Devin Heritage of Ward Six attended Wayne Taylor's meeting the other night along with 7 or 8 others and here is his report....We welcome your reactions and thoughts about the candidates:
Wayne covered his "5 points of life" platform for about 30 minutes then opened it up for discussion/questions. Most of the questions and discussion started with the Market House but then turned toward Public Housing and Crime. Wayne did a good job of skirting direct and specific questions, claiming that the Market House will "work itself out in the next 6 months".
He made a point to say that public housing (brick and mortar) is not the problem but a few people are at the root of the problem. He does not believe more police are the answer, but getting in front of the people at the root of the issues are the problem (seems awfully Utopian). I stated that if the system hasn't worked since 1930 then why not move toward privatization of public housing and change the system? He just said it is worth "looking into." I also asked what is the "path out of public housing." I brought up that many of the residents of public housing did not appear in a good light at the public hearing about Obery Ct. I told him that I would love for someone to come in and remodel my house for free. I also stated that if it is housing and land owned by the government, why can't we have constant police and camera presence at all times? I rhetorically said that it seems that we are giving residents of public housing all the say, and not the public that is paying for it--and this coming from a Democrat.
He said he supports more police camera's and equipping police cars with license plate scanners (to be used at "hot spots"), claiming it would also be a revenue generator for the city. Lastly he stated he supports a strong City Administrator but not a City Manger that is appointed by the council.
Wayne's biggest asset is his demeanor. He has a good personality that seems open and comforting. However, he did not seem to address specific problems with specific solutions as much as I would have liked to have heard.
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1 Comment:
I am responding to Mr. Heritage's useful suggestion that public housing should move toward privatization and Mr. Taylor's comment that it is "worth looking into." It should be noted that another mayoral candidate, Trudy McFall, has already laid out a clear plan of action to move public housing to private ownership (see www.trudymcfall.com/Issues.htm). While the volunteer Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Annapolis Housing Authority, Trudy set the Housing Authority on this course beginning with the communities of Obery Court/College Creek Terrace and Annapolis Gardens/Bowman Court. In fact this month, Obery Court will be demolished to make way for new privately owned and managed rental and homeownership housing, beginning the transformation of public housing put into place by Trudy. The Annapolis Garden/Bowman Court transformation is expected to take place later this year.
Furthermore, regarding use of license plate readers, Trudy suggested use of this technology two years ago, but Chief Johnson at that time called the concept "garbage" (see www.trudymcfall.com/FactCRPosition.pdf). To his credit, the new Chief Pristoop has already begun use of this technology and reports great success with it.
Dennis Conti
Campaign Manager
Friends of Trudy McFall
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