Tales Of Two Cities

Democratic Challenger in District 9A

2009-12-15T14:32:00.001-05:00

It looks like Warren Miller and Gail Bates will have a Democratic challenger for one of the House of Delegates seats in Legislative District 9A. Jon Weinstein, a resident of Ellicott City and founder of Line of Sight, a management consulting firm, has officially tossed his hat in the ring.

Actually he tossed his hat in the ring some time ago but I just found out about it. Oh well, better late than never as they say.

Judging from Warren Millers recent attempt to stifle consumer choice in Howard County, I’m glad we’ll at least have a choice next November.

They’re Baaack!

2009-12-15T13:34:00.003-05:00

The scam charity panhandlers have returned to the intersection of Dobbin Road and Route 175 in Columbia.

Be advised that these folks are not exactly what they appear.

No White Christmas This Year

2009-12-14T14:50:00.002-05:00

Since we’ve already had our first significant snowfall of the season I wondered if we might actually have a white Christmas this year.

Not likely.

According to this map from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration it looks like something between 11% to 25% chance of that happening.

Bigger Than the Pentagon

2009-12-14T10:55:00.002-05:00

According to this story by Joshua Stewart in the Hometown Annapolis, the BRAC related growth at Fort Meade “will turn the sprawling west county Army installation into one of the largest workplaces in the nation, making it well more than double the size of the Pentagon.”

It has been a little over two years since the decision was made to expand the mission at Fort Meade. Some have wondered whether all the talk of new jobs was over hyped. That is because, for the most part, the full impact has not yet been felt. With construction of the new 400,000 square foot headquarters for the Defense Information Systems Agency nearing completion, 2010 will be the year that the benefits to local economy become evident.

“From when the first trickle of jobs start to arrive in 2010 to a big rush later in the year, and back down to a slow trickle by 2015, an estimated 22,000 new jobs will have either been created or moved to Fort Meade, making it the state's largest employer by tens of thousands of people.”

HoCo Political Battlegrounds Taking Shape

2009-12-13T13:50:00.003-05:00

Howard County Republicans are optimistic about their prospects for 2010. With less than eleven months to go, several candidates for local offices are already into their campaigns while others are ready to make to transition from “exploratory committees” to full blown campaigns.

I’ve already mentioned John Bailey and his challenge for Liz Bobo’s delegate seat in District 12B and Ed Priola’s efforts to snatch one of the delegate seats in District 13. In the council races, Anthony Jordan is the only officially declared GOP candidate so far. Anthony is seeking to unseat Calvin Ball in District 2.

Jim Robey will have a contested race for his Senate seat. Kyle Lorton, an executive with WR Grace in Columbia, announced his candidacy this summer and recently held a fundraiser in Savage that was attended by former governor Bob Erlich. According to this story by Larry Carson in The Sun, Kyle said “I'm real concerned about the direction of both the state and nation in a shift to the left." He said he'll stress his own qualifications but also plans to spotlight Robey's role in raising income and sales taxes.”

Among those getting ready to transition from exploratory mode are Bob Flanagan’s quest for Courtney Watson’s council seat in District 1 and Dennis Schrader is widely expected to announce his attempt to take back his old council seat from Jen Terrasa in District 3.

I’ve yet to hear of any potential GOP challengers for Mary Kay Sigaty. Back in July I speculated that CoFoCoDo spokesperson Alan Klein may mount a Democratic primary challenge for her seat. I suspect he is now having second thoughts about that.

The other candidate moving from the sidelines to the field of battle is Trent Kittelman. Trent has already begun building a war chest and is expect to formally announce in February.

With the cost of these individual contests ranging from twenty grand for a council seat to a million bucks for county executive, it looks like we’re in for a long eleven months of fundraising events.

Virginia Bans Cul-De-Sacs

2009-12-13T12:41:00.003-05:00

ILLUSTRATION BY LAUREN NASSEF

This week, The New York Times Magazine is entirely devoted to best ideas of the year. In the Social Sciences category, the magazine editors chose the newly enacted regulations in the Commonwealth of Virginia “to severely limit cul-de-sacs from future developments.”

When Roger Lewis gave a seminar in Columbia back in January he also took aim at the cul-de-sac as a bad planning idea. He likened them to bunches of grapes when viewed from aloft.

One of the benefits of eliminating cul-de-sacs is improving the flow of traffic.

“Virginia expects the new rules to relieve its strained infrastructure budget: through streets are more efficient and cheaper to maintain, and they take pressure off arterial roads that otherwise need to be widened.”

This is one of the centerpieces of General Growths Town Center redevelopment plans. They would alter the current road system in Town Center to create more of a grid pattern.

It is too late to change the cul-de-sac culture in the other nine villages of Columbia but at least in Town Center we can get it right.

What He Said

2009-12-12T13:23:00.001-05:00

Doug Miller wrote an excellent editorial in the Columbia Flier about the conflicting opinions and passions on the redevelopment of Columbia’s Town Center.

"...the energy that hundreds are devoting now to getting it right will pay dividends in that final product, no matter what form it ultimately takes.”

Nicely put.

Small State, Fat Legislators

2009-12-11T11:45:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, in Maryland Reporter, Len Lazerick reported that the members of Maryland’s General Assembly “are the nation's second-highest paid part-time lawmakers.”

They may be in for a raise too.

“A 9-member compensation commission began work this week on whether legislators will get a pay hike after the next election. The panel will also review pensions and expenses such as lodging and meals, with recommendations due Jan. 27.”

Members of the assembly also enjoy a pretty liberal policy when it comes to their expenses too. Unlike private industry, they are not required to produce receipts for their expenses.

“Simon Powell, an analyst with the Department of Legislative Services who is staffing the commission, said he believed it decided receipts would be “cumbersome” and create “a lot of paperwork.”

Wow!

I’ve never worked anywhere that I wasn’t required to submit a receipt for reimbursement of my expenses. This seems to be a system designed for abuse.

This year taxpayers reimbursed their elected representatives for $1.8 million in lodging and $439,000 for meals for 90 days of work. If they are really serious about trying to find ways to stretch the state budget during these lean years, they would be well served by taking a hard look at their own spending habits.

Of course they could also consider my other idea too.

March Decision for Cyber Command

2009-12-10T09:36:00.000-05:00

My colleague Bill Harrison attended the BWI Partnership meeting on Tuesday where Senator Barbara Mikulski and Senator Ben Cardin were the featured speakers. During her presentation, Senator Mikulski mentioned that a final decision as to location of the new US Cyber Command won’t be made until March.

I mistakenly thought that this was already a done deal. Back in June, the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, recommended that the new command be headquartered at Fort Meade under Lt. General Keith Alexander, the Director of the National Security Agency. Gates had expressed a desire for this command to be fully operational by October 2010.

This would be a pretty significant addition to Fort Meade. Some analysts predict it could bring as many 15,000 new jobs on top of the approximately 20,000 jobs already coming to Fort Meade as part of BRAC.

Writing the Wrongs

2009-12-10T08:57:00.001-05:00

A friend of mine sent me this cartoon. It made me think of some of the commenters on Tales of Two Cities.

Watson Gets the Chair

2009-12-09T11:02:00.001-05:00

At Monday evening’s county council meeting, Courtney Watson was elected as the next chair of the council replacing Mary Kay Sigaty who will now move to the position of vice chair. Mary Kay had expressed an interest in holding on to the chairmanship for another year to maintain some continuity on the Columbia Town Center redevelopment legislative process but politics probably trumped that plan. Since next year is an election, the position of council chair gives Courtney a little added visibility in her quest to seek a second term. Bob Flanagan has already begun a campaign to challenge her whereas no viable opponent has yet surfaced for Mary Kay.

As Larry Carson reported in this story in The Sun, the chairmanship can be a mixed blessing. Courtney, who was the council chair two years ago, reportedly said “The best day is the day you're elected, and the second best day is the day you turn the reins over. Everything else is just a blur."

Jen Terrasa and Calvin Ball played musical chairs. Jen will assume the new zoning board chair replacing Calvin who will become the new liquor board chair, replacing Jen.

Greg Fox, the lone Republican on the five person council, gets no chair. Understandably he abstained from voting on these new assignments.

Bridge Views

2009-12-09T08:30:00.001-05:00

HoCoMoJo prepared this video for the Bridge Columbia effort. I particularly like John Slaters description of the “cage.”

White Knight for GGP

2009-12-08T11:51:00.000-05:00

Brookfield Asset Management has reportedly purchased “close to $1 billion of General Growth's unsecured debt in recent months.” According to this story by Pav Jordan in Reuters, the Canadian based firm would like to see GGP remain a single entity as opposed to selling off some of its key assets.

Brookfield would make a good partner for GGP. Unlike Simon Property Group, which has also been positioning itself for a play for GGP, Brookfield does not have a large stake in retail. The company has over $90 billion in assets under management and has “one of the largest portfolios of both premier office properties and hydroelectric power generation facilities as well as transmission and timberland operations, located in North and South America and Europe.”

A Brookfield GGP partnership would seem to be pretty synergistic.

A Day Late, A Dollar Short

2009-12-07T11:45:00.000-05:00

Or perhaps I should say 35 years late and $45,000 short.

According to this story by Larry Carson in The Sun today, Circuit Court Judge Alfred L. Brennen rejected a claim by The Columbia Association against Joseph and Shirley Poteet for $45,000 in unpaid CPRA liens dating back to 1973. CA did not file a claim against the Poteets until 2008.

The judge threw out “the homeowners' association claim as too old to be enforced.”

According to article CA plans to appeal.

High Drama at Arundel Mills

2009-12-07T10:37:00.001-05:00

The fate of a slot parlor development at the Arundel Mills mall will be decided today in two separate actions. This afternoon, the Maryland Slots Commission is expected to approve the location of a 4,750 slot machine parlor at the shopping complex in Hanover, Maryland. That may be putting the cart before the horse. The most significant decision will occur tonight when the Anne Arundel County Council will vote whether to approve a zoning change that would allow the parlor to locate there. A rejection of this zoning change would derail the project.

And I thought the Columbia Town Center zoning battle was contentious.

According to this story by Nicole Fuller and Laura Smitherman in The Sun, the vote could easily go either way.

“But even after nine months of wrestling with the issue, it is unclear how the local battle will end. Three of the seven council members say they aren't sure how they'll vote, and four "yes" votes are needed to move the billion-dollar project forward.

"What will happen Monday night is anybody's guess," said Council President Cathleen M. Vitale, who declined to say how she plans to vote.”

To further add to the drama surrounding this hot button issue, the council must render their decision before midnight tonight.

I’m just glad there won’t be a slots parlor in Howard County. Last year, before the referendum on slots, I came out against slots in this post and this column. One year later, it sure seems like the state legistlators claim that slots would save Maryland’s horse racing industry and bring in much needed revenue for the state was a sham. Jay Hanock summed the situation up nicely in this column he wrote in The Sun back in February.

“Legalizing slot machines was supposed to save Maryland horse tracks, help Maryland schools and keep the Preakness in Baltimore. That it might fail on all counts, in a kind of grotesque trifecta, is probably what everybody involved with it deserves.”

I’ll Drink To That

2009-12-06T18:45:00.002-05:00

In this editorial in The Sun today, the paper called for increasing the state tax on alcoholic beverages by a dime. According to The Suns editors, Maryland has one of the lowest alcoholic beverage taxes in the country. In addition to helping the looming state budget crisis, the editors cite public health and safety benefits as well.

“As a recent report prepared by two professors from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health makes clear, raising that tax to the equivalent of about 10 cents per drink would pay huge dividends. By their estimate: 14,987 fewer cases of alcohol dependence, 37 fewer deaths (many of them traffic-related), 13 fewer rapes, 316 fewer assaults, 21 fewer robberies, 67 fewer incidents of severe violence against children and 19 fewer cases of fetal alcohol syndrome each year.

That may seem a leap of faith, but Professors David H. Jernigan and Hugh Waters say they have the real-world experience to back it up - dozens of studies showing that whenever states raise the tax on alcohol, drinking (and excessive drinking) declines. They predict the higher tax would reduce consumption in Maryland by slightly under 5 percent; the public health benefits accrue from that.”

There isn’t much chance of this happening though. The licensed beverage lobby is extremely influential in our state and would likely mount a concerted effort to stop it not to mention that raising any new tax in an election year is also considered political suicide.

“If history is any guide, lawmakers are bound to be reluctant to raise taxes next year. But protecting the alcohol industry at the expense of schools and other vital services (not to mention bankrupting local government) may raise the ire of voters more.”

It will be interesting if any our local legislators’ have the courage to get behind this initiative. Judging by their recent bipartisan willingness to limit consumer choice in Howard County I say that is highly unlikely.

Midnight Madness in Ellicott City Part Two

2009-12-06T15:56:00.004-05:00

Friday night during the Midnight Madness festivities in Ellicott City, we had dinner at the new Portalli’s restaurant on Main Street. Since HowChow came on the local blog scene I have happily deferred restaurant reviews to Brent. He does a much better job of it. That still doesn’t preclude me from occasionally commenting on our dining exploits around the county though.

As far as Portalli’s goes I’ll just say that we were disappointed. The service was good but the food did not live up to our expectations. I did like the cocktail lounge on the second floor though. Bottom line is that we’ll give it a few months and then perhaps try them again.

After dinner we scooted across the street to check out the new banquet facility, Ellicott City Weddings and Events. They were having an open house complete with faux brides and grooms.

This former art gallery is a pretty nifty place for either a wedding or a party. On the top floor is a reception room with big windows overlooking Main Street below. Out back is nice deck that would make a great setting for cocktails in nice weather.

All in all Midnight Madness was a success this year. The owner of the Rumor Mill restaurant told me the next morning that they were within two hundred dollars of a record evening.

A big wag of the wordbones tail goes out to Kimberly Kepnes who orchestrated the festivities this year on behalf of the Ellicott City Business Association.

New HoCo Blogger

2009-12-05T18:35:00.001-05:00

Well maybe not real new. His profile says he’s been blogging since July 2008. He’s written a total of 10 posts so far this year.

Still, hoco@nyte is a voice from another part of our local scene, the bar scene. The blog author describes himself as a “Career Bartender and party host,hard worker and organizer.”

My kind of guy.

Welcome hoco@nyte. We’ve added your blog to Other Local Stuff. Post often.

This is a Dusting?

2009-12-05T14:56:00.004-05:00

I distinctly recall hearing a forecaster say yesterday that the most we could expect from this storm was a “dusting” of snow, nothing significant. The same forecaster further advised that the streets were too warm for any accumulation on the roads.

Then again that was yesterday.

Yesterday, as we podcast our latest edition of And Then There’s That, Paul and I had a little fun talking snow strategies with the patrons of the Lakeside Coffee Shop in Columbia. That turned out to be pretty timely.

Oh yeah, we also had a nice chat with Councilperson Mary Kay Sigaty.

In This Months Business Monthly

2009-12-05T11:48:00.000-05:00

It really rankles me when I hear people refer to General Growth Properties as a bankrupt developer as if that somehow makes them evil. Yes, the company sought protection of the bankruptcy courts when they were unable to refinance their debt. What is important to understand is that they are not asking anyone to forgive that debt. They are only working to extend the terms.

Bridget Mugane, speaking on behalf of the Howard County Citizens Association has repeatedly disparaged the company in public hearings and in the press. In this story by Sarah Breitenbach in the Howard County Times she called GGP a “folks who have no loyalty here, they're hard-nosed business people."

I take issue with this because I feel that Columbia and Howard County actually owe a debt of gratitude to GGP. Before they came along Columbia’s Town Center was being developed in a piecemeal fashion, one parcel at a time. There was no cohesion and no master plan. General Growth has breathed new life into Columbia.

They paid a high price for that privilege too. It was largely the debt that they incurred when they bought The Rouse Company that pushed them into bankruptcy. The founders of the company, the Bucksbaum family, lost control of the company and a good deal of their personal fortune.

No loyalty here?

I don’t think so Bridget. They have more at stake in this community than you do.

You can read this month’s column here.

Midnight Madness in Ellicott City Part One

2009-12-05T11:01:00.002-05:00

It was a great night for Midnight Madness in Ellicott City last night. The town was packed and the holiday atmosphere was greatly enhanced by these wandering Madrigals from Mt. Hebron High School.

Go Vikes!

More on Midnight Madness later…

Look Who Crashed the Party

2009-12-04T11:14:00.001-05:00

Last night, Davis Agnor Rapaport & Skalny held their annual holiday party. Greeting the guests as soon as they stepped off the elevators were Washington’s now famous party crashers, Tareq and Michaele Salahi.

Well, not the real thing but probably more fun than the real thing. All night “invited” guests posed to have their pictures taken with the cut out figures, including county executive, Ken Ulman.

In this picture is Len Lazerick, the editor of Maryland Reporter, hamming it up with the faux couple.

Brilliant.

Funny, I don’t Feel That Rich

2009-12-03T14:35:00.000-05:00

According to this story in The Huffington Post today, the US Census Bureau, in its latest report on the poverty and income levels of over 3,100 counties in the United States, identified Howard County as the fifth richest county in the country with a median household income of $101,867.00.

What gives?

It was just about two years ago that Forbes magazine named Howard County as the third richest county in the country with a median household income of $94,260.

I suppose it really doesn’t matter all that much. It’s just that most people I know don’t feel very rich these days.

I suppose it’s all relative. The poorest county in the country is Buffalo County in South Dakota where the median household income is $19,182. Then again the cost of housing in Buffalo County is a little more reasonable too. The mean price of a home in Buffalo County in 2007 was $110,588. Given that the county population density is 4 people per square mile you probably get a little land with that house too.

Destroying Nature in Order to Save It?

2009-12-03T09:56:00.004-05:00

A couple of people have suggested that I write something about the construction on the new Robinson Nature Center on Cedar Lane in Columbia. For those who may have missed it, the county is spending almost $4 million for the design and construction of a 25,000 square foot nature center on 18.4 acres of land purchased from the Robinson Nature Center Foundation.

The following is a description of the project from the Howard County Recreation & Parks website:

“The center will be comprised of a modern nature center with customary indoor exhibits and displays along with outdoor interpretive trails. The trails will be used for outdoor education, and interpretation of the historic Simpsonville Mill and its surrounds. The indoor exhibits and displays will be both interactive and static in nature. In addition to the main exhibit room, the Center will have a large Discovery Room specifically designed for children’s activities with many “hands-on” exhibits and activities. The Discovery Room will capture the attention of children and educate them about their natural environment. The exhibits and activities will be based on sound environmental science while at the same time, offering an exciting and enjoyable learning experience. The programs and exhibits will address environmental issues on a local, regional and global level. The Center will also provide space for meetings, conferences and special events again bringing people together to learn more about our natural environment.”

Still, some locals have been critical at what they see as the heavy handed development program for a “nature center” citing the clearing and grading as being excessive. They point to the claim that the center “will be in harmony with the site” and that the building preserves “the integrity of the site” and wonder how that jibes with the clearing and cutting they are doing.

I don’t know about that. This is a big facility that will serve to educate a large number of school children about our environment. The firm that was hired to design this facility, GWWO Architects, has designed nature centers all around the country including the Everglades National Park. No doubt they have taken precaution to preserve as much of the site as possible. In this case, I believe the end result will justify the means and make this an important addition to the 1,021 acre Middle Patuxent Environmental Area.

Postman Foster Goes to Jail

2009-12-02T16:12:00.000-05:00

Last March, Marvin Foster was arrested for stealing over a half million dollars worth of postage stamps from the Elkridge branch of the US Postal service. It was an inside job. Marvin was an employee at the time. Now he’s a former employee.

Yesterday Mr. Foster entered into a plea agreement that will make him a guest of the federal prison system for thirty months. He also now owes the government $300,000 in restitution that he will presumably pay in cash instead of stamps.