Cecil Commissioner Race: Mullin Bankrolls Zeauskas

   In Cecil County, political history often repeats itself, with a few twists and turns.  So it was with surprise, but not shock, that we saw that Cecil County Commissioner James Mullin (R-1st)–with many other “AKA” names  on state campaign finance records– is the chief funder of the campaign of Republican political newcomer Chris Zeauskas, running for the Republican nomination for County Commissioner in the Second District.

   Zeauskas, a leader of the Cecil County Young Republicans Club and the declared president of a group called “Cecil Citizens Against Taxation,” is seeking the Republican nomination for the 2nd District Commissioner seat currently held by Rebecca Demmler,  a Republican who has declared she is not a candidate for re-election.

   (Another announced candidate for the Republican nomination for the seat is Tari Moore, a former official with the county Chamber of Commerce and the former campaign manager for current Commissioner Robert Hodge (R-5). The only announced Democratic contender for the seat is Earl Piner, Sr., an Elkton town commissioner, former School Board member and longtime community volunteer and youth sports coach.)

   But there is one real surprise in Zeauskaus’ campaign finance report filed with the state Board of Elections: one of his biggest fundraiser supporters is Democratic candidate for Sheriff Chris Sutton and his campaign organization.  Only in Cecil County…

   Zeauskas’ finance report shows total fundraising of $4,647, with expenses of $4,367. But since the January report is his first, a line item sure to get the attention of State Board of Elections auditors is the listing of a $1,165 “prior balance” in his campaign account, with no disclosure of where that money came from. That said, he lists his net cash on hand as $1,445.

   Under contributions, ”Jim Mullin” of “Chesapeake City” (actually, Commissioner James Mullin lives in the Hacks Point community in Earleville),  is listed as donating $1,575–or the vast majority of Zeauskas’ contribution total of $2,142.  Under fundraiser tickets, “Jim Mullin” is listed as the top purchaser, with $450 in ticket purchases to a fundraiser at the Patriots Glen golf clubhouse.

   That makes Commissioner Mullin the top total contributor–$2,025– to Zeauskas’ campaign.

   Zeauskas was an outspoken antagonist to Commissioner Hodge at the county’s January preliminary budget hearing. He did not attack Commissioner Mullin, who also voted for the county’s last budget.

   Chris Sutton, a county Sheriff’s Deputy and second-time Democratic opponent to incumbent Republican Sheriff Barry Janney, shows up as a surprise donor to Republican Commissioner candidate Zeuaskas: Sutton is listed as purchasing fundraiser tickets totaling $225, with another $45 in ticket purchases by Sutton’s campaign treasurer, Patrick Tuer, a “Cecil County Young Democrats” activist.

   The Mullin cash infusion to Zeauskas’ campaign is strangely familiar.  When Mullin ran for county Commissioner in the last election, Republican Commissioner Rebecca Demmler was his chief campaign bankroller, as the Cecil Times reported here:

http://ceciltimes.wordpress.com/2008/10/30/demmler-bankrolls-mullin-commissioner-payback-time/

   Demmler spent more on Mullin’s campaign than she did on her own. Prior to becoming a county Commissioner, Demmler never held a more financially lucrative job than an occasional substitute teacher job and her husband is a retired boiler operator.  Those facts led many county political observers to wonder whether some other Republican– perhaps a “large” presence in county and state GOP politics– was really the bankroller.  The latest Mullin donations may revive that sort of speculation.

   NEWS UPDATE:  In an interview with The Cecil Times, Zeauskas said his campaign treasurer was working with the State Elections Board to resolve issues surrounding his listing of a previous campaign balance that seemed to be a “mistake.”  He said the bankrolling of his campaign by Commissioner Mullin stemmed from his past volunteer involvement in Mullin’s campaign as a “door to door” campaign volunteer. He said he believed that Commissioner Demmler was planning to support his primary opponent and that he had “nothing personal” against Commissioner Hodge.

   “It wasn’t a budget question,” Zeauskas said of his aggressive questioning of Commissioner Hodge at the January budget hearing. He said he opposed a county takeover of utilities lines from Port Deposit that would serve the proposed Bainbridge complex. He noted that Mr. Mullin opposed that takeover. He said that his primary campaign issue, however, was the budget and county spending.

   As far as Chris Sutton’s support– along with a generous donation from the Cecil County FOP– Zeauskas said he had met with local law enforcement officials to discuss crime and believed they liked his views. He said he supports binding arbitration for Sheriff’s deputies’ labor disputes, a controversial budget issue. Some current Commissioners fear that an outside arbitrator would force the county and its taxpayers to fund a potentially costly labor settlement regardless of county resources. (See Chris Sutton’s comment posted below)

   Zeauskas also said that Del. Michael Smigiel (R-36) was not taking an active supportive role in his campaign and had advised him that he would not be involved in the Republican primary for the Commissioner seat.

Sutton for Cecil Sheriff: Lots of $ In, Lots Out

   Chris Sutton, the announced Democratic candidate for Cecil County Sheriff, had a banner year for fundraising but ended up with just $8,718 in cash on hand going into this election season. That won’t go far in a potential general election re-match against incumbent Republican Sheriff Barry Janney, one of the most successful fundraisers in county political history.

    Janney did not comply with state election law requiring campaign finance report filing last week. But in his last filed report, covering 2008, Janney’s campaign fund had $15,895 in cash on hand.

     Sutton has taken a page from Janney’s political playbook: golf fundraisers. Most of Sutton’s larger donations are the result of a golf tournament fundraiser he held, but he also did smaller events such as a picnic and a dinner and silent auction in Cecilton.

    According to filings with the State Board of Elections, Sutton raised $38,313 in 2009. But his expenses totaled $29,595– including $14,544 in fundraising costs. The golf tournament expenses amounted to more than half of the fundraising costs.

    Sutton also spent $8,321 on “media,” including ads in the Cecil Whig and the creation of his website, www.suttonforsheriff.com . Sutton has an unusually well-designed website for a Cecil County candidate, with a moving ticker listing crime news headlines and a video of the candidate speaking directly to voters.

    Sutton’s largest donations came from businesses, including a $500 golf sponsorship and donation of a gift certificate valued at $400 from Outdoor Adventures, Inc. in Baltimore. CMPFire, LLC of Newark, DE donated a $500 golf sponsorship and $315 in tickets and auction purchases at the Cecilton fundraiser.  Other $500 donors included Corron Trash Removal of North East, John Sentman of Elkton, and Charles Carroll of Florida.

   So far, Sutton is the only announced Democrat in the race but there have been rumblings that Skip DeWitt, a deputy and the son of a former popular sheriff, might get into the fray and challenge Sutton in the Democratic primary.

    Sutton is no newcomer to politics after his unsuccessful challenge to Janney in the last election. Janney outspent and outgunned Sutton during that campaign. But this time Sutton is much better known in the county and has spent the last several years making the rounds of local events as a candidate-in-waiting.

    In addition, Sutton has enlisted a young campaign treasurer, Patrick Tuer, who helped organize the local Young Democrats club and is savvy in social networking and online organizing. So far, Sutton’s campaign reports do not show online fundraising but that could be a source of growth for his campaign as the election contest heats up. 

   “We’re really excited,” Sutton said of his fundraising in an interview with The Cecil Times.  “Especially in this economy, I don’t think we could have done any better.”

    Sutton plans to hold a dinner-dance fundraiser in Fair Hill on April 9 and another golf tournament on May 7 in Rising Sun. He said he will also hold free meet-the-candidate events around the county this summer.  His goal is to raise up to $90,000 for his campaign– a figure that would make him very competitive with Janney, given the incumbent’s past six-figure warchests. 

    Janney formally anounced his candidacy for re-election recently and defended his record and accomplishments. But he faces a challenge in the Republican primary from a deputy and political newcomer, Dan Slater. (See previous Cecil Times posting on Slater’s campaign finances.) That means Janney will have to focus his attention, and some campaign money, on the primary.

    So far, Janney hasn’t updated his old campaign website, http://www.janneyforsheriff.com  which notes that the 2006 election is “behind us.”  Slater has a very detailed website, http://www.slaterforsheriff.com .

Slater for Cecil Sheriff: GOP Challenger is Poor

  Dan Slater, a Republican challenger in this year’s GOP primary to incumbent Cecil County Sheriff Barry Janney, is working hard but having little real success in his fundraising efforts, according to state election records.

   State documents show that Slater has raised a total of $5,965, while spending $4,813 on the usual printing, bumper stickers, etc. costs to get his name known around the county.

   That leaves Slater with just $1,152 in cash on hand to mount  his campaign at this point. Of course, Campaign 2010 is still young and he may still come up with more substantial funds. But it is a measure of Slater’s lack of name recognition with the general public that he is so short on donations, and the all-important cash on hand, at this stage of the election season.

     Slater’s top donor is a Rising Sun business, RKP Investments, LLC, with a $1,000 contribution to Slater’s campaign.  Most of Slater’s other much smaller donations are from Rising Sun and North East  businesses and residents.

    Someone needs to remind him that Sheriff candidates run countywide. Slater has no donations from southern Cecil County residents or businesses and just a smattering of Elkton-area supporters.

    Slater has a detailed website outlining his views on the issues: http://www.slaterforsheriff.com

Upcoming News: Cecil Sheriff Race, Kent Co. 36 Delegate Race

UPCOMING NEWS:

  Just to let our Cecil Times readers know what we are working on:

 – State Delegate Mary Roe Walkup (R-36)  has done no fundraising, despite the fact that she is facing serious opposition in the Republican primary and a credible Democratic challenger in the general election.

–In Cecil County’s Sheriff’s race, incumbent Republican  Barry Janney has not complied with state election laws requiring financial disclosures that were due on 1/20/10.

–Rival Republican Dan Slater did obey the law and file his campaign finance report. But he is woefully poor.

–Democratic Sheriff Candidate Chris Sutton has done a super job of fundraising: BUT he has spent a ton of his donations on fundraising expenses, leaving him with a pittance in cash on hand in his campaign fund.

–READ The CECIL TIMES for more indpendent news reporting on Maryland and Cecil County politics and news issues!

Del. Richard Sossi: Fundraising Success–But For Which Seat?

     Del. Richard Sossi (R-36-Queen Anne’s County) has indeed been “fundraising like mad,” as the Cecil Times reported on Twitter recently, and new campaign finance reports show that this early in Campaign 2010, Sossi has raised as much as he reported in his 2006 pre-general election campaign for Delegate. But this time, the unanswered question is whether his fundraising hard work will be used in a re-election campaign for Delegate or a run for the State Senate.

    The latest report for his campaign committee, “Citizens to Elect Richard Sossi,” filed right on time this week, shows that in 2009, he raised a total of $28,845. Less expenses of fundraisers, printing, etc., plus a carryover bank balance from 2008 of $8,380, Del. Sossi had a net cash-on-hand balance of $33,724.

    That compares favorably with his pre-general election finance report from the 2006 election, when he reported raising $29,973.

   The early-and-often fundraising indicates that Del. Sossi is getting prepared for the possibility that our resident political Sphinx, State Sen. E.J. Pipkin (R-36), will come down from the mountain and tell us mere mortal voters whether he is giving up his Senate seat to challenge Andy Harris in the Republican primary for the 1st District Congress seat now held by Democrat Frank Kratovil.  In the event that Pipkin does decide to challenge Harris– which many Washington political handicappers think he will– Sossi would be well-positioned to mount a strong race for the vacated Senate seat.

    “It’s like chicken soup: it can’t hurt, ” Sossi said of his early fundraising during an interview with The Cecil Times Friday. Regardless of Pipkin’s decision, “either way, I’d be in better shape” with early fundraising, Sossi said. And having a healthy campaign fund will likely deter a serious primary challenger.

  Sossi’s fundraising report is the stuff of dreams for many candidates: lots of small donations, a sprinkling of modest Political Action Committee contributions, and loyal repeat donors. But there are a few small donations from interesting sources: $250 from Andy Harris’ state campaign committee and a token donation from the campaign committee of Donald Alcorn, an unsuccessful past Republican candidate for Queen Anne’s County Commissioner who has already filed for Pipkin’s Senate seat. Alcorn has done no fundraising and his campaign report consists of loans to himself.  So Sossi’s potential Senate primary opponent thought so highly of  Sossi that he donated to his campaign?  That’s every candidate’s dream campaign flyer.

    On the PAC front, Sossi raised $3,825 in 2009. PAC donors included Maryland New Car and Truck Dealers PAC ($500); the Restaurant Association of Maryland ($350); Emergency Medicine PAC ($250); and Constellation Energy PAC ($250.)

   Some of Sossi’s largest combined donations came from a consulting firm run by former House Speaker R. Clayton Mitchell, Jr., the conservative Democrat  icon of Kent County politics who still keeps a hand in General Assembly issues as one of  nine currently registered lobbyists for Constellation Energy, according to State Ethics board reports. Mitchell’s Ryandy Chesapeake Bay Consulting, LLC donated a total of $1,250 to Sossi in 2009, plus a personal donation of $250 is listed to “Clayton Mitchell.”

   When the Kent County Commissioners re-named the county office building in Mitchell’s honor in 2008, minutes of the commissioners meeting report that only Sossi and Del. Mary Roe Walkup (R-36) from the state delegation showed up to honor him.  That may be part of Sossi’s appeal across the political lines to a Democrat like Mitchell: Sossi works the district and shows up anywhere and everywhere if there is a hand to be shaken.

    “Mr. Mitchell and I have met for coffee in Annapolis and I value his opinions as a conservative Democrat,” Sossi said, adding that “There aren’t too many of them left.”

 As far as fellow elected Republicans, Sossi’s latest report shows donati0ns totaling $125 from Cecil County Commissioner Robert Hodge (R) and $35 from Commissioner Jim Mullin (R). Absent from the list were Pipkin and fellow 36th District Republican Del. Michael Smigiel.

 Smigiel was maneuvering to run for the Senate seat if Pipkin should give it up but we are hearing that he is now telling Republicans that he plans to run again for Delegate. Sossi’s strong popularity in the District would have made for a bruising, uphill primary fight for Smigiel. And Smigiel is hoping to move up a notch in the House GOP leadership with the decision by the Minority Whip, Del. Christopher Shank, to seek a Western Maryland State Senate seat.

  Del. Sossi plans to keep up his fundraising so that “I’m ready to go, either way,” for Delegate or state senate. He added that he hopes to raise up to $50,000 for whichever campaign he wages this year. He’s more than halfway there already.

Food Aid Rising in Cecil County: 11% Get Help

  Federal food stamps are now used by about 11 percent of  Cecil County residents, up from about 10 percent of county residents just a few months ago, according to state data. The indicators show the impact of the recession is still growing in Cecil County, even as some economic forecasters project that the economy is improving.

    Detailed statistical reports by the Maryland Department of Human Resources, which oversees various welfare programs including food stamps, show a sharp increase in food stamp aid in Cecil County within the past year. There were 11,059 participants in the program in November, 2009, up from 8,241 participants in November, 2008.  And just since this summer, participation in the food aid program has jumped by nearly 1,000 people in the county.

   The food stamps program has long been viewed by many economic analysts as a leading indicator of financial hard times, since the federally-funded program has less restrictive rules for participation than cash welfare programs and many newly poor-but-proud families who shun traditional welfare will accept food stamps to feed their children. The program, formally renamed “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program” or SNAP in 2008, provides debit cards that can be used to buy groceries, with the amount of aid dependent upon family size and income.

   Statewide, food stamp participants numbered 527,011 in November, up from 491,262  just a few months ago, in July, 2009.

    Although the numbers show rising numbers of Maryland families are getting food aid, a Baltimore court ruled several weeks ago that state social services agencies are not moving fast enough to meet the demand. The judge ordered the state to come up with an action plan to make sure that all applicants for food stamps receive a decision within 30 days, as required by federal regulations.  (Read about the court decision here:)http://www.acy.org/articlenav.php?id=592

    During the court case, advocates for the poor calculated that just 59 percent of eligible families in the state were actually receiving benefits in 2007. The state argued that it had made efforts to improve its outreach to eligible families and speed up processing of claims. But the court found otherwise and directed the state to comply with the 30-day processing rule by the end of this year.

    Anecdotally, local Cecil County food pantries and churches have reported increased calls for assistance in these tough economic times. On the Upper Shore, other counties are also hard hit. As of June, 2009, food stamp participation amounted to 13 percent of the population in Caroline County; 10 percent in Kent County; 7 percent in Talbot County; and 5 percent in Queen Anne’s County.

     Statewide, Cecil County’s food stamp rate tied for eighth highest, along with Kent County, Washington County and Worchester County. The highest food stamp rates, as of June, 2009, were Baltimore City (24 percent of the population); Dorchester County (20 percent); Somerset County (16 percent); Allegany County(15 percent); Wicomico County (14 percent); Caroline County (13 percent); and Garrett County (12 percent).

    Seven of the counties on that list are in the First Congressional District. That means that incumbent Rep. Frank Kratovil, a Democrat, and whichever Republican ends up running against him in this year’s November election, would be well advised to pay attention to what the food stamp numbers mean in political terms. People in the First District are hurting, and when they are hurting, they are usually angry. And an angry electorate is unpredictable.

Email Subscriptions to Cecil Times Now Available

   You can now sign up for email subscriptions to The Cecil Times and receive automatic notification of updates to the blog.  See the email subscription link on the right column and sign up. You will receive an email requesting that you confirm your subscription by clicking on  a link in that email.

   Previously we had included an RSS feed sign up for those who prefer to organize all their blog subscriptions in one place.  But we found that the RSS sign up was just confusing some readers. So we have removed the RSS subscription option from the sidebar but it is still active for those who had previously signed up for RSS delivery of  The Cecil Times.

   UPDATE: Cecil Times is now on Twitter: username is ceciltimes. We are also posting our latest “Tweets” in the sidebar  on the right of our main blog page.

   Watch for other changes in The Cecil Times in the New Year.

REP. KRATOVIL: Your 24-cents worth– an Incumbent’s advantage

   Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-1st) has spent nearly $83,000 in taxpayer money to send out newsletter mailings to constituents this year, at  per household costs of 24-cents, according to a Cecil Times search of voluminous Clerk of the House documents.  It is a perfectly legal, and even routine, expenditure by sitting House members but it is one of the ‘perks’ of office that political challengers to incumbents do not have.

    Federal documents show that Kratovil distributed 208,322 mailers in the third quarter of the year, for a total cost of $31,256 or 9-cents per household. For the first quarter of the year, he sent out 116,151 mailers, at a total cost of $51,666, or about 15-cents per household. Final figures for the year won’t be available until early 2010. (These figures do not include the value of franked mail, which is accounted for separately in House records. The franking privilege allows members of Congress to send postage-free letters to constituents.)

   Kratovil’s mailings let him get his name before individual constituents (otherwise known as voters) to advise them of what he is doing in Washington, address issues of concern to his district, etc.  The content of such mailings is strictly limited under House rules, which prohibit blatant electioneering in such taxpayer-supported mailings.

    In the grand scheme of federal campaign finance, a quarter is less than peanuts. But such taxpayer-paid mailings do give an incumbent an edge over challengers to keep his or her name before the voters. Unfortunately, many citizens are clueless about who represents them in Congress and do not follow the news in newspapers, online or on TV newscasts. But they do at least glance at their mail and might just register on the Congressman’s name before tossing a flyer in the trash.

   Especially for a vulnerable freshman like Kratovil, that nearly $83,000 in public-financed mailings gives him a chance to remind voters he is on the job without having to dip into campaign funds to get out that message.

   State Sen. Andy Harris (R-Baltimore County), who very narrowly lost to Kratovil in the 2008 general election, has announced he plans to challenge Kratovil again in 2010.  So far, Kratovil has outpaced Harris in fundraising for the next contest by about a 2-1 margin, according to federal campaign finance reports.

  Many long-term incumbents do not bother to send out such mailings in non-election years. But for newcomers such mailings are important. Kratovil is not alone among the newest members of the Maryland Congressional delegation in taking advantage of the taxpayer-funded mailings.

   Rep. John Sarbanes (D-3rd) sent out a one-time mailing of 468,363 pieces, at a total costs of $55,734, or an average per household costs of 18-cents, according to federal records. But that was still quite a bit less than Kratovil’s spending. Sarbanes doesn’t have a big name recognition problem, since he is the son of the long-term U.S. Senator Paul Sarbanes. Sarbanes retired from his seat, which was won in the 2006 election by Ben Cardin. Cardin’s House seat was won by the younger Sarbanes.

   Mailing privileges are not the only taxpayer-provided perk that can help incumbents. So if Rep. Kratovil drives over to Ocean City to inspect storm damage to the beaches, the mileage is reimbursed as a legitimate expense of constituent service. If  Harris does the same, the cost is on his dime, or that of his campaign committee.

    But Harris has a few perks of his own. If  that storm also damaged areas in the portion of his state Senate District that coincides with the 1st Congressional district, that inspection trip would be a legitimate  cost of his state representational duties.

     Of course, if that pesky storm hit Kent County, too, Republican State Sen. E.J. Pipkin could have a similar advantage. There has been considerable buzz in Washington about the rising prospects of Pipkin entering the GOP primary in 2010 for a re-match of the Republican primary he lost to Harris in 2008. However, on the home-front Campaign Pipkin has been mum on his intentions, even as he appears around Cecil County waving vague campaign signs. (See article below on this blog)

     The key question on the Republican side is whether the deep-pocketed Club for Growth will bankroll Harris again as it did in the last election as part of the conservative group’s agenda to knock off moderate Republicans, like Wayne Gilchrest, who lost the GOP primary to Harris.  The Club did contribute to Harris’ general election campaign, but the group generally prefers to play an active role in primaries.

    That said, the entry of the somewhat more moderate Pipkin into the Republican primary against Harris might be the best way to assure that the Club for Growth would pull out the checkbook again for Harris in 2010.

CENSUS: Cecil County Women–Smarter but Poorer?

  Cecil County women are better educated than men in the county but they earn significantly less money from their jobs than less-educated men, according to new three-year data issued this week by the U.S. Census Bureau.

  The discrepancies in income are not easily explained by the cliched notions that women work part-time, or drop out of the work force, to care for children and family members. The statistics show that women living in Cecil County are working at about equal rates with men but their work is not being rewarded with equal pay. Women with higher education levels make less money than equally or  less-educated men.  But equally educated men and women only make similar salaries if they are employed by the federal government, where there are strong anti-discriminatory rules in place.

   The latest three-year evaluations by the U.S. Census Bureau’s Amercan Community Survey, issued this week, show that 14.6 percent of Cecil County women, age 25 or older, have a bachelor’s degree, in comparison with only 12.5 percent for men of the same age group. 

   The Census Bureau survey found that for Cecil County residents, aged 25 and over, all residents holding a Bachelor’s degree  had an annual income of $55,192– but the disparity between men and women was striking. For a male with a  Bachelor’s degree the annual income  was $70,549  but for a woman with the same educational credential the salary was just $44,762. In fact, a male with just a high school education made more –$45,323– than the college educated woman.

    And even among those Cecil County residents with graduate and/or professional degrees, the gender differences are stunning.  The Census Bureau statistics calculate that  local men with such credentials earn $80,289 a year while women with the same credentials earn just $47,807.

   So what might account for such differences?  The Census stats knock down the usual prejudices/stereotypes.  The study showed that in Cecil County, 59.3 percent of families had both mom and dad working full time, and 6.2 percent of families had mom working full-time while dad was not employed outside the home, and 20.8 percent of familes had dad working while mom stayed home.

     Overall, these new 3-year federal statistics indicate that Cecil County is, unfortunately,  yet again a backwater in the real world.

  The stark numbers do not reflect some Cecil County-centric issue such as the lack of  local jobs, driving times to job sites, etc. But the stats do show that there is a very real difference between male and female job compensation.

Getting Older in Cecil: More Seniors Need Services

   The new U.S. Census Bureau “American Community Survey” finds that in 2008, 11.1 percent of Cecil County residents were age 65 or over.  But longer term state projections estimate the senior population will more than double and reach about 15.3 percent of the county’s overall population by 2030.

  Cecil County needs to start planning now for the infrastructure of transportation, health care and support services that these seniors will need within the next twenty years, especially in the more rural areas of the county where even the most basic services are all but non-existant.

    The new Census snapshot ranks Cecil County 10th out of 16 of the larger counties (and Baltimore City), with Allegany County having the highest proportion (18.3 percent) of residents age 65 or over and Charles County the lowest, with just 8.4 percent.

   Maryland planners project that Cecil County’s overall population will grow to 155,800 by 2030, with seniors age 65 and over accounting for 24,970– or about 15.3 percent of the total– up from an estimated 11,250 in 2010. (By way of comparison, in Florida, the land of retirement, seniors now account for 17.4 percent of the population.)

    The Census survey found that nearly 34 percent of seniors now living in Cecil County have disabilities, with “ambulatory difficulty” the most prevalent problem. As more seniors are unable to drive, their access to what few services exist becomes impossible.

    The county began operating “The Bus” a few years ago with regular,  scheduled routes serving the northern part of the county and primarily delivering passengers to Delaware for connections to the DART system and job sites. But for southern Cecil seniors, it takes advance scheduling to get to a doctor’s appointment in Elkton and senior services provided at the county’s office building on Route 40 are but a distant dream.

  Excellent, and expanding, medical services are available in Middletown, DE but there is no public transit from Cecil County.  As previously reported here, Christiana Care is planning to build an emergency hospital and, most likely, a full service hospital near Route 1 in Middletown.  How will the future seniors of southern Cecil County get there?

    Then there are the basics of food. There are no supermarkets and only a handful of shops offering the most basic groceries south of the canal. The vacant businesses in Cecilton are a natural location and county (and town) planners and economic development officials should prioritize bring these services to the area.

    One bright spot on the horizon is former Commissioner William Manlove’s farewell present to seniors: putting a seniors and community center facility in Cecilton into the Capital Plan shortly before he left office. So far, it has survived in the most recent Capital Plan adoped by current commissioners in April, 2009.

     The senior center is expected to cost $1.6 million, with $800,000 from the state and $558,000 from the county, plus the value of land expected to be donated by the town. So far, the county is projecting funds will be provided in Fiscal 2011 and Fiscal 2012. But with the current state fiscal crisis and tight county funds, don’t consider this a done deal.

     It is not too soon for seniors, and many future seniors who plan to grow old in this county, to insist that our County Commissioners and county departments start planning and delivering services to seniors, especially in the rural areas of the county.

Pro-Slots Group Slated to get $2 million from Track Owner

Supporters of the November referendum to allow slot-machines in Maryland may get a major infusion of cash, as much as $2 million, from Magna Entertainment, which owns Laurel Park and Pimlico in Baltimore, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.  That would come on top of an unspcified amount expected to be put into the fray by Penn National Gaming, the Pennsylvania-based company that has an option on part of the Stewart property in Perryville, Cecil County that could host a slots venue if the referendum is approved.

    The Magna money would be use to advance the campaign led by For Maryland For Our Future, the committee co-ordinating the pro-slots effort in the state.  The anti-slots campaign is being headed by Stop Slots Maryland.

    So what’s the money going to be used for? No doubt we will be bombarded with those nasty automated phone calls, negative TV and radio ads from both sides, and lots of litter in our mailboxes to be recycled. But for Cecil County residents, put aside the hype from both sides and the Sunday morning sermons from a vocal group of pastors warning us of the evils of gambling. (Run any bingo games lately, pastor?)

    We already have gambling all over Cecil County: the state-sanctioned off-track betting parlor on Route 40, the fire companies and VFW halls that have perfectly legal gambling with half the proceeds going to local charities, and of course lottery tickets sold in every gas station and convenience store from Perryville to Cecilton. It is just a short drive from Cecil County to the slots at Delaware Park or Dover Downs and recent news reports in the Post and News-Journal have documented all those Maryland slot-players spending their money across the state line.  Despite the dire warnings from the pulpit, no one has documented a spiraling suicide rate in the county from the gambling that is already going on.

    The question for Cecil County voters, a majority of whom have to commute to jobs outside the county since employment prospects are dim here, is why not bring some jobs home? The county has one of the lowest college degree rates in the state– around 16 percent– so hospitality jobs, with benefits as Penn National provides at its PA facilities, would be very welcome for a lot of folks. And for those who complain about rising property taxes, the county’s share of revenues would go a long way toward stabilizing county revenues without putting all the burden on the backs of local taxpayers.

   Gee, pastors, your congregation might even have a few extra bucks to put in the collection plate on Sundays…

    The Post report :  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/16/AR2008091603054.html

Gilchrest Backs Obama: Not his first party flip

Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, R-1st, who was defeated in the Republican primary, has declared his support for Democratic Sen. Barack Obama and VEEP running-mate Sen. Joe Biden in an interview with Baltimore public radio WYPR.  (Read the brief report here:  http://www.politickermd.com/danielreiter/3660/gilchrest-throws-support-behind-obama-biden

It might seem like more of the same, since Gilchrest has endorsed Democrat Frank Kratovil in the Congressional race for his old seat.  But Gilchrest’s turning his back on Republican Sen. John McCain is a bit puzzling. Gilchrest had supported his fellow Vietnam veteran McCain when the Arizona Senator unsuccessfully challenged George W.  Bush for the GOP presidential nomination 8 years ago. And Gilchrest and McCain had been allies on some environmental initiatives on which they both bucked the GOP establishment.

But Gilchrest and McCain have been at odds over the Iraq war and that was surely a factor in the turnabout. However, pardon our cynicism as we note that now Gilchrest is out of a job, his best employment prospects would be heading some envionmental lobby group in Washington and all of that gang is supporting Obama.

And those of us in Cecil County with long memories still recall the amazing flip-flop by Gilchrest a few years back when he endorsed Republican Harry Hepbron for County Commissioner– and then took it back a few days before the general election and  turn-coated to endorse the obscure Democratic candidate, after some major arm-twisting by a former Democratic Princess who formerly held court in Elkton.

UPDATE: Gilchrest says he’s not REALLY endorsing Obama…

Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, R-1st, is backpedaling from his strongly positive comments on the Democratic Obama-Biden presidential ticket during a WYPR radio broadcast this week. Obama-Biden is a great ticket, and we need to break with past policies, according to Gilchrest, but that isn’t REALLY an endorsement. Funny how in this latest flipper-oo by Gilchrest that he doesn’t say he is endorsing Republican John McCain, either. But then, as we noted in our original post, a Gilchrest endorsement doesn’t mean much. What Wayne giveth today he will most likely taketh away a few days later…

Read the update here:

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000002955136

EXCLUSIVE: Phyllis Kilby Venture on County Board Hot Seat

     Former Cecil County Commissioner Phyllis Kilby and her family business enterprises are on the hot seat before the county Board of Appeals this week.  

     The case involves “Kilby Cream,” which Mrs. Kilby bills as an ice cream parlor located on land owned by Kilbys, Inc., of which she is the long-term President.  The case relates to an enterprise established, and subject to county government review and decisions, while Mrs. Kilby was still a County Commissioner.

   The case (File #3423) involves an attempt by the Kilbys and their Kilby Cream facility in Rising Sun (at 129 Strohmaier Lane) to overturn a recent decision by county zoning administrators that, instead of just an ice cream parlor selling farm-churned ice cream made from milk produced on that farm, the Kilbys are in fact operating a full service restaurant and thus need a special exception under zoning rules for the NAR (Northern Agricultural) farm protection area. . (All zoning issues relate to the actual property owner– in this case, Kilbys, Inc.  Kilby Cream is a separate company that uses/leases –or whatever– the land. Phyllis Kilby is also an officer of Kilby Cream, according to state and federal records.)

(The case is slated to be heard Tuesday, Sept. 23 at a lengthy session beginning at 7 p.m. in the Senior Services Dining Room, 1^st floor, County Administration Bldg, 200 Chesapeake Blvd., Elkton. The Kilby item is last on the agenda, which notes some items may be delayed until Thursday.  Cecil Times will update you on the schedule.)

   Ads placed in the Cecil Whig indicate Kilby Cream is offering sandwiches, wraps, salads and other foods apart from ice cream. (One might wonder if Mrs. Kilby is growing wheat, grinding flour, and baking the bread and wraps on the farm.)

   The review of the Kilby operation is better late than never. In fact, county agencies warned the Kilbys when they first planned their facility that they needed to address zoning issues. Documents obtained under the Maryland Public Records Act show the Kilbys were advised by the Cecil County Planning Department on 1/30/04 that the proposed facility would require “an application for rezoning.”  No such application was filed nor were public hearings held.

     Instead, a few months later– while Phyllis Kilby was still a Commissioner– a zoning certificate was suddenly marked as approved by Zoning Administrator Cliff Houston on 8/18/04, citing code provisions and assurances that the facility would be selling retail items derived “51 percent” from agricultural products produced on that farm. (Phyllis Kilby signed the zoning certificate on 10/26/04.)

      However, there was then no proof of a functional milking parlor to provide a direct linkage between milk and ice cream produced at that site. [Visitors to the Rising Sun site tell us that there are a few old cows wandering around and some baby calves for a petting zoo but no signs of actual milk production there.]

   Does it take a rocket scientist—or zoning guru—to wonder if the milk is being trucked in from another location? Why not use milk from New Jersey? That is not what the zoning code, and the commendable push for local ‘value added” agriculture, envisions. A full service restaurant might or might not be a good thing at this spot in the NAR zone. But the point is all about applying zoning rules fairly, even to then-current and now former Commissioners.

 

 MORE KILBY BOARD OF APPEALS ACTION:

 

  This is not the first time the Kilbys have turned to the Board of Appeals to try to get their way around zoning laws that apply to others. Several years ago, while Mrs. Kilby was still a County Commissioner, the Kilbys tried to get permission to erect a large sign to advertise their venture. That application (File #3134) by Kilby’s, Inc. was for a variance to place a 42-square foot sign on Hopewell Road. That significantly exceeded signage rules in the NAR zone under the county code—which limited business signs to 12 square feet in such areas. (See Sec. 270-151, county code)

    The Kilby sign would have even exceeded the 40-square foot maximum allowed in the Business Local zone. And, in a stunning display of gall (or call it chutzpah), the Kilby sign would have exceeded the 32-square foot limits placed on signs for churches in all zones, under legislation approved by the Cecil County Board of Commissioners on 8/20/02.  While wearing her County Commissioner hat, Mrs. Kilby voted to limit church signs. (See minutes of commissioner’s meeting, 8/20/02)

   A brave soul, with whom we are well acquainted, testified at a Board of Appeals hearing and brought out these facts. Board members suddenly became nervous about treating the Kilbys as though they were more important than churches or even God. A few members suggested giving the Kilbys the same size sign as churches. But the board attorney noted they had to vote up or down on the application that was before them. So the Board rejected the Kilby sign, with the  implication from some members that if they just came back with an equal-to-God sign all would be well. (The Whig did NOT cover this Board of Appeals meeting.)

   Our friend the brave soul then wrote to The Whig and, after much hemming and hawing, editors published it and did a follow up article. The big sign was then dead.

  

 

 

   

 

 

   

BULLETIN: Kilby Wins Zoning Appeal on Tie-Breaker Vote

 

     Former Cecil County Commissioner Phyllis Kilby won a zoning appeal before the Cecil County Board of Appeals Tuesday night (Sept. 23) on a 3-2 vote, ruling that her Rising Sun area ice cream, soup and sandwiches emporium isn’t really a restaurant and does not need a zoning special exception.

     Leading the charge on Mrs. Kilby’s behalf was her long-time ally, Maria Mastrippolito, who noted she has been a member of the Board of Appeals for eight years. (She didn’t mention she was appointed to the Board as a Commissioner Kilby protégé.)  Initially, Mastrippolito’s motion to declare that the Kilby establishment was not a restaurant died for lack of a second.

   Then, Board chairman David Willis—after openly declaring his support for Kilby—re-opened the debate and ultimately managed to cajole one of the most cogent critics of the operation into seconding Mastrippolito’s motion and eventually voting for it. The Board was initially deadlocked, 2-2, on the motion but Willis voted as chairman to break the tie and grant Kilby her request. (The chairman does not vote on an initial motion but can vote to break a tie.)

     The case involved “Kilby Cream,” which Mrs. Kilby bills as an ice cream parlor at 129 Strohmaier Lane on land owned by Kilbys, Inc., of which she is the long-term President.  The case relates to an enterprise established, and subject to county government review and decisions, while Mrs. Kilby was still a County Commissioner.

    Recently, county zoning administrator Cliff Houston ruled that the Kilbys were now actually operating a restaurant, instead of just an ice cream parlor selling farm-churned ice cream made from milk produced on the farm. A restaurant would require a special exception under zoning rules for the NAR (Northern Agricultural) farm protection area. . (All zoning issues relate to the actual property owner– in this case, Kilbys, Inc.  Kilby Cream is a separate company that operates on the land. Phyllis Kilby is also an officer of Kilby Cream, according to state and federal records.)

   During testimony Tuesday night, Mrs. Kilby freely admitted that she was serving a wide variety of soups, sandwiches, salads and wraps that are not produced on her farm.

   Under terms of a zoning certificate issued by the county on 8/18/04, Kilby Cream was restricted to retail sales of food derived “51 percent” from agricultural products produced on the Kilby farm. (Phyllis Kilby signed the zoning certificate on 10/26/04.)

   But Mrs. Kilby, and her attorney, Dwight Thomey (who was the County Attorney while Mrs. Kilby was a Commissioner) argued Tuesday that the Kilbys should not have to abide by that restriction because they were importing foods and ingredients from other farms in Cecil County and a Kent County-based farmers’ cooperative.

   Mrs. Kilby and her daughter, Megan Coleman, acknowledged that they assembled sandwiches and wraps at their facility from ingredients trucked in from other locations. Among the menu items are tuna and shrimp salads and sandwiches, which they admitted are not produced from local ingredients.

   The “assembly” issue troubled Board member Mike Kline, who said, “these are not pre-wrapped, like what you would find at WAWA… I worry about when you start assembly.” Kline also said he thought the whole issue should be turned over to the Planning Commission to review: “I think it’s more of a Planning Commission thing.”

    But, when Chairman Willis forced the issue by re-instating Mastrippolito’s motion to grant the Kilbys’ request, Kline hung his head briefly and said, “We don’t have to be unanimous, do we?” Then Kline seconded the motion and, when the roll call was taken, surprised onlookers by voting with Mastrippolito for it.

    Board members Mark Saunders and Michael Lincous voted against Kilby, setting up a 2-2 tie. Then Chairman Willis—who had declared during the discussion, “I wish everyplace was run like the Kilbys”—cast the tie-breaking vote.

 

[NOTE: The Cecil Times will publish a more complete, detailed report on Wednesday. We are posting this bulletin late Tuesday night so our readers will have a heads-up on this important issue. Of course, The Cecil Whig was NOT covering this meeting.]

COMMENTARY: Mama Mia Maria (or Kilby’s Apologist)

    

   It was worth missing family time and TV comedies to witness Maria Mastrippolito, a member of the Cecil County Board of Appeals, as she fumbled, stumbled and mumbled her advocacy for her neighbor, mentor and gal-pal, former Cecil County Commissioner Phyllis Kilby, at  Tuesday night’s (9/23/08) meeting of Cecil County Board of Appeals.

    Ms. Maria would have astounded Gourmet or Bon Appetit magazines with her belabored culinary commentary on the differences between a restaurant and a deli, as part of her love-letter to Phyllis Kilby, who Ms. Maria indicated she believes is above county zoning laws.

    Ms. Maria lives at 836 Firetower Rd., Colora, while Mrs. Kilby lives at 795 Firetower Rd. Ms. Maria bills herself as an educator, currently working in Delaware.  She was appointed as Phyllis Kilby’s protégé to the Board of Appeals but it did not sit well with a minority of other commissioners. On 8/19/03, Ms. Maria was appointed by Mrs. Kilby to the Board of Appeals on a 3-2 vote; she was re-appointed on 7/18/06 on Mrs. Kilby’s nomination.

    The issue at the Board of Appeals Tuesday was whether Mrs. Kilby was improperly operating a restaurant in the NAR zone and should obtain a required zoning special exception. Ms. Maria insisted that our Princess of Agriculture shouldn’t be questioned and a facility serving ice cream, soup, salads and sandwiches wasn’t really a restaurant.

    Like angels on the head of a pin, Ms. Maria tried to define a restaurant on the Kilby property as something else:  “I think it’s like a deli. A deli isn’t a restaurant, is it?” Ms Maria inquired. Mrs. Kilby testified that she imported food and ingredients for salads, soups and sandwiches and wraps from outside her farm. The zoning permit for Kilby’s farm, operating under the name “Kilby Cream,” requires that 51 percent of products sold to the public must be produced from farm products produced on that property.  (Products sold include tuna and shrimp salads and sandwiches, which Mrs. Kilby admitted are not produced on her farm, or any other Cecil County farm.)

   County zoning administrator Cliff Houston advised Ms. Maria that the Kilby property was a sit-down eating facility with tables, and did not conform with easier rules for carry-outs. He indicated the “deli” versus ‘restaurant’ argument had no basis in county law.

     The case before the Board of Appeals stemmed from Houston’s investigation that concluded a restaurant was being operated on the Kilby premises, in violation of zoning laws.

   But Ms. Maria dismissed the law and went on at some length about what is a deli, her personal experience in delis, her favorite deli foods, and how she believed the importation of food from outside the Kilby farm was fine with her because the Kilbys were such wonderful people.

   Ms. Maria’s verbal guffaws drew some quiet laughter in the hearing room and she did not even merit a ‘second’ on her initial motion to relieve Phyllis Kilby of the need to state a real case at the county Planning Commission. But thanks to the intervention of Board Chairman David Willis, Ms. Maria’s rambling love note to Mrs. Kilby was re-instated and, by a 3-2 vote, condoned by the Board of Appeals.

   Mrs. Kilby should be embarrassed by the verbal contortions of Ms. Maria as the best justification she can come up with.

  But, as The Cecil Times will report subsequently, it is really all about the money—and taxpayer-provided money at that—for Mrs. Kilby. 

  

    

Cecil Whig Cribs Cecil Times: A Day Late and Details Short

  The Cecil Whig posted on its website Wednesday afternoon a four-paragraph item on the Phyllis Kilby Board of Appeals story we’ve been covering since last week. We were very amused to see the Whig posted a headine, “BREAKING NEWS: Board Rules in Kilby’s favor,” at 1.28 p.m. on Wednesday 9/24/08. 

 The Cecil Times actually covered the meeting on Tuesday evening and posted a detailed report online on this blog around midnight. So some 13 plus hours later, the Whig weighs in with “breaking news” about a meeting they didn’t bother to cover in the first place.

  We’re sure someone at the Whig actually called the Board of Appeals and got the vote after they read our report online. So they did a little bit of reporting after-the-fact. We doubt they would have written anything if they hadn’t been beaten on the story in the first place. 

   It seems the Whig may be waking up to its increased competition from local bloggers and other news sources on the Internet. They also posted online a list of stories they were working on for their Thursday print editions. Anything we can do to prod the Whiggies to do a better job is fine with us.

  Here is link to Whig’s mini-story on the Board of Appeals action:

http://www.cecilwhig.com/articles/2008/09/24/news/doc48da86a1cbbf6530397337.txt

Angels and “Demons” in Cecil County

  It’s not every weekend that you get to meet some real-life angels in Cecil County. Unfortunately, it is all too common that we see or hear of some folks “demonizing” others with whom they have a disagreement.

   The “angels” we met were the hundred or so people who came out for the Cecil County SPCA’s annual dinner auction Friday night to raise money to help the dogs and cats at the shelter in Chesapeake City. The shelter is getting a lot of dogs and cats turned over by families that can’t afford to feed or care for them, in addition to all the strays that end up finding a safe haven at the shelter.

   There were lots of interesting silent auction items, like antiques and gift certificats from local businesses, and one unusual live auction item that didn’t find a home: a live miniature horse. A Delaware horse farm that raises mini-horses decided it would be an “angelic” thing to do to donate the horse to the SPCA so they could auction the right to adopt the horse. The horse would go through the regular shelter adoption process to make sure it would have a good home with a family that could care for him properly. Then whatever the adopters bid would be donated to the SPCA to help care for all the homeless dogs and cats.

   Unfortunately, no one was looking to add a mini-horse to their family that night so the SPCA will continue to look for the right family to adopt the horse and benefit the other animals. If you know of any horse farm families looking to add a little guy to their stable, refer them to the SPCA’s website for pictures of the little palomino colt www.cecilcountyspca.org or contact the SPCA.

   The dinnner auction was held at the Chesapeake Inn in Chesapeake City. Their seafood buffet was out of this world delicious. The staff worked hard to put on a great dinner and put in a lot of extra effort because they wanted to support the animals. They were “angels,” too.

    Which leads us to those demons who circle around the county even when it is not Halloween. We’ve been reading accounts in the Whig and on two Chesapeake City blogs of the dispute over the town noise ordinance and some residents who complain about noise and music from the Chesapeake Inn.  We haven’t done independent reporting on the town council’s actions and hearings, but we were dismayed to read some un-sourced reports on the blogs about possible extra-curricular activities by a council member  against the Inn.    See the blogs here:

http://chescitymirror.blogspot.com/2008/09/i-hope-i-am-wrong.html

http://chesapeakecity.blogspot.com/2008/09/canalside-rumor-control-central-special.html

  Previous reports of town meetings on the issue showed the Inn’s owners were willing to work with the town and try to resolve the issue amicably, including installation of sound barriers and other devices.  But then, it seems some folks just prefer to ‘demonize’ the other side in a dispute.

 The town should remember all the tax and other revenues the Inn brings into the town and the jobs it creates. If town leaders ‘demonize’ a local business owner, then good luck trying to get the empty Schaefer’s facility up and running again and generating jobs and revenues to the local economy. Who would want to locate their business in a place where the demons are out to get you even when it is not Halloween?

Gloom, But Not Doom, in Cecil Housing Market

   It was nice to see the Whig write about housing foreclosures in Cecil County in Tuesday’s editions, focusing on a counselor who is working with families and their mortgage lenders to find solutions. We’ve been hearing about the foreclosure “crisis” nationally for quite some time so it was overdue for the Whig to write about the local scene. But there is more to the housing picture in Cecil County.

    A local Realtor, Megan McGonigal, has been posting monthly information and analysis of Cecil County home sale trends and a look at the data shows all is not doom for the housing market here. In fact, the length of time for the buying market to “absorb” all the homes available for sale has improved since February.  And in July, the average days on the market before a house sold was 166 days, up just 19 days from the 147 days it took to sell homes in July, 2007.  You can read her report here:

http://cecilcountyconnection.com/blog.cecilcountyconnection/2008/09/29/what-is-the-cecil-county-real-estate-market-doing-august-2008/

    There is a wealth of data about Cecil County houses that are in pre-foreclosure status (papers filed but not yet taken over) and bank-owned houses on the Realty Trac website. Most recent stats for Cecil are 53 houses in pre-foreclosure and 31 bank-owned homes.

  Cecil County has the highest numbers for the Eastern Shore but is well below the figures for counties on the Western Shore. In August, new foreclosure filings were 36 in Cecil County, in comparison with 930 for Prince George’s County– the highest in the state– and 15 in Caroline County, the lowest.  Statewide, there were 30,661 new foreclosure filings since the beginning of the year.

   You can see a list with street names, but not actual house numbers, of Cecil County properties in pre-foreclosure or bank ownership. Click on the tabs at the top of the heading to look at pre-foreclosure, bank-owned, etc. The link is here:

http://www.realtytrac.com/MapSearch/MD/Cecil-county-government-owned-homes.html#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×1ZGVTdXBwbGllcnMiOltdLCJJbmNsdWRlU3VwcGxpZXJzQnlUeXBlIjpbXX0sIkN1cnJlbnRQYWdlIjowLCJSZXN1bHRUeXBlIjowLCJJc01hcFZpc2libGUiOmZhbHNlLCJab29tTGV2ZWwiOjE0LCJNYXBQb3NpdGlvbiI6bnVsbCwiSXNJbnRlcmFjdGl2ZVJlcXVlc3QiOnRydWUsIkNoZWNrZWRUeXBlcyI6bnVsbCwiSXNCYXNpY1NlYXJjaFJlcXVlc3QiOnRydWUsIk9mZmVyRW5hYmxlZFZlbmRvck5hbWUiOm51bGx9

Whig Wakes Up (Sort of…)

    It is long overdue, but the Cecil Whig is finally waking up to the fact that it has online competition from local news bloggers that have frequently written about issues that the Whig either did not cover at all or did not publish in print or put online until a day or more later.

   In the past few days, the Whig is starting to post, by mid-afternoon, an online summary of the stories its reporters are working on for the next day’s print edition.  The Whig is also being more pro-active about posting online Associated Press items throughout the day. That’s not original reporting on the Whig’s part, but at least the updates give an impression of timeliness, even though one could easily obtain the same news from a constantly updated website like www.cnn.com

  And, it is a measure of the Whig’s sudden, and belated, recognition of the increasing online competition in the current news/online marketplace, that they are starting to post news articles online before the next day’s print publication.

   An important example– although, in fact, a rather slow posting in the “news now” world of the Internet– is the Whig article, written by editor Terry Peddicord, on a candidate’s forum in Rising Sun. It happened on Monday, and he didn’t write it online until mid-day Tuesday. But it would appear that the print/ink on paper version won’t make it into the newspaper until Wednesday.

   Better late than never. And anything that this, and other news blogs in the county, are doing to wake up the Whig is a good thing.

Priapi Gardens: Cecilton Common Sense

  We’re BAAACK– Sorry, all, for taking a few days off but we had a crisis of sorts to deal with. But we are back with some observations on good things happening in our southern Cecil County neck of the woods.

    We stopped in to visit Vic and Mary Priapi, proprietors of Priapi Gardens in Cecilton, on Saturday as they were having their fall harvest event. Lots of fun things, all for free, on Route 213 in Cecilton. We say “IN” Cecilton, because a few months ago this treasure of a garden shop and nursery, value-added agriculture, agro-tourism and all around great place was actually outside the town limits of Cecilton. 

    It took a full blown town election, and a rather unpleasant political campaign, before a majority of Cecilton residents voted to welcome Priapi Gardens to the town so that the Priapi’s could be assured access to water they would need to expand their nursery business. The annexation issue was a microcosm of what is both wrong and right with any discussion of so-called “growth” in this county.

   Some folks– including one current county commissioner and one who aspires to the job– did a knee-jerk opposition to any ‘annexation’ regardless of the facts of the Priapis’ case. Others, including the African-American community in Cecilton that has for far too many years been ignored by the county and town power structure– took the time to listen to Vic and Mary’s case and decided that ‘change’ in Cecilton would be a good thing.  So for the first time in around 140 years, an annexation  was approved by the voters.

    Nothing much has changed since the annexation. Vic and Mary are still tending their gardens and organizing great community-building events like the Saturday harvest festival. There were crafts people, lots of Amish families offering food and hand-made items, a great blacksmith from Port Deposit demonstrating his artisanship, 4-H kids, the Farm Museum, and the Methodist congregation from Cecilton/Earleville offering free sodas, cookies and apples to visitors. One of our favorite ag businesses, Dove Valley Vineyards and Winery, was also on site as Janelle Hepbron Griffith explained the grape growing and wine-making operations of this  Rising Sun-based award-winning winery and vineyard operation.

  Oh, Phyllis Kilby’s “Moo-mobile” ice cream truck was there, too, but our Queen of Ice Cream (or Baroness of the Board of Appeals) did not show up. We think she is nervous about appearing south of the Canal, where real farmers live and work and ‘have her number.’

Good Delaware Medical News for Southern Cecil County

   For those of us living South of the C&D Canal, especially in the off-the-highway rural areas, there is good news for our health and our lives: the world-renowned Christiana Care Health System of Delaware has purchased a 108-acre site in Middletown, DE to develop a  24/7 state-of-the-art emergency room and medical facility with advanced and specialized health care. This would be the closest advanced medical facility for our southern Cecil communities.

   Right now, the theoretical “closest hospital,” under Emergency Medical Services (i.e., county ambulance)  transport rules, is Union Hospital in Elkton, unless you are living right up against the border to Kent County, MD and its proximity to Chestertown and their University of Maryland Medical System-affiliated hospital.  But for most of us southern Cecil residents, any critical medical situation now usually requires transport to Union Hospital. If you know your rights under Maryland law, to demand transport to a more advanced hospital, you can then insist on transfer, after initial Union Hospital delivery, to the Christiana campus in northern Delaware, where you have access to 24-hour advanced and critical medical care.

   Please, before all the Union Hospital donors and advocates attack us for this reporting of the facts, we realize that Union is a lot better than it used to be and that there are lots of fund-raising efforts on its behalf.

  But my own personal experience, that of friends, and data available with some difficulty from Union, shows that Union is hardly a world class facility. When I fell and broke my leg a few years ago on a Saturday morning, I was told “we don’t have any orthopedist… call us back on Monday.” When I had a life-threatening asthma attack, the nurses were wonderful and literally saved my life. A foreign “doctor” who spoke minimal English stuck her head in after the nurses saved me and said, “you ok?” without ever examining me. Of course, she and Union’s sub-contracted emergency services operation billed me several hundred dollars for that in-passing comment.

  We have received some of the glitzy printed newsletters and directories from Union, extolling the virtues of its services and staff. We were surprised that they glossed over the credentials of some medical folks whom I know were D.O.’s or osteopaths. They were unwilling to admit that many of their staff docs are not M.D.’s. So I called their PR officer and inquired about the credentials of the docs they were touting. I was told they did not disclose the degree– D.O. or M.D.– or educational credentials of their docs.

  Union has added some top caliber folks– like Dr. Ma, a Georgetown University MD, as chief of staff– and Dr. DeMuth, a Dartmouth grad, as a consulting orthopedist and surgery chief. But especially for emergency situations, that caliber of care is lacking at Union. It is the norm at Christiana.

   For us southern Cecil folks, we will have to wait a bit– but probably not for too long– for a top quality Christiana facility in Middletown. The proposed facility would be located at Route 1 and Del. 299, just east of downtown Middletown. The town board and mayor are ecstatic about this positive addition to that growing community and the zoning is in place already.

 ”This is something you dream about and it’s been talked about for a long time,” Middletown Mayor Ken Branner told the Middletown Transcript. “Now that it is becoming a reality, it’s really unbelievable.”

   The state legislative delegation is also over-the-moon with support for the Christiana facility.

    Some of us southern Cecil County residents remember that it was just 6 or so years ago that we even got a south-of-the-canal paramedic unit assigned to our area by the county. My community is full of stories about the many people who died while waiting an hour or more for an ambulance in the past. Thankfully, our ambulance service has improved. But it is equally important where you get transported to when your life is at stake.

First District Congress Race Gets National Attention

  The 1^st District race for Congress, between Democrat Frank Kratovil and Republican Andy Harris,  has been getting more attention, and treated as more of a contest, by national non-partisan analysts.  Stuart Rothenberg rates the 1^st as a “Republican favored” race as of September 30. But Rothenberg had to eat his words of just a few months ago when he predicted that there was no way Democrats could pick up as many as 30 seats in the House. Now he admits Democrats are likely to gain 20 seats and a 30 seat gain is entirely possible.

 

 (Read his latest post here:  http://www.rothenbergpoliticalreport.blogspot.com/

 

  Charlie Cook, who publishes the influential non-partisan Cook Political Report, recently upgraded the 1^st to a ‘leans Republican’ rating from a Republican favored status.

    The Politicker political website rates the contest as the 52^nd most competitive House race in the country while the independent Real Clear Politics website, which has become a bible for political junkies and pundits nationwide, lists the 1^st District as number 45 on its list of the 50 most competitive House contests.

 ( Read their report here: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/09/top_house_races_continued.html

 

   Kratovil has some well-connected Marylanders in his corner, including Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Montgomery County, who also heads the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. (DCCC) The DCCC has pledged up to $1 million to support Kratovil and has bought $250,000 in TV air time for a new ad running on Baltimore and Salisbury stations.

 

 Read about the ad here:

 http://www.politickermd.com/danielreiter/3832/dccc-ad-harriss-friends-arent-your-friends

   

 

Labels, Geography and ‘Rockfish Republicans’

 

    Labels tell us a lot when we go to the supermarket but picking a political candidate is usually more complicated than picking the soup with the lowest sodium content. That’s why political labels or even party affiliations may be less important than geography for Cecil County voters this year.

 

  Consider the 1st District Congressional race between Republican Andy Harris, of Baltimore County, and Democrat Frank Kratovil, of Queen Anne’s County on the Eastern Shore. Harris brands Kratovil a “liberal” and Kratovil’s ads say Harris is “way out there” on the right wing. So much for labels.

 

   Harris upset incumbent Rep. Wayne Gilchrest in the multi-candidate Republican primary by carrying counties on the Western Shore.  The Eastern Shore was no-man’s land for Harris. Even in Cecil County, where Gilchrest had lots of GOP critics, Gilchrest beat Harris with 32.8 percent of the vote, in contrast to the 31.3 percent share Harris took in Cecil.  (Gilchrest always had a harder time in his own party primary than he did in general elections, when he won considerable support from Democrats. Hardcore conservative Harris can’t expect comparable Democratic support in November.)

 

    But Kratovil has his own problems in Cecil County. He lost the county in the primary to Christopher Robinson in a 4-way contest, with 30.2 percent of the vote to Robinson’s 32.9 percent. Yet Kratovil racked up solid margins in other Shore counties and the Baltimore County, Harford County and Anne Arundel County portions of the district.

   

   Now Kratovil is leaning on what some pundits call the “Rockfish Republicans”—moderates on both the Eastern and Western Shore who supported Gilchrest in the past. Gilchrest himself has endorsed Kratovil as have several Republican county commissioners in Kent and Caroline counties on the Shore.

 

   For the general election, Shore residents are a majority of the district’s electorate so if Shore residents voted purely on the basis of geography, Shore resident Kratovil would win. Of course, most people vote on other factors, like party label, and national issues like the economy or the war in Iraq.

 

  But geography isn’t such a bad way to pick a horse in this race. Gilchrest had to drive over the Bay Bridge just about every night to come home from his Washington job. His Kennedyville house was down the street from a little grocery where locals could collar him on any problem, from the crab harvest to the closing of the soup factory in Chestertown.

 

   Queen Anne’s county, Kratovil’s base, is a stretch from Cecil but it shares a lot of the same problems: Bay shoreline and pollution concerns, development pressure, transportation problems, and a lack of local jobs that forces residents to commute over a bridge to jobs on the Western Shore. Sound familiar?

   

   Historically, the 1st District has been represented by a resident of the Shore, except for a brief hiatus when a rural Southern Marylander held the seat before Gilchrest. But this time, the choice is between a Shore resident and a suburban Baltimore County resident. We don’t think they set trot-lines in Baltimore County or know what it’s like to spend $8 or more in gas to travel long distances to buy groceries or get medical care.

 

  So maybe the label or slogan that matters here is “Shore-nuff” or “Vote Local.”

 

 

 

SHOW ME THE (Cecil County) POLITICAL MONEY

    From Woodward and Bernstein and Watergate to the Hollywood film, “Gerry Maguire,” there is something to be said for the phrases “follow the money” and “show me the money.” So in this election year, there are some interesting financial tidbits to be gleaned from looking at databases of donations to federal candidates (President or member of Congress) and national political party committees and PAC’s (political action committees) by residents of Cecil County.

   Spend a few hours searching on databases of the independent, non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics (www.crp.org) and their related political money database (www.opensecrets.org) and you will find some revealing trends in donations to federal candidates and political committees by residents of Cecil County, MD. This is a very reputable operation, which parses Federal Elections Commission data into a more user-friendly format. [But our research found a significant glitch in reporting of donations from one zip code in Cecil County—based on a repeated entry with a mis-placed comma. We advised CRP of our findings and await their correction of the database.]

    Nevertheless, the data show some interesting trends in how Cecil County residents are voting with their wallets this year, in comparison with the last time there was a presidential and Congressional election in 2004.

    The undeclared recession may be having an impact on political donations from Cecil County. In most zip codes, donations are down. The currently available data, however, compares full election cycle donations of 2004 with the not-yet-over cycle of this 2008 election year. There could be last-minute donations before the November election that would skew the numbers. But the economy was a lot better four years ago and by this close to the election time-frame, most donors have already opened their wallets this year and may be holding on to their scarce dollars in the next few weeks.

   Not surprisingly, federal campaign donations in Cecil County tend to go for Republican candidates and political party committees. So far this year, county-wide total donations to federal candidates and committees amount to $135,579, with Democrats garnering just 23 percent of donations, compared to Republicans’ 77 percent.

   In most Cecil County zip codes, donations so far this year are down from the 2004 presidential year. For example, in the Rising Sun zip code (21911) donations to all federal candidates and committees were $11,850 in 2004, but so far this year donations are down to $8,185. In the general Elkton zip of 21921, federal donations were $35,539 in 2004, but this year amount to $31,342 so far.

    One of the more interesting areas, the Chesapeake City zip code (21915) shows an increase in donations this year, with some fascinating twists. Republican Congressional candidate Andy Harris, seeking the 1^st District seat, received $3,300

 

from David Williams, of Williams Automotive, while other zip residents supported Harris’ rival in the Republican primary, incumbent Wayne Gilchrest, to the tune of $2,225. Harris beat Gilchrest in the GOP primary. Overall, Chesapeake City donors gave $7,500 in the 2004 federal election cycle, but so far this year the tally is up to $10,091.

   Little Cecilton, with around 500 or so residents, registers one of the largest gains this year, compared with 2004. Last time around, Cecilton donors gave just $200 to federal candidates. So far this year, the Cecilton tally is up to $3,300. We looked at specific donations and found that just 3 donors made the big difference.  There was $800 from Caroline Arms and $1,500 from Myron Arms, all donated to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Also, Samuel C. Toll donated $1,000 to Ron Paul, the Libertarian-leaning Congressman from Texas who was seeking the Republican presidential nomination this year.

    We tried to contact the Arms family to interview them regarding their Obama support and only found a phone listing for them at an address in Earleville (zip code 21919.) We did not receive a callback. But their federal donation address was listed as Cecilton, so we are including their contributions in the Cecilton zip category.

   There were some other interesting individual donations and trends. In the Port Deposit area, (zip 21904) donations in 2004 to federal candidates amounted to $2,932. But so far this year, donations are up to $5,850 from that area.

    A good part of that increase is attributable to the $1,000 donation to anti-regulation, Libertarian Ron Paul from Rupert Rosetti. Mr. Rosetti is aligned with anti-growth forces in Cecil County, advocating increased government regulation of property and land uses. Mr. Paul opposes increased government regulation of just about everything.

   As the old saying goes, politics—and political money—make strange bedfellows.

(Editors’ Note: This analysis is based on federal data filed as of 9/30/08.  Federal rules require updated information to be filed this week. It takes a few days for the data to be entered into databases. The Cecil Times will update this issue and file a new report and analysis, as soon as the updated information is available from federal sources.)

Demmler Bankrolls Mullin: Commissioner Payback Time?

    We’re BAACK– Sorry to have taken a hiatus, but we were sick and tired,  and mostly sick. So since we don’t get paid for this,  it has taken us a while to report and write what our local “newspaper” with full time paid employees hasn’t: new campaign finance reports– filed 10/24/08– for local County Commissioner candidates. First, we’ll look at the 1st District Commissioner race between Republican Jim Mullin and Democrat Pamela H. Bailey.

     There’s not much to report on Pamela Bailey, who has not filed a detailed campaign finance report.  According to Cecil County election officials, she filed an affadavit saying she would not be raising or spending over $1,000, so she does not have to file a full report either on paper locally or online with the state Board of Elections.  In that case, we are surprised to see so many printed yard signs around her home base of Earleville. As she has stated to the public, she already has a full-time job as a secretary at the School of Technology and two part-time jobs. So who knows how much time she has to spare for fundraising, campaigning or actually serving as a County Commissioner.

    Without a serious opponent, Republican Jim Mullin of Earleville seems to be a shoo-in in the 1st District. But looking at his campaign finances, there is a very interesting angle: current County Commissioner Rebecca Demmler is his biggest donor. Could it be payback for the financial support Mullin gave her when she was running for County Commissioner in the last local election? Or could it be “pay it forward,” with Demmler donating to a pal she expects will vote along with her as a Commissioner?

    In his pre-general election report, Mullin states he has raised a total of $10,294 in individual, party committee and Political Action Committee donations.  He has also made a personal loan to his campaign of $8,550, which is counted as a separate line item in addition to the $10,294 in donations.

    But the telling category is the sub-set of individual and business donors, amounting to $7,094. Of that figure, current County Commissioner Rebecca Demmler made an outright donation of $2,000 on 5/03/08 and $500 on 9/15/08, for a total of $2,500– or nearly a third of all donations. Mullin also does not report individual identities of purchasers of tickets to his fundraisers– listing instead, a ”lump sum” of receipts from two campaign fundraisers, amounting to a total of $1,429. So there is no way of telling whose other donations might be included under this anonymous category.

    Mullin also received a $1,000 Political Action Committee (PAC) donation from the Cecil County Lodge #2, Fraternal Order of Police in Elkton, on 9/25/08. But drilling down in his expenditures, you find he made a “transfer” of funds  of $280 out of his campaign treasury previously, on 7/24/08, to the same FOP lodge, “including ticket purchases.” So the net FOP cash into the Mullin campaign amounts to $720. The ‘transfer’ from Mullin to the FOP occurred before the FOP donation to him.

    Mullin also received $2,200 from the county’s Republican Central Committee. (Funny, but we didn’t see a Mullin donation to fellow Republican Robert Hodge, who chairs the GOP central committee and is running in the 5th Commissioner district, beyond a puny $25 fundraiser ticket.)

   It is also telling who hasn’t yet donated to Mullin’s campaign. No members of the local Republican state legislative delegation whose districts coincide with Mullin’s local turf–Del. Michael Smigiel, Del. Dick Sossi or Mr. Moneybags State Sen. E.J. Pipkin– have donated to Mullin. That is probably because they know a sure thing when they see it and are saving their cash for their own  re-election efforts, or other Republican candidates with more contested campaigns this year.

   But we are struck by Commissioner Demmler’s investment of such a large amount in the sure-thing candidacy of Mullin.  Both Demmler and Mullin are Republicans, but more than party loyalty is at work here, as we will document subsequently. (Demmler has made a hiccup $50 ticket purchases donation to fellow Republican Robert Hodge, running in the 5th District Commissioner race, while her husband has donated lots more to 5th District Democratic opponent Sharon Weygand and he also made a donation to write-in candidate Tom McWilliams in that 5th District contest. More on that in our next posting.)

Fifth District Commissioner Race: Home Cookin’ and Stewart’s Money

  The Republican and Democratic opponents in the Fifth District contest for Cecil County Commissioner have raised comparable amounts of campaign contributions, while write-in candidate Tom McWilliams has a secret weapon: his wife’s home cooking, according to campaign finance reports filed Oct. 24.

    But some supporters of the two major candidates might be surprised at just who is donating to them.

   McWilliams, a perpetual candidate who has previously run unsuccessfully for Commissioner and a school board seat, lost the Republican primary to Robert Hodge, a local businessman and farmer. McWilliams is waging an uphill struggle as a write-in candidate in the November election and has held yard sales and picnics, raising just $886 in direct contributions and $1,050 in fundraiser ticket purchases. He also loaned his campaign $6,000 in October. McWilliams lists $372 in in-kind donations, such as food and drinks for fundraising events. While several people donated appetizers valued at $10, his wife’s culinary contribution was valued at $50. A smart husband knows to compliment his wife’s cooking, even in politics.

     Hodge reports raising a total of $21,405, including loaning his campaign $3,000. His Democratic opponent, Sharon Weygand, reports raising a total of $19,637, with no loans. The candidates are running for the seat now held by Commissioner Mark Guns, who decided not to run for re-election.  Hodge has had a high-profile candidacy all year, with many paid billboard sites on highways around the county.  Weygand seemed to have a lower profile–waving hand-held signs on Route 40– so it is perhaps surprising to see that she raised so much money and had no loans, according to the October reports.  There could still be a last minute infusion of cash on both sides in the last week or so before the election, but we won’t know the final contributions tally until after the election when new reports are filed.

     Weygand’s largest chunk of donations– $3,000– came from two entities related to the Stewart’s land development business: $1,500 from Stewart Associates Land Development, Inc.,  and $1,500 from York Building Products Co. Both firms have the same address in York, PA and are part of the Stewart Companies. Stewart’s, one of the largest landowners in the county, is banking heavily on approval of the statewide slots referendum and has signed an option deal with Penn National gaming that wants to develop a slots facility on Stewart land in Cecil County. York Building Products operates three sand and gravel production sites in Cecil County.

   The Stewart-related donations amounted to more than a quarter of Weygand’s $11,555 in contributions from individuals and businesses. That might surprise some of the no-growth folks who made small donations to her campaign, too.

 Other major donations to Weygand include $1,000 from Klines Live Fish Co. in Chesapeake City; $1,000 from Hutton Farms in Elkton, and $500 from Alice Arbuckle, who ran unsuccessfully for County Commissioner in the last local election and famously advocated county-hosted camel races as a tourist attraction. Weygand also received $345 from the husband (Ron) of County Commissioner Rebecca Demmler,  $200 from former County Commissioner and restauranteur Phyllis Kilby, $100 from retiring County Commissioner Bill Manlove, $80 from Commissioner Wayne Tome and $20 from Commissioner Brian Lockhart. 

    Weygand also received a $1,000 donation from the Political Action Committee (PAC) associated with Lodge 2, Cecil County Fraternal Order of Police, which endorsed her candidacy; $500 from the county’s Democratic Central Committee; $750 from the county Democrat Club and $100 from the campaign of Frank Kratovil, the Democratic nominee in the 1st District Congressional contest.

    Weygand did not disclose individual identities for most of the ticket purchasers for her fund-raising events, tallying a total of $5,613 in ticket sales.

   On the Republican side, Hodge reported individual and business donations of $7,140– actually, less than Weygand’s $11,555. Unlike Weygand, Hodge reports amounts and identities for ticket purchases by individuals and businesses, totaling $6,465.

    Hodge’s largest individual donation of $1,000 came from Railroad Associates Corp. of Hershey, Pa. A local business, Graphics Inc., gave $500 plus $500 in ticket purchases, for a total of $1,000. Norman Wehner, a local property owner active with the county landlord’s association, donated $500 plus purchased fundraiser event tickets worth $100. James Buckland, an executive with Artesian water that recently won County Commissioners’  approval for its takeover of county water and sewer facilities, bought Hodge fundraiser tickets worth $150.

 Most of Hodge’s donations were fairly small and many came from recognizable Republicans around the county. Business entities donating included Perrin Accounting of North East ($500 in donations), Priapi Gardens in Cecilton ($200 in ticket purchases); Kingfisher Environmental  Services, Inc., of Elkton ($200 in ticket purchases.) There were also fundraiser ticket purchases from some individuals involved in real estate, such as $250 in tickets bought by Harlan Williams and his wife.

    Hodge also received $2,500 from Republican clubs and $2,200 from the county’s GOP central committee. Del. Dick Sossi (R) bought a $25 fundraiser ticket, as did Republican commissioner 1st District candidate Jim Mullin. Commissioner Rebecca Demmler– a fellow Republican and the chief donor to Mullin’s campaign, giving him $2,500– anted up just $50 for Hodge fundraiser tickets.

   Which just goes to show: in politics, it isn’t always just about politics or party labels.

Party (Line) Time in Cecil Voting, Except for Congress

  The unofficial returns for Cecil County in the Tuesday election show some interesting patterns in party-line voting from the top to bottom of the ballot, with the exception of the too-close-to-call 1st District race for Congress between Democrat Frank Kratovil and Republican Andy Harris.

 Countywide, Republican presidential candidate John McCain carried Cecil with 56.41percent of the vote to Democratic President-to-be Barack Obama’s 41.28 percent. Independent Ralph Nader won 1 percent of Cecil’s vote.  McCain carried all but 4 of Cecil’s 19 election precincts.

 Kratovil won 18,643 votes to Harris’ 17,992, giving Kratovil 49.2 percent of Cecil County votes to Harris’ 47.5 percent. Kratovil had a majority in all but 8 of the county’s 19 election precincts, with Harris’ support concentrated in the western areas of the county. Kratovil also carried every county on the Maryland Eastern Shore, while Harris carried the Western Shore areas of Harford, Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties included in the district. The state election board reported Kratovil ahead by just 916 votes district-wide, so the contest won’t be decided until absentee and overseas ballots are counted.

   Locally, the 5th District County Commissioner race put Republican Robert Hodge ahead by just 328 votes over Democrat Sharon Weygand, with all 19 county precincts reporting. Absentee votes might still alter the outcome. The local elections board reported Hodge received 18,166 votes, or 49.54 percent, to Weygand’s 17,838, or 48.64 percent of the vote. There were 669 write-in votes– most of which probably went to Tom McWilliams.

    The 1st District County Commissioner race predictably went to Republican Jim Mullin, with 20,663 votes, or 57 percent, to Democrat Pamela H. Bailey’s 15,373 votes, or 42.4 percent.

   County commissioners are elected by all voters in the county, not just those living in the districts the commissioner will represent. So voting patterns in each of the county’s 19 precincts are illuminating: if a precinct went heavily for Republican presidential candidate McCain, voters tended to vote Republican in the local contests. And precincts favoring Democrat Obama tended to vote Democratic locally.  

  Just four Cecil County precincts went for Obama: Thomson Estates, Holly Hall, Cecil Manor and North East Elementary. In each of those precincts, Democratic candidates for commissioner pulled in their highest margins. In other precincts with heavy McCain support, Republican commissioner candidates racked up strong margins over Democrats.

   The Cecil Manor precinct had the highest proportion of pro-Obama votes, with 65.55 percent to McCain’s 31.36 percent. Fifth District Democrat Weygand followed suit, racking up her highest 66.86 percent of the precinct tally to Republican Hodge’s 31.83 percent. First District Democrat Bailey made her best showing, with 65.41 percent to Republican Mullin’s 34.59 percent. In Holly Hall and North East Elementary precincts, the Democratic commissioner candidates racked up healthy margins over their GOP opponents, too. Thomson Estates, while giving Obama 51.74 percent of its votes, gave Democrat Weygand 55.82 percent of its votes while Democrat Bailey actually lost by just 9 votes.

   On the Republican side, Conowingo was McCain country, giving him 69.56 percent of the vote to Obama’s 27.47 percent. Republican Hodge racked up his highest proportion, 60.87 percent. The Rising Sun banquet hall precinct gave McCain 68.74 percent of the vote, to Obama’s 29.3 percent. Republican Hodge pulled in 60.38 percent of the vote in his commissioner race, to Democrat Weygand’s 38.25 percent.

   So when some folks say party labels don’t matter in local county contests, that may not be the case in a presidential election year.

   It is also important to note the numbers of Cecil County voters who cast ballots for president but did not cast any vote at all in the two commissioner races.  There were 39,558 votes cast for president by county voters, but 3,495 voters did not pick a candidate in the 1st District commissioner race and 3,009 voters left the 5th District commissioner contest blank. That usually means voters are clueless about the local candidates and issues in their campaigns so they don’t vote at all on the local sections of the ballot.

Cecil Times Returns!

   We put our little blog in its crib to take a long winter’s nap after the November elections, thinking we had done our part to inform voters with original reporting on issues and campaign finance that the public should know about — but had not been reported in our local newspaper or the regional press. We thought our work was done; after all, we don’t get paid for this and wordpress doesn’t allow advertising on blogs it hosts for free.

   A lot has happened since we began our nap.

  The Whig has been castrated even more by its Australian ownership, with the firing of the few people who had any knowledge of Cecil County history and issues, as part of a cost-cutting scheme. The Baltimore Sun, which only rarely covered Cecil County in recent years, suffered the Calvert Street Massacre in which a third of the news staff was summarily dismissed as the latest insult imposed by its Chicago real estate magnate owner.  And the Cecil County blogging landscape turned into a mudwrestler’s haven. (With the exception of our favorite www.someonenoticed.wordpress.com blog hosted by the erudite and always interesting Mike Dixon.)

    So we think it’s time for The Cecil Times to wipe the sleep from our eyes, put on the coffee pot and fire up our keyboard. We will soon pick up where we left off:  looking at important election issues and campaign finance matters. We all just recovered from the last election but the next election season is already upon us: campaign 2010 is already underway.

    See you on the blog or around the Cecil County neighborhoods.

   –The Cecil Times

E.J. PIPKIN: Campaigning in Cecil, but for what job?

   Our spies around the county tell us that State Sen. E.J. Pipkin, R-Upper Shore, was in full campaign mode on Route 213 in Cecil County on Wednesday morning, waving from a pick up truck with aides holding signs declaring, “Pipkin for State Senate.” Now that would seem like the declarative statement many have been waiting for to answer the question: what is E.J. running for in 2010?

   But, no, like that movie ‘international man of mystery,’ Sen. Pipkin’s  signs do not necessarily reflect his intentions, according to an aide.

   “This was part of the Senator’s listening tour,” said Katie Nash, Pipkin’s Chief of Staff. “He’s continuing to listen to citizens,” she said, after doing similar roadside waves in Queen Anne’s County on Tuesday.  He will also be in Kent County on Thursday, waving signs to protest the Governor’s proposed closing of the Upper Shore Mental Health Center, she added.

   (As we were writing this post, we received an automated “robocall” from Pipkin urging us to call the Governor to protest the proposed closing of the Kent County facility as part of the latest budget cuts.)

   Although the signs said “Pipkin for State Senate,” that doesn’t necessarily mean he is indeed running for re-election to that post, the aide said. So he might still be looking at the Republican nomination to run against incumbent Democratic Congressman Frank Kratovil in the 1st District, or challenging Democratic incumbent state Comptroller Peter Franchot.

    If Pipkin does not seek re-election to the state Senate, we’d put our bets on the Comptroller slot. Republican State Sen. Andy Harris– who beat both Pipkin and former Rep. Wayne Gilchrest in the 1st District Congressional Republican primary two years ago– is already fund-raising for a general election re-match with Kratovil and has strong backing from the national Republican party. 

   Pipkin usually self-funds most of his campaigns, but given the uber price tags of the last 1st District Congressional race, there’s only so much self-funding a candidate can do. Federal campaigns are much more restrictive in donation rules than Maryland election law so it is virtually impossible to shift state campaign funds to a federal contest.

      So far in the 2010 state election cycle, Pipkin has raised a modest $60,348, with expenditures of $43,773. Most of his donations– 38 percent– came from Political Action Committees based in Maryland with 32 percent coming from  individual donors, according to state election records.

    Comptroller Franchot has been running a non-stop re-election campaign almost since the day he was elected but  it is not a job that most voters pay a lot of attention to until shortly before the election.  It’s a post that could be a good fit for Pipkin, with his Wall Street financial background, and the fact that it really doesn’t require a lot of heavy lifting  day in and day out. 

 But it’s a job that does require a lot of campaigning and PR– remember Willie Don Schaefer, and before that Louie Goldstein? Not many voters had the slightest idea what they actually did in the job but they sure did campaign a lot.  Pipkin has shown he likes campaigning, a lot, and the Comptroller job might suit his style and aspirations.  A statewide win for the Comptroller slot would position him for a potential gubernatorial or U.S. Senate bid in the future.

   But he’d have his work cut out for him challenging Franchot, who is very popular in his home base in the populous Montgomery County  and other suburban areas of the state where Pipkin barely registered on the political pulse in his last statewide race against U.S. Sen. Barbara Milkulski.

    Meanwhile, as Sen. Pipkin waves signs that may or  may not signal his intentions, other Republicans are left in the lurch on whether they can aspire to his state Senate seat or not.  Del. Richard Sossi, R-36, has signaled his interest if Pipkin moves up or on. Sossi is one of the most visible members of the Cecil County delegation, even though he doesn’t actually live in the county.  Last time we checked his Twitter schedule, we were exhausted just contemplating all those community meetings he attends.

Cecil Tech School: Vote for Fairness– and Your Stove!

   As Cecil County copes with cutbacks in state funds, we are faced with choices on planning–and paying for– our future needs. One of the most important decisions for our newly elected school board– and County Commissioners– will be on prioritizing the long-proposed and much delayed “comprehensive high school”– otherwise known as a four-year School of  Technology.

   By way of history, the current School of Technology is  a part-time ‘trade” school, offered on a part-time basis to juniors and seniors at regular, comprehensive high schools in the county.  In late 2006, a previous Board of Commissioners– after listening to the Chamber of Commerce, BEPAC and economic development officials as well as parents– manned up and pushed the “comprehensive high school” into top priority planning funds under the county’s Capital Plan.  Thanks to former Elkton High School Principal Nelson Bolender (and then County Commissioner) for leading the initiative, along with former Commissioner Harry Hepbron, a self-made businessman who had long advocated education and technical training to promote job development.

   But under our new Board of Commissioners, a new, expanded School of Technology has been put on the back burner.  This is despite the fact that only about 16 percent of Cecil County adults had four-year college degrees in the last census (and maybe up to 19 percent, thanks to newcomers in the northern part of the county, under 2008 estimates by the state.)  So where are the jobs, and the requisite training, for the many Cecil County young people who do not have the money, inclination, or smarts to pursue a four-year college degree?

   This all becomes a crucial issue right now as the elected Board of  Education is facing an imminent decision on whether to support an improved School of Technology– or bow to some demands for  nickel and dime capital improvements to local schools.

   We are pleased that the Cecil Whig actually addressed this issue, in a news report earlier this week, reporting that the School Board is considering several options on the tech school proposal. The School Board has to decide whether to place the tech school at the top of its school construction priority list– so as to request state school construction funding– or whether to lower it to 5th on the priority list (a guarantee that the state of Maryland will do nothing to help advance the project, given the current budget crisis).

   The final option for the county school board would be to drop the new tech school off its priority list entirely– a prescription for killing the school entirely.

     Now, about our stove….

    If you think you have nothing at stake in this debate, you should look in your kitchen.  Do you have a new stove, with lots of electronic bells and whistles and LCD’s? How about your frig?  Have you tried to get them repaired recently, especially if you live in a rural area of Cecil County? Well, we have.

   To make many days of phone calls, web searches and other angst short, our stove cannot be repaired because we live in Cecil County. No one available, or a three- week wait, we were told. Oh, so you are close to the Delaware line? No, we can’t service you because you are in Cecil County.

    Let’s face it: not everyone in Cecil County is a rocket scientist. If they were, they would not live here because there are no jobs for them.  But we have a  serious need for skilled tech and repair services that people desperately need, but the future tech workers need the training to do these jobs.

    If the School Board could approve spending for Chinese language instruction a few years ago– so how many people really benefit from that– why won’t they approve funds for a new, expanded tech school? It isn’t fair to spend funds on a limited use program like that while the vast majority of students, who need technical training for the jobs of the future, are left out.

    So contact the School Board and the Cecil County Commissioners to support putting a new four-year School of Technology/ or “comprehensive high school” at the top of the capital priority list. You owe it to the kids of this county– and to your stove!

———————————

UPDATE:  We finally got our stove fixed, thanks to the online website of www.sears.com

  We bought our stove from Lowes, which basically did nothing to help us, and after many hours on the phone with Kitchenaid, we were told we were on our own. But Lo and behold, Sears came through for us, even though we did not buy our stove from them.

   No, we don’t get paid anything by Sears, but we must tell other Cecil County residents that you can, no matter how rural the area in which you live, get appliance services from Sears via an online appointment and toll free phone service!

   Oh, and when our wonderful Sears guy came to repair our stove, he told us he got his training at a Technical High School, plus subsequent on the job training. He agreed that we must have more Tech School programs and training to help our kids and consumers to get the help they all need!

CECIL COUNTY U.S. CENSUS: Rising incomes–and ages

    The just released interim U.S. Census estimated data, under the “American Community Survey” for 2008, provides a snapshot of just how Cecil County fares in comparison with the rest of the state in many areas, from income to education levels to senior citizen population to workers’ commuting distances.

   This is a treasure trove of information and data that is not easily digested in a moment. But our analysis of the new data provides some interesting information for citizens and our County Commissioners to keep in mind as they make decisions that affect all of us.

We all want to know where we “rank” in comparision with the rest of the state, given that Cecil County usually has either an inferiority complex or an assertive “so who gives a dam*” attitude about the rest of the state. So far in our analysis, Cecil County ranks #10 out of 16 jurisdictions in the state on both median household income and proportion of the population aged 65 or over. In other words, a bit below average…

The national Census Bureau report concluded that the state of Maryland was the richest in the nation, with median household income of $70,545 a year. (“Median” means the midpoint, with half the households above and half below that income level.) For Cecil County, the median income was $68,338, placing Cecil County at number 10 within the state—with 6 subdivisions poorer and 9 richer. (NOTE: this survey does not include smaller counties in the state, such as Kent, Somerset and Garrett.)

(See Chart Below)

  

Maryland	70,545	+/-622
Allegany County	39,871	+/-3,668
Anne Arundel County	83,285	+/-2,801
Baltimore County	63,128	+/-2,071
Calvert County	81,662	+/-4,197
Carroll County	78,653	+/-3,185
Cecil County	68,338	+/-5,436
Charles County	87,030	+/-4,323
Frederick County	78,728	+/-3,844
Harford County	77,085	+/-2,705
Howard County	102,540	+/-3,151
Montgomery County	94,319	+/-2,084
Prince George’s County	72,166	+/-1,809
St. Mary’s County	80,624	+/-5,214
Washington County	51,503	+/-2,896
Wicomico County	49,186	+/-3,656
Baltimore city	40,313	+/-1,482

    Frankly, we are a bit surprised that Cecil County even does this well.  The Maryland Department of Planning interim estimates of income for Cecil County, previously estimated for the same 2008 period, estimated a  much lower $63,850 median household income.  We will be contacting the statistical gurus at the Maryland State Data Center in the next few days for their evaluation of the new U.S. Census data versus their own lower estimates.

    One of the key indicators of future quality-of-life issues and community needs is the population aged 65 and over. The county’s planning study by the distinquished SAGE research group from Baltimore, as well as projections by the state Planning Department, estimate that Cecil County faces about a two-fold increase in the senior citizen population. So far, the new U.S. Census data only reflects where we are, not where we will be, but the data indicate Cecil County must seriously begin to plan for an aging population.

 (MORE ON THIS ISSUE IN OUR NEXT POST ON THE CECIL TIMES)