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The Baltimore Park Advocate
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It's still Sunday and I wanted to write about something positive before the work week starts. Last year I met a man named Chris Delaporte. Chris is a park expert and has dealt with outdoor matters for decades. He recently started the Baltimore Park Advocate movement. Check out his site. Chris believes in actually spending park money on maintaining what we already have before we spend money on creating new projects that we do not have money to maintain in the future. It is a very simple and logical concept. This video explains it all: |
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Downtown Baltimore's West Side And The Light Rail Double Stabbing
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On Wednesday there was a double stabbing that took place on Howard street near the light rail stop according to WJZ TV. You can view the attack here. If you go to the 35 second point in the video you can clearly see the luxury Centerpoint apartment complex in the background. So the attack just did not happen on Howard street, it took place in front of one of the showpieces of the so-called West Side redevelopment in the middle of the day. Since the 1990's we have been told by those in power that the west side of downtown was on the verge of a renaissance. Favored developers were sold city owned property at discounted rates and a few tall buildings sprang up while most of the property stood vacant. Speculators flocked in because of the hype and most of the smaller buildings are in worse shape than they were in the 1990's. The area has been highly touted in many publications yet on the ground on most blocks little has changed. In fact it can be downright dreamlike to walk from one block that is falling apart to the next that has some out of place new apartment building on it. Building a few new buildings, renaming an area, and creating mass speculation does not cure urban ills as the video shows. Baltimore jumps ahead of itself a lot. Those in charge should have tried to fill up the small storefronts and houses with people who could afford them before they went out and built large luxury apartment buildings. These apartment buildings have become fortresses in the middle of troubled blocks. A fortress may be pretty on the outside when viewed from a certain angle but it solves no problem and creates no renaissance. |
The Red Line Needs To Be Heavy Rail
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The Mayor's Red Line Summit is on Saturday. This will be another opportunity for political leaders and government workers to trick citizens in to thinking that light rail or bus rapid transit are the best options for the proposed Red line. These are actually horrible options. Let me introduce you to a group of very smart people that you probably have never heard of before. The Transit Riders Action Council of Metropolitan Baltimore (TRAC) is a group of knowledgeable local transit riders who live and breathe mass transit. TRAC is lead by the genius and Mount Vernon legend Edward Cohen. Ed and his people have studied the potential Red Line and come up with an economically logical plan that proves the Red Line should be heavy rail (what you and I would refer to as a subway like the one that already goes from Owings Mills to Hopkins). MTA representatives like to downplay the TRAC plan but read it for yourself and see how it makes the most sense. You can sign the TRAC petition here. If you are a mass transit enthusiast or just a responsible citizen who wants to the best for the Baltimore metro area then be sure to check out the TRAC website. |
Baltimore Elections And Disenfranchisement
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Baltimore has a very interesting election calendar. In 2008 we have the presidential election, in 2010 we have elections that determine statewide offices (Governor, Delegates, State Senators...), and in 2011 we have citywide elections for local offices (Mayor, City Council, Comptroller...). It costs a lot of money to hold each election. It would save a lot of money if instead of having citywide and statewide elections in separate years, we had them in the same year. This would also prevent statewide office holders from running for citywide office (and vice versa) with no fear of losing their current office. In Maryland you can not run for two positions at the same time so current officeholders would have to give up their current position in order to run for another one no matter what level of government they were currently a part of. It would even make more sense for Baltimore to do away with primary elections for citywide offices. The Democratic Primary is all that counts in Baltimore for those seeking local political offices. Independents and other parties have no say in who wins that primary. In a sense independents are disenfranchised. The primary winner goes on to to the general election and crushes the competition. The media and the etablishment political machine play a huge role in making the general election an afterthought. In theory the 2nd place candidate in the primary may have been heavily favored by independents who will never get a chance to vote for him or her. In order to save money and give a say to voters besides democrats I say we get rid of the Baltimore primaries and make everyone run in the general election. It will be one less election to pay for. Now if the Democratic and Republican Parties want to pay for their own primaries then more power to them. |
Preakness, Slots, And Taxes
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It is Preakness time again in Baltimore! Can you name another sporting event in this country where 120,000 people pile in to a non-downtown neighborhood for a sports spectacular? The event is uniquely Baltimore. From 1994 to 2001 I attended five Preaknessses. I can remember the local kids getting paid $5 to push around beer in shopping carts for people who were tired of dragging 3 cases of beer along Northern Parkway. Mount Washington residents charging $20 per car to park in their front yards is another memory that sticks out in my head. The infield is total anarchy and is known in some circles as the Mid-Atlantic Mardi Gras. Pimlico racetrack and many of the nearby residents make a lot of money on the third Saturday of May every year. Preakness is an event that becomes more popular every year and it is an event we can not afford to lose. If the Preakness left it would be like when the Colts left. It would be another embarrassing, disgraceful blow to the collective ego of Baltimore. Baltimore would be one step closer to becoming some faceless boring city like Richmond, El Paso, Cincinnati, or Cleveland. It is in Baltimore's best interest to save Preakness but slots are not the answer. The horse racing industry and the owners of Pimlico say the state needs slots in order to help make horse racing successful. They threaten to move the Preakness if they do not get their way. A successful business is able to adapt to the current market and come up with creative solutions to survive. Slots are not creative. Once slots come you know the gambling industry leaders will immediately say that slots are not making enough money, that horse racing still will not survive, and that we need casino gambling ASAP. I think slots are being used by some leaders to act in fiscally irresponsible ways. Mayor Dixon has said that slots would help generate revenue to lower Baltimore property taxes. Instead of finding ways to cut spending the Mayor would rather gamble on slots that may or may not produce new revenue for Baltimore. People say that slots would improve the area around the track. Would you want slot machines in your neighborhood? If you would then I have no problem with you designating Pimlico or Pigtown the gambling center of Baltimore, but what gives you the right to force hardcore gambling and the lovely people who surround it in to another neighborhood? I personally believe Pimlico needs to reinvent itself. I remember being 17 years old and going to the track for the first time and loving it. There are a lot of ways to get young people to Pimlico. It is totally self-contained and there is plenty of parking. They could create some sort of mega-bar there and have college kids bused in. The Virgin Festival is already a very successful event. There need to be more events at Pimlico, maybe have some sporting events on the infield or more concerts. Let artists use some space when there is no racing (there is no racing there at least 80% of the year). Rent out different parts of it during the winter. I am just coming up with these ideas as I type so I am sure if you got some creative people together (and I would love to help) you could come up with some amazing totally Baltimore ideas that would help generate loads of revenue that would enable Baltimore to keep the Preakness. I want to stress that my main goal here is not to be anti-slots at all costs but to rather promote keeping the Preakness, having fiscally responsible leaders, and creating something new and original for Pimlico that will benefit Baltimore on a social and economic level. Now if you want to see a guy who puts anti-gambling high on his lists or priorities I suggest you check out Aaron Meisner (no relation to me). Aaron is a resident of Mount Washington and I believe he would be a great representative of the 5th district on City Council (I know an actual resident of the 5th district on City Council is quite a foreign concept to most). Here are links to anti-slot sites that Aaron is associated with. |
Welcome To The Machine
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On Thursday I ran in to a hardcore Michael Sarbanes supporter. We talked about life and a little bit about politics. He mentioned how Baltimore is a machine city. He was basically saying that in the 2007 election it was a very good idea to be associated with the Dixon team in some way (Sarbanes was not and he did not win). You can actually trace the roots even deeper. I did some research to find out what campaigns received contributions from Friends of Martin O'Malley. I have noticed that certain people immediately think higher of you if you have the blessings of O'Malley. Many people blindly vote for who O'Malley tells them to. Of the fifteen people including Council President Dixon who were part of the council prior to 2007, thirteen of them had at one time received contributions from Friends of Martin O'Malley. Nick D'Adamo and Belinda Conaway were the only members not to receive O'Malley money. The current council has a few new people, but out of them only Nick D'Adamo, Belinda Conaway, Warren Branch, and Bill Henry did not receive funds from Friends of Martin O'Malley. So clearly it pays off to seek the support of the Governor and to join his machine. In my eyes there is something very respectable about attaining office without being part of the machine. Out of the four people that did not receive O'Malley financial aid one clearly rises to the top. I think all of you should seek out and meet Bill Henry of the 4th district. I don't even want to call him a politician because he is just a real person that is honest, smart, and nice. He is also one of the few full-time members of city council (most collect $57,000 of your tax money a year by making city council a part time job!). Today I am proud to be the first journalist or pseudo-journalist (no way am I a real journalist!) to proclaim that not only should Bill Henry be our future mayor but he should be our current mayor! Keep an eye on him. |
Constellation Energy Gives Money To These City Council Members
BG&E electricity rates are rising again. Constellation Energy is the parent company of BG&E and they like to donate money to the following council members' campaign accounts (since 2003). Please note that many of these donations were made after the price hikes of the last few years:
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Liquor News And Ideas
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Linden Bar and Liquors remains open for now. The owner's lawyer tries to make it appear that the owner is a poor everyday store owner who will be in a horrible financial situation if he has to sell his liquor license. The truth is a lot different. The poor people of the area who have flocked to his store for the last few years have helped the owner live a lifestyle they could only dream of. In 2005 he paid over $800,000 for his almost 6000 square foot house in northern Baltimore County. If you can spend $800,000 on a house one would think you could invest a little money in a security guard for your drug infested liquor store. Since liquor and liquor laws seem to be in the news lately I thought I would bring up an idea of mine that I have tried to promote in the past. I believe the state should grant the right to sell 4AM liquor licenses to Baltimore. There are quite a few locations that are not near anything residential and thus later hours would not disturb the peace. Places like Sonar, Powerplant Live, the Bar formerly known as Hammerjacks, and others around that area could purchase this new license. Establishments in residential areas would not be eligible for these licenses. The money generated from these license sales and yearly renewal fees would go directly toward lowering our property taxes. Baltimore would have a unique feature that few other cities offer. This could increase potential convention revenue and definitely would increase liquor sales (and taxes generated from them). Hotel and cab revenue would also go up because of responsible people drinking too much to drive. The bottom line is Baltimore could be a lot more fun and it could help contribute to lowering our property taxes. |
Profiles Of Our Leaders: An Introduction
| 2008 is not an election year for politicians in Baltimore. In years like this the people forget about elections, and the leaders forget about promises they made in election years. Reporters are too busy to cover local politics so local politicians do not worry about what they do and do not do... UNTIL NOW! The purpose of this occasional series on our local politicians is to create accountability and coverage for people who receive little coverage and have little accountability. That really is the purpose of this blog in fact. We have to hold out leaders responsible for their actions and inactions but if we have no clue what they do or who gives them money then how are we supposed to do that? So much of the information that the people need to know is out there but the media does not write about it. I am going to be the person that guides you through the information and teaches you how to find more of it. So without further delay let us get down to business. |
Update On Shutting Down A Nuisance Liquor Establishment
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Linden Bar and Liquors at the corner of North Avenue and Linden Avenue in Reservoir Hill has been a blight on the community for over 30 years. On April 17, 2008 after a two hour hearing the liquor board did not renew the license for this establishment. The original license expires on April 30th so by May 1st the store should be shut down. Now at the last minute the owner is attempting to delay and reverse the boards decision. Here is an email I just received that will give you some insight in to what it takes to get rid of an establishment that is blatantly in violation of numerous liquor laws pertaining to public safety and illegal narcotics sales. Feel free to show up at the courthouse located at 111 N. Calvert Street: Hello All! Just a half hour ago I had a conference call with Judge Cannon, Russell Neverdon (the liquor board appellate counsel) and Richard Bittner (attorney for the licensee) and there will be an emergency hearing in front of Judge Nance (not sure if that is his correct spelling) tomorrow morning at 11:30 am in Room 556 in the Circuit Court East Building to decide whether or not a stay should be granted to the licensee. If granted, he would be permitted to remain open while he appeals the liquor board’s decision. It is important that we show up and defend our position which is that we want this establishment closed as of May 1 per the Board’s decision. If you can, please attend the hearing.
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Adam Meister
Adam Meister's scribe spreads his innate enthusiasm for all things Baltimore--and, in particular, the political inner workings of his beloved hometown.
Adam Meister's scribe spreads his innate enthusiasm for all things Baltimore--and, in particular, the political inner workings of his beloved hometown.
- The Baltimore Park Advocate
- Downtown Baltimore's West Side And The Light Rail Double Stabbing
- The Red Line Needs To Be Heavy Rail
- Baltimore Elections And Disenfranchisement
- Preakness, Slots, And Taxes
- Welcome To The Machine
- Constellation Energy Gives Money To These City Council Members
- Liquor News And Ideas
- Profiles Of Our Leaders: An Introduction
- Update On Shutting Down A Nuisance Liquor Establishment
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A Federal Hill Bar Crawl Tale
I would have to say that my favorite thing about Baltimore is... the absolute disregard for parking regulations. Anyone can double park indefinitely, as long as their hazard lights are on, regardless of how narrow the street or how many parking spaces ...
