Annapolis Capital Punishment

One thing is for certain and that is that HACA Director Eric Brown must be pleased as can be. All mayoral candidates are jumping over each other to fix public housing, work with residents and the HACA board and make everything in order. Yep--every single candidate must be all excited to get elected and to sit down with Mr. Brown and fix all those problems.....unless of course he comes asking for some money I would guess. Well, not exactly, as some candidates want to keep throwing money at public housing or so it seems.

I've never found it easy or all that helpful to cover meetings. Perhaps it has been taped and digitized, but I warn you, it was not all that exciting. If you don't know the candidates or their issues, you would have found the meeting to be rather educational but to political insiders, it was not exactly a barnstormer. I do believe that the majority of people were not public housing residents, and that's just an educated guess based on having lived here 3o years and knowing many of the people in the audience.

Here are my impressions, for whatever they may be worth:

Cohen- Kept getting the first question which may have put him in a bad position but he seemed a bit aloof and not as focused or dynamic as he usually seems. As he has said before "elections are about the future" which is just so trite...Cohen as always, has a good grasp on issues, understands the background and I believe he would listen to and deal with concerns about public housing.

Cordle--Came out with knives....immediately went on the attack against other candidates and at one time even took a stab at Cohen. Mainly referred to his law enforcement background and expertise. Was extremely careful not to to say anything that might upset anyone when it came to his stand on public housing. Not really sure what he wants.

Flyntz--A no show.....is he in this race or what?

Fox--Wow. No mincing of words here. No flavor of the night speech for Fox. Public housing should be a hand-up and not a hand-out and he wants jobs, jobs, and job training and then you're outta' here, even if that means to the county. Has the further-reaching and strongest stance of any candidate--which did not sit well with some in the audience but I believe will resonate with many outside of public housing.

McFall--The most knowledgeable about the issue and perhaps the most experienced, mainly went on her track record of accomplishments while HACA Board Chair and her goal to move more people to Section 8 housing.

Pierre-She's been there and perhaps made the strongest impression and got the strongest positive reception from the audience. She wants a full-time and exclusive liaison for public housing issues in her office.

Renaut--Focused on transparency, honest government, and employing his mediation skills to improve relations with HACA.

Sears-Deppa--The new kid on the block. Wants mentoring and Boys and Girls Club activities. Not too familiar with the issues but seemed engaged. Said public housing should not be a hammock but should be a safety net. I liked that.

Shropshire--Sam understands the concerns of public housing residents and he wants us to know that. Fair enough. But beyond that, Sam seems to want more federal money. Sam has had supper many times with families in public housing. Did I mention that Sam has had supper many times with families in public housing? Hey--everybody's got to eat--including Sam. Did I mention that Sam wants the federal government (only 35 miles away he reminded us) to send us more green eggs and ham so we can all eat with Sam?

Taylor--Wayne is a polished and dynamic speaker...I think. He spent part of the day in Washington looking at their public housing. Geeze Wayne, you're not mayor yet and you are going to D.C.? I just am never quite clear about what he is saying.


I basically want to see public housing end. Why? Simple. Government should not be in the business of housing. What's next--feeding and bathing us? Oops, it sort of does that in some respects and for some folks in public housing, they are fed, clothed, housed and educated to one extent or another. That is a sure recipe for totalitarianism. It just does not work. It seems to me that McFall and Fox have the clearest ideas about what to do while Pierre will probably devote the most amount of time and energy to pubic housing if elected. I am just not sure if a Pierre Administration will strike a balance between needs and concerns of public housing residents and those of taxpayers who are not dependent on the government--and government is another way to say the taxpayers.

Public housing should be a last resort with a policy in place to continually lower the numbers of people in it. Let's stop looking for ways to satisfy the resident's short-term needs and instead get them on their feet--and out of HACA. And finally, always referring to the children....can we stop that?? You can help the children all day long but they still go home to public housing. Let's help their parents become self-sufficient and not just expect that the government will take care of everything.

If we can't make a major transformation of public housing happen this time around....uh...uh...maybe we should just....???

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