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POSTED July 6, 11:53 PM
I just read this piece in the Wall Street Journal. It uses some harsh words to describe Baltimore but it does make some good points. I liked this quote: "True enough, the ability to hand out subsidies gives officials great power. But it also gives them a reason, and incentive, to dismiss the common sense that if tax breaks for the well-connected are a good idea, lower tax rates across the board would lead to broad-based redevelopment." Our leaders give tremendous tax breaks and discounts to developers (who sometimes buy them shoes) and then promise us 2-cent property tax cuts that never come. The average citizen needs a property tax break before there are no average citizens left! On a related note, Councilman Bill Cole sent this email out on June 16th: "As you may have read in the Sun recently, I have been working to find a way to pay for the 2 cent property tax decrease that had been promised to Baltimore residents for 2008. Although I do support Mayor Dixon in her work to move Baltimore forward and I respect her safety, green, and clean initiatives, I cannot support her decision to postpone the planned two-cent property tax decrease this year. After a careful analysis of the proposed city budget, I determined that we could make specific budget cuts that would allow us to keep the promised property tax reduction without affecting city services.Excluding the comments about Dixon, this is a good email. I don't think I have ever read an email from a city official that mentioned "budget cuts". Jim Kraft was the other councilman who joined Bill Cole in supporting the tax cutting related amendment by the way. I really hope this new committee comes up with some tax cutting ideas and moves forward in implementing them. I hope the process is not a sham like the blue ribbon panel ended up being (the members of that panel may have had good intentions but I feel the Mayor used it for an election year stunt). Since Bill Cole is in charge (and not Jack Young) I have confidence that something new and productive actually may come out of this. |
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POSTED June 25, 2:50 PM
I am sure many of you are curious about the specific political contributions that Doracon, Ronald Lipscomb, and Dennis Cullop made. I have listed them below. For those of you who have not been paying attention Ron Lipscomb is head of Doracon and Dennis Cullop works for Doracon. These are three of the major players in the Mayor Dixon investigation. As you will see below they give a lot of money to a lot of people. See if your councilperson or delegate is listed!
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POSTED June 19, 3:32 PM
Stephen Janis and Luke Broadwater of the Baltimore Examiner need to be applauded for this excellent piece of investigative journalism. Mayor Dixon and Jack Young also deserve shout outs for standing their ground and not giving this organization the money they were trying to guilt out of the Baltimore budget.Here is what Luke and Stephen uncovered: Safe & Sound’s 2006 tax records showed nearly $1 million in overhead costs including:
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POSTED June 11, 11:57 PM
At least in West Virginia.In Baltimore it's a different story. Some think they "deserve" raises. |
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POSTED May 22, 10:44 AM
Apparently the owner of a company that had about 150 "gaming machines" in numerous locations in Baltimore County gave close to $40,000 to local politicians including Gov. Martin O'Malley, Comptroller Peter Franchot, and Mayor Sheila Dixon. Those three leaders are thinking about returning the contributions now. Below is a list of Baltimore City Council related politicians who have received money from Carbond. Jack Young and Bob Curran show up yet again...
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POSTED May 2, 2:36 PM
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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POSTED April 25, 12:49 PM
It appears that Councilman (and Johns Hopkins employee) Jack Young has replied to an entry of mine below. Check out my property tax entry and read the comments section where he says: "I deserve a raise just like everybody else". In honor of this occasion I have decided to start a series about members of Baltimore City Council. The series will start next week with Councilman Young. Below is a little teaser. It is video footage from the once bustling Oldtown Mall in Young's 12th district.
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