Annapolis Capital Punishment

THIS IS THE IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT I PROMISED. I hinted that this might just be a publicity stunt but you can make your own judgment.

People ask CP all the time "Which candidate are you voting for" and I answer everyone the same way. "I am voting for the same one you are."

They ask, "How do you know which one I am supporting?"

I answer, "Well you're voting for the candidate who you believe to be most qualified-right? So am I."

Who I support or endorse is not important and I have promised I will not endorse. However, I am thinking seriously about posting election predictions when the polls close on September 15th for the fun of it...but that's not the big announcement either. Read on...

How do I decide who is most qualified? I apply the HEAT and I am turning it up. IS IT HOT ENOUGH OUTSIDE FOR YOU?

I hope you will do the same. What are the real issues in this election season? I think it is HEAT. If you can't stand the HEAT, as many of our mothers and grandmothers used to say.....get out of the kitchen..and please do it now....In fact, there are some candidates who can barely even turn the oven up and they are staying in the race--but that's their thing. Why? I don't know...

This is what HEAT means:

H--Honesty
E--Ethics
A--Accountability
T--Transparency

I think it's reasonable to say that this is what we all want to see and what we all still expect from candidates and elected officials. CP strives every day to live and blog by HEAT and expects the same of candidates and government officials. Does this make me an idealist? Sure it does. So what? I get accused of being cynical too, but then again, I am accused of many things.

Let's turn up the HEAT. This is my promise to you-- the readers, the citizens, the voters, the residents, the business owners, candidates and everyone else in this much bantered-about "One Annapolis".

CP will not tolerate BS from any quarter--but most of all, I will not tolerate it from candidates and elected officials.

Will you? I promise to continue to carefully observe and interpret this HEATed election. I hope I meet your standards and expectations and I welcome your comments, but there will be no anonymity. Sign your real name. I say it the way I see it every day and attach my name and I expect the same from you. It is unfair and plain old wrong to sling mud at an elected official, candidate or a blogger who is putting his or her name on the line to serve you--whether you like them or not. But to ask questions, criticize, raise concerns or call them out for wrongdoing is quite another thing. I intend to keep doing that and I welcome your help.

So, let me be very clear---especially to candidates one and all. I will continue to do my best to treat everyone fairly and equally but don't beat around the bush, don't hesitate or delay in answering questions or providing information, and most of all, attend to the HEAT.

In other words, no BS.

I shall do my best to do the same and you can turn the HEAT up on me too if you disagree or think I have erred--but no anonymous comments so stop wasting your time by writing them to me!

The candidates are running a beauty and popularity contest. I am not. No matter who wins, I'll still be here blogging away.

I wish to add a few words about the city manager issue. I have long supported the creation of a city manager form of government. When I ran for alderman in 2007, I made this issue one of my three top campaign priorities. At the time, my supporters thought nobody cared. Some credit me for putting this back on the agenda in the last few years. Whatever.

My primary opponent in that campaign, Alderman Ross Arnett, has since become a champion for this important change as has Alderman Israel and some of the candidates for mayor. Other candidates oppose this proposal. It's damn important. My personal feeling, and I have repeatedly made this clear, is that we must make this change, and that having a city manager form of government in place and soon, is more important than who we will have as our next mayor.

The next mayor will be smacked in the eye with budget and infrastructure challenges, union contracts and a real mess left by the current one. Let us hope that no matter who becomes the next mayor, that he or she will not oppose the will of the people to effect this important change. Two candidates are already doing their best to confuse us by using the term"city manager" but what they really mean is a "city administrator". There are fundamental differences. Some say they will hire a certified city manager, but I seriously doubt that any certified city manager will take a job as a city administrator where he or she will answer to a mayor, rather than to a council. My promise is to watch that closely. Remember the HEAT.

And now if I may turn to the immortal words of the martyred Malcolm X to talk for a moment to address truth, freedom, power and yes, racism.

Malcolm X said:

"There will be no skullduggery. No flim-flam. No compromise. No sell out. No controlled show.....

Watch the below video and listen as he says:

"If you're afraid to tell the truth, why, you don't even deserve freedom."

"White, black, brown, red or yellow, it doesn't make any difference what color you are."

"The only thing power respects is power."

"They take one little word out of what you say, ignore all the rest and then begin to magnify it all over the world and make you look like what you actually are."

"Much of what I say might sound like it's stirring up trouble, but it's the truth..."

"We don't care who likes it or not, as long as we know it's the truth."

"No, we are neither this or that, this or that. If you're wrong, you're wrong. If you're right , you're right"

"You can't deny it. You may not like my saying it but you can't deny it."





To all loyal CP readers, please remember that this election is not a race about the race of the candidate. It is a race about the best candidate. It is just plain stupid to support or not support a candidate because of skin color. Stupid. Stupid if you're white and do it and stupid if you're black and do it. Some Democrats and Republicans alike have been doing that for years. It's time to stop. I've already heard some stories about race in this campaign and they are not pleasant. Let's hope they don't get worse.

I will do my best to bring HEAT to any such incidents.

With Obama in The White House, it is clear we have made a lot of progress but we have further to go. And don't be afraid to criticize a black candidate because some knucklehead might call you a racist. In fact, if you are afraid to criticize a candidate because race might be inferred, what does that say? When you run for office, you are in the hot seat whether you are black or white.

Whether we admit it or not, racism still influences our lives. It has not disappeared from Annapolis and is manifested in different ways, in different places. It may be present in these elections, but we must strive to move beyond this in our daily lives and electoral politics. That would truly make us One Annapolis, a term that is unclear yet is beaten around all over town these days.

This blog, this election, this government--it's all about we the people. You know--by, for and of the people? If you don't educate yourself, if you don't vote, you force the candidates to do all the thinking and controlling for you. GET INVOLVED. And please help me bring you the news and analysis that you value. I need your support. I need information, readers, advertisers and contributors of both words and money.

But remember, there is really only one election issue. The HEAT.

Remember what Malcom X said:
"You can't deny it. You may not like my saying it but you can't deny it."

I hope you find this blog valuable and that this post has made some sense to you as well.