Commentary

On behalf of the dedicated people on the city of Frederick’s Charter Review Committee, I am writing to express our frustration about the delay and disjointed “management” of our report and recommendations from the time it was delivered to our elected leadership on Dec. 1, 2023, to the present. More importantly, perhaps, it is truly disheartening to have certain of our elected officials criticize us in public meetings for purportedly “doing a disservice to the process” by failing to appear and make presentations to explain our intent as to some of our recommendations.

Seven men sit across the dais — six white and one Black. They’ve been elected to wield government power on behalf of Baltimore County’s 854,000 residents, more than half of whom are women and nearly half Black, brown, Indigenous and other people of color. How could this all-male, overwhelmingly white group truly represent Baltimore County’s rich diversity?

Companies doing business in the state of Maryland are no strangers to regulation and taxes. So, when Maryland introduced a special business tax that would provide federal tax relief to Maryland businesses, there was widespread cheer. Unfortunately, government inefficiency in the state has caused a rare tax incentive to be more of a headache than it’s worth for many business owners and tax professionals.

One alarming aspect of the current crime wave is the dramatic increase of both violent and property crime in areas of Maryland that have not seen similar surges in the past. That’s exactly what is happening in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties, which are suffering from rapid increases in rates of violent crimes, carjackings and robberies.

The Great Pandemic was a scourge for our community, our nation and indeed the whole world, but the response to the crisis was at times a lifesaver to people living at the margins. The many programs implemented by the Biden administration to blunt the harm of the pandemic-induced recession pumped billions into programs aimed at protecting the working poor. And the spending was successful, protecting many families from financial devastation.

In the span of a week, the Orioles’ plans for a six-man rotation to get them through a treacherous stretch with one off day in the month of June went awry. John Means’ elbow injury and Dean Kremer’s right triceps strain saw to that. It remains true that the Orioles’ pitching depth is defined by its quality as opposed to quantity, though now that depth is all in use with Albert Suárez and Cole Irvin in the rotation.