A man called me the other day and wanted to talk about speed cameras.
His brother got a ticket while driving through the work area on I-695 near Charles Street, and he wasn’t happy about it. His brother was driving in excess of 60 mph in a zone where the speed limit is 50. State law enacted last year allows the state to issue a ticket using the devices to anyone driving more than 12 mph over the speed limit. (more…)
“The budget is a question of priorities and the political will to change those priorities hasn’t occurred yet.”
~ Sen. Jim Brochin on The C4 Show on WBAL 1090 AM Thursday speaking about the upcoming General Assembly session and a budget deficit that is approaching $2 billion.
Democrats and Republicans got together in a day of volunteer service Saturday. By Sunday, the gloves had come off and it was politics as usual.
Chris Cavey, chairman of the county Republican Central Committee, issued a statement late Sunday night criticizing David Gildea and Michael Paul Smith for their development of a ticket of candidates that will run for at least three of the expected four open council seats next year. (more…)
State Sen. Jim Brochin took four days without pay as part of a voluntary furlough request made to 188 state legislators late last year.
Brochin, a Democrat who represents the 42nd District, released a form dated Dec. 16, 2008, that authorizes state human resources officials to withhold four days’ pay totaling $483.36.
Brochin’s district includes Towson, Timonium and part of Pikesville. (more…)
Local elected officials who support deer hunting could be targets at the ballot box next year if one local animal rights activist has her way.
Enid Feinberg, a Phoenix resident who has opposed deer hunting in the Loch Raven reservoir, said she would like to see three county officials unseated in 2010 because of their support of deer hunting — Democratic Sen. Jim Brochin, and Del. Joseph Boteler and Councilman Bryan McIntire, both Republicans.
“Knowing what I know about them, they’re certainly high on my list,” Feinberg said.
Brochin and McIntire have been supportive of expanded deer hunting in the reservoir area. And Boteler sponsored a bill in the General Assembly last year that would have allowed hunting on Sundays on private property in Baltimore County. Boteler’s bill did not pass.
“In my opinion, hunting is legalized animal cruelty,” said Feinberg.
Feinberg said she has joined an organization called Maryland Votes for Animals. Carolyn Kilborn, who is the only attributed writer on the Web site, was not immediately available for an interview. The site states that the group has “one overriding mission: To create an ever-growing voting bloc of animal advocates who will elect representatives willing to champion and vote for animal protection legislation, and to hold politicians accountable to their constituents.”
The organization lists a Towson mailing address on it’s Web site, but Kilborn lives in Annapolis.
“There’s no way to win for animals other than at the ballot box,” said Feinberg, who said she was speaking for herself, not for Maryland Votes for Animals.
“Our politicians are truly failing us,” Feinberg said.
Feinberg said one strategy could be the formation of a political action committee that could provide financial support to candidates who favor issues such as stronger laws against animal cruelty or are against hunting.
Maryland Votes for Animals formed a political action committee to participate in the 2010 state elections. State Board of Elections records show that Votes For Animals registered as a PAC on June 15. Kilborn is listed as the chairman of the committee, Jared DeMarinis, director of candidacy and campaign finance for the State Board of Elections.
Sen. Jim Brochin’s call for night-time County Council work sessions met with little argument from current council Chairman Joseph Bartenfelder.
Bartenfelder, who will complete his one-year term leading the council at the end of the year, said he agrees with his felllow Democrat that night meetings would make it easier for the public to attend and participate.
“The thing of it is, it sounds strange coming from a legislator whose meetings are all during the day,” said Bartenfelder, who served three terms in the House of Delegates from 1983 to 1994.
“It’s a double standard with what they do in Annapolis,” said Bartenfelder.
Clearly, Bartenfelder never served on the House Judiciary Committee under chairman Del. Joseph Vallario. The eight-term Democrat, who represents Calvert and Prince George’s counties, is known for his marathon meetings that frequently begin after lunch, but sometimes run into the late evening hours.
Sen. Jim Brochin, a Democrat who represents the 42nd District, weighed in today on the issue of County Council work sessions being held during the day.
Brochin, speaking today on WBAL Radio’s C4 show with former state senator Clarence Mitchell IV, said many of his constituents have expressed a desire to have the council move the work sessions to the evening.
“The work sessions are during the day, and people work during the day,” said Brochin, a two-term senator who represents Towson, Timonium and part of Pikesville.
“If they had these things at night, Democracy could really work,” Brochin said.
Kevin Carney, a house builder and Towson resident, said this week he will run as a Republican for the 42nd District Senate seat and challenge two-term incumbent Democrat Sen. Jim Brochin next November.
The 42nd District includes Towson, Timonium and part of Pikesville.
Carney, president of Columbia, MD-based Thomas Builders, lives at the far end of the district near the city line with his wife Marla. The couple has two adult children.
“Annapolis is broken,” Carney, 58, said during an interview in his Columbia office. “People are worried that the state is over-spending.” (more…)
There’s a group on Facebook for everything.
Have a favorite television show or Weather Channel meteorologist? There’s probably thousands of other people with exactly the same interests.
You can even find some of your local elected officials on the social networking site.
A number of politically active area high school students banded together in 2006 to create a group on Facebook that takes some ill-mannered shots at Democratic Sen. Jim Brochin. The name of the group is too salty for print in family publications or this blog, It attempts to further skewer Brochin with a doctored photo. (more…)
A look back at the politics and government stories of 2008 in the words of those involved. Look for part three of four tomorrow.
April
• “The highlights are slim,” County Executive Jim Smith said April 16 about his proposed $1.72 billion budget for fiscal year 2009. Smith called called it “austere” as it offered no cost of living raises or other frills. The budget is on pace to produce a $14 million surplus and the county is not furloughing employees this year as is the state and other local governments. (more…)