Annapolis Capital Punishment

Today's Baltimore Sun http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bal-md.annapolis10feb10,0,696980.story reports that Maryland Senate President Mike Miller is unhappy that the streets of Annapolis have not been cleared. Okay. He's right. We should be doing better, but what the heck is he thinking? Why does he not help us? What has Miller and state government done to help Annapolis in much of any regard?

State government does pretty much what it wants here in Annapolis, ignores us except for January through April, builds a garage where and how it wants, builds a court house where and when it wants, and renovates the senate building where and when it wants--and then names it after the senate president, who is still very much alive. Where does he come off?

And Miller has been one of Maryland's top three elected officials since, well since...let's see, how long has it been? He's been a senator since 1975 and its president since 1987. 23 years as senate presdent! What has he done to help the state capital, which struggles with massive amounts of visitors but is unable to raise taxes from so much of its land because it is government property and non-taxable.

Miller called the city's snow-clearing efforts "disgraceful" and said that Annapolitans "should have better treatment from their elected officials."  He's right! And by elected officials who should be treating us better, do we also mean state officials such as the senate president?
I wonder if Miller is picking on Annapolis because Mayor Joshua Cohen, when he was a county councilman, opposed Miller on slots. Miller-pro, Cohen-anti, and I wonder if Miller is taking a swipe against House Speaker Mike Busch because this is also his district and Busch is a big Cohen supporter. Or is there another motive?

Miller also said, "This is a high-end city," he said. "It is a very wealthy city. What was good in the 1700s is not acceptable."

Well thanks for the compliment senator. We could also say Maryland is a high-end state. A very wealthy state. How come we have an antiquated transportation system? How come Baltimore, its biggest city, is among our most depressed urban centers? How come we have made such little progress in cleaning our Chesapeake Bay? Annapolis is a "high-end city"? How come you've never lifted a finger to help this high-end city improve its bus system? You know, the one that serves the employees of and visitors to the state every day from the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium? Speaking of which, Rowe Boulevard is a state road. Hopefully you know that the main road in and out of all government buildings is a state road. If that was not plowed, perhaps you can fix it.

The Sun further said, "Miller did not blame newly elected Annapolis Mayor Joshua Cohen - whom he said he likes - for the mess, but instead pointed to the city's institutional inertia."

Well geeze, give Cohen a break! Every city in Maryland is struggling with this storm--a storm of Biblical proportions, and yes we did a poor job, but who is rating how state roads have been cleared? On the other hand the state has huge plows and yes, we are underprepared, understaffed, underbudgeted, but stop complaining in public and help us out.

Is this the first time Miller has ever noticed that this city has problems? We had a horrible "leader" for the last eight years, and within a few months of taking office, he hits the new mayor who has a severe budget crisis and one enormous snowstorm after another and Miller is whining.

"This city is stuck in a time warp," Miller said. "They believe the only snow removal is the sun. When the sun doesn't come out, the citizens are greatly inconvenienced."

Since even as great and powerful a man as Senator Miller could not order the sun to come out, he instead complains to The Baltimore Sun, which did come out today. I seriously doubt Mayor Cohen would ever take a swipe at him or any other elected official in the media. Maybe he should go for a walk with him today and see how we can clear our streets more efficiently.

My advice to Miller. Quit whining and help out this "high-end" and "wealthy" city. And, I'll say it here and I am going to write about it again--this shows the absolute need to revitalize the Capital City Commission where all levels of govenment officially and regularly meet to lead city-wide issues of concern to a capital city--even this "wealthy" and "high-end" city.

(By the way, Miller's whine reminds me to remind you of Eric Hartley's recent piece on term limits. Visit  http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/col/2010/02/07-38/Eric-Hartley-Term-limits-bill-deserves-some-thought.html)

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February 11, County Executive Candidate Joanna Conti (weather permitting)
February 18, City Lobbyist Minor Carter
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