Commentary

Summer has meant fireworks for Capital Bikeshare (CaBi), as the regional bikesharing network registered a record-breaking 589,464 rides in July. The surge in system use in July marks the third consecutive month in which CaBi has broken its all-time ridership record. Trips have increased 26.4% compared to July 2023 and ridership thus far in 2024 totals 3,173,995 trips, a 31.1% increase over last year.

It was nice to read a positive commentary about behavioral health care (“Investing in mental health recovery helps everyone in Baltimore,” Aug. 13). In 1977 when I started a job with the Mental Heath Association of Maryland, 85% of state mental health dollars were spent on state psychiatric institutions. At the same time, a few pioneers were starting programs similar to B’More Clubhouse in counties across the state, often in church basements.

Public servants rarely receive praise. Instead, they tend to hear from the people only when problems arise. For so many reasons, however, the Social Security Administration deserves a different response — because the SSA and its commissioner, Martin O’Malley, are putting on a clinic in showing how visionary leadership can drive meaningful change.

Bryan Sears did his usual outstanding job covering two important items on this week’s Board of Public Works meeting agenda (“New prescription benefits contract to yield ‘modest’ initial savings to state”, 8/7/24). But 60,000 state retirees wish he had also reported on the Medicare Prescription Drug Exchange and Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) services contract on the agenda, intended to assist Maryland’s oldest retired state employees in transitioning from their promised retiree prescription drug plan to Medicare Part D.

Since replacing President Joe Biden at the top of the 2024 Democratic ticket, Vice President Kamala Harris has neither given a sit-down interview nor held a news conference. Her campaign’s website lacks an “Issues” page (there’s only a biography). We get it, tactically: it’s tempting for Ms. Harris, as it would be for anyone in her position, to stay as vague on the issues as possible, for as long as possible, to avoid giving fodder to the opposition or dividing her supporters.

Gov. Wes Moore’s push to build the Red Line light-rail project in Baltimore flies in the face of Maryland’s history with rail transit, a history that includes huge cost overruns, ridership shortfalls and steadily deteriorating transit ridership. According to the Federal Transit Administration, Baltimore buses carried 122 million trips in 1982, before the state built any rail lines.

The unpleasant act of comparing Donald Trump’s age and mental fitness with Joe Biden’s became moot on the Sunday afternoon when the 81-year-old president ended his reelection campaign. Now the 78-year-old Trump stands alone for examination on age and mental fitness, a specimen like no other in the history of American elections.