A SKEPTIC'S OPINION: HOGAN NAILED IT!

     I just watched the Hogan-Brown Gubernatorial Debate sponsored by Baltimore news station WJZ-TV and the Baltimore Sun newspaper. To be honest, I thought that Hogan may choke, being in the bowels of O'Malley-Brown territory. I have not been a fan of Hogan's because I simply did not think he was electable. I didn't think that he could possibly win the voters of Baltimore City, Montgomery County, and Prince George's County, which everyone knows are key to winning this race. Larry Hogan convinced me tonight that he can win this race! 
   Larry Hogan's presentation was flawless. He appeared calm, honest, prepared, confident, and ready to rumble, while never coming off as aggressive or arrogant. He answered all accusations emphatically and without hesitation. He was not phased at all by being in "enemy territory." He is not one of those guys who only feels comfortable talking to a crowd of supporters. 
    While I was impressed with how he presented himself, I was even more impressed with what he had to say and not just how he said it. He answered each question without avoiding any topic, only going off topic once briefly to defend himself against a Brown accusation that was not allowed a rebuttal. 

OPENING STATEMENTS

     It began with Anthony Brown's opening statement where he immediately talked about he and O'Malley's accomplishments ("we've accomplished"). He did not shy away from his connection to the governor and the policies of that administration, mentioning specifically that Maryland is leading the nation in Education and also the states' AAA bond rating. He then quickly veered away from O'Malley saying that he is not looking to the past, but wants rather to talk about the future. He mentioned his military experience and then said that he was "on a different mission." He finished with what seemed to be his mantra for the evening: He will get up every morning and fight for working families and middle class values, claiming that Hogan was for favoring a small group of the wealthy and large corporations. This was repeated word-for-word several times. Hogan was not having it.
     Hogan's opening statement was about why he was running and it basically was a list of what he called "the failures" of the O'Malley-Brown administration. He said that he was fed up with the politicians in Annapolis, stating that he is not a politician, but rather a small business owner. He mentioned the over-40 tax hikes, $10B out of the pockets of working families, the 8,000 businesses that left the state, the high unemployment rate compared to the rest of the country, and the "mass exodus" of people leaving the state to relocate elsewhere with less regulations and taxes. He got my attention. BAM!

1. TAXES: WILL YOU LOWER OR AT LEAST NOT RAISE OR CREATE NEW TAXES?

    Brown said, "Let me be clear [where have we heard that before?], there will be no new taxes." He stated that everything that the administration has done has been to attract businesses. He said that his tax relief will start with the middle class, while he accused Hogan of planning to give $300M in tax giveaways to wealthy corporations. He again stated that he will be fighting for working middle-class families. 

    

    Hogan said, "It sounds good, but it is the opposite of your record of failure." He again pointed to the over-40 tax hikes "crushing the middle class, especially those at the lower end of the scale." He stated that 71percent of Marylanders think taxes are too high. He said, "You did that! Are you going to roll them back?" He accused Brown of giving tax credits only to specific corporations [crony Capitalism]. He reminded Brown that he said he was going to reform taxes in 2007 and did the exact opposite. BAM!

REBUTTAL

   
     Brown's rebuttal was to warn voters not to "go back" to raised college tuition and congested streets, implying that Hogan was somehow responsible for these problems, which he and O'Malley corrected. He then named one success story, Armor All, which he claimed is now second in the world in their industry thanks to he and O'Malley's business policies.  

2. EDUCATION: WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE THE AFFECTS OF RECENT INCREASED SPENDING IN K-12 EDUCATION?

    Hogan conceded that they were doing a "good job" in building schools, but said that they doubled the spending with mixed results. He said we may have the best schools, but we are the lowest in performance, with the performance gap between blacks and whites still too large. He said he would like to push money down to the local level, and to also have the decision-making at the local level. He said that he would put a pause on Common Core, calling it an abject failure. He would push for more charter schools. BAM!

    Brown repeated his ad statement that every child deserves a good education. He said that they have made progress in closing the achievement gap. He asked Hogan what resources he is willing to invest? Brown is promising a free pre-K education for every child. He accused Hogan of opposing that, and also of opposing new school construction, claiming Hogan will cut $450M in construction funding. He warns the voters that Hogan will take them backwards. 

REBUTTAL 

     Hogan said that he is for a pre-K education, but not free, not for everyone. He accused Brown of not telling the truth about this issue in his ads. He said that he is for free pre-K only for those who are 300-percent above poverty level (roughly $75,000 family income) or below. He stated that Brown's plan would not be instituted until 2022, and that he has no viable plan to pay for it. He said that Brown already increased spending by $10M and that we
can not afford it. He said the issue was an election ploy. BAM!

3. TAXES: DO YOU AGREE WITH COMPTROLLER  FRANCHOT WHEN HE STATED THAT MARYLAND HAS HUGE FISCAL CHALLENGES THAT WILL REQUIRE RAISING TAXES. 

    Brown does not agree with Franchot, and again stated that he will not raise taxes. Instead he will give targeted tax credits to small businesses, he will look at spending, vehicle fee management, and Medicaid savings. He accused Hogan of planning to raise property taxes by $300M. 

    Hogan said that everything Brown said in that answer was not true. He said that Brown does not want to talk about almost 8 years of failure including increased spending and increased taxes."You said that during the last election and you raised taxes! He wants a promotion, but doesn't want us to look at his record." BAM!

REBUTTAL

   Brown said that his record will show that he created $40,000 jobs, and through a private-public partnership (P3) created 5,000 jobs at the port. Again, accused Hogan of wanting to cut $450M in school construction and increase the tax base by $300M in property tax. 

4. ENVIRONMENT: WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE STORM WATER MANAGEMENT FEE?

    Hogan said that the Bay is a valued asset and top priority, but he would not blame the farmers or the rain. He stated that no one has looked at management of sediment (43-percent) from the Conowingo Dam. He would look to the Federal government, the EPA, and Army Core of Engineers, along with the states of Pennsylvania and New York to pay their share of the cleanup. He then accused Brown of raiding $460M out of the Open Space Fund along with $1.3B from a trust fund meant for the Bay cleanup. He promised not to raid these trust funds. He said that Marylanders hate the Rain Tax and are disgusted with them for passing it. BAM!

    Brown said that Maryland has a tradition of a "balanced approach" to environmental issues. He said that Hogan shouldn't blame other states, and said that he would work with local governments on these issues and also on reducing new septic systems. 

REBUTTAL

    Hogan said that was nonsense, because Brown robbed the money that they could have used to clean up the bay, and that he blamed it on the recession. He said that Brown did not cut spending, but that he had increased spending and taxes. "You are making things up! We are not recovering." BAM!

5. NEGATIVE CAMPAIGNING: WHY HAS THIS RACE BEEN SO NEGATIVE?

   Brown said that his ads are a conversation with the voters. Voters have a right to know where Hogan stands on important issues. He said it is fair to show the contrast in issues. He specifically named SB 281 and said that he opposed the bill in total and each piece of the bill including the banning of "assault weapons," limiting magazine size, background checks, and fingerprinting. He accused Hogan of secretly planning to overturn or not enforce SB 281 and called it dangerous. 

    Hogan said that he will not repeal SB 281. He actually felt that the bill didn't go far enough concerning mental illness and Federal background checks. It is set into law. He said that Brown has been running untrue ads trying to scare the public and as a distraction from his own record. "The ad shows an assault weapon on a playground! It is 100-percent false." He said that Brown keeps referring to Hogan's "long record" when he has no long record. He is not a politician. He also said that abortion is set into law and he does not intend to revisit that issue. He said that Brown ran more untrue ads about abortion meant to scare women into voting for Brown. 

REBUTTAL

    Brown spoke about "extreme gun owners" and again claimed that Hogan plans to not enforce SB 281. He said that Hogan has been a "political operative."

6. IMMIGRATION: DO YOU SUPPORT BRINGING CHILDREN FROM THE BORDER TO OUR STATE?

    Hogan first went off topic to rebut the accusation in Brown's last rebuttal. "I don't have a record. You are using an article from decades ago that was actually about my dad. You should apologize to women for trying to scare them." BAM!
    About immigration, my wife is a first generation immigrant from South Korean. I am obviously welcoming to immigrants, but we are a nation of laws. I actually blame the president and both the Republicans and the Democrats in Congress and the Senate for the situation at the border. BAM!

    Brown said, "I am a first generation American, my parents came here from Jamaica. This is a land of immigrants." He blamed the Republicans in Congress for the situation at the border, but stated that we can't fix that in Maryland. He feels we are obligated to protect the children at the border. He feels that we should reunite them with their family here in the states and return them to their country of origin "eventually, if possible." He said that the Federal government should reimburse us for our foster care services. 

REBUTTAL

    Hogan said that the issue is a humanitarian issue and that we should feed, clothe, house and give them a medical exam. He does not think that we should take more immigrants per capita than other states, especially since they have to be bused hundreds of miles to get them here. 

    
7. SAFETY & CRIME: WHAT CAN YOU DO TO LOWER CRIME?

    Brown said again that he lost a cousin to gun crime and that he supported SB 281. He said that crime is at an all time low, but there is more to do. He said we must not rollback or not enforce SB 281. We need to build on the success of our new gun safety laws. 

    Hogan said that we have some of the toughest gun laws in the country, but we are in the top ten in violent crime. He stated that our number one problem is heroin. It is an epidemic all over the state no matter how small the community. Yet, there has been no action. Hogan would call a state of emergency and address the heroin problem immediately.

REBUTTAL

    Brown claimed that they have driven down crime rates and also recidivism. He said that Hogan just doesn't understand the problem.

8. GERRYMANDERING: WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING TO STOP THE EXCESSIVE GERRYMANDERING OF OUR STATE?

    Hogan said that he is nonpartisan and offered proof by pointing to his organization, Change Maryland, which he claims is half Democrats and Independents. He said that we need to take the redistricting out of the hands of the monopoly Party in Annapolis and let it be handled by a nonpartisan independent commission. 

    Brown said that he agrees with Hogan, however, he blames the extreme Right in Congress for the problem. He thinks it ought to be handled at the Federal level with an amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

REBUTTAL

     Hogan said, "You just refuse to take responsibility! Your administration did this and it was the worst in the nation." He agreed that there is dysfunction in DC on both sides of the aisle with rabid partisanship. 

9. BUSINESS: HOW CAN YOU IMPROVE THE BUSINESS CLIMATE IN MARYLAND?

    Brown stated that when he is elected his first strategic act will be to move that goal to position one. He said it is debatable that the state is actually hostile to business, so he doesn't want to discuss it. He would rather talk about successes and then he named  4 or 5 businesses that are expanding. 

    Hogan asked, "Then why haven't you? You have had 8 years to do this." He said that Brown needs to take responsibility for driving 8,000 businesses out of our state. He said he has lost 200,000 jobs, and our unemployment rate is higher than the national average.  He said that we have 3 problems: 1) we are 41st out of 50 in business friendliness, 2) the burdensome regulation environment created by Brown-O'Malley, and 3) we have the fourth highest corporate tax in the country. BAM!

REBUTTAL

     Brown again accused Hogan of planning to give huge tax breaks to large corporations, even some that are out of state. "I support tax relief to small businesses." 

10. WOMEN'S ISSUES: WHAT WILL BE YOUR PRIORITY REGARDING WOMEN'S ISSUES?

    Brown  said that the average person on minimum wage is a 33 year old woman, and she cannot raise a family on it. Raising the minimum wage would help to raise her out of poverty. He said that he led the effort to reduce domestic violence, and that he would find a way to increase education opportunities. 

   Hogan conceded that they did a good job regarding domestic violence. He said that woman are worried about the economy. Women typically do the budgeting. The over-40 tax hikes are crushing them. Raising the minimum wage will do nothing, but there will be drawbacks. The minimum wage was never meant to support a family. "It was meant for kids! If you have a better economy it becomes a non-issue." BAM! He believes in unfettered birth control available over the counter. He will not revisit abortion, and again, states that Brown's ads regarding abortion are nothing but lies.

   In closing, both candidates restated their opening statement. 

    In summary, Hogan won the debate, my vote, and I think the vote of my 80-year-old mother who is Democrat. With the condition of this state, and with the complete dissatisfaction with the tax and spend O'Malley-Brown administration, voters are more open to listen to another perspective. Larry Hogan delivers a message that makes sense with an honesty that can't be denied.  
    I think he needs to iron out where he stands on SB 281 and courageously declare the truth of his intent...whatever that is. Making a firm statement and sticking to it will mean more than a wink and a nod to either side. Somebody is going to  be mad or disappointed. I think he needs to realize that and accept it. This election is about the economy first. His strengths are in fiscal financial policies, so in my opinion, he should stick to those.  I personally am disappointed that he isn't more forthright about gun rights, but I will take the 95 percent that we agree on instead of the maybe 9 percent I might agree on with Brown...just so I can stick it to Hogan for the gun issue. It doesn't make sense and I'm not going to do it. 
    I wonder if anyone noticed that there was no mention, from either side, of the failed ACA website and the huge loss of taxpayer money?

#VoteHogan4Governor 

RELATED POST: 

DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR, LT. GOV. BROWN, SPEAKS TO THE CHAMBER

http://liberatedconservativewoman.blogspot.com/2013/06/democratic-candidate-for-governor-lt.html

  

WILL THE REAL MAYOR GYSBERTS PLEASE SIT DOWN?

"Hagerstown Mayor David S. Gysberts said Monday night that he is open to other projects at the downtown site, and that he would consider using eminent domain to acquire or speed up negotiations for any properties needed for redevelopment. Those projects could include other athletic facilities or a community or convention center, Gysberts said."

The Herald Mail

September 23, 2013

It turns out that all is not what it seemed with this candidate-now-mayor.

   I have supported Mayor Gysberts since he began campaigning for mayor in the last election. I know that a referendum was passed during that election to run non-partisan city elections in the future. In a perfect world that sounds like a good and noble idea, but voters will probably still tend to lean toward the candidate who leans towards their political ideals, and the candidates will probably still discreetly tow their party line. So with that said, I am an unlikely supporter of Mayor Gysberts, myself being a true blue Republican for most of my adult life (although not so much now), and having been very involved in the TEA Party movement. Why? Well he seemed so...non-partisan back then. He also seemed to be against building a stadium at the downtown site. He seemed to be against the use of tax payer money without at least equal private funds. It turns out that all is not what it seemed with this candidate-now-mayor. 

    

Skillfully played!

    Candidate Gysberts attended a meeting led by those in opposition to the downtown site. Those hosting the meeting said that the then-current mayor and council had refused to meet with them (although they had not been invited to this particular meeting). Candidate Gysberts skillfully appeared to be in agreement with this group without ever making a definitive statement about it. At least that is what he said after the election when those at the meeting were stunned to find out that he indeed was for the downtown site. Of course there were no audio or video recordings of the meeting. I was there and I can not without a doubt remember if he made a statement against it, but I do remember without a doubt that he did not make a statement for it. I do remember that the implication was that he was against it. It was implied by his very presence, by there not being any definite statement for it, by his commiseration about the incumbents and their lack of consideration for the citizens that were against it, and for his statements against the process. I have to give it to him. It was skillfully played. 

     

Disappointing

     I got over that disappointment pretty quickly because I still considered him to be a thoughtful man who would care about the will of the voters. Even the most liberal of the city council, Council Member Metzner, said that "the voters have spoken and they do not want a stadium at the downtown site." I hate to even have to mention that Council Member Munson, who has since reneged on his promise to oppose the site, claimed to have personally talked to thousands and that no more than 45 people were for that stadium site. So there was no question that the citizens of this town did not and do not want it. Certainly a thoughtful young man like Mayor Gysberts would represent the voters. Not so. Instead, he came out strongly for the site and promised to vote for it if there should be a tied vote. He was quoted many times in the newspaper in support of it, and even wrote a letter to the governor asking for taxpayer funds. Disappointing. 

   

Incredulous!

    Disappointing went to incredulous upon reading that not only would this mayor continue to consider other athletic facilities for that site, but he went so far as to say that he would also consider using eminent domain! In short, eminent domain is the right of a government to take private property for public use, against the will of the property owner, with payment of compensation. He is willing to steal private property away from an individual or business to build a ridiculous baseball field at a site that the voters overwhelmingly do not want. This seemingly non-partisan candidate just revealed himself to be a  Progressive Liberal politician. 

   

So the mayor of this town, in essence, publicly threatens to take the property of a successful business for a venture that no respectable investor would touch?

    
    He made this statement about eminent domain just as a the Zoning Appeals Board voted unanimously to allow a private investor to expand and improve a property that would have been needed for the stadium or a similar project. The stadium project was unable to get the private investment needed to proceed. So the mayor of this town, in essence, threatens to take the property of a successful business for a venture that no respectable investor would touch? In the newspaper? How many would-be small business owners would locate in a town where the mayor publicly makes such a statement? 

     

He was against the process! Right...I mean Left!

     There is a closed-door city council meeting scheduled for October 1st. Council Member Alshire has stated that he would prefer the discussion to be held publicly. Candidate Gysberts raked ex-Mayor Bruchey over the coals for his lack of transparency during the deliberation and planning process concerning the proposed stadium. I don't hear him asking for a public meeting. Why doesn't he govern as openly as he expected and demanded from Mayor Bruchey? It appears that he is quite agreeable to closed doors now that he is at the helm of the process. 

Lets not be naive or dishonest about our expectations for non-partisan politics 

in city elections. 

   

     It also turns out that Mayor Gysberts is not as non-partisan as Candidate Gysberts seemed. He has been active in Democratic politics since being elected. For instance, he has endorsed Democratic candidate for governor Anthony Brown and he belongs to Mayors Against Illegal Guns. MAIG claim to be non-partisan, but one of the stated principles of this group is to "Keep lethal, military-style weapons and high capacity ammunition magazines off our streets." That is the kind of Liberal lingo that was used to pass a mostly Democratic supported, some would say unconstitutional, gun control law (SB-281) in the last legislative session. He is free to do so, but lets not be naive or dishonest about our expectations for non-partisan politics in city elections. Although I voted non-partisan, actually voting for the mayor and three Democrats for council members, I fully expect that politicians will be partisan no matter how they seem during campaign mode. 

KNOW YOUR CANDIDATE!

    I admit it. I was played like a piano. Nothing about Candidate Gysberts was as it seemed. He may be a very nice man, but he is clearly a politician. I learned a valuable lesson. I will be more diligent about getting to know the person and his/her politics before voting for them. I will not go along to get along. I will be more aware of what the candidate did not say, not only what they said. I will ask more direct questions in order to get direct answers. I hope every voter that is reading this vows to do the same. And Hagerstown, for God's sake please don't let this mayor run amok promoting projects and acting against the will of the voters...even to the point of taking private property to do so. This mayor isn't what he seemed. You need to keep your eye on this one. 

DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR, LT. GOV. BROWN, SPEAKS TO THE CHAMBER

     

    Maryland Lt Governor Anthony G. Brown was the guest speaker at the Chamber of Commerce's monthly Eggs and Issues event today. Make no mistake. It was a campaign speech. Following the announcement of his candidacy at a picnic in Prince George’s County on May 10, 2013, this was just one stop on his campaign trail.
     I  read that he plans to run on the successes of the O'Malley-Brown administration. As anyone who knows me could imagine,  I am disgusted with the outcome of the 2013 legislative session. For this reason I felt compelled to attend this campaign event. I wanted to hear for myself how he plans to paint the state of our state, our business climate, our many tax increases, and our many state regulations as accomplishments to be celebrated. Those are just the subjects that I thought were relevant to this audience at the Chamber. I personally also would have liked to have  heard how he can make the worst 2nd Amendment infringements in the country besides NY sound like anything but unconstitutional, unnecessary, and oppressive.

It's Barack Obama! Right?!

    To be fair, he is clearly a very educated man with a remarkable resume, a veteran, a family man, a man that has lived  a life of service. All of that is admirable and I recognize that to be true. That said, I found his social presence to be rehearsed and one of a purely political personality.  He shook all of the right hands and slapped all of the right backs. His speech was every bit a speech. His manner is uncannily almost like Barack Obama's. I imagined that if I was a judge on the political version of the TV show The Voice, where you cannot see the person and only hear his voice, I would have sworn that it was President Obama speaking. The resume and the presence seemed a dichotomy. Lets be honest, personality does count in America...especially for the largely uninformed voters. 

The Gong Show

     So right out of the box he says, "We have come out--or are coming out in some areas of the state--of the Great Recession as a state able to weather the storm, growing economically, creating jobs faster than any other state other than Virginia..." I imagined that I was on the old Gong Show. I wanted to hit that big gong to make him stop singing so horribly and sit down! He is saying this presumably to business owners and entrepreneurs! In Maryland!! The audience wasn't applauding, but it wasn't balking either. 

   He went on to say, "Government can't solve every problem, but people want leaders to make the difficult decisions even when it's against their self interest." 

 This administration was completely driven by O'Malley's self interest in running for president in 2016! 
   "We have fought for our successes. We need continued economic prosperity and a growing economy, and the economy grows when businesses want to come to Maryland and when businesses want to stay in Maryland. 

 Not only do businesses not want to stay in Maryland, but neither do the productive citizens of the state! It is estimated that 40,000 people left the state in 2012.
   "Businesses want to stay in Maryland when we provide the investments in infrastructure." 

    The O'Malley-Brown administration robbed the transportation fund for two terms in order to fraudulently balance the budget! Then they made cuts to the funds given to the municipalities for infrastructure adding to the burdens of already tight budgets.
   "Government needs to provide these investments, but with fiscal responsibility and we have adhered to that..."

 

 "...while maintaining a AAA bond rating with a $1.8B structure deficit that we inherited."  This has to be Barack Obama! When all else fails blame somebody else. 

Barack! Is that you?!

   "We believe in Hagerstown and Washington County...and we are looking to continue a relationship with the business community here."
   The speech was precisely 15 minutes in length followed by a Q&A session.  I give every politician credit for submitting to Q&A. I could tell already that this candidate was pretty safe with this crowd. This audience was polite, gentle, even grateful!

All unicorns and rainbows here!

     The questions were hard to hear and most often comments rather than questions. I will try to paraphrase, but I admit it is pretty boring:

Q.    [inaudible] Is there someone we should tie in with for senior housing? 
A.    We have many programs like tax credit programs and grant programs. Ben on our staff can talk to you and lead you to the different programs and departments.

Q.  [COC host] There is an opportunity to build a stadium and to revitalize Hagerstown. How best can we work with Annapolis?
A.    We already provided $100,000 for a study. Now your challenges are largely local. We will look to your leaders. 

A poke in the eye to the Mayor and City Council!

Perhaps there will be resources from that strategy. The private sector creates, but strategic and public resources may be available...ought to be made available. We will take your lead and bring the resources. 

Q.    Thank you for your support for schools and libraries, but could you add to that support for the arts and museums?
A.    If you look at our budget you will see an increase for the arts. I am a big believer in the arts. 

Q.    How is sequester impacting Maryland now and in the future?
A.    We accounted for it in our budget this year, raising the Rainy Day Fund from 5% to 6% [Wow!] to mitigate the impact on the Headstart Program and furloughs for government employees.  [In other words, there was no impact because it was a gimmick to try to get more spending.] We only account for one budget year at a time. Not sure how it will impact next year's budget. We take each budget year as it comes. [Hagerstown actually got an INCREASE in CDBG money.] 

Q.    You say we are poised to be more business friendly, but the impression is that it is not so. How can we change that perception?

Candy coating makes everything more palatable. 

A.    We have to establish that goal. BTW, we have 15 strategic goals on our website.

        Develop metrics.

        Public and private need to work together on agreed upon metrics. 

        Action items.

        [Yay! All better!]

We need to provide a good cost of energy. [Can somebody say gas tax?]

We need to look into fracking in this area. [Get the hell out of the way!]

"We should not spend a lot of time in debating our level of friendliness. You can find a study for any results that you want." [The data is in. We are #40.]

" You the private sector have some work to do as well!" Yes, he did say that and nobody said a peep. 

Q.    Who establishes that goal? 

A.    At every level of government and the private sector.

Q.  Thank you from the Teacher's Association. [Anyone surprised? No? Me either.]

Q.    Wade Watson from Volvo Mack  was very grateful and full of praise for the business friendliness they have received. He has seen positive changes over the last 1-2 years and thinks MD is very competitive in energy and....taxes. [Well they always spread a little pork around to try to cultivate some gratitude. Besides, they have to do something right once in awhile. Could be that government behaved as it should have in this case.]

Q.    I work at workforce development and training of vets. Is there any help at the state level?

A.    I credit Barack Obama for working on the private sector to hire vets. What we did is create a program where universities have to provide college credit to vets for their related experience as do licensing boards. I will tie you up with Ben Stutts for our programs.

Q.    Don't forget the Maryland Theater. 

        Regarding the airport tower, we not only want to keep it, we want to build a new tower and we have a developer willing to pay one third of the investment for it. 

        Regarding workforce development: our technical schools that provide a trade are treated like 2nd class citizens when it comes to funding. 

A.  In my day it was called Vo-tech. [In my day too and I went to one.] It was looked down upon. But many years later I ran into a guy named Dave who went to Vo-tech and his home is three times larger than mine! [I think I know Dave.] Yes, we need to put more money into the trade schools. People will say that we don't have the money, but we have done it while balancing the budget!

One last gong. I promise. 

    There were no surprises. It was a campaign stop. The democratic candidate for governor was singularly given a captive audience at a Chamber of Commerce event. They rolled out the red carpet for him. What will surprise me is if a Republican candidate for governor gets the same opportunity and is met with such...glee (some were absolutely giddy).