In This Months Business Monthly

In what now seems to be a former life, I lived in northern California just across the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County. Often times on weekends we’d take a drive up north along Highway 1 to Stinson Beach. It is a breathtaking drive up over the hills surrounding Mount Tamalpais and down along the coast. On one such drive we ventured a little farther north to check out the town of Bolinas.

Even back in the mid eighties Bolinas was legendary for its attempts to keep outsiders like me out. Residents continually tore down any sign that Caltrans erected identifying the exit for the town to keep people like me from visiting. Caltrans eventually gave up.

I thought of Bolinas when people got all excited about the second place ranking of Columbia/Ellicott City in Money magazine last month. Sure, it is nice to be recognized but this type of thing should be kept in perspective. There are plenty of nice places to live in America and not all of them care to promote that fact. Some like Bolinas, are perfectly content to keep that fact to themselves.

You can read this months column here.

Also, this issue of The Business Monthly also includes a nice little voter’s guide for HoCo and Anne Arundel county residents.

“The Business Monthly has asked each candidate for local and statewide office, as well as those running for office in counties or districts falling within our primary coverage area, to provide us with a biography and to answer a short questionnaire.”

They got a pretty good response but surprisingly 7 candidates did not bother to take a swing at this softball pitch. District 13 Senate candidate Kyle Lorton, Council District candidate Reginald Avery, School Board candidates David Thalheimer and Robert Ballinger, Register of Wills candidate Larry Blickman, Judge of Orphans Court candidates Leslie Smith Turner and Ajile Brown all took a pass.

There is also a HoCo politico piece by George Berkheimer about the slow pace of this years election.

“Compared to Howard County's last General Election, there's a bit less excitement in the air this year. Candidates have filed later than ever, some at the very last minute, and the first candidates' forum has yet to be held.

By contrast, forums were well underway by mid-May in 2006.”

He also writes that Alan Klein continues to insist that he is not a one issue candidate.

You can find the complete guide here.