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Politics

Filling voids: Keeping the legacy of a community organizer in East Baltimore
September 8, 2022 -

Rocky Brown was known for pushing the city to meet the needs of youth in the Bocek/Madison-Eastend neighborhoods in East Baltimore where he lived and was active. One example of that was in 2017 when he convinced the city to reopen the Bocek Recreation Center, at the time a lone, boarded-up building with trash piling up by its doors and a playground that went unused. The facility had been closed for at least 20 years.

Read More: The Baltimore Banner
Harford County Council extends appointment of acting procurement director, introduces three bills and two resolutions at first legislative session of the fiscal year
September 8, 2022 -

The Harford County Council held its first legislative session of the new fiscal year Tuesday evening. The council introduced two resolutions and three bills at the meeting. The first resolution is to adopt the Master Water and Sewer Plan Fall 2022 update. The bill states that the county code requires an updated Water and Sewer Plan every six months.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Political notes: Senate GOP seeks distance from Cox, Raskin vows action against Trump, and more
September 8, 2022 -

State Senate Republicans on Tuesday laid out their strategy for picking up seats in the fall election. Notably, it did not include working closely with Del. Dan Cox (R-Frederick), the GOP nominee for governor. During an online news conference, the Republicans said they would spotlight Democratic policies and proposals on the campaign trail in an attempt to argue that Democrats are out of step with average Marylanders and causing harm to their pocketbooks and well-being.

Read More: Maryland Matters
How Wes Moore is deploying his military service on the campaign trail
September 7, 2022 -

It’s hardly news that Wes Moore, the Democratic nominee for governor, is highlighting his military service as part of his campaign. Since entering the race over a year ago, Moore has spoken frequently about how his military career has shaped his worldview and his political philosophy. He says that serving in the Army, as a captain in Afghanistan, taught him “to leave no one behind” — a sentiment that he has adopted as a political slogan to indicate his desire to lift all Marylanders. He also recounts that when fellow soldiers were in distress, “nobody asked if they were Democrats or Republicans.”

Read More: Maryland Matters
Baltimore County Council approves pay raises for county executive, council members, top official
September 7, 2022 -

Salaries for the Baltimore County executive, council members and the county’s head administrator will increase by roughly 10% after Baltimore County Council members approved a pay raise for future county councils and top county officials. The council also voted by a 5-2 margin to hike a cap on pension benefits for council members to 70% of their averaged final compensation, up from 60%. Although council members had considered removing the cap entirely, Democratic councilmen Julian Jones, Izzy Patoka and Tom Quirk, and Republicans David Marks and Wade Kach instead voted to raise the cap on pensions paid to council members 55 and older who served at least one term.

Read More: The Baltimore Banner
Baltimore government was ‘stuck in the ’90s.’ City administrator Christopher Shorter was hired to shake things up.
September 7, 2022 -

A long list of urgent needs sits before Christopher Shorter as he leads Baltimore’s executive team through a weekly Zoom leadership meeting. A city report on how local tax credits are both inefficient and unfair will publish soon: What solutions are available? Residents are reporting that squeegee kids are scamming motorists via Cash App: How can leadership help victims and prevent future thefts? The city is digitizing payroll and expense reports: How will workers be onboarded? The wide-ranging challenges all fall to Shorter, who as Baltimore’s first ever Chief Administrative Officer has the gargantuan task of making the city more efficient.

Read More: The Baltimore Banner
Anne Arundel County Council Republican modifies flag ban bill: ‘It’s a bit narrower’
September 7, 2022 -

Anne Arundel County Council Republican Nathan Volke of Pasadena withdrew a controversial bill Tuesday night that would ban all flags other than the county, state and federal flags from flying on county flagpoles or being displayed in county buildings. He replaced the bill at Tuesday’s council meeting with one that would prohibit the county from allowing individuals or groups outside government to fly flags on county flagpoles. The bill will not be open for public hearing until Oct. 3 due to council procedure that allows residents time to review the new proposal.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
There’s a ‘good chance’ mobile sports betting comes to Maryland before the end of 2022
September 7, 2022 -

By the end of this year, Maryland gamblers may be able to place mobile sports bets. The arrival of online sports gambling has been more than two years in the making, but as recently as last month, a 2022 launch didn’t seem likely. At that time, a Maryland state gaming control agency official said it was “everybody’s hope” that mobile sports betting could take place in the state before the Super Bowl in February. However, the Sports Wagering Application Review Commission began accepting applications Tuesday from mobile sports betting businesses and Maryland Lottery and Gaming Director John Martin predicted that mobile wagering could start before the end of 2022.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Three takeaways about Ivan Bates’ plans as state’s attorney made at a Greater Baltimore Committee and Goucher College event
September 7, 2022 -

For almost one hour on Tuesday, Ivan Bates, who’s set to become the next state’s attorney in Baltimore, reflected on the primary campaign and answered questions about his future plans at an event at Goucher College in partnership with the Great Baltimore Committee. Bates, 54, of Locust Point, defeated the two-term incumbent, Marilyn Mosby, in the Democratic primary on July 19. He’s running unopposed on Election Day. Sharon Schreiber, chief operating officer of the Greater Baltimore Committee, and Mileah Kromer, director of the Sarah T. Hughes Center for Politics at Goucher College, moderated a Q&A session and took several additional questions from the audience.

Read More: The Baltimore Banner
Here’s where Wes Moore and Dan Cox stand on health care, guns, the environment and more
September 6, 2022 -

Both of Maryland’s major party nominees to replace Republican Gov. Larry Hogan this year have been clear: They are starkly different candidates for voters to put their faith in for the next four years. And voters can expect to soon start hearing more directly from Democrat Wes Moore and Republican Dan Cox and their running mates about their divergence of views. The candidates will be spending what they’ve raised — and trying to rapidly raise more — via ads and at public appearances from parades to picnics to a televised debate as the post-Labor Day to Election Day sprint begins.

Read More: Baltimore Sun

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