The Future Of Democrat Leadership

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.

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

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

The Worst Thing From The Election

"Working" Together In Ward 3

The Capital today has an article about the grand opening of the Mt. Olive A.M.E. church community center, entitled "An Example of Working Together". How sweet. Sadly, I fear that 'working' might not be the proper term for the arrangement.

The article says that the developer of Parole Town Center pledged $2 million to the church to get the project going. I thought to myself "self, developers are shrewd people. The left sides of their brains are Intel processors, and their bones are made out of recycled granite counter tops. Why would a developer give that kind of dinero to a church?"

Next, I went to the grocery store. But after that, I though to myself "self, what about this Mt. Olive Church? Does it have anything to do with politics?" Yes!! If I've learned anything from this blogging racket, it's that Mt. Olive is the unofficial church of Ward 3, and Ward 3 Alderman Classie Hoyle.

The best I can figure, there is a love triangle out in parole that involves the Parole Center, Mt. Olive Church, and the Honorable Alderman Hoyle. Here are some of the facts:

1. Mt. Olive becomes the unofficial church of Alderman Hoyle. I don't know exactly how this happened, but Alderman Hoyle is the chairman of the Mt. Olive Community Development Corporation, and the church's reverend (Johnny Calhoun) did give a modest donation to the Hoyle campaign for county council.

2. The Parole Town Center Development is in the planning phases, and seeks the blessing of the Ward 3 Alderman, even though it is outside of city limits. A business named "Parole Service Inc" gives $500 to the Hoyle campaign, presumably with an expectation that the development will go forward and that businesses' value will be propped up. The development corporation ponies up $1000 for good measure.

3. Alderman Hoyle begins a persistent string of political favors on behalf of Mt. Olive. First, she moved to change the Moderately Priced Development Unit (MPDU) Program to allow non-profits to buy the properties--rumor has it that she wanted Mt. Olive to be a landlord for these dwellings. Next, Hoyle introduced and passed R-14-08, making a certain area of Parole (including Mt. Olive!) a "designated area". As "luck" would have it, designated areas can receive funding from the state, but first need the blessing of the municipality. So, in due course, Hoyle introduced and passed R-15-08, which gives such a blessing. None of the other businesses in the designated area received a similar resolution.

The whole mess smells fishy, but there are questions that still remain. Why is Alderman Hoyle so loyal to Mt. Olive? And why do the Parole developers feel the need to donate to the Hoyle campaign and give such a big pledge to her pet church?

Zina Pierre

So, someone asked in my "Who will run for mayor" post if Zina Pierre was going to run, and at the time I didn't know who she was. I still don't, but apparently I should.

Zina has been raising money, and has been getting involved--at least in Democrat circles. Her campaign finance report shows her as having raised over $26,000 since September--a substantial amount for this point in time--and the Democrat Central Committee report shows her as buying tickets to a couple of events. However, her disbursements and obligations are amazingly high, and she actually owes like $5000 more than she actually has.

So who is she? The short answer is an Annapolis native who has been active in politics, including at the federal level, for quite some time. She seems to be a Democrat super-lobbyist and career political operative. For the long answer, you can look HERE, to the extent that it's true.

Let's talk about some of the more interesting politics. A look at her report shows a lot of large donations, amounts large enough to disqualify her from eligibility in an aldermanic race, which suggests a Democrat candidacy for mayor.

There is a residency concern. In previous campaign reports, her address has been identified as 1915 WOODSHADE CT, Mitchellville MD. She now shows an address within the city (at 1901 West); however, the charter stipulates that a mayor must show voter registration in the city for 2 years prior to the date of the general election. There are other discrepancies. Notably, Ms. Pierre's campaign committee owes her $5000 for consulting fees. It is ok to pay yourself back a loan, but it's not ok to be a paid employee of your own campaign.

(EDIT: A commenter pointed out that the $5000 probably IS to pay herself back for a loan, which is within the law.)

Today's rumor mill involves the office sought. The amount of money would say Mayor, but hold the phone. Zina Pierre lives in Ward 3, home of the soon-to-retire* Alderman Hoyle. Rumor has it that the Democrats are trying to convince Zina to run for Alderman to hold that seat. The experience is there, and the money probably will be there, plus the residency requirement for an alderman is more lenient.

(*if you believe the hype)

At least now we know something.

Cause For Pessimism

Today's Capital includes a guest column by the Honorable Ward 3 Alderwoman, Classie Hoyle, arguing her case (which happens to be the correct case) for passage of the 2 a.m. license bill. As a supporter of this bill---umm, let's just say she could have done better.

Let's examine:

During my six years on the City Council I, more than any other alderman, have
promulgated legislation addressing equality issues.

She is, of course, referring to R-16-07--which requests the the United States Navy (read: not the city of Annapolis) confer graduation upon a (black) midshipman who violated rules. At least that's what I think she's referring to--maybe she can point to some bills that an Alderman actually has business worrying about.

Anyway, back to the point. We are talking about 2 a.m. licenses here:

The city needs one standard of fairness for establishments with liquor licenses.
Many residents and business owners have told me our current law is
discriminatory and unconstitutional.

Strike one. Even if you need someone to tell you about the laws you are paid to enact, you don't admit it! Next time: "I know from experience that the current laws are unfair." It makes it look like you are acting on personal principle*.

I was asked by Castlebay Irish Pub on Main Street and Sly Fox Pub on Church
Circle to introduce legislation that would permit them to have 2 a.m. licenses.

Strike two. In theory you would know this better than me, but I am quite convinced that Sly Fox was asked to participate-- only Castlebay came to you. Also, neither of these businesses are in your ward. I'm with you, and I support the cause, but why open yourself up to criticism?*

(*For more political advice like this, I can be retained as a political strategist for $500 per hour, or the cost of making 1000 copies at city hall, whichever is greater.)

This next part is terrible:

So it is with Ordinance 0-23-07, the legislation to lift the moratorium on
2 a.m. liquor licenses in the MX zone.

In 1993, Ward 1 residents established a sector study to stop the granting
of any additional 2 a.m. liquor licenses in the downtown MX zone. So for 14
years, some establishments in the MX zone have been granted permission to work
these profitable hours while others were denied it. Is this economic parity for
the business community?

Strike 3. Alderwoman Hoyle: get with the program. The MX district is West St. They can still get 2 a.m. licenses. You'll notice that Kyma, Fado, and Metropolitan are all in the MX district, are all more recent than 1993**, and all received 2 a.m. licenses.

(This blog has officially adopted 1992 as the reference date for the Ward 1 Sector Study, but who really cares?)

Sly Fox and Castlebay, the two bars you just mentioned like 17 seconds ago, are not in the MX district! They are in the Conservation Business (CA) and/or the Special Conservation Business (CA-2) districts! Unbelievable! This is, like, a major point of the whole bill--and you didn't get it right. What chance does the bill have of passing if its sponsor isn't familiar with the details?

Alderwoman Hoyle makes some relevant points about why the bill should be passed, but it won't matter. Too many people are too against it, and if this column is any indication, there's not enough persuasive power to change their minds.