Published Letters from Baltimore County Members

November 2005

Cutting work force helps create surplus

Date: November 28, 2005
Publication: The Baltimore Sun
Author: Barry C. Steel, Phoenix

If anything, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. did not go far enough to remove the hordes of campaign operatives, party hacks and other insiders who had infested the ranks of at-will state employees during the previous Democratic administrations ("Worker losses seen spiking in '03," Nov. 23).

Having so many of these parasites on the state payroll no doubt contributed to the massive budget problems Mr. Ehrlich inherited from his predecessor, and his elimination of some of these employees as part of his reduction of the state work force by about 7,000 positions most certainly was a factor in his converting a possible budget deficit into a healthy surplus in less than three years.

The governor has made a good start in restoring the efficiency and integrity of the merit system to state government.

I am confident that he will complete the job during his second term.

Party Line (R) Attacks against Steele unfounded

Date: November 8, 2005
Publication: The Jeffersonian
Author: Chris Cavey

This past month Lt. Gov. Michael Steele made his long-awaited announcement that he is running for the U.S. Senate. Everyone in the political world was expecting this announcement. Even so, it was a moment of tremendous excitement and aspiration for Republicans.

Republicans in Maryland see in Michael Steele many things.

He is a "party guy." This doesn't mean that he is out late every night and has a hangover every morning. This means he's a guy who has come up through our grassroots network; he is a product of the Republican farm team in Maryland. He has worked in the trenches and organized and helped other Republican candidates on both state and county levels. He understands and appreciates the work of volunteers, because he spent many years and many campaigns as a volunteer himself.

The lieutenant governor has been innovative in his thinking and has done an excellent job as Gov. Ehrlich's second in command. He has headed task forces on education and minority business enterprises, just to name two. He has traveled the state doing what he does best - communicating with people. He has been listening and solving problems on the local level with his visits to Maryland's municipalities.

Here's what I personally know about Michael Steele - he is a caring man who knows how to listen. I've watched him listen to a small-town mayor's problems and to an elderly grandmother tell a story about a grandson. In both cases, he was totally absorbed in the conversation because of true heartfelt interest.

I've listened to Michael tell stories about his children. His stories are like mine and every other father's, a mixture of humor and pride. He is a genuine, honest person who would not only make a wonderful neighbor but also a man that Maryland can be proud of as its next U.S. Senator.

However, somewhere in the past several months the Democratic party discovered that Michael is African-American. The party of fear (the Democrats) has now started down the path of degradation, hate and racism. The Lt. Gov. has suffered identity theft with a stolen credit report at the hands of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. He has suffered racial slurs and personal mortification after a liberal blogger doctored his photo to portray him as a minstrel. Now, according the Washington Times, leading African- American Democrats are quoted making racist remarks.

Hatred and racism are never acceptable. There is no excuse for the quotes by elected Democrats such as state senators Lisa Gladden and Verna Jones, Del. Salima Siler Marriott and U.S. Senate candidate Kweisi Mfume's campaign manager, Joe Trippi. For the citizens of Maryland to tolerate this is to take a step backwards in our civilized society.

Personal attacks such as these must be denounced. These are tactics of desperation and are being tolerated by the "party of fear." The Democratic party is stunned that Michael Steele, an articulate, educated, clean-living family man, is a viable competitive candidate for the U.S. Senate. Well, I'm proud to say that he, just like me, is from the party of Lincoln, a Republican.

Reasons for opposing Red Run town houses listed

Date: November 3, 2005
Publication: The Owings Mills Times
Author: J. Michael Collins, Reisterstown

Last Thursday night, a public meeting was held for the proposed 284 town houses on Red Run Boulevard, which was attended by 40-50 concerned citizens.

By a show of hands, each and every attendee, except the developer, voted to reject this proposal for the following reasons:

The property is in Reisterstown, not in the planned growth area of Owings Mills.
This PUD is an attempt to circumvent the CZMP.
From Pleasant Hill west and Interstate 795 south, there are no town houses, and this area is rural in character with 1- to 3-acre lots.
We don't need any more stores.
The schools are being ignored and no one is enforcing the adequate facilities law. When computing adequate facilities, projects already approved are not considered in school population.
There will be an impact on Red Run, one of the only remaining trout streams in Baltimore County.
There is projected an additional 2,800 vehicles entering and exiting this property each day.
This property is in close proximity to Soldiers Delight, which contains asbetos, and the amount of digging may disturb this toxin.

This meeting was a complete mixture of political and ethnic groups coming together to voice their concerns on a project adversely affecting our community, and only one elected official had a presence at this meeting. Although Councilman Oliver sent his aide, she left halfway through the developers' presentation and never heard the community response.

Do our elected officials really care about a project this big, or did they choose not to be there because the press was not there to give them face time?

The major concern of the entire group was the impact on schools and the need for quality education, and I would like to propose this property be condemned for the public good and reserved for a new middle school. This property sold in July of this year for $6.1 million, and I believe $138,000 is not an unreasonable amount to pay for land, which will give our children a quality education.

If the county needs comparable land sales figures, they can use the properties owned by County Executive Jim Smith, which is adjacent to this proposed development. Two-acre lots are assessed at approximately $138,000. Oh, my mistake that's the neighbors properties; Jim Smith's 8-plus acres is assessed for $40,000.

County Council should act to preserve historic buildings

Date: November 3, 2005
Publication: The Northeast Booster
Author: David Marks, Baltimore County Historical Trust Vice Chairman

In recent weeks, there has been much controversy about the demolition of the Elizabeth Gardner House in Hunt Valley. This distinctive home, which sat at the corner of Shawan and York roads, was bulldozed to make way for a branch of BB&T Bank.

County Councilman T. Bryan McIntire has proposed legislation that would increase the penalties for razing a structure that is on the list of protected historic landmarks, or under consideration for placement on the list.

Under Councilman McIntire's bill, the penalty for demolishing a structure would rise to $158,000. Annual increases would be linked to the Consumer Price Index or the assessed value of the house, whichever is greater.

Councilman McIntire's bill would not have prevented the destruction of the Gardner House, which was not placed on the list of potential landmarks. The McIntire bill does, however, deter a developer from bulldozing a structure while the county considers it for permanent historic status.

Over the past 10 years, Baltimore County has lost many historic properties, including the Samuel Owings House, the property for which Owings Mills was named. During that same time, there have been a few successes, such as the effort to preserve the Perry Hall Mansion.

Councilman McIntire's bill is another tool that can help ensure there are more successes than failures in the future. I hope all Baltimore County Councilmembers can support this bill.

County executive wrong to cut back D.A.R.E. program

Date: November 3, 2005
Publication: The Northeast Booster
Author: Craig Borne, Perry Hall

I was recently informed by the St. Peter's Christian Day School principal, Nancy Drescher, that Baltimore County Executive James Smith has decided to remove all D.A.R.E. officers from parochial schools and reassign them to serve as School Resource Officers in Baltimore County Public Schools.

The D.A.R.E. program, which is short for Drug Abuse Resistance Education, is an international teaching tool that is designed to provide children with the life skills needed to avoid involvement with drugs, gangs and violence. It has been an integral part of education throughout Baltimore County for several years and should be allowed to continue as such.

Once again, the county executive chooses to place a Band-Aid on a heart attack instead of addressing the real problem. All parents in this county should have a problem with this ill-advised move.

First, Baltimore County Public Schools authors a "Student Handbook" that is distributed to all students at the beginning of each school year. In this handbook, students and parents are informed of the categories of various offenses and the consequences associated with each.

As a seven-year veteran public school teacher in Baltimore County, my opinion is that many public school administrators are, by and large, unwilling to invoke consequences in proportion to the student offense.

Thus, School Resource Officers, otherwise known as security guards, are needed to control a student population that 10 years ago could be managed by the teachers with the support of the administration.

What the county executive should address is the lack of discipline in Baltimore County public schools. Instead, he has chosen to restrict access to a worthwhile program such as D.A.R.E. and allow those parochial students to miss out on the benefit of this instruction.

Secondly, parochial school parents are county taxpayers as well, and their children should not be denied this countywide resource simply because they believe that a religious education is as important as liberal arts instruction.

Mr. Smith should address the problems within his public school system and stop denying a segment of the county population with a worthwhile and taxpayer subsidized resource.

I would encourage all parents - whether their children are in public or private schools - to write the county executive and encourage him not to deprive parochial students of this very effective program.