OPEN HOUSE AT ANNAPOLIS HIGH SCHOOL--HEAVY AND DISTANT POLICE PRESENCE WAS DISTURBING

Amid a banner welcoming the Class of 2011 and music broadcast courtesy of 1430WNAV, CP was pleased to attend the open house at Annapolis High for incoming ninth graders. The food and music and conversation was all good, and Superintendent Kevin Maxwell was on hand for a part of the evening. All this was great, but the entire atmosphere had a cloud cast over it by the presence of no less than five Anne Arundel County Police Officers. CP does not write this in any way to cast aspersions against the officers. In fact, the presence of one, two or even three would have been most appropriate and most welcome. But five? What were they expecting? Certainly if they felt five were needed, it sure made CP, as a parent wonder how bad is this place?

And, it must be noted, they mainly kept to themselves in a tight group off to one side. One of the officers was spotted among the crowds briefly, but other than that, the only time any of them seemed to pay any attention to the students, families and teachers was when a balloon popped. One was noted to glance around cautiously for a moment but since nobody else reacted to the loud "pop", the officer quickly resumed his otherwise disinterested distractedness--which meant he turned inward to rejoin the quarterback huddle.

Now, anybody who knows anything about local issues will not question why some police presence was welcome and appropriate. What bothers CP, if it's not already apparent, was the fact that five of them apppeared, and mainly just to let everyone else know they were there. Yet, why did only one of them and then only briefly, seem to be at all interested in or mingle with the crowd? The presence of five officers for 2 or 3 hours could have been used so much more, uh, intelligently.

For example, they could have had a table with literature about crime, youth involvement, the police in the schools etc. They could have had a sit-down or Q and A with students and families. Or geeze, maybe they just could have mingled in the crowd and talked with us. AND FINALLY, even though the school is in the county, considering that most of the students are from the city (and without any great stretch of imagination, so do the rivalries and this is where the school-related crime "incubates"), why did we not have one or two Annapolis PD officers there?

In summation, some police presence was most welcome but the heavy and distant presences cast a pall over the event.

COUNTY RAISES FINES FOR ILLEGALLY PARKED VEHICLES

Good news-according to the Baltimore Sun, Anne Arundel County Executive Leopold has just signed into law, higher fines for those who park illegally in handicapped-only parking spaces. It was merely a coincidence that CP posted about this a day before. Of course, it would be nice to take credit.... For those of you who are just as bothered by this as is CP, you will be pleased to know the fine is now $500, up from $100. Perhaps that will make the smartly dressed, yacht-club belonging, BMW driving ----- think twice next times she goes to Blockbuster.

Cp believes but is not certain that the fine in Annapolis is $250.00. And a reader identified as Carolyn in Baltimore commented on CP's earlier posting by replying:


"This gets to me too. It was a minor annoyance seeing people park in handicapped spots, or using the handicap hang tags of friends. But when my mother had ALS, and we bought a wheelchair van to take her on outings I really learned what it takes to get around and how important those spaces can be.
Getting my mom in and out of her van was a big production - not only time consuming but space-consuming. The van had a ramp that came out of the side so we really needed at least 2 spots to get her out. I remember once we were in a spot and someone came and parked next to us (in the forbidden zone) and we had to go all through the store/museum looking for the driver to move their car just so we could leave.
I believe it is good to leave a politish note to someone who has parked rudely to let them know they are both illegal, and more important, rude. Maybe they'll think twice the next time.

To which CP responded:

"A Politish Note? Thanks for your comment. I doubt a polite note will do the trick. These violators are vehemently antisocial characters. Their fancy cars are more important to them than are our rights. A bright, red, sticker proclaiming VIOLATION might do the trick. Hmmm....thanks for your thoughts."

To which Carolyn responded:


"....Being not quite the same as polite. Meaning maybe snarky but civil, or no really foul language. "

Do other readers wish to share their parking experiences?

MAYOR ASKED “WHAT ARE WE MISSING” AND NOW ANSWERS, “SEGWAYS AND a HORSE”

Proving once again that we are a one horse town and that she is not a horse of a different color, and freshly back from Europe and ready to finally fight crime, Mayor Moyer has proposed that we get our officers more Segway motorized contraptions and perhaps horses. Okay, well horses do have their place in urban policing, especially where you have large parks and stables, which would, well exclude Annapolis. And Segways may have their uses too, if you think going 12-15 miles an hour down a sidewalk or into a store is useful. Well, maybe not. Heck, we already have a bike unit with bikes and trained officers and each Segway would cost over $5,000 so what’s wrong with bikes. What is it I am missing? Bikes are more maneuverable and faster so…why Segways? They should be banned from our sidewalks as a danger to walkers.
The Mayor did propose a change in managing the police shifts, and this may be a good idea. Or, it may just be window dressing. Surely we can and need to do better. So, how do we fight crime?
1. Replace our police chief with an outsider with new ideas and a fresh perspective. It’s time. Chief Johnson has been a dedicated and long serving chief, but as with many cities, there is a time to move on. He has been on extended sick leave and rumors have circulated about his retirement for a long time.
2. Face the fact of public housing. We have too much of it and in one way, shape or form, these properties and their residents or visitors are disproportionately involved in our most violent and serious crimes. Don’t obfuscate on this one. Deal with this issue. Treat the properties and the residents as if they are in the City and are residents--because they are! Let’s see better cooperation with public housing officials and residents and more cops walking the beat in HACA properties. (see below at end of this post)
3. Face the new reality of the recent influx of new immigrants. For the most part, our Hispanic neighbors are pursuing the American Dream and playing by the rules as their children attend schools and they work, build businesses and buy homes. However, their presence has brought a new set of challenges and some of them are both victims and perpetrators of crime. We have reached out to them and our police department has worked on this, but more needs to be done as their numbers and presence increases.
4. Increased attention to and crackdown on moving and non-moving traffic violations. Unless you are in public housing, the biggest and regular threat to your safety is from vehicles. These routine violations and routine stops for things ranging from failure to yield to having a broken light often lead to much more than routine discovery of crime. CP contends that people who flagrantly violate seemingly minor parking regulations are exhibiting an anti-social behavior and disrespect for the law. Let’s look at training our PEO’s (parking enforcement officers) to patrol a larger areas of the city and enforce these parking violations (left to curb, handicapped only, parking in a red zone, on a sidewalk etc.).
5. A real citizens advisory group with some real power to keep watch over our police department and to advise it, keep it abreast of local concerns, extol it when it does well and let it know when it did not. Is there a downside to this? CP doubts it.
6. AND FINALLY---get us the officers we need and give them what they need. Stop messing around on this one. We need more officers. We need them recruited and trained and hired. We need them to stay here and be satisfied with their jobs. Without giving in to their union, we need to negotiate fairly and respectfully and find a way to move ahead. No two ways about this one.
SO, CP asks Annapolitans and Mayor Moyer---”WHAT ARE WE MISSING?”
Well, as CP was putting this story to bed, a news release comes in from the Mayor’s Office with what appears to be some serious and much needed action with the Housing Authority (HACA). The Mayor is proposing a new relationship with HACA and is prepared to allocate staff and financial resources to improve security and law enforcement in public housing properties. Unfortunately, the Mayor takes a negative tone in the news release, resorting to her usual unproductive and whiney finger pointing and blame game. For example, the release reads, “Since 2004 Annapolis has provided the Housing Authority with $200,000 to employ police officers to work as off duty security," said Mayor Moyer. " This money was to be matched with HACA funds for a $400,000public safety program. HACA has not utilized all of the City’s contribution. It has also been unsuccessful in recruiting from other law enforcement agencies. Accountability for public safety expenditures on a $400,000 program is sketchy at best.”
Mayor Moyer, CP supports you in this effort to deal with a long festering situation that you and others seem to have either ignored or sidestepped. Please, don’t let your personal issues with HACA get in the way. And please, don’t do this because Dave Cordle will point the public safety finger at you. Do it because we need to do it.

MAYOR SAYS SHE LEARNED ABOUT TRANSPORTATION in EUROPE

Well, Mayor Moyer, you did not have to go to Europe to learn about the mess we are in and how to get out of it, but let’s face it, we have had a car culture since we really grew as a country while they always had a walking and horse riding culture as they developed. Their land use is all different. Their outlook is all different and with the exception of the Scots and Norwegians, they ain’t got no oil. So, why go there? Surely they do things better when it comes to moving people around but we have plenty of experts here and plenty of cities that do things ell right here. And you after all, are the CEO of a corporate that already owns a bus system. You want better--okay, let’s make it better. CP supports you. Let’s make it happen. But a free bike loaner program? Water taxis? Puhleeze! Those are band-aids, Easy and cheap, quick and basically palliative. But they don’t address our real concerns.
Besides, you have seen that we have had meetings, done studies, hired consultants, had more meetings and more meetings. So, you have come up with a trip to Europe to tell you that we need free bikes and water taxis? Pardon me while I fall over…..clunk. Okay, now that I am standing again. Mayor Moyer--if you wish to deal with out transportation challenges, we have real solutions waiting to be put to work here. What it takes is your willingness to listen and to provide leadership. And it can begin by helping the 500 or so city employees find ways to commute other than by driving in their SOV cars. Then you can put some real oversight into the dilapidated and mismanaged bus system that we all would love to see improved.
But please, don’t expect water taxis and a free bike loaner program to have too much of an impact. Finding a bike is not the problem. The problem is WHERE DO WE RIDE THEM???? And by the way, water taxis emit plenty of pollutants, whether on a per vehicle or per capita basis, and right by or into the waters. If I can walk from Carroll’s Creek Restaurant to Davis Pub or to downtown in a matter of minutes, how will a water taxi help me? Mayor Moyer, you have always been enamored of the water taxi idea, but nobody else seems to support it, so please, give it a rest. And this is coming from a professional Merchant Marine Officer by the way. However, if you can work with the County to re-open the David Taylor facility, then we can talk about water taxis!

THE CASE OF THE MISPARKED BLACK BMW AND THE BLACK LEXUS

If this were just a minor thing in the course of a day, CP would ignore it, but it is rampant and says sooo much about what is wrong with our culture. Okay, so CP and his son visit the local video rental store in a local shopping center that has plenty of parking spaces, yet he notices that a black, sporty BMW with an Annapolis Yacht Club sticker on it is parked illegally at the closest spot to the store. Illegally as in occupying the yellow striped zone next to the spot that has the conspicuous sign that says HANDICAPPED ONLY. In other words, this is the spot needed for the physically challenged driver (perhaps a wheelchair user) of a car to use to actually get on to the sidewalk from his or her car.
So, CP enters the video store and spies a smartly dressed, fortyish-woman who looked, shall we say, oooh so yuppie in all her finery?? Said smart dresser is checking out her video (perhaps “Sex in the City” or reruns of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” or some Mel Gibson flick) and right in front of her, CP asks the clerk-cashier if she happens to know who drove in on the black BMW? Cashier says no. Yuppie ignores CP. CP goes on to say that it is a gross violation of the law and is discourteous, disrespectful etc. and is subject to a rather pricey fine. Why do some people think the law does not apply to them, he rhetorically asked the cashier? (Well, CP supposes it could have something to do with Bush, Cheney, Rove, Rusted, Gonzales but…) The cashier remarks how folks in fancy cars do that all the time. Oh well. Suspecting that the smartly dressed lady was the yachty-yuppie, what do you know that when she finished her business and heads out the door--it is into her BMW. Now, is this a big nothing or is a real concern? Let’s get our police department to ticket them! (CP thinks the fine is a whopping $250.00)
Seconds later, a black Lexus SUV pulls in to the exact same spot (Oh, well if she could do it, so can I!). Now, CP could have done the same, but it is wrong. It’s illegal. It’s mean- spirited. It could hurt a person who really needs that privilege. CP parked in a real parking spot, and yes, actually had to walk another 100 feet. So did nearly everybody else. CP is thankful every day for the privilege of being healthy. He is not as thankful for having to share the world with those who think they are privileged simply because they drive fancy, black cars. CP is reminded of the wintry day at the entrance to that same video store some years back. Snow and ice had not been fully cleared from the parking lot and a man DROVE UP ON THE SIDEWALK AND RIGHT UP TO THE DROP SLOT of the video store. CP was aghast!!! This special character thought he was truly privileged. CP went up to the man and asked why he thought he could endanger everyone around him by driving on a shopping center sidewalk and up to a store. The man said he was concerned about having his wife actually walk, so he drove up. Yes, in case you were wondering, he and his wife were obese.
PEOPLE GET INJURED, MAIMED AND KILLED BECAUSE OF THIS ANTI-SOCIAL ATTITUDE. It is not just a matter of parking. If you can flaunt that law, why not another, and another, and another????? Aaah, the danger of creeping rationalization in everyday life.

ANNAPOLIS POLITICS BLOG GOING STRONG…

Though CP parts ways with the new blogspot http://www.annapolispolitics.blogspot.com when it comes to broader philosophical and national issues, he often finds himself in agreement with AP on issues of local concern. For example, we both wish to see efficient and effective government. We both wonder about legislative and political forays into matters outside of the realm of our local municipality. We both are fed up with duplicitous and ambitious politicians of all stripes and we both believe that we have a right to know whether our tax dollars are being used wisely or not. So, this is just a plug for AP. Publisher Brian Gill has a refreshing writing style and a knack for coming up with good stories. In CP’s continuing quest to serve as a public forum for local issues, he urges readers to visit AP.

DO YOU LIVE ON CLAY STREET? Blogs in the hood…

And speaking of new blogs, the Capital recently wrote about a local fellow on Clay Street who is now blogging with the goal of revitalizing his neighborhood. www.iliveonclaystreet.blogspot.com is the new blogger on town with a focus on that beleaguered area that many do call home. This is definitely worth what he might call a “peep” so please do check out this new blog and perhaps we will all see some positive results thanks to the power of blogging. CP will venture a guess that you will be hearing more about this new development.

PATRICIA BLICK…not so new, but always welcome on the BLOCK

Thanks to a news tip from Ray Weaver of the Mayor’s Office, we are pleased to congratulate Patricia Blick as she assumes her new position as the chief of the Annapolis Historic Planning Commission, taking over from veteran Donna Hole. Patricia has long been a friendly and familiar place at Historic Annapolis where she served as Vice President of Preservation and Education. She knows her way around the various conflicts and controversies that will always be a part of her new job. Yeah, aside from parking, preserving our local heritage has got to be the most $@@^^!$#$#@#~#@@#()(@^%#$ thing going on around here.

BIG PLANS FOR OLD NAVAL ACADEMY DAIRY FARM….ooh, how ya gonna keep em down on the farm???

Okay, so it’s all the way out in the extreme hinterlands of Anne Arundel County, but c’mon, preserving the Naval Academy Dairy Farm concerns Annapolitans, and it could be of national significance. Think of the possibilities! An organic farm producing food right here for us who live and eat right here! Educational and participatory programs for everyone. Preserving open space and keeping thousands more residents and buildings out of the county. And it’s an opportunity for so many private-public partnerships. County Executive Leopold has shown strong leadership here and it is now up to we the people to ensure that we do the best job of properly developing the potential of this lovely bit of open space. An awful lot of food can be produced on 800 or so acres this new project could go a long way to restoring a sense of place, a sense of community and a relationship with the land that we have somehow lost. Food, flowers, cheese, milk, cream….food glorious food! Fresh! Seasonal! Organic! Again, CP says, think of the possibilities!
So, having said that, please consider attending the public meeting about the farm on Tuesday, August 28, 2007 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Arundel High School
Auditorium at 1001 Annapolis Road, Gambrills, MD 21054. The attendees will be provided an overview of the lease negotiations currently underway with the U.S. Department of Navy along with the County’s conceptual plan for the dairy farm. This public forum is designed to communicate clearly and openly with the public and to establish a sense of shared priorities. The following representatives from the County will be present: Director of Recreation and Parks Frank Marzucco, Government Relations Director Alan Friedman, County Attorney Jonathan Hodgson and County Councilman James Benoit. For additional Information, visit the Department of Recreation and Parks website at www.aacounty.org/recparks.