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…)
If you happened to be in Cafe Troia in Towson today for lunch you might have seen Democratic Sen. Jim Brochin lunching with John Fiastro, president of the 42nd District Republican Club.
Politics was not only on the menu, it was the reason the two were there as Fiastro was making good on a wager the two made about the outcome of one precinct in the Sen. Andy Harris - Frank Kratovil congressional race. (more…)
Maybe he really likes Comptroller Peter Franchot and Sen. Jim Brochin. Maybe he doesn’t.
Gov. Martin O’Malley isn’t saying and sure isn’t copping to encouraging others to run against his fellow Democrats in the 2010 primary.
“The election is light years away, and I really don’t spend a whole lot of time musing about what will happen two years from now,” O’Malley said.
O’Malley took questions on both Franchot and Brochin during a meeting with Patuxent Publishing Co.’s Baltimore County editors Wednesday afternoon. And in answering the questions, he never mentioned either Franchot or Brochin by name.
It’s long been rumored that County Executive Jim Smith has been raising money like they were going to suddenly stop printing it with an eye toward running for state office.
It’s no secret that O’Malley and Franchot don’t exactly see eye to eye, and some other Dems say the governor would favor Smith. Earlier this year, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, who also is not on Franchot’s Christmas card list, told me he was introducing Smith around at a Prince George’s County fundraiser as the “next comptroller.”
“I’ve enjoyed working with County Executive Jim Smith,” O’Malley said, calling him “one of the most capable public servants.”
“I’m sure he’ll have lots of options,” O’Malley concluded.
As for Brochin, word is that some don’t believe the two-term senator is a reliable vote for the governor. Enter the rumor that Martin Knott, a Towson resident and president of Knott Mechanical, is being encouraged to challenge Brochin in the Democratic primary two years from now.
So, is O’Malley pushing Knott to run against Brochin?
“He’s his own man,” O’Malley said. “He’s a good person and helps us on workforce issues. No one controls anyone.”
So, is Knott Senate material? The question drew some snickers from O’Malley’s staff.
“He’s certainly knowledgeable on public policy issues and is personable and a person who is well liked,” O’Malley said.
Two-term legislator Jim Brochin confirmed that in May he convened a meeting of advisers, many important to his previous Senate campaigns and one current county legislator whom he declined to name. Also in attendance was his media consultant, whom he flew up from Florida.
“I feel because of my independence, I question if I can be more effective being county executive,” said Brochin, a Democrat who represents the 42nd District, which includes Towson, Timonium and part of Pikesville. “These are the thoughts that are running through my head.”
Dipping his toe into the water is one thing, but jumping in is something else altogether. It’s not a stretch to say that Brochin loves being a state senator. He always wears his Maryland Senate ring on his right ring finger.
“I really like my job, I like it a lot,” Brochin said. “I think my constituents think I do a good job.”
Brochin is also a machine when it comes to campaigning; he is known for going door to door in his district most nights during campaign season. He acknowledges that such an effort would be nearly impossible countywide.
“I think that’s really hard to do countywide, but I would do it in areas that are up for grabs,” Brochin said.
And then there’s the money issue.
Brochin said his 2002 and 2006 campaigns were difficult and depleted his campaign war chest. As of the most recent report filed in January, Brochin had about $32,000 in cash on hand and about $90,000 in outstanding debt.
And if Brochin enters the race, he could face a heavily contested Democratic primary field that could include at least two County Councilmen — Joseph Bartenfelder and Kevin Kamenetz. Both reported raising nearly $250,000 last year on top of already-healthy campaign accounts.
“They’ve had two really good cycles where they haven’t had any competition, and they’ve been able to stockpile money,” Brochin said.
Some believe it could cost $1.5 million or more to run a winning campaign. County Executive Jim Smith raised and spent $1 million in 2oo2 and raised another $2 million for his 2006 campaign.
Still, Brochin believes he can raise the money needed to run an effective campaign.
The senator said he is not likely to make or announce a decision until late in his current term — possibly late 2009 or early 2010.