Annapolis Capital Punishment

Dr. Julia Elizabeth Garraway of Eastport is well-known as a FOE or Friend of Ellen, and a cog in the greasy wheels of the state and local Democratic machinery. At Monday's hearing on the proposed exorbitant pay increase for the mayor and the proposed reasonable increase for council members, compensation committee chair Garraway said that there are people waiting in the wings to run for mayor if only this new salary increase gets passed. More money = better politicians.

If someone wants to be mayor but will only do so if he or she gets $120,000 per year, I ask if that person should really be mayor and if we should really want him or her. At the end of public testimony, the mayor then invited Garraway to have the final word. She proceeded to attack those of us who spoke in opposition and then accused me of threatening city council members. My ears perked up, but she never explained this supposed threat. All I said was that the people of Annapolis will not quickly forget those who would vote to accept such a drastic salary increase while many of us are threatened with losing jobs and homes.

"It will not fly in Peoria, not in Eastport, not in Wardour or in any ward", I said. I stand behind that.

Some threat. When I left the hearing, I tried to slip by her, but Garraway accosted me and reminded me of these "threats". I told her that I made no threats and that anytime she wanted to make a public apology to me, I would accept it. She made some other comments, suggesting that she had taken notes to prove her point. I called her a blowhard. She called me a blowhard. I let her get the last word again. I don't really care what she thinks of me--but don't throw your blowhard BS my way.

She must still be angry because years ago I testified at the Appeals Board against her plan to build an ugly garage in my neighborhood. I had a perfect right to do that and the Planning and Zoning reviewers even told me her plan was pretty much dead before I put in my two cents. She apparently thought her recently renovated waterfront home needed to have a garage for her vanity-plated Mercedes, just like she needs to have an elevator for her to get to and from her boat.

So last Monday was the second time she thinks I have no right to speak at public hearings, and it's funny how her good pal the "Let's Talk" mayor (Also in a nice waterfront home) is calling citizen efforts to hire a city manager an "assault on representative government."

Pot: Black.

Ellen: Beth.

Why does she take this compensation thing so personally?

First off--she chaired the compensation committee, and was chosen by the mayor. She knows the mayor and I are, shall we say, not seeing eye to eye these days? Garraway comes from the education field, as do Moyer, and Alderpersons Hoyle and Finlayson. Hoyle is probably supporting the raise but Finlayson strongly supports it. The huge bureaucracies that support education always seem to demand money, more money and more money--but whether that improves education or not is not clear. The cost of education has risen and risen and risen at a rate faster than any other sector. Educrats come from a culture that believes spending will solve all problems. Ellen was the lobbyist for the state teacher's association and Finlayson (also with a Mercedes)was president of the county teacher's ass'n. Her web-site says, "Sheila M. Finlayson has earned the reputation as the voice of educators throughout the state....Sheila organized the Coalition of Education Employees, made up of all education unions in AA county, and TAAAC-Retired....Her mantra is: What’s good for educators is good for students."

Do we honestly believe that what's good for educators is necessarily good for students? Is there a direct co-relation? I believe that's what is good for students is good for students. Do we believe that what is good for politicians is good for the people? Pay politicians more and the people benefit? Pay corporate CEO's more and the shareholders benefit?

If their answer to education needs is always more money, might the answer to governmental needs also be more money? I do not know if any of them have ever started or run a business or had to make payroll. They do however seem to be more familiar with the spending side rather than the income side of a balance sheet....unless we are talking about income from tax revenue--OUR MONEY-which brings me back to why Garraway even considered what I said was a threat.

Another member of the compensation committee is Steve Raabe, principal of a polling and research firm called Opinion Works. Raabe was a field coordinator for the state teachers association--yes, Ellen's former employer. Raabe, to his credit has a lot of progressive, public transit and environmental groups as clients. He has also been widely reported to have done polling work for Josh Cohen. One of Raabe's clients is Washingtonian Magazine, owned by the Merrill family, former owners of The Capital. (Damn. There goes a bunch more potential client prospects for CP. Aah. This is what happens when one lives by the creed of truth, justice and the American Way. Sigh.)

Also chosen by the mayor for the compensation committee was educrat Rhonda Pindell Charles who had been Community Liaison Specialist in the Office of Equity Assurance and Human Relations in Anne Arundel County Schools (That could be an article in itself). Interestingly, Pindell-Charles was also a member of the 1996 Duden Commission that recommended against hiring a city manager and to which the mayor and her cronies such as Chuck Weikel are always referring to as they fight that battle! So to pull it together, here is educrat Garraway, a friend of the educrat mayor, serving as chair of the compensation committee with educrat Pindell-Charles on board, supported by educrats Hoyle and Finlayson supporting a huge increase in pay for the new mayor who they would like to be.....???

Here are some fun facts to know about and share about Beth Garraway:
Active democratic campaigner and fund raiser who gave thousands to Clinton as well as to Obama (See here: www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/julia-garraway.asp?cycle=08
Donor to numerous Maryland candidates amounting to over $9,300 since 1999 including $1000 to Kathleen Kennedy Townsend See: www.mdelections.org/campaign_finance/
President emeritus of the Maryland Independent Colleges and University Association (more money, more money, more money)
Held fund-raiser for Josh Cohen at her waterfront home
Held fund-raiser for Ben Cardin at her waterfront home
Alternate on Democratic Central Committee for Chuck Weikel...that's a winning pair!
Held fund-raiser for Josh Cohen at her waterfront home
Active on Hillary Clinton's MD team with Weikel, and--putative potential mayoral candidate Zina Pierre


Remember the statement she made about how there are "people waiting in the wings to run for mayor if only they knew this new salary increase will be passed"? After all, the committee Beth chaired wanted to ensure a salary that would attract someone who needed it to support a family and came up with $120k--she said so! I guess $70k, benefits and a fine title are not enough in their minds to attract a good candidate! I wonder which candidates she and the committee had in mind who would suddenly step forward if only we offered $120k? Now, who might that be? I guess you could say that Beth Garraway's role as chair of the compensation committee was sort of like holding another fund raiser--eh? Ellen picks Beth and Beth picks....???

My offer to accept her public apology still stands. In fact, if she taped the hearing, I'll even review it with her so she can show me the "threat". Heck--I'll publish a transcript of it here. Besides, I've always wanted to see her waterfront home and her boat "Sea Bear" since I'm not likely to get invited to any fund-raisers there. Ahh, what all this money for education can buy!

(Note: CP believes in funding education as a priority because it's a basic human right and is the building block of a civilized society. What I am opposed to is the spend, spend, spend mentality that more money equals better education while costs of education rise faster than anything else--including health care. What it often results in is more educracy--focused more on preserving its own culture.)

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