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What do YOU want the CA President to be?

Hi,

I attended the second meeting of the citizens advisory committee to CA for the new CA President's search on Monday evening.

We had a fascinating discussion about what qualities the new CA President should have, what experience they should bring, what they should be prepared to be able to handle, etc.  Which led me to thinking:  what would YOU like to see in terms of qualities, skills, experiences, abilities, etc. of the next CA President?

Here's a chance to answer that question and to discuss!  Since I'm on the committee it won't fall on deaf ears!

Thoughts, anyone?? Happy Thanksgiving!

Security?? Hello?? Security!!!???

Sometimes I really am disappointed by the lack of common decency that people show each other.  As evidence I bring you this that I have read from the Howard County Citizens Association (HCCA) listserve.

I will paraphrase, but apparently, the reason for the presence of security guards at the County Council's recent meeting regarding the development at Turf Valley (technically, though, wasn't this a Zoning Board meeting?) was that two of the members of the County Council had received threats against either them or the entire Council.  Here there is not total clarity because two Council members communicated on this directly with the HCCA President, Bridget Mugane.  So was/were the threats against an individual member, more than one member, or the entire Council?  Not clear.

But what is clear is that to threaten a public official is one of the more disgusting things anyone involved in civic discourse can do. 

I am a former HCCA President, and I know well the passions that control Howard County residents when it comes to issues of land use.  I went through the hearings that constituted the development of Maple Lawn.  I recall a lot of strong language, accusations, name-calling, promises to hold public officials accountable.  However, as strong as feelings and voices were, I do not recall any threats against anyone's safety, or even a feeling that the atmosphere was such that someone may whack out and do something crazy/stupid at a meeting.

I can understand the feelings of the Council members on this.  Four of them are 45 or younger, and have young children.  (And I'm sure Ms. Sigaty, also a family person, would like to be able to serve the public in comfort and safety too!).  During the time I was on the OM village board I can think of one meeting where I felt uneasy.  (No, it wasn't the methadone clinic meeting!)  It was a meeting where the issue was land use-based, however.  I refuse to go into the subject matter because if the dorks who perpretated the nonsense read this post, they may feel some sense of satisfaction.

And that gets me to this: what the hell does someone who threatens/intimidates a public official hope to achieve?  Do these people really want to get their way through attempting to be imposing and dealing in fear?  In this well-educated, affluent county are we that much beyond reason?  Does it bring some satisfaction to threaten?  Or is intimidation the last refuge of someone incapable of operating in a civil society?

I think that those in the public arena, as part of the job, must willingly expose themselves to strong criticism and opinions.  But to get to the point of threatening people-- at the least, it's simple assault.  At most, it's a testament to how little human behavior has evolved past the level of the Stone Age.

Election observations

The results of the 2008 elections are, although not entirely known (there are still some provisional ballots to be counted), known with about 99.999999% certainty, in my view.

Starting at the top: the election of our 44th President.  I don't know when we've seen in American politics a character like Barack Obama.  His story is not one of blind luck and chance, though in politics, as in all professions, a certain amount of good fortune is mixed into any story of someone who achieves high office.  He is not someone whose boyhood dream was to be President, nor is he someone born of a family or class to whom high office is viewed as a blood right.

Knowing what I know of his life, his life is one of taking advantage of all life's opportunities.  Working hard in childhood to get to Columbia.  Going to Harvard Law and becoming the first African-American head of the Harvard Law Review.  Going back to Chicago to work, and through his law firm make the most important contacts of his life, most importantly his wife, and start his political career.  Winning election to the Illinois State Senate.  A spirited run for Congress against a well-known African-American activist (An aside: while people were whining about Obama's knowing Bill Ayers, no one mentioned Bobby Rush's past ties to the Black Panthers).  A campaign for the Senate, winning a seat that had elected an African-American in 1992, an experience that didn't go so well (Carol Moseley Braun). 

I attended the Obama rally in Baltimore the night before the primary election.  He is a man of extraordinary personal gifts: his oratory, his calm, his confidence that he exudes.  Even from the back of First Mariner Arena, I got the sense that although he was fairly new to the scene, and although his politics are to the left of mine, that he just would KNOW what to do when he got elected.  I got the impression that was simply preternaturally disposed to this job.  And it was clear to me that a lot of people around me saw the same thing.  And they saw other things.  They saw the fulfillment of possibilities in their own lives, that somehow never happened, and they saw another chance to set the wrongs right.  They saw the possibility for history to be made by their actions, through this man. 

Poor Hillary Clinton.  Poor John McCain.  In reality, they never really had a chance.  Well, they did, in early March, when Jeremiah Wright was the word of the day.  But in my view, the watershed moment of the campaign was Obama's race speech in Philadelphia, which he wrote almost entirely himself.  In that speech he showed great candor and comfort in confronting the divisive issue of race, and in so doing, indicated that he understood the nature of division in America as it exists today, and indicated that he knew how to bridge these gaps.  And that's what the voters decided they needed.  Not a return to the 90s.  Not an American hero.  They needed someone who at least had a chance, a chance, to bridge all the social and economic divisions that keep us apart as a people.  They needed to believe in the promise of America again, and this man embodied that promise, that hope.  And that's how they voted.

Nothing surprising in the Congressional elections.  Sarbanes and Cummings both won big.

The Constitutional amendments both passed.  Maryland needs early voting and the passage of question 1 was welcome.  The slots measure, question 2-- the best thing I can say about that is that at least it's decided.

Last, but very importantly, the School Board elections.  I am very happy for the election of Janet Siddiqui and Allen Dyer.  I am not happy about the election of Ellen Giles.  In my view she hasn't distinguished herself on the board and I find her to be wholly reactionary.  I didn't support her election in 2006 and I think Betsy Grater would've been a better candidate.  Although I did not relish electing another over 70-year old member to the school board.

We need better candidates for the school board from Columbia.  Faenita Dilworth, the lone candidiate who was elminated in the 2008 primary, was unimpressive.  Hopefully in 2009 new candidates will emerge from Columbia.  The 2010 primary won't be until September (unless a change is made as was proposed a couple years ago) so that affords potential candidates a long time to consider it.

Report from CA Presidential search advisory committee meeting #1

Although I was about 15 minutes late, I attended the first committee meeting of the CA advisory committee for the presidential search.  As readers know, I'm part of this 21-member committee.

My understanding from the meeting was that all of the information discussed Wednesday night was open, and meetings are generally open, except at times when the meeting will need to be closed for personnel matters.  For example, I am imagining that discussion of individual resumes and interviews of candidates by the committee will be closed.

All of the committee members attended, as well as four CA Board members (O'Connor, Cornell, Coyle, Atkinson-Stewart) and the recruiter from the search firm CA has entailed to assist them.  Here are the highlights:

--There have been over 500 resumes submitted for this position; of those, about 150 resumes have been screened.  Of those, about 8-10 candidates are considered strong by the CA search committee (AKA the CA Board Board Operations Committee + Tom O'Connor)

--The advisory committee's charge will be to review the resumes of the strong candidates, whittle that list down to 3-5 finalists, and devise how those finalists will meet the community.  Hopefully this charge will be completed by sometime in February.

--If we want, we can review the candidates that the CA search committee has not designated as strong.

--The committee elected officers: Neil Axel as Chair, Ginny Thomas as Vice Chair, and Sandy Cederbaum as Secretary.

-- Breakdown of committee members by village (there was a three member/village limit):
3: Hickory Ridge, Kings Contrivance, Wilde Lake
2: Long Reach, Owen Brown, Oakland Mills, Harper's Choice, Town Center
1: Dorsey's Search, River Hill

(Sandy Cederbaum is Village Manager of OM but lives in LR, so she is counted as representing LR)

-- The next meeting will be Monday, November 24 at 7:30pm in the CA Board room at CA Headquarters.

Although the meeting was very introductory and organizational, it seems like a good group of people; a wide array of backgrounds, experiences, time spent in Columbia (although I'm the newest resident of Columbia at 8 years, edging out a KC representative at 9 years) and demographics.  One thing the committee could have been is younger.  We didn't do an age check but I'm betting I'm at least the next to youngest member. 

I encourage anyone to attend these open meetings.  This is a crucial decision in Columbia's and Howard County's history, and it's important that we get it right.  And it's important that people see as much of the process as possible.