Published Letters from Baltimore County Members
August 2005
Ehrlich administration right to shut down Hickey School
Date: August 11, 2005
Publication: The Jeffersonian
Author: Bruce L. Robinson, Perry Hall
Thank you for your coverage of the closing of the Hickey School ( "Hickey briefing brings surprise," The Jeffersonian, July 19).
As a former police officer who made many trips to the school with juvenile offenders, as a former worker's compensation claim investigator handling the injuries sustained by workers at Hickey, and as a former executive director of a youth services bureau working with children with mental health, substance abuse and criminal problems, I have an intimate knowledge of how important it is to implement this solution at long last.
Over the last 10 years we have repeatedly heard the horror stories from Hickey. Under the control of Gov. Glendening and other Democrats, problems worsened and the state incurred increasing liabilities for mistreatment of the children housed there. Gov. Ehrlich promised to find a solution and is to be applauded for doing that.
The worst of the problems will be addressed first, and that is as it should be. The sex offender unit managed by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene will be part of the solution implemented later.
This was a problem for every citizen of Baltimore County and Maryland.
Save the partisanship for the election season and give credit where it is due, in this case to the bipartisan (or nonpartisan) step forward in meeting the needs of the citizens by closing the juvenile justice operation at Hickey.
Local legislators band together to secure park for Perry Hall
Date: August 11, 2005
Publication: The Jeffersonian
Author: Del. Joe Boteler III, District 8
On Aug. 1, I testified before the Baltimore County Council in support of transferring the state-owned land at Minte Drive and Belair Road to the county for a new community park. I applaud the County Council for approving the transfer ("County pays $30K for Perry Hall park," The Jeffersonian, Aug. 9).
The Minte Drive property was bought by the state when Belair Road was widened about a decade ago. Under state law, the property is sold once the state no longer needs it for public purposes. The Perry Hall community and all four state legislators from District 8 supported retaining the land for a park, which is sorely needed in Perry Hall.
Del. John Cluster and I wrote to state officials in January to see if the land could be donated.
The Ehrlich administration agreed to sell the land at a very low price, about half the appraised value. Although the Minte Drive property is less than an acre, it will provide a nice spot of greenery and shade in the center of Perry Hall's business district. It is a small victory as the community tries to protect more open space from development.
Del. Cluster and I know that our colleagues, Sen. Klausmeier and Del. Bromwell, also support the Minte Drive sale. We hope to stand side by side with all of our elected officials and the community when the Board of Public Works approves the sale and the property becomes a new park for Perry Hall.
Party Line (R) Partisan? How about relevant?
Date: August 10, 2005
Publication: The Jeffersonian
Author: Chris Cavey
Gov. Robert Ehrlich undeniably understands the business and economics of our state. Saddled with a $4 billion deficit he inherited from the previous governor's tax-and-spend policies, he has in three years put Maryland back in the black ... by $1 billion. Fiscal discipline, making tough choices on programs and holding the line on taxes have unquestionably benefited Maryland's economy and its citizens.
The mood of business in the second quarter of 2005 was at an all-time high, because Gov. Ehrlich has made business in Maryland a priority. Maryland's unemployment rate is well below the national average and at its lowest since the 1960s. Small business is thriving because it finally has a governor who understands the needs of Main Street. Ehrlich has created a Small Business Coalition and he is in tune with the needs of this sector of employers who collectively employ the majority of Maryland's citizens.
These facts are rarely presented by the press or in opinion editorials. Why?
The liberal side of the media focuses only on what it sees as partisan politics. Isn't it interesting how low-level Ehrlich appointments get more ink in the papers than a $1 billion surplus or unemployment at a 40-year low? I find it intriguing that Ehrlich is our first Republican governor in about as much time.
Why didn't anyone think to ask the former governor serious questions about the economy? Also, why didn't anyone speak about partisan politics when Democrats were making the appointments.
There wasn't even much press outrage when a Democratic governor married a staff member after a rather quick divorce. Imagine the headlines the press would gin up if any high-level Republican did that today.
In a recent column ("Politics turn personal as election year approaches," The Jeffersonian, July 28), Lou Panos quoted Ehrlich's press secretary. I'm sure Lou remembers how to play press secretary games; he played them for former Gov. Harry Hughes before his life as a political editor.
My questions are:
- Why didn't Lou cry partisan politics in 2004, when Gov. Glendening gerrymandered election districts so badly that the Maryland Court of Appeals had to step in to stop him?
- Why didn't Lou cry about Glendening appointing so few Republicans to the bench in eight years as chief executive?
- Why hasn't Lou considered County Executive James Smith's appointments partisan? (I don't remember Smith handing out half of his cabinet appointments to Republicans. Lou should have challenged him to place as many Republicans in the Smith administration as Ehrlich has Democrats in his Cabinet.)
- Why didn't Lou criticize Smith for his attacks on Maryland Insurance Commissioner Al Redmer? Does Lou really think Smith would have been as critical of the former commissioner, Steve Larsen, a Democrat?
Partisan politics have always existed in Maryland. The press just rarely reported it.
With a single party dominating, as the Democrats did for 40 years, there was no need to point it out.
Maryland is becoming a two-party state and the Democratic Party, along with the liberal media, does not like the idea.
Between now and the November 2006 election, each time you hear the media cry "partisan politics are at play," you will know the Republican Party in Maryland has just grown a little more relevant.
The anniversary of the Hiroshima bombings
Date: August 9, 2005
Publication: The Washington Times
Author: Gary A. Smith, Baltimore
Wesley Pruden's Friday column, "It's a day to thank Harry Truman again," hit home with me, as I am one of those people who likely never would have been born had the atomic bombs not been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This reality is doubly driven home to me as the anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing is the day after my birthday.
My late father served in the Pacific in the Army's 77th Division during World War II. His unit was scheduled to be in the first wave of Operation Coronet, as the invasion of Japan was code-named. He often pointed out that casualties for the first wave were projected to be 95 percent. Simple math shows that these were terrible odds, indeed perhaps verging on making it a suicide mission.
Sadly, many of my generation have either ignored or forgotten this aspect of history, and many younger Americans know only the politically correct "blame America first" version of history.
If they are still able to do so, these people would do well to ask their fathers and grandfathers about their service in World War II. Serving in the European theater would have been no guarantee of avoiding the invasion, as units were being moved to the Pacific in anticipation of an invasion of Japan.
In June 2000, I had the pleasure of meeting Lt. Col. Fred Olivi, the co-pilot of the Nagasaki mission, at an air show. I thanked him, telling him of my father's, and hence my own, potential fate had the bombing missions not been carried out. He replied, with a hint of sadness in his voice, that he wished more Americans understood those implications.
Because of all this, I tend to view Aug. 6 as a "second birthday" of sorts. I trekked to the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy center Saturday to pay homage to both the Enola Gay and the brave men who flew the missions. Were it not for them, I would not be making the trip.