suspect he is planning for a break-out moment. I am waiting for confirmation that Aldermen Hoyle and Finlayson have said anything all night....discretion is the better part of valor? Whatever. Also noteworthy, Alderman Sam has not yet addressed the viewing audience; tens of viewers remain neglected.

Alderman Stankivic (to McFall): "If I hear you correctly, we should not be considering the principles of smart growth?"

McFall: "nothing smart about level of development in the comp. plan".

Shropshire: just referenced 4.2 million tourists, but not the viewing public.

Citizen: "appalled at scale of development".

Wardour Improvement Association: "less density. limit of 3 stories tall in West Annapolis 'opportunity area'. no tall buildings on Rowe Blvd".

West Annapolis Civic Association: "my thunder was seriously stolen (by the Wardour guy)".

8:35

Whoops, Alderman Finlayson said something.

8:36

It's ok, it's ok...she meant to do it.

(still public hearing for comprehensive plan.)

Bowling: "What is the impact of growth on education?", "low density and short buildings on West St. gateway".

8:42

I just looked up a section of the city code for fun.

8:42:30

Halfway through I realized it was not as much fun as I had hoped.

Alderman Arnett just referenced the rules committee, again. Enough is enough.

Samaras: "Use Samaras property for mix of recreation, local business."

Liles Creighton: "one of the clearest comprehensive plans ever seen, if not agreed to."

Liles Creighton: "annex land on West St. and up Aris T. Allen Blvd."

Liles Creighton: "plan fails to recognize that city is part of a larger entity called Greater Annapolis"

Last Liles comment: smart.

LC: "forget rail transportation."

Alderman Shropshire: "During my college days, I worked in France for 4 summers and stayed in hostiles." 3 sentences later, Alderman Sam was talking about streetcars. Amazingly quick transition.

Mike Dye: "traffic affects me every day."

9:15

Shropshire (to Stankivic): "Let me talk, Can I talk?"

Stankivic: "You're talking"

Shropshire: "Well, cut the acting"

Funny.

(still a public hearing on the comp. plan)

Citizen: "you will not find a single citizen who wants 4 story buildings."

Shropshire: "We need more section 8 housing."

9:46

One citizen has been testifying for, probably, 30 minutes. I stopped paying attention after 12 seconds, and I do not apologize for that.

Cohen: "What if transit funding is not there?"

9:53

Alderman Cordle just stepped out. Is he leaving? If I'm still here, he'd better be here.

9:55

He's back.

Arnett: "Transportation is lynch pin of this comprehensive plan."

Shropshire: "County needs to lift the tax cap." He suggests that the county give the city money for transportation after lifting the cap.

The hearing for the comp plan is over! Now, hearing for R-33-09: Support of the Maryland Theatre for the Performing Arts at Park Place.

Bob Burdon: Yes.

Park Place Residents: Yes. "The theatre is the star attraction of the Park Place community."

Park Place Lawyer: Yes. "1200 seat facility will house all types of performances."

Scott Bowling: Yes.

Citizen: Yes.

Ok...I'm done with this hearing. I am leaving to go get some food.

Scott Bowling Hosts Successful Fundraiser

2009-06-22T11:17:00.003-04:00

Scott Bowling, the Republican Aldermanic candidate in the Great Ward 3, hosted a successful fundraiser over the weekend at his home on Fairfax Rd. The fundraiser was billed as a "birthday bash", despite the fact that Scott's real birthday was some 2 weeks earlier! You see, all fundraisers use some level of trickery to attract people. The 2 main gimmicks are either to make the event itself sound really really fun, or to have a really really interesting person headlining the event. I suggested the Sidewalk Tax 1 Year Anniversary as the theme for this fundraiser, but was overruled by the planning committee.

The event was well attended, enjoying the presence of of several elected officials, including civic association presidents, central committee chairmen, and mayoral candidates from all 3 political affiliations. Braving oppressive humidity, Scott's remarks focused on Ward 3 and city-wide issues, with particular emphasis given to the importance of a council-city manager form of government. "The first bill I want to vote for as the new Alderman from Ward 3 is a charter amendment bringing a true City Manager to Annapolis" is something that Mr. Bowling may or may not have said.*

(*It's a blog...accurate quotes aren't important.....fine, don't worry, it's pretty close.)

Mrs. Politics attended the event with me, and in a stunning development, was identified by an event guest! This blog's security hasn't been that compromised since Tony Evans glanced over my shoulder while I was writing a live-blog at a recent city council meeting. Luckily, after verifying that Mrs. Politics was a real person and not some character I created to increase the blog's ratings, the guests had to leave and the threat was averted.

I hope you will join me in supporting Scott Bowling to bring a much needed change in vision to the council.

Finlayson Makes Mindless Comment, Prompts Competition In Ward 4**

2009-06-17T09:07:00.001-04:00

**The Second Part of this post's title is actually not true, but I've been told that there's such thing as a self-fulfilling prophecy, and I'm out to test that hypothesis.

So, people know about the infamous parking fee increase that threatens to stifle any momentum that downtown businesses may have. In response to the concerns of businesses, the Economic Matters committee apparently held a hearing to discuss what they could do about the "problem". (Problem is in quotation marks because the city council really wants to do this, and only considers it a 'problem' because people are making complaints, which they have to hear.) At this hearing, Ward 4 Alderman Sheila Finlayson took the opportunity to say the most unfortunate comment of 2009:

"One mistake I think is we didn't get everybody to the table," said Alderwoman
Sheila Finlayson, D-Ward 4. "We really didn't take into consideration the
impact (the fee increases) had on residents."

My goodness.

"I sold the business but one mistake I think I made was not telling my boss".

"I got a divorce but one mistake I think I made was not bringing my wife to the table. I really didn't take into consideration that she was part of the marriage".

"I write a blog claiming to be an economics savant but I really don't take into consideration the fact I was denied entrance into the University of Maryland PhD program in economics."

Unbelievable.

In typical city style, the Finance Committee wanted to glom on at the last minute, and tried to piggyback on the meeting that the E.M. committee was already having. Problem: even the guy who pays the bills didn't know about it:

Aldermen nearly broke state open-meetings rules last night as they debated
the fee increases.

The Finance Committee chairman, Alderwoman Classie Hoyle, D-Ward 3,
tried to schedule a joint meeting with the Economic Matters Committee last
night. City officials posted a notice about the Finance Committee's meeting on
the city Web site Sunday night.

State rules require elected officials to post public notice about pending
meeting at least 24 hours before the meeting is to convene.

Finance Director Tim Elliott, who returned from New York yesterday,
said he did not know of the Finance Committee meeting until yesterday morning.
He cautioned Hoyle that the Finance Committee would not be able to take any
action if members met last night.

Hoyle "can call a meeting if they want," he said. "They just can't make
any formal recommendation to the committee."

Two of the three members of the Finance Committee were unable to attend
the hearing anyway.

At first I thought that last sentence meant they had a meeting with only 1 person attending, but then I just figured that Hoyle sat in on the Economic Matters meeting. Maybe this time they can consider the residents.

Einhorn Is Finkle....FINKLE IS EINHORN!

2009-06-16T14:10:00.003-04:00

Ten thousand (that's 10,000) awesome points to the first person that identifies the reference made in the title of this post. For those of you that may not know, awesome points are given out whimsically by me and can be redeemed for the following rewards:

--20,000 awesome points: You get an extra 30 seconds of time to testify at city council meetings, and can ignore the buzzer when it goes off. You will notice that many people redeem their awesome points in this fashion.

--40,000 awesome points: You get a spot in the 4th of July Parade AND an autographed copy of Sister Cities, a blog post by Mayor Moyer.

--60,000 awesome points: You get a spot in the Market House.

Now to the reason for this post: a letter to the editor. Original text is in bold, my comments are in normal font.

The platforms and issues of the Annapolis mayor's race are covered in detail in the Internet.

True.

Every candidate in the race has a Web site and they are well done.

Also true.

It would be redundant for the paper to rehash what is already out there and available for free. However, we have just one place to go for local news and that's the paper. The accusations by a mid of a fourth degree sexual offense and assault by a City Council member is certainly newsworthy and deserving of coverage.

Now, I'm going to go along with him here. One could make a Leopold, a time-tested argument espoused by a politician that maintains an elected official's private life is none of the public's business. However, coverage of this event is warranted because (1) there is potentially a crime involved and we don't want our elected officials committing crimes and (2) it is a portrait of character and the character of a person is probably highly correlated with how well they can represent a group of people (constituents).

Lately we have seen a lot said and written in support of Sam Shropshire by Ellen Moyer and other City Council members. We have seen nothing written in defense of this midshipman. However, this is Annapolis. This is a Navy town. We all know what it takes to be a midshipman.

For those of you who don't know what it takes to be a midshipman, I have compiled a list:

1. recommendation of a Congressman
2. the things listed HERE
3. a massive disposition for chocolate milk (this is based on a year-long case study I conducted while working at Mangia's, a restaurant frequented by midshipmen)
4. above-average command of one or more of the following: self-discipline, leadership, intelligence, patriotism, physical fitness, and lactose tolerance

We all know that this young naval officer is worthy of our respect. We do not believe that after four years of hard work at the academy this young officer would throw it all away to level unprovoked baseless and spurious allegation against an Annapolis City Council member.

Now, I hesitated to write what I'm about to write, but decided to do so under this blog's 'devil's advocate' policy.........you know what, I'm overruling that policy. Let's just hope we understand the facts as they exist.

I think the mid in question is believable and Mr. Shropshire has gotten our benefit of the doubt too many times.

This is an interesting point. The court of public opinion is forced to take sides between two entities that traditionally have enjoyed the benefit of the doubt. Based on what you know, it's a matter of who you believe (until you know the facts).

For instance, why does Mr. Shropshire represent himself as happily married with children when his wife and child have lived 4,600 miles away from him for the last 10 years? Why has Mr. Shropshire periodically used the alias "Jeff Collins"? What is he hiding from? He has never given us a believable answer to these questions. Why should we believe him now?

Ok, here is the Jeff Collins story as I know it. If any of you know it better, you can chime in. Alderman Sam was originally known as Sam Shropshire. When he moved to Annapolis, however, he was known as Jeff Collins. It was during this time that Alderman Sam worked as the director of the Love and Action Network. At some point Sam left his work with this organization, and laid low for a while. Upon his re-emergence Alderman Sam was again known as Sam Shropshire, a name that he had not before used while in Annapolis. To those who had known him as Jeff Collins, he explained that the name was an alias he used to avoid persecution from Czechoslovakia, where he had worked in the past and met his wife. Tired of keeping secrets, he had decided to assume his birth name.

Much of the speculation has arisen, as I understand, because the change of alias happened so coincidentally with Alderman Sam's political career. Up until 2005, through his time on the Democrat Central Committee, Alderman Sam was known as Jeff Collins. However, in July of 2005, a party was held to "retire" the name Jeff Collins, and re-establish the name Sam Shropshire. This was merely a few months before Sam became Alderman Sam, as he was elected Ward 7 Alderman in November of 2005. Although I wasn't not personally paying attention to that election, people who were recall confusion about who was running--they knew the face of Jeff Collins, but saw "Sam Shropshire" on the ballot. It seems that the confusion persists to this day.

We need the paper to tell us more not less when it comes to issues as important as this one.
PATRICK J. HENNESSY, Annapolis.

Mr. Hennessy clearly has followed the situation closer than most. I checked the Republican National Committee mainframe to see if he was a certified Republican Operative, with no results. In any case, I would agree that the public interest would be served with a little more investigation.

Markets Going Up Everywhere, Except The Market House

2009-06-10T11:33:00.003-04:00

And by "everywhere", I mean in 2 more places. We recently learned that new farmers markets are starting in West Annapolis and in the parking lot of the Tawes building, which is across from the courthouse with the roman columns that hold up nothing.

I found in The Sun a convenient listing of some other farmers markets already in existence, and using that information, I have compiled a list of current known farmer's markets within like 15 minutes of the Market House:

-Downtown in the city valet parking lot (Does this still go on? I think so.)
-Tawes building
-West Annapolis
-Riva Road
-Ritchie Highway
-The Mall
-Piney Orchard

(Note to readers: there is no market in the Market House.)

Now, it would be best if the same market operated in the Market House everyday, because they wouldn't have to start from scratch every time they set up (since they would be there continuously). But, if that can't happen for some city-bureaucrat-red tape-related reason, why can't we find the people that already operate markets, and ask them to set up one day a week in the MH?

(Note #2 to readers: While writing this post, I forgot about the rice I was cooking. The water evaporated, and the pan starting smoking, setting off the smoke detector and bringing upon a call from the alarm company! To prevent them from dispatching the fire department, I had to give them my code, which was conveniently not the code I use on the alarm keypad to activate/deactivate the system. Cleverly, I stored the correct code in a secret bunker in my house known only to me and Dick Cheney, which I accessed to prevent the frivolous emergency activity. Now knowing that today was not a rice day, I substituted cous cous, which is just as good. All is well.)

So anyway, the Market House needs a market.

Appeal For City Manager Signatures

2009-06-08T13:17:00.002-04:00

Below is the email being circulated by the organizers of the City Manager Petition, in conjunction with the letter published in yesterday's Capital.

Dear Annapolis Voter:

Thanks to a growing interest in our efforts to bring professional City Management to Annapolis, we are well on our way to reaching our goal of having this initiative appear on the November 2009 ballot.

Before that happens, however, we need to collect the signatures of 20% -- about 5,000 -- of the registered voters in the City of Annapolis. To that end, we have just mailed copies of the “Petition for Charter Amendment” to voters throughout the City, along with a letter explaining the need for a City Manager form of government and a letter of endorsement from most Aldermen,

Those letters and Petitions should be in your mail box soon and it is HERE that we need YOUR help.

Since many people have an e-mail list of friends, family and neighbors who live in the City of Annapolis, we are asking YOU TO, PLEASE, FORWARD this important message to City residents on your e-mail distribution list. Please try to notify your contacts in the next few days, if possible, so your message will be received about the time the Petition will be delivered.

This simple process should help us maximize our efforts to reach – and encourage – as many people as possible to support this important initiative. It is also important for voters to know that signing the Petition NOW, is neither a vote “for” nor “against” City Management. It will simply allow the issue to be placed on the ballot and VOTED ON by the citizens of Annapolis. That is the essence of democracy.

Thank you, in advance, for your help and cooperation.

Bill Kardash and Doug Smith
Co-chairmen
Annapolitans for a Better Community
111 Annapolis Street
Annapolis, MD 21401
www.ABCcitymanager.org

Mayor Seeks Sole Authority To Negotiate Market House Leases

2009-06-06T11:17:00.002-04:00

At Monday's city council meeting, the Mayor is set to introduce R-44-09, which would give her sole authority to negotiate short-term leases with new Market House tenants. 'Short-term' is defined in the bill as expiring on or before January 3, 2010.

My favorite part of the bill's language is this bit:

Whereas, it is necessary for the Mayor to negotiate and execute short-term
leases with new Market House tenants to ensure successful operation of the
Market House.

Funny, since it was the Mayor's negotiation of a long-term lease that ensured the failure of the Market House, uncountable lawsuits, and a taxpayer-funded bailout of the city's interest in the property.

The city has, for obvious reasons, expressed interest in getting tenants into the Market House ASAP to accommodate the current tourist season. "We should not be delaying the visibility of the businesses even in the short-term", the mayor recently quipped, arriving at an epiphany. For this reason, don't be surprised if this bill gets the fast-track treatment. A normal bill would be passed on first reader, sent to committee, given a public hearing, then voted on--normally a 3-meeting process. I predict a suspension of the rules, and a passage of this bill on Monday night. After all, the Mayor needs to act quickly to save the Market House!

Polling Places Set For 2009....So What About Next Time?

2009-06-05T15:42:00.002-04:00

From sources close to the situation, I understand that there have been some problems with the location of city polling places. Despite the strong educational (lobbying) ties enjoyed by a couple members of the council, most polling places located at public schools remain off limits.

I am going to publish a list of the new polling places now--not because I think you don't know, but because I foresee a need to reference this list, and I would much rather search for it on my own website as opposed to any other.

In parentheses are the previous locations.

Ward 1:
Maryland Hall (Bates Middle)
Parks and Rec Building on St. Mary's St. (Annapolis Elementary)

Ward 2:
Trinity United Methodist Church (Germantown Elementary)
Taylor Ave. Fire House (West Annapolis Elementary)

Ward 3:
Who Cares!
Just Kidding.
City Department of Transportation (Parole Elementary)
West St. Library (Same)

Ward 4:
Heritage Baptist Church (Same)
American Legion Building (Same)

Ward 5:
Salvation Army (Annapolis Middle)
Salvation Army (both precincts will vote here instead of just 1)

Ward 6:
Mt. Moriah AME Church (Tyler Heights Elementary)
Eastport Community Center (Same)

Ward 7:
Georgetown East Elementary (Same, apparently for both precincts, because no suitable location could be substituted and the law required the school's use)

Ward 8:
Eastport Fire Station (Same)
Eastport Fire Station (Eastport Elementary)

The mayor has been quoted as saying that the changes could cost the city $200,000. Special elections, which happen when sitting Aldermen leave their posts to run for other offices, cost the city something like $50,000 each I think. You may be sensing a need to explain why the city has elections in odd years.

I asked at least 1 person if they knew when or why the city started breaking with the election cycles of other jurisdictions, and that person didn't know. Since asking more than 1 person would make this blogging thing a profession rather than a hobby, I quickly ended my quest for this answer, and watched a rerun of Hey Dude.

Here are the reasons why it might be beneficial to keep the city elections on the same cycle:

-It's hard to change the process and nobody can agree on the way to do it.
-Having the city election as the only one going on at a particular time means people will pay more attention to it and it won't get lost in other campaigns.
-Voters are theoretically more educated because they are focusing only on one election.

And here are the reasons why the city might want to change the elections to align with the elections the county, state, and/or national government:

-It saves money because the county will already have to set up the polling places.
-We wouldn't have a problem finding polling places......you guessed it, because they will already be in use.
-Elected officials looking to further their political career won't have to resign if they are elected (since the election won't be in the middle of their aldermanic term).
-Voter turnout would be higher and city officials will be elected by a higher percentage of the voters.

Hopefully I haven't missed any major reasons.

For me, the city should share an election cycle. Political apathy is no doubt a problem, but the reduction in that problem is outweighed by the new problems created by an off-year election. And if any Aldermen are reading this, you can't try and extend the term you are already serving.

Letters To The Editor!

2009-06-04T09:58:00.003-04:00

One of my favorite blog formats involves letters to the editor, generally submitted to The Capital. I reproduce the text of the letter, then provide accurate, witty, and insightful commentary in response to the points the letter writers are trying to make. The benefits of such are a format are twofold:

1. I can engage in a debate without giving the person I am debating a chance to respond, which makes it much less stressful for me.

2. Letter writers feel compelled to write about a variety of issues, which gives me the chance to comment on many issues that would otherwise be irrelevant.

Today, we have 2 letters. Let's begin!

I noticed gasoline prices are slowly climbing up again, a few cents more every few days.

I recently noticed Mrs. Politics was slowly taking more and more pennies out of my piggy bank, but you don't see me complaining.

On Sunday night the gasoline was $2.39 and on Monday morning the same gas station had changed it to $2.45. I cannot understand why gasoline would go up from a Sunday night to a Monday morning by 6 cents.

I have a bad feeling about where this letter is going. As one former Ward 1 Alderman infamously said, 'I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you.'

When I asked the Maryland Department of Energy (Director Woolf) this question I was transferred four times to a different phone line, and after that I received no answer.

My goodness. OVERREACTION. Even if you assume that the state department of energy knew why a single gas station raised it prices, and even if you further assume that they could do something about it, a gas price increase of 2.5% justify a call to a government agency when gas prices have famously been up and down to the order of 100% in 1 year? (Answer: no.)

It seems that nobody can explain to me why the gas is going up again in the past few weeks. All I wanted was a simple explanation. I tried asking the gas station owner, and everyone gives you a different answer.
KATHY, Annapolis

For everything you might want to know about gas prices, click HERE. But, Kathy, you asked for a simple explanation, so I'm going to give it to you. There are only 2 possible reasons why the price of gas might have changed:

1. supply
2. demand

Retail gas stations are one of the most awesome studies in capitalism one could want. There are basically an unlimited amount of places that could sell you gas, all of those places sell the same thing, and the price of that thing is posted on a huge sign. The risk of collusion amongst gas station owners, as well as the risk of arbitrary or predatory pricing, is low. If one gas station raises the price, you can go to another station, and the original gas station will not make any money.

So, why specifically may the price have gone up? Here are some possible reasons:

-increased demand for Memorial Day Weekend
-increased demand due to summer/vacation traveling
-increase in the price gas stations have to pay to get the gasoline

I suspect if you look at recent economic news you will find evidence suggesting some combination of those things is at work.

And on to the next letter.

On the night of May 29, I was astonished to see the platoon of local police and state troopers loitering the Dock Street area.

Do platoons exist in police forces? Also, it is not so astonishing to see police officers on patrol near a crowded area.

The officers, who were decked out in their tactical body armor as if an invasion was imminent,..

an imminent invasion?

..blatantly parked their cruisers in the middle of the street. While the officers focused their attention to the pretty women waiting to get inside the bar, vehicular traffic was forced to zig-zag around their cruisers.

I get the feeling that this guy really doesn't like the police. So far he has characterized them as being in a military unit and wearing body armor, all the while chatting up bar-going ladies. I often wear body armor when talking to women, for reasons I wish not to reveal.

The scene immediately reminded me of the Gestapo during World War II or the Berlin border of 1985.

Ah yes, I remember that the main complaint against the Gestapo was their disruption of traffic patterns.

At what point did the city of Annapolis sacrifice freedom for security? I completely understand the importance of projecting an image of security for the people of Annapolis. This method projected fear, not security.
ANTONIO, Annapolis

Allright. First of all, it sounds like they were actually providing security, rather than "projecting an image of security". If people were waiting in line to get into a bar, as you mention, that means the time of day was nighttime. Having police near the bars at nighttime seems like a very reasonable police practice.

And on to what I really wanted to talk about: freedom vs. security. I believe that security always comes before freedom, provided the decrease in freedom really does provide an increase in security. 'Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' are famously listed as unalienable rights, but life comes before liberty both in the wording of the Declaration, and logically.

Now, this doesn't mean that our rights can be infringed upon cart blanche based on a vague correlation to a public safety danger. I have devised some examples:

-having money involuntarily taken from you (taxes) and used to fund a national military: acceptable.
-being confined to your home by the government to prevent possible spread of cold virus: unacceptable.
-having to zig-zag around police cars so officers can address possible problems with late night bar patrons: acceptable.
-being involuntarily drafted into military service: ehh, ??
-allowing warrantless wire taps to prevent terrorist attacks: ehh, ??

There is much room for debate. However, if the abridgement of rights is justified by an increase in safety, then we should be ready to sacrifice some freedom.

Market House

2009-06-02T22:49:00.009-04:00

I promised myself I would write a blog post over the weekend, but since there aren't any consequences for breaking a promise to yourself, I decided to update my strategy for what I would do if I won the lottery in lieu of blogging about politics.

I did not attend the Market House Charette, mainly because I thought 'charette' was a made-up word. I later learned that 'charette' was a common word in the design/construction community, and basically means a brainstorming session about designing/building. For the 3 of you that were wondering, 'charette' comes from the French word for 'chariot'. Apparently, French design students would often make intense last-minute revisions to their projects while riding on their chariots to class. I prefer taking my chariot only on trips to the pharmacy, but I suppose having it on campus makes you the envy of all your classmates.

The Market House has to serve a variety of interests: local residents, tourists, students from nearby schools, Midshipmen (which are distinguished from other students due to their unusually high consumption of chocolate milk), and boaters. First of all, there's gotta be a market component. Selling meat, produce, dairy, and bread in grocery form would appeal to residents and boaters. And no doubt, there's gotta be a vending component. Food always tastes better when someone else makes it for you, and having someone make food for you in a historical building on the water sounds great. Maybe something like this would be appropriate.

I was speaking with somebody who actually attended the forum, and he brought up the idea of closing a portion of that area to cars, laying down bricks, and having a pedestrian-only area to accentuate the attraction of visiting the Market House. I thought to myself:

-Do I like to sit down when I'm eating? Affirmative.
-Is there room inside the Market House for tables and chairs? Negative.
-Are there a bunch of tables outside for people to sit at? Negative.

After those 3 thoughts, I began to like the idea of eliminating some of the vehicle traffic in that area. Let's take a look at the map.

......Damn it, the Google map isn't working and it crashed my internet explorer 3 times, so to see the map I'm about to talk about you have to click here.

Ok, we know that Randall St. (between MH and water) has to stay open for cars. People need to get down Dock St. and to the Naval Academy. So, we must consider closing all or portions of Market Space, which is the area in between the MH and City Dock Coffee, Federal House, etc. There are 3 streets that connect with that area: Pinkney St. going away from the MH, and Fleet and Cornhill streets, which flow towards the water. In my view, the elimination of vehicle traffic would have to follow the following model:

-leave Pinkney St. the way it is, maintaining vehicle traffic that passes between McGarvey's and Maria's
-close Market Space to vehicle traffic from Maria's to Buddy's, effectively making all of Market Space available only to pedestrian traffic
-change the traffic pattern of Fleet St. to go away from the MH

I think that could actually work. That area of downtown would become much more appealing to people, and it seems to me that traffic would flow better. An astute observer would note that the elimination of parking spaces downtown is not prudent; however, there are certainly ideas that can be implemented to increase parking downtown and make up for the lost spaces.

The issue concerning the MH that I struggle with is that of the management structure. Typically, I would say that the government lacks the expertise to be a private landlord, that the space should be professionally managed, and the tenants subject to market forces. But, we have seen how that works. Market forces lead to market results: speculation, risk-taking, and high turnover. Moreover, since the city would never conceivably cede ownership of the building to a private entity, there would always be a struggle between the management company and the city with regards to infrastructure improvements.

It's hard to avoid the conclusion that the Market House is special--that it must enjoy special treatment and favor in order to maintain its viability and therefore also maintain the image of the city. There is precedent in the city, such as the Boat Show, where the city is responsible for the decision of which business will best serve the interests of the city. For the Market House tenants, the same process should be applied. There is, however, in important part of this process: market rent. Tenants would be selected, presumably, on the basis of historical success and contribution to the community. Once the worthiness of the tenants is established, they must pay the market level of rent to maintain competitive equivalence with the other businesses that are not in the MH.

Almost every city resident mentions the Market House as an embarrassment to the city. Having the MH operated by the city, and therefore giving citizens their due opportunity to prevent any future embarrassment, seems like the way to go.

Hello

2009-05-27T17:47:00.005-04:00

Hello to all you followers of this blog, and those who stumbled upon this blog in a failed attempt to book a hotel room or achieve some other productive task.

Let's get ourselves up to date. Since 2002, I've had a catering company, which I have operated in the pursuit of profit. About a year ago, I expanded those operations to include a restaurant, a move that crowded out my blogging time, amongst other things.

Recently, I learned that "restaurant" is an old Latin term meaning "the worst way to make a living other than jobs that put you in physical danger". Upon becoming aware of this disaster-in-the-making, I quickly shut down the restaurant operation, in favor of the safety and lack of consequences offered by the world of blogging!

I have also been involved in the Mayoral campaign of Chris Fox, managing to deliver photos such as this one:

and this one:

And, for those loyal readers of the blog, I am happy to inform you that Mrs. Politics is as cheeky as ever.

Hopefully, with any luck, I will now be able to provide more than 1 update per 3 months, so that you, the reading public, can enjoy the biased commentary that I enjoy providing!