Unfiltered

A state legislator in Tennsee has started a blog to communicate with his constituents. The blog for freshman Republican Rep. Stacey Campfield has really irritated the House's Democratic Leadership. Leadership went so far as to scuttle a bill by Campfield that would make it illegal to point a laser pointer at emergency personnel.

Campfield is not backing down, and that is good for his consituents. If he wants to provide an unfiltered view of his experience as a legislator, that is his perrogative.

Given the yearly machinations and goings on of our own General Assembly in Annapolis, it would be intriguing to read a blog written by one of our legislators.

Kill the Bill

The revised HB625 passed the House of Delegates by a 131-1 vote yesterday. And the bill, upon reading the third reader copy available online is actually worse than imagined. The bill will require the Governor to appoint the nominee of the School Board Nominating Commission. The Commission will consist of of the Governor's five appointees, the County Executive's two appointees, and representatives from organizations such as TAAAC, and the Community College Board of Trustees. The Governor will not be given the leeway to appoint somebody else, not will the current School Board Nominating Covnention be able to suggest candidates of their own.

In the guise of making the board "more accountable", the Board has been made less accountable. This bill is an embarassment and I hope that the Senate gives in the proper burial it deserves.

Half Empty

Two weeks ago I went on the record with my picks for the Final Four. Half made it, half did not. But I am sticking with North Carolina to win the national title, except now by beating fellow # 1 seed Illinois.

I did not get to see much of the games this weekend, but it was an incredible weekend for College Basketball, capped by the epic Michigan State-Kentucky double overtime game, including Patrick Sparks' three-pointer at the end of regulation that ranks up there with the most dramatic shots in NCAA history.

Let us hope that there is still drama to be seen and great games to be played once the four teams reach St. Louis next weekend.

Tell the FEC where you stand

The Federal Election Comission has opened up public comment on their proposed restrictions on freedom of speech on the internet. Public comments can be sent via e-mail to internet@fec.gov, and will become part of the public record on the regulations.

As I have said before, these new regulations would have a chilling effect on our First Amendment rights. I urge you to submit your public comments against these draconian regulations.

"Do Something" Lobby Gets Their bill

Well the folks who want to "Do Something" about the School Board Selection Process have a bill now that the County House Delegation has agreed to back a bill that would create a new nominationg commission as well as require members to stand for a "competency election" similar to that used for district and appeals court judges at the end of their term.

Well, "something" has been done. But what does the bill accomplish? What the bill does is create a new level of goverment to suggest to the Governor candidates for School Board selection. The power is still in the Governor's hands. Nor is there anything to prevent the current School Board Nominating Convention from continuing to meet, screen potential members, and provide the Governor with a list of candidates of their own.

The "competency election" is a farce. The election will be an yes/no vote on the existing board member in order to allow them to serve another five years. Does anybody truly think that a sitting board member will be turned out of office? Can anybody remember the last time a sitting District or Appellate court judge was voted out of office? These elections usually send the judges back with a total of 85-90 percent voting yes.

One could argue that by passing the current bill, the Delegation has actually decided to give less power to the people than the current system.

I am not sure if words can adeuqately express the disappointment I have with the Delegation over this decision. They have put change for the sake of change ahead of a meaningful public policy reform. They can now tell the voters that they have "done something" to address the problem, but this "reform" of the selection process does nothing but further consolidate the decision making authority over our county school board with the Office of the Governor and away from the people. And while Governor Ehrlich has made good selections to the board to date, we would all be comfortable if the selection process were closer to the people the Board's decisions directly effect.

Baltimore County Bill Accomplishes Nothing

The Baltimore County Council has succumbed to the belief that a camera can prevent crime by passing legislation that requires most shopping centers in the county to install surveillance cameras. According to the Sun story:

the law requires owners of about 100 shopping centers - about half of those in
the county - to install video surveillance cameras that cover 75 percent of
their parking areas during business hours.

The new law is in response to the brutal murder of a teacher at Towson Town Center last month. But this law would not have prevented the murder. No amount of cameras is actually going to prevent a violent crime from happening. The only thing that a camera is good for is potentally identifying suspects who may have committed a crime. Hardly a good deterrent from keeping a potential victim from being harmed.

The new law is going to make people fell safer, but will not actually improve safety at these retail facilities. The only person who can protect the average citizen from being a victim of crime in any given situation is the average citizen, through an awareness of one's surroundings or through personal protection (an option not usually afforded to average citizen in this state these days). An increased police or physical security presence would also deter criminals from scoping the area as well.

Other than "Do Something", change to Board Selection process has no consensus

It seems like the only consensus on changing the school board process is that the process needs to be changed. Scores of local elected official (other than Senator Phil Jimeno, who seems to think the status quo is fine) have agreed that the process needs to be changed, but there is litttle if any consensus for what that change should be.

John Leopold's flawed bill is still this flavor of the week during this legislative session. Five Republican delegates have suggested a straw vote regarding a fully elected board. Jim Snider wants a panel of "informed citizens" to replace the current process. Speaker Mike Busch has unveiled a similar idea with his call for a new county commission to do it. And Janet Owens wants to get rid of the board altogether.

The only consensus among most legislators is that something needs to be done. But even that does not carry with it a large public outctry at this moment. The call for change to the nominating process reached its zenith in the Spring of 2002. While there is some belief among the public that a change is necessary, there is not an overwhelming call for action. Even those that are calling for action disagree as to what the replace system should entail.

All of this leads one to beleive that, once again, the status quo will in fact remain the same. Only once the County Delegation can agree on a solution that is agreeable to all parties will a bill actually be able to see the light of day.

Board of Ed Gets it Right

The Board of Education last night righted a wrong by approving the charter of the KIPP Academy in Annapolis last night.

Like others, I am at a loss as to why KIPP's application was not approved the first time around. The KIPP program is an established program. Why should KIPP's program not receive the same approval as the Chesapeake Science Point school that did not have as much of an established track record as the KIPP Program.

I applaud the Board's reversal, but this is the decision that should have been made two weeks ago.

Great Moments in Annapolis Decorum

Ehrlich "brings these hardball, conservative, right-wing little nincompoops that hang around up there on the second floor, and apparently people listen to what they say,"
-- Senate President Mike Miller, yesterday regarding a debate about the Appointment Process for the State Election Board.

On the Record

With the NCAA Tournament beginning tomorrow, I will go on the record with my Final Four selections:

Chicago Region: Illinois
Albuquerque Region: Gonzaga
Austin Region: Syracuse
Syracuse Region: North Carolina

North Carolina will win the National Title by defeating Gonzaga in the final.

The Pot Calling the Kettle Black

After months of Maryland Democrats complaining about the Governor's selection for at-will positions in his administration, the Democrats are firing back by holding up the Governor's appointees for partisan reasons.

"This is the only leverage we have," said Sen. Philip C. Jimeno, an Anne Arundel County Democrat and chairman of the Executive Nominations Committee, which votes on appointments. "It's all part of the legislative process of maneuvering."

Among the 82 nominees caught in the crossfire are former Baltimore County Sen. Francis X. Kelly Jr., named by Ehrlich to the university system's Board of Regents, and Robert A. Rohrbaugh, appointed last year as state prosecutor.

Kelly, who switched parties and now is a Republican, said yesterday that he spoke to Miller and urged him to move forward with the appointments. "This is very unusual. It never happened before," said Kelly. "I'm not taking it personally, but it is disrespectful to the 90 private citizens brought into the middle of an Annapolis food fight."

The House Appropriations Committee also decided to nitpick by cutting the salaries of some executive appointees, according to the Sun article.

As a constituent, I am extremely disappointed that Senator Jimeno has involved himself with this. It is getting to the point where he is no longer representing the views of his constituents: a constiuency that delivered roughly 69-percent of their votes to Governor Ehrlich in the 2002 Election.

The partisanship of some Senate Democrats is starting to sound more and more like political despearation everyday, and that is not conducive to good governance from either side of the political aisle.

State Help should extend beyond Executive Branch

It is good to see that Brooklyn Heights is getting additional funding from the state, as reported in Sunday's Sun. While the grant from the Department of Housing and Community Development helps, Brooklyn Heights is going to need additional assistance in order to spark a revival. However, the expectation of additional assistance should not solely rest on the shoulders of the County.

What are the legislators who represent District 31 doing to help? It would appear that, to date, the only thing that the delegation has done is sponsor legislatiton(SB644/HB583) that allows state rehabilitation grants to be used on buildings that house four or fewer families. But beyond legislation, the legislative delegation should have the pulse of the community. They have a bully pulpit, and they should be using that pulpit in order to fight for additional funding for the rehabilitation of Brooklyn Heights. If help is going to come, the people should expect that their legislators in Annapolis are working to secure it.

Board Should Make Good on Second Chance for KIPP

The School Board should be given credit for giving the KIPP Academy a second chance at approval. According to the Capital, the Board will reconsider the application at tomorrow's Board of Education Meeting. The Board rejected the KIPP application at their March 3rd meeting.

Charter schools should be given the opportunity to succeed in our county, especially in communities where they can do this most good. I hope the Board makes good on its second chances and approves KIPP's application.

Terps Earned Their Spot

I sat watching the NCAA Tournament Selection Show Sunday night hoping against hope that Maryland would receive one of the at-large berths to the tournament. Of course, deep down I knew that the Terps played their way out of the NCAA Tournament and into the NIT by losing four straight down the stretch. Had the Terps won one or two of those games, they make the tournament. Sure, they might have made it in had Utah and Pacific both won Saturday night. But the Terps received the tournament spot that they earned.

It is tough to determine which team has the easiest trip to the Final Four. On first glance, there was some curious seeding (Louisville as a #4; Connecticut as a #2; New Mexico as a #12). But the teams that deserved to go made it; and that includes teams like Alabama-Birmingham and Northern Iowa.

As for the Terps? Time to salvage what is left. Their first NIT game is Wednesday against Oral Roberts. I hope that they come to play.

Where's Barry?

The House Government Reform Committee announced their list of baseball players and executives subpoenaed in their steroid investigation yesterday. One can argue whether or not the committee should be dealing with more pressing business then steroids in baseball (though clearly Major League Baseball as an entity has done nothing about the steroid issue and only Congress, thanks to the continuation of the Antitrust Exemption has the power to make them jump). But I could only think of one question upon seeing the list.

Where's Barry?

Barry Bonds, the posterchild for those who believe steroids are rampant throughout baseball, was not on the list of those called to testify. Why not? What are the underlying politics behind him not receiving a subpoena? It is not the BALCO investigation; Jason Giambi received a subpoena.

One has to wonder how useful these hearings are going to be if the perceived "Public Enemy # 1" on the steroid issue has not been compelled to attend.

So Few Candidates Disappointing to School Board Process

The Sun reported this morning that only three candidates filed to seek the two vacant seats available on the County School Board this year:

Two parents are vying for a soon-to-be-vacated seat representing Annapolis and parts of South County on the Anne Arundel County school board.

Pamela K. Bukowski of Annapolis and Arnold resident Enrique M. Melendez have both been nominated for the District 30 seat to replace Michael J. McNelly, who will finish his second five-year term this summer.

Board President Edward P. Carey of Brooklyn Park, who was appointed to replace the late Janet Bury in 2002, has announced his intent to run for the District 31 seat he now holds. No challengers filed by the March 1 application deadline.

Last year, there were four cacndidates for the open at-large seat. In 2003, eight challengers (including myself) filed for the open at-large seat. It is disappointing to see that so few chose to take this opportunity and serve on the board, especially after the uptick in participation after the situation regarding the 2002 nominating process.

The convention could be even more disappointing if it turns out the candidates do not put accountability and fiscal responsibility as key components of their platform, but we will not know that until the hearings begin in April.

Say What?

Former School Board and House of Delegates candidate Jim Snider put forth a bizarre proposal for reforming the School Board Selection process in today's Capital(emphasis added):

Mr. Snider, a frequent critic of the appointed board system ever since, said he would like to see a 12-member board chosen by a caucus of informed citizens. Without that option, he prefers giving voters a choice, saying an elected board allows for more rigorous debate.

"What's the value of having seven people?" he said. "Really it's to have disagreement."

I can understand the point of a 12-member board; one member representing each feeder system. But I am hard pressed to think of a concept more elitist than "a caucus of informed citizens." Who decides who is informed? What makes a citizen informed? How different is an informed Caucus from the current system.

I disagree with HB625 as it is being presented, but Snider's idea is one of the worst school board reform ideas to date.

Listmania

A slew of Delegates, led by Delegate Joan Cadden, have introduced HB1097 as a response to recent political events in the county. The Synopsis from the MLIS website reads that the bill:

Requiring a campaign finance entity that causes campaign material to be transmitted by or appear on the Internet or other electronic medium that lists the names of specified persons, to obtain written permission from the persons to do so, and to show each person how the name is to be used; requiring campaign finance entities to maintain specified documents and, on request, to make them available to the State Board of Elections; etc

This bill is almost certainly in response to the recent trend amongst some politicians to put a laundry list of politicians on their site, claiming that the entire list is helping out their campaign. It started with John Leopold and has now spread to Pat Corcoran. I do not want to speculate as to what the genesis of this bill is. Perhaps Leopold, Corcoran or another politician is using somebody's name on such a laundry list without the permission of that individual. If anybody were to be using the name of an individual in an improper manner and without permission, I think it would be a sad commentary on the individual using such tactics.

On principle, I oppose the posting of such lists to any candidate's website. The lists serve no purpose other than to provide a laundry list of people that the candidate claims supports them. It does not translate to legitimate grassroots support, nor does it translate to fundraising prowess. It is just a litany of names. The candidates who use them are trying to make a point, but your guess is as good as mine as to what the point actually is.

Terps Need a win and some help to make the Dance

The Maryland Terrapins wasted another chance to solidify their spot in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday with their loss to Virginia Tech. That makes Thursday's game at Noon against Clemson a must-win game in order to keep their NCAA chances alive. Even then, the Terps may have to put up another good showing against North Carolina in order to have a realistic chance.

The most frustrating thing about the Terps team is that they are better than a 16-11 bubble team. If they had only taken care of business against Miami and in the previous two games against Clemson, this team is 19-8 and jockeying for a 4 or 5 seed. Now, it is down to win as many as they can in the tournament this weekend and hope for the best.

The only good news this point for the Terps is that most of the serious Mid-Major contenders for at-large bids have held serve. Old Dominion has made it to the CAA title game. Davidson, despite a 16-0 regular season conference schedule lost in the semifinals of the Southern Conference tournament, effectively ending their at-large consideration. Gonzaga and St. Mary's advanced to the WCC finals, likely earning both squads an at-large bid. Only Southern Illinois, losing to Southwest Missouri State last night can be considered problematic for the Terps, and even that can be minimized if Creighton beats SMS tonight.

The long and the short of it is that the Terps need to win to make the Big Dance. If they do not, they only have themselves to blame.

Making a Bad Idea Worse

According to today's Sun, County Executive Janet Owens has endorsed Delegate John Leopold's school board referendum bill, but thinks the bill doesn't go far enough. Owens believes that the bill should be amended to included the option of total disestablishment of the County School Board.

As it stands now, the public already does not have enough voice in education policy in our county. The only current outlet parents can use to choose policymakers is through the School Board Nominating Convention process. Even then it is easy for the process to be circumvented, as Ms. Owens well knows from the 2002 selection process.

The only setting in which parents, citizens, and community leaders can have their voices heard on the specific education issues that matter to their children is during School Board hearings. Any citizen can is afforded the opportunity to speak before the Board on any education related issue for up to three minutes. How does Ms. Owens propose that the people have their voices heard if the Board is disestablished.

Ms. Owens suggestion of disestablishing the school board is ludicrous from the get-go. Even Delegate Leopold, who never fails to seize upon an opportunity to win Democratic support, was lukewarm towards her proposal. Her proposal should not be taken seriously. The community needs a voice. It does not need further centralization of control of the education of our children.

Chuck Thompson was one of the greats

Baltimore lost a legend today when former Orioles broadcaster Chuck Thompson passed away after a stroke.

His broadcasting was more of a memory for my parents growing up than mine; he retired from doing games fulltime in 1987, but what Baltimore-area resident has never heard "Go to war Miss Agnes" and "'Aint the Beer Cold" without thinking of Chuck.

Chuck Thompson was a legend in our time, and he will be missed. Our prayers go out to his family and closest friends.

KIPP Application Deserved Approval

On Wednesday the Anne Arundel County Board of Education approved one of two proposals to open Charter Schools in the County. The Board approved the Chesapeake Science Point Public Charter School in Glen Burnie, but rejected the Knowledge Is Power Program's Harbor Academy in Annapolis.

This decision is nonsensical. Both proposals were worthy of approval to provide students and parents with additional options above and beyond the current public school system. But the reason behind the rejection of the KIPP proposal may deal with the dirtiest word in county education. The Post reported that:

The deciding factor was concern that the charter school would drain enrollment from the city's two public middle schools. Some parents in the Annapolis feeder system feared that the school, planned for 320 students in grades five through eight, could force drastic redistricting or a school closure to compensate for falling enrollment at neighboring schools.

"That weighed on my decision, because I am very responsive to public input," said board member Tricia Johnson, who voted against the school. "Don't get me wrong, the KIPP program really seems to be marvelous."

Redistricting is the third raild of education politics in Anne Arundel County. It is a topic that comes up during every School Board Nominating Convention. Nobody wants to redistrict schools because of the potential outrage from parents and the political complications of doing so. The reason most dedistricting has taken place, at least recently, has to do with shifting students between feeder systems so as to maximize the number of available seats in the county without actually building the 13th High School. This is why some students from the Crofton area attend South River High.

If the program were truly marvelous, as Ms. Johnson told the Post, the program deserved to be approved regardless of the effect on enrollment at Annapolis area middle schools. The purpose of opening Charter Schools is to provide opportunity and not the status quo. The Status Quo, at least in Annapolis, has been preserved with the rejection of the KIPP proposal. Especially, as the Sun reports, the KIPP program has worked in Baltimore:

Nearly 91 percent of sixth-graders of KIPP Ujima Village Academy in Baltimore reached state targets on the math exam. So did about 89 percent of fifth-graders - the highest scores in the city.

And that is what matters. The KIPP program is appealing the decision of the county board to the State Board of Education. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Radio Songs

We are now in the time of year where advocacy groups take their cases for passing or rejecting particular pieces of legislation to the airwaves. WBAL radio is running spots both supporting the Fair Share Health Care Fund(HB1284/SB790) and against the Maryland Clean Cars Act(HB564/SB366). Both bills are worthy of defeat in the General Assembly, although both have a number of cosponsors.

The Fair Share Fund is written so as to be nothing more than a tax on Wal-Mart, since the only companies that pay into the fund will be ones with 10,000 or more employees and pay less than eight percent of their payroll on health care. With Wal-Mart being the only company currently meeting the standard they are clearly targeted.

The Clean Cars Bill has been, rightfully so, labeled the "California Cars" bill. The bill will limit the types of cars that can be sold in Maryland starting January 1, 2009 to cars that meet California's tough emission standards in order to lower pollution in the state of Maryland. The fallacy with that legislation is the fact that most pollution in the state of Maryland does not come from passenger autos in the immediate area. The preponderance of our air polllution comes from factories in the Ohio Valley and farther west.

Both of these bills are anti-consumer and anti-business. On top of that, both bills would be devestating to middle and lower income families.

If the Fair Share Fund bill were to pass, Wal-Mart would be in a tough situation. Often people get jobs at Wal-Mart, sometimes as a second or even third job, in order to make ends meet. Other families do a great deal of their shopping at Wal Mart in order to get good deals to provide a greater value for their dollar. In order to cover the costs of this new tax, Wal-Mart would likely be forced to lay off workers or raise prices.

If the California Cars bill were to pass, the price of new cars would continue to go up. The number of normal cars available to consumers would be legislated to decline, potentially forcing consumers to by more technologically advanced, and ergo more expensive, cleaner cars. While nearly everybody supports the concept of cleaner cars, nobody wants to be told what kind of cars they can and cannot purchase.

Neither of these bills are beneficial to the constiuents these legislators are claiming to represent. Hopefully, the legislature does the right thing and leaves these bills on the table during this session.

McCain-Feingold Rides Again

Looks like the McCain-Feingold law may next sink its teeth into the internet if some members of the FEC get their way. In a C-NET interview with FEC Commissioner Bradley Smith:

Bradley Smith says that the freewheeling days of political blogging and online punditry are over.

In just a few months, he warns, bloggers and news organizations could risk the wrath of the federal government if they improperly link to a campaign's Web site. Even forwarding a political candidate's press release to a mailing list, depending on the details, could be punished by fines.

This FEC decision would only impact federal candidates and races at first. But a trickle-down effect is certainly possible. I cannot think of a more ridiculous decision the FEC could possibly implement. The supporters of McCain-Feingold were already looking at expanding the law to encompass internet politicking before the FEC considered getitng involved. I have always called McCain-Feingold the "Incumbency Protection Act" because the law makes it incredibly difficult for challengers to raise funds and challenger sitting federal incumbents. Expanding the law to the internet would have a chilling effect effect on political discourse and participation in modern America, and make sitting Congressional incumbents nearly invincible.

School Board Convention Coming Up

Early registration to serve as a Delegate to the School Board Nominating Convention closes on March 15th. The costs is $8 per person, and you must be representing a local civic organization, i.e. Church Group, PTA, Social Organization, etc. Any non-profit organization that is not affiliated with a political party may choose to participate. The registration form is available here and the Hearing Schedule is here.

With a seat open in District 31 this year, we are fortunate enough to have the first hearing being held at Chesapeake High School. Current District 31 Board Member and Board President Ned Carey has announced that he will seek appointment to a full five-year term to the Board.

The Convention Process is an interesting one to say the least. I have seen both sides of the process; as a candidate in 2003, and as a delegate in 2004. While many people publicly call for an elected school board, it is frustrating to note that very few people seriously participate in the Convention Process; roughly 200 concerned citizens countywide. Few of them stay to participate in the entire hearing, signing in to acknowledge their attendance, and then leaving before the hearing actually begins.

The process is not perfect, but it is the best that we have. I encourage you to participate.

Finally!

The Ravens finally landed their big-time Wide Receiver today by signing former Titan Derrick Mason to a five-year deal. Mason, TE Todd Heap and RB Jamal Lewis should complement each other well in the Ravens offense in the 2005 seson.

With Randy Moss already traded to Oakland, and with the Ravens drafting low enough that Braylon Edwards and Mike Williams were not likely to be on the board, the Ravens did what they had to do and act quickly to sign an impact receiver. Mason was the top receiver on this year's free agent market and it will be great to see what this Ravens offense can do with a new impact wideout and a new offensive coordinator.