Dixon Resigns

Is it too much to ask of Councilman Curran that he take his hat off when inside City Hall? Or perhaps even to wear business attire?

Could this be the end of bags in trees?

A proposal to ban plastic bags in Baltimore made its way through a critical City Council committee vote yesterday. Banning the use of plastic bags could mean the end of bags in waterways or caught on tree branches. The proposal would require only larger stores to offer paper or reusable bags (those with gross annual sales of less than $500,000 would be exempt).

Seems like a great idea to me, even though it costs more to produce paper bags than plastic. But the long-term effects cannot be denied. Those bags in the trees never go away -- they just blow over to your neighbor's tree.

The proposal was approved by a vote on 3-1, with our Councilman Robert Curran as the sole "no" vote. Curran, whom the Baltimore Sun notes "took a job bagging groceries after high school," (see -- he's just common folk like us!) said that he is standing with grocery worker unions who oppose the bill.

I am a fervent supporter of unions, so I understand Curran wanting to do the right thing here. However, I would have much preferred he be more forward-looking and take the approach of Councilwoman Agnes Welch. From the Sun:

City Councilwoman Agnes Welch, meanwhile, voted for the bill in committee so it could be vetted by the full council, she said. But she said she may not support the measure when it comes before the full council.

Your thoughts?

Image from "It's our L.A.!"

Primary results: Same 'ol, same 'ol

I know a lot of people are simply disillusioned by the current state of politics in Baltimore, but come on people! A 28% voter turnout?! This is not only shameful, but also counterproductive. In the end we have the status quo: Dixon, Rawlings, and Curran.

When I went to our polling place (the Firehouse) at 6 p.m. there was only one other person voting. I asked how the turnout had been: about 215 people all day. This when I hear from fellow citizens how awful they think Dixon is, or how we need an activist like Sarbanes to stand up to her and the O'Malley machine. How did you think anything would change if you didn't bother to go vote?

But rather than become disillusioned by these results, I'm looking at the opportunity to give Curran a run for his money and throw my full support behind the Green Party candidate, Bill Barry. His chances for actually beating Curran in the election? yeah, pretty much nil. But my goal is to give Bobby the message that there are plenty of us out here who are unhappy with him, and that he needs to start serving the entire community. Let's send him the message that we in Westfield need him to respond to our concerns and help us revitalize our neighborhood.

If you're concerned about gangs, prostitutes, empty storefronts, and traffic, please join me in my effort to make Councilman Curran give Westfield a little more attention.

Campaign 2008: The 3rd District

The Baltimore City Paper recently ran an interesting piece on the upcoming City Council elections, specifically focusing on the 3rd District and Councilman Curran:

Curran isn't just a three-term councilman who now serves as council vice president. He won the seat vacated by his brother, Martin E. “Mike” Curran, who was appointed after their father, J. Joseph Curran Sr., died in 1977. Curran men have been serving the 3rd District — the northeasternmost district in the city, bordered by York Road, Harford Road, and Sinclair Lane — since 1958.

Yikes! If you're like me, a relative newcomer to Hamilton, the Curran dynasty in our district might be news to you, too. There are actually other candidates running for this seat. And I think even if Curran is heavily favored to be reelected, it's important that he not take our votes for granted.

So take a serious look at the other candidate for the Democratic primary, Michael Hamilton, “a former banker and independent businessman who now teaches special education on a contract with the Baltimore City Public School System. For six years, he served as the president of the Baltimore City Council of Parent-Teacher Associations.”

And also look at Green Party candidate (and Lauraville resident) Bill Barry, who will be running against the winner of the Sept. 11 Democratic primary winner.

I have not heard of any Republican candidates. If you know of one, let us know so we can give them equal press here.