53 beers on tap

James Howard is a Vampire! Proof!!!!!

Following up on a blog post earlier this week, here is a photograph of Planning Board member James Howard, moments before converting an unsuspecting toddler from being a source of sweetness and light to simply another minion of the undead:

NOW I want someone to tell me that James Howard is NOT a vampire!

Rumor has it that Mr. Howard is secrety lobbying for zoning for rendering plants and abattoirs in East Columbia.

Anyone got any garlic???

A challenge to the bench

I love this article.  And wow, has it really been 15 years?

So Circuit Court Judge Lenore Gelfman is up for another 15-year term on the bench-- a term that she won by running against the two sitting judges at the time, Diane Leasure and Donna Hill.  Hill was beaten out for the spot on the bench by Gelfman in the 1996 election.

I supported the sitting judges at the time, a position that was publicly assailed by many in the HFC, Democrat and Republican alike.  I felt that Judge Hill brought tremendous diversity to the board-- in terms of age, ethnicity and gender-- and her defeat is one of the moments in my political experience that frankly made me the most sick.

So, reading that local attorney Clarke Ahlers is running for the Circuit Court against Gelfman-- well, I think I'll be supporting Mr. Ahlers.  Turnabout is fair play.

Raising perverse amounts of cash-- local edition!!!

So it looks like the potential candidates for County Executive in Howard F---ing County are cashing up, as evidenced by this article. 

As of the latest filing deadline, Del. Guy Guzzone has about $192K in the bank, outpacing Councilwoman Courtney Watson by about $20K.  State Sen.  Allan Kittleman currently has about $62K in the bank.

So in the 2010 election, County Executive Ulman raised about $1M.  The 2014 election looks to exceed that total by a considerable margin, given these figures.

For me, more interesting than the cash chase will be the grabbing of issues.  These candidates, especially on the Democratic side, are going to have to demonstrate more than a nickel's worth of difference from each other in order to distinguish themselves from each other, and to Howard County voters.  This year, and 2013, will be the prime time for that to occur.

Turf Valley--- Please Make It Stop!!!

So this one is where we discuss that land use and development idiocy occurs all over Howard County.  In fact, it is a Howard County tradition.

On the Board of Appeals website we see our good buddy Marc Norman is once again appearing re: Turf Valley and the Mangione development.  Amazing.  Does this guy ever get enough?  Apparently not.  The next round is scheduled to occur on January 26.

Marc Norman better be ready to go all night long because new Board of Appeals member James Howard is alleged to be a vampire, per influential elements of the Howard County blog community.  So Marc, don't just bring your facts, your lunch, and your A game.  Bring a couple pints of A positive.  Because a man like James Howard can only find the energy to do all he does-- working professional, graduate student, committed community servant-- by being one of the undead.  So I've heard.

Seriously, can there be a limit on how many times the same guy can pester a public board about a case?  Hasn't Marc Norman run his route by now?  Give it a break, bro!

Keep the Flag Flying

You know, sometimes government just acts a little bit goofy insofar as it's proper to do the legal thing, but sometimes better to do the acceptable thing.  And this article is just one case of that.

I don't have a problem with this American flag flying in this circle in Woodbine.  I do think that it wasn't cool for the resident to place a cemented flagpole in the public right of way-- would seem to me that there should be some fine she should have to pay for doing this thing.  But, the act itself was not maliciously-intended. It was done just to have an appropriate place for the flag to fly.

Many if the American flag that I see flying from bridges and overpasses in the area-- no one ever seems to take them down unless they get weather-worn... in which event soon thereafter, another flag appears.  I am not sure then why this case be treated any differently.

State Highway Administration, let this flag fly!

The $1.3 million man

You may be familiar with "The Six Million Dollar Man."

You may also be familiar with "The Million Dollar Man, Ted DiBiase."

Howard F---ing County is home to "The 1.3 Million Dollar Man", County Executive Ken Ulman.  That figure refers to how much money Ken has in the bank as he prepares to run for Gov....errrrrrrrr, statewide office..... in 2014.

$1.3M ain't chicken feed compared to others in the field, as discussed in this blog post.  Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown has about $800K while Comptroller Peter Franchot has $1M.  But, $1.3M aint's chicken feed, but chicken you-know-what compared to the $4.1M Attorney General Doug Gansler has in the bank.  Dang.

Maryland hasn't seen a mildly closely-contested Democratic primary for Governor since 1994, and even so, that one didn't really wind up being very close.   So in Maryland Democratic politics, you have to go back to 1978 to see a really close primary. 

So my guess is that at some point come the spring of 2014, one of these candidates is going to start to outpace the others.  Some of the current gubernatorial candidates may "drop down" to run for Comptroller or Attorney General.  (Worth noting, BTW, that Ken Ulman is an attorney.)

Stunning that this early in the cycle, this much money is flowing into these campaigns.  But we've only just begun!  This could easily wind up being a campaign where the primary winner raises in excess of $20M.

RAVENS!!!!

In about four hours, the Baltimore Ravens will take the field for the AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots.  With the Super Bowl one step away, I thought it appropriate to contemplate my fandom in today's post.

Those of you who know me know me to be a Ravens season ticket holder (for the last 5 years) and an experienced Ravens tailgater.  For a 1pm game, you can see me hitting the parking lot between 8:45 and 9am, opening up our tailgate, known to Ravens Nation as "The Purple Pit".  The name is derived from an eminent talk show of the 80s through 00s, "Piper's Pit."

Going back about 25 years, I remember the debate about building the sports complex at Camden Yards.  Ican remember then state legislators such as Chris Van Hollen and Peter Franchot being staunchly against economic development in Baltimore.  And I've held it against them ever since!  To this day, I will never support Peter Franchot for any office, due to this opposition.  Unless and until he ever admits he was wrong, which I don't think he ever has.

The Ravens create a feeling of civic pride in Baltimore, a city that always sees itself as second-class and not just as good as its neighbors along the seaboard.  So for today, Baltimore and Boston stand shoulder to shoulder, in pitched battle for gridiron supremacy, with a berth in the Super Bowl at stake.

And as to the game-- I think the Patriots may have the better individual players, maybe even the better coach, but the Ravens have the better team.  And it will be proven on this day.  Ravens 31, Patriots 20.

Slip slidin' away in Howard F---ing County tonight!

Once again, Notify Me Howard is providing information for the obvious, formerly known as information any dope with three brain cells to rub together ought to know.

So the word on the street tonight is that the streets are slippery.  Go figure; an inch or so of snow, with a thin crust of ice, which partially thawed today, with temps going below freezing tonight, thus refreezing the roads and sidewalks.  I didn't know that those conditions created slippery-ness.  Did you!

Still not sure how I feel about the Notify Me Howard.  I'd feel much better about the Common Sense Howard or the Good Judgment Howard.

Oh, and as to the title of this post... enjoy this, True Believers!  Excelsior!!!

Cops in the Middle Schools

OK, so this article describes the county's plans to place officers in six of the county's middle schools, much in the same way as officers are stationed in the county's high schools.

I know we would all love to think that the real world doesn't come into our schools, and that no kids choose ever to engage in behaviors that are harmful and dangerous to themselves or their classmates.  I know that when I went through the HCPSS, we had an annual assembly with a local police officer, and I believe once we had an undercover officer in my high school doing some narcotics work.  But that was it.

I think the visible presence of Howard County police in the high schools has been a benefit and I think that extending the program to the middle schools will realize our children a similar benefit.  As to those who criticize the program and complain about the "police state" nature of local schools-- wake up and face reality.

The Fantastic Fifteen

So, barring the withdrawl of one or more candidates in the near future, the field for Howard County Board of Education will feature 15 candidates.  Six candidates will be selected in the April 3 primary, who will then vie for the three open spots availalable in the November 6 general election.

The field features the three incumbents who are all seeking reelection-- Ellen Flynn Giles, Janet Siddiqui and Allen Dyer.  The field also features another former member who wishes to return to the board, Pat Gordon.  There are several candidates who have run unsuccessfully for the board in the past, Leslie Kornreich, David Gertler, and Bob Ballinger among them.  There are candidates who have been in the public arena in other ways, Jim Adams and Ann DeLacy.  And there are are number of intriguing, first-time candidates who bring a diversity of experience and view points to the campaign.  These candidates include Jacqueline Scott, Kelly Casey Van Horn, Mary Jo Neil, Owen Hanratty, Olga Butler, and Corey Andrews.

And so the ten-week campaign for the few thousand votes needed from Howard County's voters needed to validate these candidates' prescriptions for maintaining educational excellence for our county's public school students begins!  It is amazing to me how important the Board of Education is to our county-- that the Board has say over more than 60 percent of the county's budget-- yet precious little time and attention is given by the public to this race.  Moreover, the BOE election really seems to bring out the fringe in local politics, of all political stripes.

Looking forward to seeing how things unfold!