More From Alderman Arnett on Upcoming City Council Meeting

A Regular Meeting (i.e., Legislative Action) of the Annapolis City Council will be held on January 14, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers. The Council meetings are broadcast on Comcast channel 99. I understand that the meetings will now also be broadcast on Verizon, but I don’t know the channel number.

Below is the agenda for the meeting with a brief description. I have added comments in italics and underline after a few of the items.

CHARTER AMENDMENT

CA-01-08 1st R. City Administrator [Israel] – For the purpose of clarifying the role of the Mayor as chief executive officer and the City Administrator as chief administrative officer; enhancing the supervisory powers of City Administrator with respect to departmental directors; barring the Mayor and Aldermen from directing the work of departmental directors; providing that the dismissal of the City Administrator must be approved by the mayor and four or more aldermen; requiring the Mayor to include funding in the annual operating budget to provide professional and administrative assistance to the aldermen; and generally relating to the powers and duties of the elected and appointed officials. I have some specific concerns about this amendment, but I do support the idea of professional management for the city. The Rules Committee will hear this and I will urge that that meeting be held in the evening so that more of you will be able to attend. I will send out a blast email as soon as I know the date, time and place of Rules meeting.

ORDINANCES

O-53-06 2nd R. Creation of King Street Business Parking District [Israel] – For the purpose of eliminating the eight hour parking restriction on King George Street and instead creating a King George Street Business Parking District where owners and employees of Maryland Avenue may park for longer than two hours and parking for others is limited to two hours between the hours of 10 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. every day of the week. It is my understanding that this will be withdrawn from the agenda. If not, I will follow Alderman Israel’s lead as this is an issue for his Ward.

O-14-07 2nd R. Improving Fire Prevention and Protection – For the purpose of saving lives, reducing injuries and reducing property damage that could result from fires in the Historic District by adopting the National Fire Protection Association Code for Fire Protection of Historic Structures. During the public work session on this matter the Fire Department opposed this legislation. They do use the NFPA code in part, but they also use guidance from other national organizations. They would prefer to use their professional judgment rather than be micromanaged by the Council. They also suggested that passage of this Ordinance might open the City to suit. For these reasons, I will vote to oppose.

O-27-07RevisedC 2nd R. The Promotion of Reusable, Recyclable and Compostable Materials – For the purpose of establishing that the goal of the City is to encourage residents and business owners to use reusable and recyclable materials and to purchase goods from companies that practice energy use reduction and sequestration of carbon dioxide; to establish an Environmental Review Committee to review existing practices of the City to assure that the its policies and procedures foster the use of materials that are compostable, recyclable, and reusable, to assist the various City offices to ensure that contracting procedures do not discriminate against reusable, recycled, or environmentally preferable products with sufficient justification, to evaluate environmentally preferable products to determine the extent to which they may be used by the City and its contractors, to review and revise contracting procedures to maximize the specification of designated environmentally preferable products where practicable, to facilitate data collection on purchases of designated environmentally preferable products, and to monitor compliance with a number of environmentally friendly standards and practices; and all matters related to the use by the City of environmentally friendly standards and practices. In my view, this ordinance should not be on the agenda at this point because the Council voted to hold another public hearing on these matters and that has not yet occurred. In addition, several Aldermen have indicated that they will offer amendments, but have not done so at this point. While this legislation is not ready for prime time, when it is ready, I’m inclined to vote for it.

O-39-07 2nd R. Fire Suppression System Required for Certain Buildings in Historic District – For the purpose of saving lives, reducing injuries and reducing property damage that could result from fires by requiring that any construction or renovation in the Historic District that requires a building permit and that has a value of ten or more percent of the value of the building shall have a fire suppression system throughout the building providing that this section does not take effect until certain State and /or Federal tax credit legislation is enacted. I support this legislation, but because of the clause stating that it will not take effect until after the passage of state and federal tax changes, I fear it will never go into effect.

O-44-07 2nd R. Noise Ordinance – For the purpose of adopting with amendments the State of Maryland noise standards. I support this legislation and will vote to pass it. I will keep an eye on it to determine if it is too restrictive or too lenient.

O-46-07 2nd R. Lease of Certain Public Parking Lots to FreshFarm Markets Inc. – For the purpose of authorizing a lease of certain municipal property located at 110 Compromise Street aka The Donner Lot and the Public Parking Lot between Fleet Reserve and Fawcett Boat Supplies from June 8, 2008 to June 7, 2009 subject to certain terms, provisions, and conditions, for the purpose of conducting a open-air farmers market. I am very excited about the prospect of having a downtown market that is truly a market, and I will vote to support this lease.

O-47-07 2nd R. Making Permanent Two-hour Limitation for Parking by Nonresidents in Special Residential Parking Districts 1 and 2 – For the purpose, in Special Parking Districts 1 and 2, of making permanent that parking by non-residents is limited to two hours between the hours of eight a.m. and midnight, seven days a week; making the same two hour limitation applicable to Special Parking Districts 3, 4, and 5. As far as I can tell, Ward 8 doesn’t have a horse in this race, so I’ll follow the lead of Alderman Israel. From the hearings I do know that Ward 1 is divided on this issue and this may be withdrawn.

O-48-07 2nd R. Lease of City Dock - Race Across America – For the purpose of authorizing a lease of certain municipal property located in the Susan Campbell Park and City Dock areas to the Race Across America (RAAM), a non-profit entity for period June 15 to June 21, 2008, subject to certain terms, provisions, and conditions, for the purpose of concluding a bicycle race that originates in California. There were no objections presented to this even at public hearings. In addition, the Ward 1 residents and businesses that did testify praise the advanced planning done by this group. I will vote in favor.

The following are on for first reader and, as is my practice, I will await public hearings and committee actions before forming a final opinion.

O-01-08 1st R. Notification of the Public Concerning Sign Applications – For the purpose of expanding from three overlay zoning districts to all zoning districts the requirement that signs must be posted notifying the public that a sign application has been submitted for the posting of a sign.

O-02-08 1st R. Notification of Bisphenol-A (BPA) by Retailers – For the purpose of requiring retailers to notify customers if a product’s container contains bisphenol-A (BPA) through the use of certain signage; assigning the responsibility for implementing and enforcing this ordinance to the Director of Neighborhood and Environmental Programs; establishing penalties for violations.

R-01-08 1st R. Amending Fines Schedule for Notification of BPA – For the purpose of establishing fines for the failure of retailers to post signs notifying customers that a food or beverage container contains bisphenol-A (BPA.

O-03-08 1st R. Lease of City Dock Space to Chesapeake Marine Tours for 2014 – For the purpose of authorizing for fiscal year 2014 the lease of certain municipal property located at the City Dock to Chesapeake Marine Tours, Inc. for the docking and mooring of certain boats at the City Dock.

RESOLUTIONS

R-61-07 2nd R. Motion to reconsider Lincoln Bicentennial Resolution – For the purpose of commemorating President Lincoln’s presence and walk through Annapolis with the erection of a historical marker and to direct the Mayor to appoint a nine member Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. I will vote in favor of this resolution.

R-02-08 1st R. Requiring Microstamping Technology – For the purpose of requesting that the Maryland General Assembly adopt legislation to require that new models of semi-automatic handguns must have microstamping technology that leaves microscopic impressions of the gun's serial number on shell casings that are discarded when the gun is fired.

R-03-08 1st R. Civil Service Classification and Compensation – For the purpose of approving Civil Service classifications and Regular Meeting of the City compensation as recommended in the March 2005 Classification and Compensation Study (“Study”) commonly referred to as the Hendricks Study.

R-04-08 1st R. Assistance to the Homeless – For the purpose of dedicating the revenue derived from designated parking meters to the City’s homeless.

BUSINESS AND MISCELLANEOUS
1. Appointments

2. Budget revisions: GT-10-08 and GT-11-08.


Next City Council Meetings:

Monday, January 28, 2008, City Council Chamber - 7:00 p.m.

Monday, February 11, 2008, City Council Chamber - 7:30 p.m.

As always, you can call me [410 295-9743] or send an email [EastportRoss@aol.com] if you have questions or concerns.


Ross Arnett, Alderman, Ward 8

CRIME UPDATE AND 2007 REVIEW from Aderman Ross Arnett

CP is pleased to provide the below letter from Eastport Alderman Ross Arnett. Ross is trying hard to communicate with Eastporters who were used to regular communications from former Alderman Josh Cohen. When it was becoming apparent that he was not doing such a good job in this area, CP helped get the word out that Ross needed to step up his efforts--and he has. I wonder if his colleagues are doing similar things in their wards. Alderman Shropshire used to do a good job in this regard, but he has either abandoned those efforts or just removed CP from the mailing list. ??? And now, from Ross:

As you are aware from police reports and coverage in the Capital, 2007 was not a good year for crime in the City. We had two notorious muggings this summer in Eastport and rises in burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft crime. The City had a record high of nine murders.

Next month I will have been in office for a year. When I ran in last year’s special election, I made crime one of my three priority areas. I promised to seek assignment to the City Council’s Public Safety Committee (PSC) and I called for four steps to reduce crime:

Ø Fill the 20 vacancies on the police force,

Ø Increase police patrols on foot and bicycle
Ø Improve lighting on streets and alleys, and

Ø Focus police resources on high crime areas through surveillance, stings, and arrests.



Progress is mixed in these areas, but there is progress. I did get appointed to the Public Safety Committee and we have been busy working on ways to reduce crime, as described later. Vacancies on the force have fluctuated, but we are still down about 20 positions. The Chief has promised to increase foot patrols and to use more bicycle patrols when he gets the force up to strength. He makes the same promise with regard to more resources in high crime areas. Finally, through the efforts of the Eastport Civic Association’s Crime Taskforce, we have identified streets and alleys where more lighting is needed. The City has that list and is working on the lighting.

Obviously, as crime is on the increase, we have more work to do.

The number one focus for the PSC has been to enable the Chief to hire more officers and to retain the officers we have. We have made two recommendations to this end:


Ø Increase officer salaries and

Ø Develop an affordable housing program for officers


These recommendations will now go to the Finance Committee for consideration in this year’s deliberations for the FY 2009 budget, deliberations that have already begun.

As you may have read in the paper, the Mayor, who is the executive authority for the City, has her own set of initiatives to address crime. Many of these are similar to the PSC recommendations; some go in other directions. [An excellent recap of the current status of the Mayor’s initiatives is in the latest ECA Newsletter.]


It should be noted that Council has no administrative authority; we can make policy, write laws, and control the purse strings. By the Charter, we are not allowed to direct the activities of any department or its staff. Our power comes primarily from the budget. I raise this point because many of you have asked why we don’t, “just make the Chief hire more officers.” What we can do is provide the budget and incentives for those hires.


The PSC has offered additional recommendations for reducing crime that are highlighted below. [If you have not seen the PSC Report and Recommendations, I am happy to send you an electronic copy by email.]

Ø Use proven community oriented policing programs:

o Exploring programs used successfully in other cities,

o Foot patrols for targeted high crime areas, and

o Form an auxiliary police force to supplement the sworn officers


Ø Partner with community services personnel to address quality of life issues such as noise and overcrowding


Ø Review of our crime rates and policing methods by an independent group [This is discussed in more detail below.]

Ø Surveillance cameras and other technology. [There is sound technology available that will allow pinpoint detection and location of shots fired in real time.]

Ø Expand the Neighborhood Watch Program

It should be noted that the Eastport Civic Association has made great strides in the last area with over 100 new residents enrolled in the program.

The PSC recommended and the City has contracted with, the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) to do a comprehensive evaluation of our crime statistics, our police staffing and deployment, and other factors relevant to police effectiveness. The ICMA are nationally recognized authorities in these matters and their knowledge and expertise goes way beyond that of the City Council.

The final ICMA product will not be a report, but rather a menu of options. Each option will come with a likelihood-of-success rating and an associated cost. The City will make choices from that menu based on the projected impact on crime and on our ability to make and afford the changes.

I have received some questions and suggestions from the community that I believe capture the views and ideas of many of you.

Question 1. What is the plan to address the extraordinarily high crime rate in our city?

The plans that I have been working on are the PSC recommendations as presented above.
The crime problems didn’t come upon us overnight and they will not go away quickly or easily, but I believe implementation of the recommendations made by the PSC will significantly reduce the amount of crime in the City and In Eastport.

To recap the most important of those recommendations, we have or will take budget actions to help the Chief recruit and retain officers to get our force up to strength, we will purchase new technology to assist the force in their apprehension efforts and we will get outside expert help.

As the chief executive for the City, the Mayor has developed some additional crime prevention initiatives that have been well publicized. I support much of what she has recommended and I am working from the Council to assure implementation of many of these ideas.



Question 2. What is the long-range plan for improving our city’s public housing program?


The City does not have a public housing program. The Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis (HACA) and its programs are federal and are run by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).


The City does need to improve its relationship with HUD and its local authorities. Several Council members, including me, have asked the HACA staff to meet with us in a work session that is scheduled to occur in February. We want to hear from HACA directly what joint steps we can take to reduce the problems in and around the eleven housing complexes within the City.

It is my personal view that large concentrations of people living in warehouse type buildings is a poor design for both the program participants and the surrounding neighborhoods. In many areas, such as Montgomery and Baltimore Counties, and Chicago, the old public housing complexes are being torn down and replaced with a mix of workforce and section 8 residences. This approach will take time, dollars, and approval from HUD, but I feel it will have a direct impact on the level of crime.

The following four recommendations from one Eastport resident are proactive and thoughtful. I have added my comments.

Suggestion 1. Have police patrol in totally unmarked cars.

To some extent the Annapolis Police Department (APD) is already doing this, but doing more would help discourage the bad guys because they will not know when the police are about. Anything we can do to make it harder to be a criminal in the City is a good thing.

Suggestion 2. Have non-uniformed police patrol on foot, and on dirt bike motorcycles that can chase a suspect off the beaten path.

There are actually two important ideas in this suggestion. The single best thing done when Eastport had its mugging upswing last summer was to put plain-clothes officers on the street.

Bikes and small motorcycles that can be mounted on police cars is another good idea. APD already has some bikes on cars, but this is a low cost item that can be made available on all patrol cars.

Suggestion 3. Install concealed surveillance cameras at the intersection of Boucher and President Street and other key locations.

This is another good idea and we make the same suggestion, with a variation, in the PSC report. We add a recommendation for sound location devices. This allows triangulation on “shots fired” that are accurate to within two feet and are instantaneous. Police will not need to wait for those 268-4141 calls.

Suggestion 4. Hire some SWAT/Special Forces - type officers who are paid and trained to take on the challenge.

APD already has and uses these forces. In addition, we have mutual aid agreements with county and state departments if we need more support.

I share your concern that crime in our neighborhood is a most important issue and I shall continue to expend a great amount of my time and effort on making sure the council does everything it can to keep up pressure on the Police Chief and the Mayor to strength our policing efforts.

Ross Arnett, Alderman, Ward 8

New Annapolis Blog

CP would like to turn your attention (albeit briefly) away from this blog and to a new blog in town called Annapolis Now. I don't have any information on it or who is behind it, but check it out at www.annapolisnow.com.

Crime, Eastport Gunfire, Police Shifts

In our continuing coverage of crime, CP has posted about the ostentatious Eastport New Year's Eve party replete with a gun theme, the ongoing police officer vacancies, the recent change in police shifts and an Eastport group concerned about gunfire. This Eastport group recently held a public meeting at Ahh Coffee!, and CP did not know a thing about it even though I spoke with Alderman Arnett and visited Ahh Coffee! the same day. CP has received numerous emails from Eastporters wanting to know about the group, and CP is at a loss to direct them. It was just reported in The Capital (which by the way gave an incorrect name for a police lieutenant)that some 50 people turned out, so CP invites any leaders or members of this group to write so we can help promote your goals.

Here is a note CP received from Eastport activist Bob McWilliams on the topic:

"I talked to a police officer today, and he liked the way it changes their shift work. But, he said it wouldn't do anything to help compensate for the lack of police officers.

If Moyer continues to think that we have enough police officers, then why doesn't she just eliminate 24 positions in the next budget. Way back when she was Alderman, she ran on filling the vacant positions (we were only 13 officers short then). Since it's been 12 years or so now (and we're now 24 positions short), it would appear that filling those positions is nothing more than something Moyer promises to get herself elected. Bob McWilliams"

And here is a note from longtime Eastport resident Ursula Schubert:

"Hi Paul,
Great website !
How can I find out about meetings in this area in re. to crime? I only found out about last night's meeting in today's paper. I now live in Watergate and it's a little better there than on Monroe Street, but we can still hear the shots too. Something needs to be done about the Director of Public Housing and the Chief, after 15 years of fighting this on Monroe Street we still have the same problems and nothing has improved. Ursula Schubert"

Thanks for your note Bob and Ursula. I understand that the vacancy is actually 19, but 19 or 24, we have a problem and I agree that neither the mayor or chief seem to feel this is a priority. I do not blame the Housing people as much as I place responsibility on our local government. The chief does not seem able to articulate a vision for community policing, or to concentrate resources in the most troubled areas, despite repeated citizen's request to move in this direction. Our police department does not seem open about developing and communicating strategic goals with the community.

However, regarding the shift change, CP spoke with three officers in the last few days in detail about the shift change. I know that I wrote that we should give it time and hope it works. However, although I admittedly don't fully understand their system, I looked at the printed duty roster and discussed this in detail to try to understand what this means. I come away with the sense that it will not really translate into more officers on the street at any one time because of the way platoons are organized and due to vacation leave etc. We still have plenty of officers being stressed due to overtime. One of the officers said it changes the way shifts are supervised more than it adds to officers on patrol. One said flat out it does not add to officers on duty at any one time.

Shifts in Police Manpower: Let's Hope it Helps

See today's Capital for a report on a change in police shifts which should lead to 20 instead of 11 officers on the streets during any of three, instead of four previous daily shifts. This is being implemented as one of a number of proposals put forth by Mayor Moyer. This sounds like a positive change. Let's give it some time and hope it works.

Visit: //www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2008/01_10-12/TOP

Where are the Workers in a Gentrified Annapolis?

That's a good question! This will be the topic of conversation in the next Envisioning Annapolis talk on January 22. Here are the details:

Migrating Opportunity: Where are the Workers in a Gentrified Annapolis?
7:00 p.m. Tuesday, 22 January, 2008
Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts
Roberto Suro, Annenberg School, University of Southern California

"Hispanic In-Migration in the American City?"
Annapolis success has meant skyrocketing real estate values, pricing middle-class and working-class families out of the market. This session will explore the disappearing middle class in American cities with Roberto Suro discussing the impact Hispanic in-migration will have on American cities in the future.

For more information, visit:
//www.envisioningannapolis.net/index.html

Si o no on immigration? Results of our most recent reader survey.

In our most recent poll, we asked readers what they felt about recent immigration in our area.
6 respondents(25%)said it is "Generally a positive thing." 8 (33%)said it is "Generally a negative thing" while 2 (8%) said, Don't know/unsure." 7 (29%) said it "Depends if they are legal or not." One person answered,"Lo siento, pero no entendiendo" which of course was a "trick" answer, and I realized after I wrote it that instead of saying, "I am sorry, I do not understand," I actually wrote it as, "I am sorry, but I am not understanding." hmmm...
CP is hoping for more responses with the latest poll, as we have had other polls with twice as many responses, and that was before we started attracting the consistently higher number of readers than we currently attract. Keep in mind that these polls are not scientific and do not represent the broader public, but reflect only the opinions of a small sample of self-selected responders. Having said that, CP finds it interesting that in every poll we have done, results tend to be fairly evenly distributed, as was the case in this poll.
And now on to the next poll. Who do you intend to vote for in the Maryland primary?

IS IT TIME TO TURN ON AIR CONDITIONERS YET?

Although it seems pleasant, record high temperatures that are making January feel like April is downright bizarre--and alarming. That's why hundreds of concerned citizens will flood (yes--flood) the streets of Annapolis for A Call for Global Warming Solutions in 2008 General Assembly Session on January 17th.

PLEASE COME!!!

WHAT: Gather in front of the State House at 11am on Thursday, January 17th to kick off the beginning of the Maryland legislative session, in which the General Assembly will consider the “Global Warming Solutions Act,” a bill that would put Maryland on track to reduce its global warming pollution 25% by 2020 and 9 0% by 2050 (baseline 2006). In addition the legislators will be invited to walk the green carpet and become co-sponsor of the Global Warming Solutions Act.

WHEN: 11 am Thursday, January 17th, 2008

WHERE: Lawyers Mall, in front of the State House, Annapolis, MD.

WHO: Senator Pinsky, Delegate Barve and many other legislators. Governor O’Malley has also been invited. The event is sponsored by Alliance for Global Warming Solutions, www.alliancemd.org

VISUALS: Green Carpet with Oversized Copies of Bill for Co Sponsorship Pledge

Background: Maryland is one of the most vulnerable states in the nation when it comes to the effects of global warming. Emissions reductions targets recommended by the Maryland Climate Change Commission, however, are the strongest in the nation, positioning the state to be a national leader in the fight against global warming. Despite missing the mark regarding transportation, the second largest contributor to Maryland’s carbon footprint, other recommended “early action items” would be implemented through the Global Warming Solutions Act. The event will focus on ensuring Governor O’Malley accepts the challenge of making targets on paper a reality for Maryland.

Contact:
Claire Douglass, CCAN, 240-396-1985, claire@chesapeakeclimate.org

Dawn Stoltzfus, LCV, 410-280-9855, DStoltzfus@mdlcv.org

Austin Bachman, austinbachmann@comcast.net

MORE REASONS WHY WE NEED MORE GATED, WATERFRONT HOMES IN EASTPORT

Lest anyone out there still think that Eastport remains "quaint" or "charming", today's Capital will lay that notion to rest forever. While I and others wondered what the searchlights in the sky were for on New Year's Eve, we learn that it was just one of the many ostentatious excesses on display at a James Bond themed party held at a gated, waterfront home. According to The Capital, "At the gate, one 'greeter' wore a pristine white dinner jacket. Very Casablanca. His partner wore all black with a black knit cap, accented with an Uzi. In a window behind them, a neon sign blared: 'Casino Royale.' Mr. -------- home had been transformed into 'Bond Land'."

Very Casablanca indeed. Casablanca as in White House.

Sure doesn't sound like Harbour House or Eastport Terrace, just a few blocks away. They don't have Uzis there. Or do they?

It keeps getting better.

"Past the ice sculpture, a gruff-looking tuxedo-clad gentleman ordered all guests to place their right palm on a special security screen. After a moment, guests were cleared to either 'Enter,' 'Enter with an escort' or 'Shoot on sight'."

"It's all part of the fun," he [the host]said with a wink."

Shoot on sight? Now that sounds more like the Eastport I know.


Truly. We live in the best of times and the worst of times.

And it keeps getting better.

"A trio of Bond girls jiggled and swayed behind a transparent plastic screen. A close look revealed the shapely dancers were wearing only flesh-colored bikini underwear, large flower-shaped pasties and lots of body paint."

Jiggled and swayed. No doubt. Sounds like West Street now.

Reminds me of Ursula Andress. And now the descriptions of the delectable vixens serving food:

"Another waitress, 'Scuba Girl' Giovanna Pinsig of Washington, wore a skintight scuba top, a scuba bikini bottom and an aqualung as part of her abbreviated costume while serving crab soup in cordial glasses."

(NOTE: Think about that sentence for a moment--did that mean that Scuba girl was costumed in cordial glasses?"

Hmmm....lovely. We read of "another large bar [that] was flanked by two giant dripping handguns, sculpted from blocks of ice."

"Though it was all for fun, at the party's conclusion, Mr. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [the host] donated $2,500 to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Annapolis."

Yes, all in good fun. Good, ostentatious, gluttonous fun. And we had to include the part about the charitable $2500, a drop in the bucket, no doubt. Was it delivered in a paper bag in unmarked bills? Did the kiddies get the Uzi or the ice blocks shaped like guns? Did their arts and crafts club get the leftover body paint?

To read the article and see the photos (in case you've got to know who was there) visit www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2008/01_08-29/CAN.

The Capital will explain who hosted the party which includes two paragraphs describing his local businesses and including a website address for one of them (!!).

And people wonder why we wonder about The Capital sometimes. (For disclosure purposes, CP is on a first-name basis with the writer, but that does not make the story any less frivolous...)

MORE ON THE GREAT WALL OF CALVERT ART AFFAIR

The art beat goes on, as described in today's Capital at: www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2008/01_08-25/TOP.
Let's just hope the talk remains civil and let's not start calling each other names. It's not just a matter of right or wrong or racism or a zero sum game. Surely this can be worked out. There must be another venue. There are as many reasons to object to this public display of art as there are reasons to support it.

Neighborhood Watch Meeting Tonight is Canceled

Greetings Neighborhood Watch Members, Friends and Family members - The
Neighborhood Watch meeting for this evening - Tuesday, Jan 8, 2008 has been
canceled due to illness. Our next meeting will be held on February 12, 2008.
Topic: Probable cause and it's importance to Law Enforcement - What we as
citizens need to know.

Please note - The Block Captains Training for Tuedsay, January 15, 2008 is
still on schedule and seating is still available. It's not to late to join
us.

Most Sincerely,


CSS Stacey L. Bolin
Neighborhood Watch Coordinator / Victim Assistance / Public Information
Annapolis Police Department
410-268-9000 ext. 7331
sbolin@annapolis.gov

OH NO, WE'RE GONNA GET SUED....

This is getting really serious and could easily get out of hand and have long term repercussions. First it was the police station lawsuit, then the retired firefighters' lawsuit and now The Market House manager's lawsuit. What's next? City Dock contractors? Even if the City prevails (and who really ever clearly wins in such matters?) we are left stuck with a disastrous and dis-functional eyesore downtown, an imperfect police station and big legal fees on all accounts. There is also the issue of time and energy that city officials will have to exert in dealing with legal complications.

There is only so much a small municipal government can take. Perhaps we can call upon one of our many sister cities to lend us one of their lawyers? Yet another reason for a city manager form of government?

We don't expect perfection from the messy, complicated world of government. We do not necessarily expect or even deserve strong leadership all the time. But we do expect competent management, especially from a $70 million dollar a year enterprise that has a dozen or more employees earning over $100k per year--plus benefits.

RESPONSE FROM GILBERT RENAUT (retired lawyer, civic activist, former mayoral candidate):
The trouble, as I fear it anyway, is that the City gave so much away in the original lease (over multiple public objections), that it has little or nothing in the way of bargaining chips. What this means I think is that the City would have to take a very aggressive stance in litigation, be prepared to walk away from the lease and pay the damages, and the City rarely does anything that aggressive -- generally speaking it caves pretty easily in litigation. And it's a bit gunshy at the moment I imagine in the wake if the pension loss.

RESPONSE FROM C. CHRISTOPHER LEDOUX (Eastport civic activist):
Paul,
If I may lend a recovering attorney’s perspective on the Market House lawsuit … Site Realty could have filed the lawsuit for a number of strategic reasons: 1) to spur the Mayor and City Council into rectifying the HVAC situation (i.e., perceived foot-dragging); 2) to provide negotiating leverage to counter the City trying to renegotiate the lease terms to get Site Realty to pay for the HVAC upgrade; 3) to get the City to share in whatever settlement Site Realty has had to pay to the vendors that pulled out; or even 4) as a way to negotiate out of the lease all together. Or, it could be a combination of any of these reasons. And while I doubt number 4, it is a possibility and one that many would welcome.

Thanks to Gil and Chris:
All I can tell you is there are thousands and thousands of licensed HVAC contractors and engineers. A southerly-facing building with windows and lots of cooking equipment and hundreds of people coming and going during summer months needs more than the average tonnage and cooling apparatus. Our city is being mismanaged and there seems to be no accountability.

THE CAPITAL....ON THE CAPITAL...DON'T GIVE UP

As with many of you, CP has a love-hate affair with The Capital. As meaty evidence of this, CP often refers readers to articles in The Capital. While it would be nice if they did the same for CP, I'm not holding my breath. The Capital does many things well and provides important, yes even crucial news for us, but they it is far from ideal. The biggest disappointment is that with all its resources and strengths, it just does not seem to "get it" half the time. The quality of reporting ranges mainly from adequate to acceptable, with a few notables at both ends of the entire range. Earl Kelly, Eric Hartley and Nicole Young stand out as real positives, but it is too heavy on sports and fluffy stuff for my taste. We are fortunate that it is a far cry better than many, if not most small town newspapers. However, as with all papers, change is in the air, and with this paper, it may be big and it may be imminent.

Capital editor Tom Marquardt opined about this, so CP took the liberty of using his words and changing key words in them to make a defense of blogs. Geeze--I hope I am not guilty of plagiarizing because I could not afford to fight this legal battle. On the other hand, it would be great publicity for CP.....

CP respects Mr. Marquardt's abilities and candor and gives him credit for many of the long term improvements that have taken place at The Capital. Below is CP's highly modified version of Marquardt's recent column, changed of course, to favor blogs, rather than newspapers. I do this to make a point that there are many types of blogs and bloggers, some good and some not so good, but that is true of newspapers as well:

Those of us who write blogs are still confident that we can continue to prosper. The reason, simply, is that people still want to know what is happening in their communities and blogs are in the best position to satisfy them. Who else has the unfiltered and unfettered viewpoints to cover everything from an insider's perspective?

Sure, there are plenty of newspapers such as The Capital that recruit aspiring writers to cover local news. That's fine - but do these outfits live up to their supposed standards? Are they capable of writing serious stories? I know of one that instructs its staff to avoid anything negative if it's about an advertiser, even if it means covering up controversy. I don't think this is what readers want.

There will always be a need for choices in local news, but I don't see blogs out of the picture. We know we have to embrace newspapers and satisfy people who prefer a newsprint to a computer screen. Our platform and even our people may be changing - but not our mission to produce the most comprehensive news report possible.

There are still a lot of people who would rather hold a computer mouse than a newspaper to get their daily fix of local news. Until that changes, you'll still find us on your computer.

Don't give up on us. We have a lot of new ideas and stories for 2008 that we hope will make your investment an even greater value.

Readers may wish to see Marquardt's original words at www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2008/01_06-42/OPN

LEOPOLD SAYS NO TO PUBLIC MURAL

I agree with County Executive Leopold that the outdoor mural on Arundel Center is inappropriate. I am going out on a limb here, and I know some folks may over-react, but he had a tough decision to make, and one that would certainly place him in the unenviable position of being, well something that's not a nice thing. But look at the photos and article about the artwork in The Capital (photos by The Capital to the left) www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2008/01_06-16/TOP and judge for yourself. While it might take thousands of words and hours of discussion to truly understand and make a position clear on such a matter, it's risky to come out and say "No", but Leopold did just that. I don't know about the agreements, process, history or the politics behind this display, but it's sure easy for former Exec Janet Owens, who has not been seen or heard from in a year, to come out of the dark and make a statement about it. While I greatly respect Council Members Benoit and Cohen, it is also easy for them to take a stance in opposition to Leopold, but if they were in his shoes where they had to say yea or nay, they might think differently.

The Arundel Center presents a hugely imposing brick wall to Calvert Street at the edge of our precious historic district. It's a poor design that instead of being grand or exquisite, as a public building should be, it's simply grandiose. Landscaping, facade changes or artwork would be nice, but the building may not lend itself to that very well. But, the artwork in question is out of place for a variety of reasons. As far as CP is concerned, our local leaders should be focusing on the crime and poverty across the street. While public art projects can sometimes be very positive things to alleviate crime and poverty, this project is not such a thing. It's an eyesore.

Having said that, perhaps it can be turned into something positive. Maybe it can be displayed for a month or two and a public discussion about the role of art in public, and not just that art, could take place. Perhaps local school children could write about it in an essay contest. Perhaps Mr. Leopold could invite local community leaders in for a discussion about cleaning up Clay Street. Or perhaps we could just do nothing and let everyone just fume about it.