A Clip Show

With the Maryland General Assembly's 2014 legislative session hours away from entering the history books, I would like to re-state my position regarding the House of Delegates: the term of office - at four years - is simply too long and it should be reduced to two years.

Arguments in favor of this particular reform can be found here

as well as here

and here.

That is all for today.  Still working on the Howard County Executive campaign analysis.  Hope to have that up later on this week.

Stay tuned, as more will follow.

Arboreal Adjacent Libations – Time in a Bottle

[7:42 am] I am thrashing about on the fringes of the penumbra of a spring cold now.  Taking a curious amalgamation of vitamins, minerals and herbs…both in tablet and tea form.  Perhaps the Lonicera japonica (aka Japanese honeysuckle), hawthorn berry and organic burdock root will crush the symptoms. 

[11:58 am]  Feeling much better.

We are six weeks away from Howard County’s own Wine in the Woods festival – a celebration of Maryland wine.  Wine producers, imbibers, artisans, food vendors, musicians and other makers-of-merry gather in Columbia’s Symphony Woods for this annual event that occurs on a May weekend. 

It is rumored, among the more hedonistic elements of Howard County society, that Governor Martin O’Malley, a potential long-shot 2016 presidential candidate, will appear in one of the tents and pour for the attendees…between performing Foghat covers with his band on the Purple Stage.  But such idle and irresponsible speculation has no place on this blog. 

Having attended this splendid fete for the past few years, I generally start looking forward to Wine in the Woods shortly before St. Patrick’s Day.  That said, the Anticipation, much like the spring, is a late arrival.  Perhaps the delayed winter thaw is playing tricks with my internal calendar.  I think of Wine in the Woods as a transition point between spring and summer…and summer feels quite far away.

I am hoping that more Maryland wineries come out with a Gruner Veltliner, an under-rated grape most commonly associated with Austria.  I always thought it would work in Maryland’s climate.  Right now, our wineries tend to focus on “Bordeaux grapes” (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot), Italian varieties (Sangiovese) and French-hybrids (Seyval Blanc, Vidal Blanc).  Chardonnay, bien sur, is grown in Maryland as well.  Producing wines that are mostly quaffable and sometimes quite complex, our winemakers have really stepped up their game in recent years.  Much like Washington State and New York have elevated Riesling among American wine consumers, I believe Gruner Veltliner (or “Gru-Ve” pronounced “groovy”) could help enhance the Maryland wine brand.

An early proponent of the Wine in the Woods concept was then-Howard County Council member Paul Farragut who, recognizing the success of a similar event in a near-by county, suggested “Why not here? Why not us?”

Such forward thinking has helped create a genuine Happening.  Now celebrating its 22^nd year, with thousands of attendees and over 30 participating wineries, Wine in the Woods is an excellent example of policymakers working with the private sector to promote Maryland - for our products and as a tourist destination.

This post was intended to be about the County Executive race and a discussion of Professor Stephen Skowronek’s concept of “political time.”  I clearly went off the rails, so that will have to wait.  That said, here is a question for the candidates:

 “Given the success of local festivals such as Wine in the Woods, what other events would you like to see held in Howard County and why? And how? And when?”

Stay tuned, as more will follow.

A Short Elegy for the Big Man

I attended the funeral of a friend today.  Having a flair for the theatrical, he would have been delighted that it was a Standing Room Only event. 

James could have been a household name.  He was a prodigious talent… a truly impressive vocalist who could have made a career of it.  His performances were the stuff of legend.  He always closed the show. Who would want to venture onto the stage after the audience heard him sing?

From the outset, I said this blog would talk about turning points and choices.  At some point, James recognized that international stardom might not be in the cards. He decided to focus on his 9 to 5 gig with the federal government and helping out his family as best he could.

He withdrew from many of his old friends in recent years.  Beset by health issues, he didn’t always make the best decisions.  Finally, the physical and emotional stresses overcame his considerable will to live and he passed from this Earth suddenly.  His heart muscle – the one he worked out most often – had no beats left. 

Although the world may not mourn James, his family and friends will remember him as our star.  He was Hollywood-on-the-Severn.  A genuinely nice and caring man, he will be missed until we are all reunited.  Rest in Peace Big Man.

Professional Baseball in Howard County

No time for flowery prose today.  My in-box is full of outrageous requests that are demanding my immediate attention.

Howard County should have a professional baseball team.  Either a minor league franchise or a team in an independent professional league.

Let's focus on demographics for a moment.  Howard County itself is home to approximately 300,000 people (299,430 according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2012 estimate).

If HoCo were a city, that would place us at #63 on a list of U.S. cities, ranked by population according to the same 2012 U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.  We would be sandwiched between Lexington, Kentucky and Anchorage, Alaska.

How many of the 62 cities ahead of us on that list have either a major league or minor/independent league team? 55. The seven that don't include cities that had such a team until fairly recently (Tucson, Long Beach, Mesa, and Honolulu) or have recently approved the construction of a new baseball stadium (Virginia Beach).

Howard County is relatively compact, from a geographical perspective, for a county.  At 253.55 square miles, we are smaller than the equivalent of two Detroits (142.87 square miles  x 2 = 285.74 square miles).  So the city - county comparison is not wholly without merit.

Let's focus on the Columbia - Ellicott City Metroplex.  Combined, our population is 165,449 (based on the 2010 Census).  That is still larger than a number of cities that currently have minor league teams.  My old stomping ground, Lansing, Michigan has a population of 113,000 and is able to support the Lansing Lugnuts, a Class A minor league team.

Suffice to say, our economy is slightly stronger than Mid-Michigan's.

I floated the idea of professional baseball in Howard County at a forum I attended last fall.  I think it is time for a heavier float.  This is an idea that should be explored by our policymakers and shapers.  If we are looking to the future and want to build a Howard County that appeals to multiple generations, why not have a local baseball team?

The naming process alone should be good for hours of entertainment.

Stay tuned, as more will follow.

You’ll Never Find…Anarchy, State and Utopia

It is Saturday, at the noon hour.  I was supposed to be writing this blog post from a hotel room in lovely downtown Salisbury, Maryland….a mere 45-minutes from the gentle salt water breezes that, at this very moment, are failing to dissipate the heavy fog enveloping Ocean City.

Alas, a confederacy of circumstances is keeping me holed up at the Home Office, well to the west of the Bay Bridge.

I have been thinking about Rawls lately, not the singer (Lou) but the political philosopher (John).  A true heavy-hitter in the field, his thoughts on justice and governance were, and continue to be, enormously influential.  Some of his key constructs, such as the “original position” and the “veil of ignorance” require a bit of explanation:

“The original position is a central feature of John Rawls's social contract account of justice, “justice as fairness,” set forth in A Theory of Justice (TJ). It is designed to be a fair and impartial point of view that is to be adopted in our reasoning about fundamental principles of justice. In taking up this point of view, we are to imagine ourselves in the position of free and equal persons who jointly agree upon and commit themselves to principles of social and political justice.

The main distinguishing feature of the original position is “the veil of ignorance”: to insure impartiality of judgment, the parties are deprived of all knowledge of their personal characteristics and social and historical circumstances. They do know of certain fundamental interests they all have, plus general facts about psychology, economics, biology, and other social and natural sciences.

The parties in the original position are presented with a list of the main conceptions of justice drawn from the tradition of social and political philosophy, and are assigned the task of choosing from among these alternatives the conception of justice that best advances their interests in establishing conditions that enable them to effectively pursue their final ends and fundamental interests.

Rawls contends that the most rational choice for the parties in the original position are the two principles of justice. The first principle guarantees the equal basic rights and liberties needed to secure the fundamental interests of free and equal citizens and to pursue a wide range of conceptions of the good. The second principle provides fair equality of educational and employment opportunities enabling all to fairly compete for powers and prerogatives of office; and it secures for all a guaranteed minimum of the all-purpose means (including income and wealth) that individuals need to pursue their interests and to maintain their self-respect as free and equal persons.” [Source: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]

So what does this mean? In simple terms, this thought exercise should remove one from their personal notions of self-interest.  If you didn’t know who you might be, or where you might end up in a society, you are less likely to design a society whereby the rights of the have-nots or of particular minorities receive a lesser degree of protection compared to the haves or of any particular majority.  It is intended to promote a rational discussion of fairness, and how such principles could be used to inform and undergird a fair system of government.

It is also an excellent and practical means for detecting hypocrisy (or other defects) among political candidates.  All you need to do is ask yourself, or them directly:

“Would you hold the same position if [Population X] constituted a majority in the United States?”  Or, even more to the point, “Would you espouse such beliefs if you, yourself had Characteristic Y and not Z?”

His ideas can be employed to help provide another way of viewing those who seek public office, and of evaluating the platforms for which they advocate.  This approach offers another way of cutting through the rhetorical mists, to go deeper than a surface examination of the Issue Stances to ascertain the true beliefs (or lack thereof) of a political candidate.

If nothing else, asking such questions might enliven some candidate forums.  Lord knows they can be dreary affairs.

Stay tuned, as more will follow.

Thunderdome on the Little Patuxent

I wanted to stay home the other night.  Michigan State was playing North Carolina in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.  A fifth seed versus a fourth seed, with the winner likely to face off in the next round against a formidable University of South Carolina team coached by Philadelphia’s own Dawn Staley.  The game promised two solid hours of hoops-centric entertainment.

But as a member of a local village board, a civic organization designed to promote the “health, safety, common good and social welfare of the owners of property in, and the residents of…the Village of Wilde Lake,” I found myself instead at a community hall with around 100 of my neighbors, all of whom had braved a late March snow-fall to attend an event called the “Columbia Market Analysis and Economic Development Services” presentation (the second of a planned three public meetings on this topic). It was shaping up to be the Empire Strikes Back of the Market Study trilogy.  A must-see.

I sat in the back, close to the entrance of the theatre room in the Slayton House.  Doors provide a natural choke point.  Like the Greeks at Thermopylae, I knew any numerical advantage any crazed attackers might possess would be diminished by their need to come through single-file.  This was a comforting thought.

However, as most of my primarily middle-aged neighbors were ensconced in their seats, facing front and showing no overt signs of imminent physical hostility, I turned my attention to the presenters, who were calling the meeting to order.

The PowerPoint deck was displayed on the screen.  Our Director of Community Building and Open Space Services Bureau ably provided a succinct introduction to the evening’s proceedings.   Essentially, we would be glimpsing into the future of Columbia as an economic entity.  We would hear from the Experts regarding what businesses could work, and where, and why.

[I feel as though a brief digression is in order for those who are unaware of Columbia’s history.  What follows is a bit reductionist, so please bear with me:

Columbia is what is known as an unincorporated “census designated place.”  Contrary to appearances, we are not a city in the traditional sense.  With a population of around 100,000, Columbia is the second largest community in the state of Maryland (Baltimore being the largest).  However, not being an incorporated municipality, most local government functions reside with either the county government (Howard County) or with a curious local entity known as the Columbia Association.  The Columbia Association, or CA for short, would be the rough equivalent of a city council…with powers more closely aligned with that of a parks and recreation department of a mid-sized American city, with some notable exceptions and responsibilities unique to our planned community.

Within that community are 10 villages, really nine villages and an embryonic urban core called the Town Center, at the center of the center is our Mall and an area known as Symphony Woods, within which is a popular outdoor concert venue known as Merriweather Post Pavilion.  The population of the 10 villages ranges from slightly north of three thousand to over 14,000.] 

This demographic information is important to bear in mind, given the findings that were presented last night.  What follows is my interpretation of the key takeaways. 

Groceries:  When Columbia was founded, the idea was that each of the villages, within what is referred to as their village centers (places that would include retail outlets as well as community facilities), would have its own grocery store.

Given the emphasis the presenters placed on the developments in the space traditionally occupied by supermarkets (the rise of hypermarkets (most notably Wal-Mart), the entrance of pharmacies into the food and beverage retail marketplace, and the growth of niche or specialty players, ranging from Trader Joe’s to “ethnic” supermarkets), it is clear that the old model is now considered, as Ron Ziegler might have put it, inoperative. 

In short, you want a new traditional grocery store like Giant (or Heaven Forbid, Safeway) within walking distance of your abode?  Hard cheese, my friend.   Seriously, if you want to buy some hard cheese, you will need to burn some gasoline.

Village Center retail outlets:  Are you a Mom and Pop store? Fantastic…as long as you are selling shawarma.  With Xers and Millennials more willing to spend their hard-earned dollars dining out compared to other age cohorts, the presenters believe that the village centers are ideal locations for restaurants and other food and beverage service-centric establishments.  

Hotels:  given our proximity to Washington D.C., our hotels are geared towards Federal Government contractors.  In short, don’t expect five-star accommodations anytime soon.

Growth/Development:  It is clear that the presenters believe that a section of our community, located in the southeastern quadrant of Columbia, is primed to be the Next Big Thing, at least from a commercial/retail perspective.  Many shopping centers already exist in this area, which was referred to by the efficient yet clunky acronym GEDS (GE Appliance Facility – Dobbin Road – Snowden River Parkway corridors).  This area could very well develop into Town Center II, but we will leave that for a future discussion.  

At this point, my notes get sketchy.  Several elected officials were seated in the row immediately behind me, and they were talking amongst themselves, presumably discussing the findings.  Either that or plotting the best means for Howard County to secede from the State of Maryland…and debating if the new state capital should be housed closer to the Victoria Gastro Pub in Columbia or The Rumor Mill in Ellicott City. 

Following the conclusion of the presentation, a Q & A session broke out.  The first three questions from the audience nailed the source of the menace I noticed in the room earlier that evening: the Specter of Apprehension…about subsidized housing and safety in the villages, about change, about the future. 

One would think that more area residents would express a feeling of confidence about the days ahead.  On paper, there should be a greater sense of security. Howard County is, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the “second wealthiest county by median household in the United States.”  Of course there is poverty here too…many families in our neighborhoods are struggling to get by.  But the folks at this forum were, primarily, solidly middle-class. Not 1%ers, but people who were doing OK…all things considered.  Yet they were anxious.  What does this say about Columbia? About the American Dream?

Heavy questions, which remain unanswered on this bright Thursday morning. Time to go forth and launch into the day.

Stay tuned, as more will follow.

Road to the White House 2016: Manilow, Mistakes and Mandates

Déjà Vu

Could you be the dream that I once knew
Is it you
Déjà Vu
Could you be the dream that might come true
Shining through
I keep remembering me
I keep remembering you

Déjà Vu

            - Lyrics by Isaac Hayes and Adrienne Anderson. Performed by Dionne Warwick. Produced by B. Manilow

What concerns me most about the most recent, incarnation of the Hillary Clinton for President movement is captured succinctly by the name of the highly visible Super PAC extolling her virtues, Ready for Hillary.

It all feels oddly familiar.  A campaign, or in this case, a proto-campaign, that seems more focused on the candidate than on what she or he might deliver.

Of course this is a grotesquely unfair criticism.  Hillary Clinton is not a candidate, at least not yet. 

The problem is her past.  In 2007 - 2008, she ran largely on a solid resume and the perceived strength of her brand.  She trusted that those elements, along with a top-flight campaign team and oodles of ready money, would be sufficient to clinch a first ballot nomination.

Depending on your perspective, a tragic or a fortunate (and possibly hilarious) thing happened next.  Some member or members of her quite well-paid campaign team - reportedly - forgot how delegates are allocated in Democratic primaries and caucuses.  This is important as delegates ultimately determine who receives the nomination.  They were playing for high stakes and some key person or people (who shall not be named here) couldn't be bothered to thumb through a rulebook.  Figuratively speaking, of course. At least that is how the story was covered.  In the fog of the fight, who knows where the truth resides?

She did catch a run of bad luck.  The American electorate was looking for a clean break from the Bush years…and her candidacy represented not so much a fresh start but a risorgimento of the previous Administration, one that still elicited mixed emotions, even from a fair number of Democrats.

Enter then-Senator Barack Obama and the Politics of Change.  He seized a moment, in part because he had a theme larger than himself – while still amplifying his biography – and because voters trusted that he would deliver on that promise.

Even then-Governor Clinton knew, in 1992, that he needed something beyond his record.  His campaign famously employed a compelling messaging troika: “Change versus more of the same,” “It’s the economy stupid,” and “Don’t forget health care.”

Fast forward to the present day.   Some heavy-hitting Clinton backers decide to launch a vehicle promoting Hillary Clinton as a potential presidential candidate.   Instead of linking it something actual voters care about or even a broad theme that suggests the outlines of a vision, they opt for “Ready for Hillary.”

When I first head that name, I thought: Are they criticizing voters for, presumably, not being ready for Hillary in 2008? Are they saying, in so many words, you were children but now it’s time to grow up?  Are they mocking us?  Hardly the inspirational stuff of “Yes We Can.”  More akin to “Why Didn’t You Before?”

I know, I know.  A Super PAC is not a presidential campaign.  But if you look at the roster of folks associated with Ready for Hillary, it is enough to give one pause.  If she runs, will she be a better candidate this time around?  Will she make the campaign about something larger than her admittedly impressive credentials?  How will she Connect?     

Or will we see an imitation of Clinton 2008?  She could probably get away with it, minus the ridiculous unforced errors, at least in the Democratic nominating process.  Democrats are so concerned about locking in the accomplishments of the Obama Administration, they want as close to a sure-fire winner as possible.  There is a measure of risk aversion and, on paper, Hillary Clinton offers the best path to 270 electoral votes…. possibly even a mandate in 2016, depending on how the next two years shape up.

In any event, I hope that the brain trust advising Team Hillary is smart enough to learn from the past, but not dwell in it.  

Stay tuned, as more will follow.