What....the....Hell?

So apparently that whole Zina Pierre withdrawing from the Annapolis Mayoral Election? Well......nevermind:

The Annapolis mayoral candidate, whose spokesperson announced her withdrawal from the race Friday amid revelations of personal financial problems, said Saturday that she is staying in the contest.

Zina C. Pierre won the Democratic nomination last Tuesday, putting her on track to become Annapolis' first African-American mayor. Her campaign on Friday abruptly announced her withdrawal amid questions about her foreclosed home, bounced checks, state liens for unpaid income taxes and other problems. But less than 24 hours later, Pierre said she was staying in to "continue to fight for all residents, many of whom are calling, texting and e-mailing me with extraordinary support."

So in the last 24 hours, Zina Pierre has established herself as a fantastic joke. The fact that her campaign operation managed to bungle the story, announcing her withdrawal as a sure fact only to have the story revert itself, should show her inability to lead even the most basic of organizations.

Her campaign statement printed by the Capital is even weirder:

“I am running for Mayor of Annapolis and will continue to fight for all residents, many of whom are calling, texting and e-mailing me with extraordinary support. The same support I am getting from the chair of the Annapolis Democratic Central Committee. I will continue to be accountable, transparent and a strong leader. Misinformation led to the confusion of the last two days. We will hold a news conference on Wednesday to address issues in detail.”

I'm not exactly sure how Zina Pierre will continue to be accountable, transparent, and a strong leader when it is apparent that she intends to not be held accountable, be far from transparent, and so far seems to be one of the weakest leaders I have ever seen.

When you combine her inability to keep her campaign on the same page with what seems to be a lengthy history of questionable financial and legal decisions (I mean really, what kind of idiot lets their car insurance lapse twice?) , it makes you wonder how Zina Pierre could ever hope to lead the city of Annapolis.

I think it is time that bloggers, community leaders, and the local media to really do some soul searching and fully investigate what Zina Pierre has been up to.

Misplaced Priorities

I know it sounds like a broken record, but I can never be amazed how much Dan Rodricks can misplace his priorities. Time and time and time and time again, Rodricks has shown us he would rather spend a billion dollars on new sports facilities than he would dealing with real problems facing Baltimore's residents.

Now apparently, Rodricks also thinks that the arena project is more important than other state projects too. Because while Rodricks thinks there is money for arenas, apparently the Intercounty Connector is just a bridge too far:

The ICC has been sold to us - first by Republican Gov. Bob Ehrlich, then his Democratic successor, Martin O'Malley - as one of those costly but necessary government projects that support development and commerce. It's an 18.8-mile stretch of expensive toll road to move cars and trucks between congested areas, relieve some of the traffic on the Other Beltway, the one that snakes around the nation's capital, and even enhance homeland security. Accepting all these arguments, the Bush administration put the Intercounty Connector on the fast track for Ehrlich five years ago.

But in 2008, it's the Intercounty Anachronism.

With an economic downtown fueled by a housing bust and the cost of energy, the so-yesterday quality of the ICC should be apparent to most Marylanders now.

Why not scrap the whole thing? Why should we feel stuck with building a highway that first hit the drawing boards in the 1950s?

That's right. Rodricks sees no problem in wasting money on an unnecessary project like an arena, but when it comes to building a vital and necessary transportation and economic lifeline, well we certainly can't be having any of that, now can we?

And what exactly is Rodricks solution to deal with the transportation problems that would not be solved by the construction of the ICC? Transit projects that will allegedly alleviate congestion on the Capital Beltway. Never mind the fact that one of the purposes of the ICC was to.....alleviate congestion on the Capital Beltway by removing through traffic going from the Baltimore area to Montgomery County, particularly trucks and business vehicles that would never use this proposed transit model.

Rodricks misplaces his priorities once again. I wonder how much of this is related to Rodricks myopic, Baltimore-centric universe, or just to the fact that Rodricks is ignorant of issues that actually matter to the rest of Maryland's citizenry.