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

Bowling vows to repeal 54% increase in Liquor Fees

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."

####

Imposter Attempts To Sabotage Bowling Campaign

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.

Scott Bowling Hosts Successful Fundraiser

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.

Former Aldermanic Candidate Called To Greatness

M. Scott Bowling, who ran a good race in the Democrat primary last time against the Honorable Alderwoman Hoyle in Ward 3, has courageously accepted his destiny and has switched to the Republican Party.

We are happy to have him.

If you would like to know his reasons, you can ask him, but here are the top 5 reasons--listed in reverse order for added drama--why a person would want to be a republican:

5. You can base your life around Ronald Reagan--who was a movie star!

4. Gross negligence of accepted English grammar will not limit your success in life.

3. Immediate membership into the Big Oil Company Fan Club, complete with a working replica of an oil drill placed over a wildlife preserve.

2. "Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has no heart*; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains."-Winston Churchill.

(*I am 26.)

1. You will be right most of the time, except when you're not.