Letter to the Editor: Not So Fast on Library Judgements

The current financial problems at the Kent County Public Library are a serious matter involving substantial budget imbalance which seems to flow from relaxed oversight by those charged with supervision of spending. As the facts become known, it appears that responsibility for these failures can be distributed widely through many levels of state and county agencies, the library board, hired auditors, and the library director. There’s plenty of blame to go around.

But calls for termination of the director, Jerry Keiser, only make him proxy for the large crowd who should share the blame. He is, after all, the one person involved who is trained for and experienced in running a library on a day-to-day basis. Mr. Keiser inherited a deficit, and though it has grown in recent years, he has also brought a vibrant new pace to Library staff spirit, activities, and programs and overseen a renovation of the Library building that came in under budget.  His commitment to improving our community is clear and ongoing, and to cut it off with a change in administration (which itself involves substantial new costs in time and dollars for advertising, interviewing, etc.) will more likely delay a resolution and repair of the damage. The present Library staff is sharp, motivated, and unlikely to be improved by a stranger come newly to town.

What’s needed are substantial changes in policies and practices. These should not be hard to figure out but they will involve hard work, extra effort, and some unhappy choices. I have served several terms on the board of the Friends of the Library, with ample opportunity to get acquainted with library personnel over the years. These are very good people, smart enough to fix these problems if they have appropriate guidance on accounting policies and practices. A punitive approach will not accomplish what needs to be done, which is to keep this gem of a library in motion and help it continue to serve the intellectual and cultural growth of our community.

Chuck Engstrom
Millington, MD

Op-Ed: Vote Republican in Queen Anne’s September 14 by John Lang

If you don’t like how things are going in Queen Anne’s County and want real change, I have a proposal. No matter what your political leanings are — left, right, bent both ways — vote in the Republican primary on September 14.

That’s where every vote for county commissioner will count the most. That’s where there are clear choices between pro-development and slow-development candidates.

On the Democratic side, every seat for county commissioner is either uncontested or there’s not a lot of doubt about the outcome. Neal Jackson, Paul Gunther and Jack Broderick have no primary opposition. Longtime political watchers in Queen Anne’s believe Howard Dean and Winn Krozack will win nomination, too, because they are much better organized than their opponents to this point. Barring unforeseen events, that’s the Democratic ticket in the fall.

The real game is in the Republican primary — where there are real choices.

If you’re pro-growth, vote for Steven Arentz, Robert Mansfield, Richard Smith, Phil Dumenil and Dave Olds. Those are the Republicans endorsed by Business Queen Anne’s, the voice of developers, which is running ads for them in The Update.

If you oppose unfettered growth, the Republicans to support are Frank Frohn, David Dunmyer and Robert Simmons (there are no Republicans unfriendly to developers running for the two remaining seats, in Districts 3 and 4).

The Republican primary is where you can back a good guy and maybe knock off a bad guy – whichever your inclinations.

To decide on the Democrats – hint: Gunther and Dean are endorsed by Business Queen Anne’s – hint: Jackson and Krozack are favored by conservationists – you can wait for the general election on November 2. They’ll still be around to kick around.

Of course you can’t vote in the Republican primary if you’re registered as a Democrat (and vice versa). And if you are registered as independent you can’t vote in either primary.

Pssst: You can change your registration. You can go to the county Election Board on Commerce Street directly across from the courthouse in Centreville and switch parties. Or you can do it online: go to www.qacelections.com, click on voter registration application, fill out the short form and mail it in. You’ve got until August 24.

I did this just the other day. It took only a few minutes and, for the first time in my life, I walked the streets as a Republican. It felt kind of strange. It felt like . . . power to the people!

John Lang

Op-Ed: A Small System Cannot Negate a Great System by Dr. Barbara Wheeler

The Kent County Public School system is the smallest school system in the State of Maryland with a student population prekindergarten through grade 12 of 2, 236. Even though our staff and student populations are small, there are lessons that we can learn from larger school systems. Many of the larger counties such as Montgomery County, Baltimore County, and other systems in Maryland are able to offer instructional opportunities for their children that we cannot offer because of our size and resources. As superintendent of schools, I do not accept this as OK. Our students will live and work with people from all over the State of Maryland and across this world, perhaps in person or virtually. To the fullest extent possible, we have a responsibility to provide programs that will allow our students to be competitive, not just on the Eastern Shore but everywhere. Large counties often have the resources to pilot programs and strategies that we can replicate after the “bugs” have been worked out.  Networking with professionals from other counties, large and small, provides a different perspective as well as different resolutions to issues.

Maryland, along with 23 other states, have decided to replace their mathematics and English/Language Arts standards with a common set of national standards. Ultimately, curricula and tests will be crafted that embody the new standards. The State of Maryland has had a state curriculum for a number of years, but the new common set of standards will require that what we teach is aligned to the national common standards.

How our children achieve on these standards will measure the effectiveness of the instruction that students receive in Kent County as compared to every other system in the nation. The educational stakes are high. We must prepare our children to compete so that they have the same choices for employment opportunities or college acceptance as students who are in larger and, perhaps, more affluent counties.

Yes, we are small in size but not in brainpower. Our job is to provide the tools that will empower our children to be great! YES WE CAN!

Op-ed: Chestertown Zoning is Hurting Our Downtown by Peter Newlin

It is time Chestertown jettisoned its one-size-fits-all approach to our downtown marketplace zoning.

For the past year our architecture firm has been researching the economic plight of Park Row, and more broadly, what can be done to nurture our downtown economy.  That research has led us to realize Chestertown’s current commercial zoning has been undermining the preservation of some valuable historic structures and the economic viability of certain neighborhoods downtown.

Zoning is arguably local government’s greatest power to shape our future.  Zoning restricts private property rights by defining what activities a person may conduct on one’s property. These restrictions act like a spigot on the local economy, which can flow only through the channels zoning expressly permits.

Communities should shape their zoning restrictions with laser focus on the benefits they intend to produce and an eagle eye out for their harmful consequences.  Some do.  Others stumble along with outdated restrictions and deleterious consequences to the local economy. Chestertown falls into the latter camp with regard to its downtown marketplace zoning.

Our downtown is a pedestrian marketplace populated by buildings of many different use-types and dates of origin.  We should be shaping our zoning, neighborhood by neighborhood, to nurture the microeconomics of preservation, and promote diversity of small business downtown, but we aren’t.

Our downtown marketplace zoning C-2 (Central Commercial District) is generally appropriate in Chestertown’s downtown core (High Street & Cross).  Most of Chestertown’s core commercial buildings were built or remodeled after the fire of 1910, which burned much of downtown.   These are typically storefronts on the ground level with offices or residential above.  Not surprisingly, that is exactly what C2 zoning was created to allow.

Chestertown’s C2 zoning dates from the era of suburbia, before historic preservation was commonly understood to bring value to the public realm.  Suburban zoning shapes “progress” by opening the economic spigot only to the (somewhat subjective) “highest and best use(s)”. It segregates uses, for example to prevent dwellings from taking up street frontage in a retail district.  This segregating approach is not a good fit with an historic marketplace that has grown organically into a rich mix of building types and uses.

Chestertown’s C2 zoning identifies its “Purpose” as “compact and efficient development.”  There is no mention of historic preservation, nor any concern shown for:

• Whether the business uses C2 allows are likely to damage their historic environment, or
• Whether one of the uses C2 prohibits might be necessary to fund historic preservation

Yet Chestertown’s historic fabric is the most-often cited reason visitors come downtown. It is the trading base of our downtown economy.  Shouldn’t its preservation be a central zoning concern?

C2 zoning governs areas of 18th and 19th century structures as well as 20th, but does not take into account the uses these historic buildings were built to accommodate. For example, the five dwellings between Andy’s (now Lulu’s) and Mill Street (pictured below) are all zoned C2 Commercial, which prohibits any residential occupancy on the ground floor.

Some are “grandfathered” and so are still inhabited as houses, the first floor included. Others have been remodeled for retail with storefront windows, their porches removed.  The Chestertown’s Historic District Commission (HDC) now prevents owners from removing their porches or putting in storefront windows. That’s a good thing for the integrity of the Historic District, yet it impinges on property values and revenue streams since it prohibits exterior alterations that are essential for retail. Zoning restrictions are taken seriously by prospective buyers, and as a result, our High Street owners of intact dwellings get a double whammy: their property value depressed and their revenue opportunities restricted.

Let’s consider Park Row.  Last June my wife, Gale Tucker, and I purchased the stucco a building there, the stucco one with half moon windows (pictured below) last June and Since then we, Chesapeake Architects, have been studying Park Row extensively.  It is a neighborhood spiraling downward that creative zoning can help revive.

Park Row fronts on Fountain Park, a hub for visitors and locals alike.  The Maryland Historical Trust has deemed all five of Park Row’s 19th century dwellings to be of “High Value” (although they no longer use that term).  These historic houses, fronting on a park, should be prime real estate.

According to “Chestertown: An Architectural Guide,” the yellow building (pictured below) on the corner of Park Row, across from the Post Office, was “Probably built by William Slubey, local merchant, in the late 18th century or early 19th … [It] is the oldest along Park Row … [and] one of the few remaining five-bay, 2 ½ story clapboard dwellings in town”.

This historic house has suffered serial remodeling in vain attempts to adapt it for commercial use.  The building has good visibility but its historic windows and small rooms are not suitable for commercial use.  Tenants have come and gone. As often happens when zoning prohibits a building from being used as historically intended, the property value declines, which in turn depresses neighboring property values.

Dave Ferguson, one of our most prominent preservationists, recently told me he had wanted to buy this building some years ago to restore it as his home.  However, as previously noted, C2 zoning prohibits occupying it as a house.  Since then, its historic interiors have been removed in yet another remodeling for retail.  C2 blocks restoration, in favor of commercial remodeling.

The Pippin Hotel next door (on the right above) is built in the Mansard style as a boarding house.  Typical of the late 19th Century, it has a porch across its front. Porches attract visitors downtown, but C2 zoning pressures for their removal since first floor spaces behind porches lack commercial visibility. C2 zoning forces dwellings to compete for commercial tenants without being able to offer the assets commercial tenants need: the storefront windows, signage opportunities and high visibility.  As a consequence, our historic houses bring in so little revenue their owners are hard put to fund their upkeep.  Shabbiness results, and that’s bad marketing for business.

Along Park Row, the offices and the retail tenants are, in aggregate, open for business less than a third of normal hours.  Park Row is an economy in failure mode.

This is the perfect time to address both issues – how zoning can nurture historic preservation and support the economy of our marketplace neighborhoods; Chestertown’s Planning Commission is busy revamping our zoning now.  There are two fundamental questions our planners could be asking to promote our downtown economy:

• Does our downtown zoning encourage as many different types of small business as possible?  We need as diverse a mix of Businesses and Business Owners as we can get downtown to appeal to as broad a spectrum of customers and clients as possible.
• Does our downtown zoning offer alternative revenue streams for building owners?  Our historic buildings are the trading platform of our downtown marketplace.  They are our most compelling asset – the economic structure we have inherited, our biggest marketing draw in the present, and what we need to preserve if we are to thrive in the future.

Instead, on March 17th and again on April 28th Chestertown’s Zoning Administrator told the Planning Commission he recommends: “RB (Professional Office) for Park Row.”  Chestertown’s RB Zoning permits single family houses side by side with professional offices.  Clearly the Zoning Administrator sees no reason to prohibit first floor residential on Park Row.

The only use that already exists on Park Row which RB zoning would not permit is retail.  However, two of the property owners on Park Row are deeply invested in retail operations.  These existing uses would be “grandfathering” under RB zoning, but that still entails a taking of Park Row’s rights to retail which have prevailed for decades, for example, the right to expand their operations in the future.

A prohibition of retail would have a chilling effect on all retail in the vicinity, for the Town Arts building on Spring Street, for instance.  These businesses are invested in the growth of an Arts Community.  No one can tell how that future will unfold, but what justification can our planners have for prohibiting it?  We need more creative investment opportunities, not less.

After all, art galleries are one of the few retail businesses that can inhabit a house without damaging its historic fabric.  Art galleries can be an instrument of historic preservation.  And they contribute to making Chestertown interesting to experience, which is key to drawing visitors downtown.

Thriving Historic Districts everywhere — Annapolis, Frederick, Hagerstown, Alexandria – are solving such zoning troubles by creating mixed-use neighborhood zoning shaped to nurture their historic buildings. What exactly that mixed-use zoning allows varies widely because planners begin by identifying the particular resources (on-going businesses, historic buildings, etc.) present in a specific neighborhood, then figure out how zoning can be shaped to help them thrive.  Creative zoning can help these properties become sufficiently attractive investments, so their owners can fund their upkeep.  Historic buildings require substantial cash flow for preventative maintenance.

Shouldn’t historic structures be allowed to be used as historically intended?  The original use – full residential, for example – adds to a building’s potential revenue stream, which aids historic preservation and maintains the historic district’s vitality.

From the point of view of Invested Capital, Park Row consists of:

• Two historic dwellings (on left) suitable for residential use, but not for office or retail
• Two units which have been remodeled for retail use, the duplex with storefront windows
• And two buildings (on the right) both of which have office tenants

Park Row’s owners have almost unanimously requested a new class of downtown zoning in their written application to the Town, as follows:

Chestertown should consider creating a new zoning class for downtown business neighborhoods like Park Row.  To reflect its applicability, it might be named:

HD-MU:   Historic District – Mixed Use

The purpose of this HD-MU zoning is to enable income-producing occupancies in neighborhoods of the Historic District that are composed of historic houses of “contributing” value, within and adjacent to Chestertown’s Downtown commercial district (adjacent to C2 Zoning).  HD-MU would give the owner the option of residential occupancy on all floors, as well as office and limited retail.  That additional residential use will help sustain the preservation of the historic structures, whether owner-occupied, or rental.  Park Row is a case in point, but HD-MU zoning can help nurture other downtown neighborhoods, too.  Some of Cannon St?  South Queen St?  Calvert St?

Allowable retail occupancies can be limited in size and intensity, for example, to (only): craft stores, art galleries, jewelry stores,  anything trading in small objects that doesn’t require large truck deliveries, masses of customers and won’t generate trash by the dumpster load.

Professional office occupancies can be allowed as in RB zoning.  Most residential occupancies can be allowed, including small apartments and boarding.  B&Bs might be a conditional use because of their parking needs.

It’s worth remembering, almost all of what’s good about Park Row came into being before Chestertown had any zoning (before 1974), most notably the five 19th Century buildings of high historic value.  As the attached drawing SE/5 shows, what has hurt Park Row’s historic structures most is the 20th Century remodeling for retail merchandizing.  Otherwise, Park Row has continued to be a mixed-use neighborhood of residences, retail, and professional offices.  That these occupancies co-exist side by side is not the problem.  The problem is, the Town’s C2 zoning does not permit the five 19th Century dwellings to be occupied as historically designed.  Three and a half decades of C2 zoning is one of the reasons Park Row is in trouble.  That may be true for other neighborhoods downtown too.

Neighborhoods are the product of their own micro-economics and micro-history. C2 zoning, a pretty good match for the 20th century storefronts in our downtown core, can be reworked to be better at encouraging business diversity and at nurturing historic preservation. However, at the fringes of our downtown core we have retail and office activity overlapping high-value historic dwellings (Upper High Street, Park Row, and the 200-300 blocks of Cannon). These areas are well placed to act as transitional neighborhoods between the bustle of downtown retail and the peace residential neighborhoods seek.  HD-MU zoning (if that’s what it gets called) can provide the desirable transition between the two.

As a community of small businesses in a historic marketplace, we can help minimize the drag zoning places on our delicate economy.  Our Planning Commission can provide leadership by asking downtown business owners, property owners, and preservationists for their input:

• What restrictions are truly necessary to nurture our businesses? And where?
• What sources of income to preserve our trading base?  And where?

A democratic review of these different points of view will slow the re-zoning process, that’s true.  It will also help our business owners’ and property owners’ bottom lines.  These financial improvements will last decades – short term planning pain for long term economic gains.

In a Historic District, every neighborhood should have zoning that supports its economy and heritage.  Our downtown marketplace will flow more efficiently with the zoning faucet is turned on.

Peter Newlin is past-Chair of the Kent County Building Code Committee, and a past-member of Chestertown’s Historic District Commission.  He has been a downtown property on Church Alley since 1978, practicing architecture. Peter and his firm, Chesapeake Architects, have won regional, state-wide and national awards for  town planning, energy conservation, historic preservation and contemporary design. Copies of the Park Row Study can be found by clicking here (slow download)

Spy Op-Ed: Having defeated FASTC, Queen Anne’s Must Show Leadership by Stephen Meehan

News that the U.S. State Department had decided to move the FASTC project to another state was disappointing. Despite wide public support, State Department officials could not risk losing the FASTC project altogether to protracted litigation with Queen Anne’s Conservation Association, Inc. (“QACA”) with the Recovery Act expenditure clock ticking, even though they are knowingly establishing a “sue us and we will leave” precedent.

I disagree with Senator Mikulski that the process worked.  How could it, when the process was hijacked before it could be completed. Gone are the 1,800-acre Bay Restoration component, hundreds of jobs, opportunities for local businesses including sheltered employment programs for the disabled, upgrades to the deadly 301/304 intersection, and broadband from Wye Mills to Elkton.

The FASTC demise is QACA’s crowning moment of an effort that started with their big wins in the 2002 County Commissioners’ election and has continued with the 2004 Commissioners’ board expansion and more success in the 2006 election. QACA has created a political environment that allowed them to rewrite the county’s economic story through legislation and litigation.  Unfortunately, the QACA economic plan has proven unsustainable.  The results are a shrinking commercial tax base, stunted residential tax revenue, and growing public debt service. Yet, the FASTC departure only strengthens QACA’s grip on Queen Anne’s County.

The facts have not changed: unemployment and underemployment remain high, there is little local opportunity for high school graduates, and private investment is stagnant.  While there is cheering in Ruthsburg, residents elsewhere ponder how to maintain our schools, roads, and public safety and meet the county’s school construction and public facilities agenda without meaningful economic development or increased taxes at a time when the folks at home cannot face another bill.

QACA’s victory over FASTC comes with it the responsibility to show leadership in creating jobs and meaningful economic growth without fear of a lawsuit so that our community has a broad tax base that supports the public’s demand for services without more tax burden.

Stephen Z. Meehan practices law in Chestertown and is spokesman for the Eastern Shore Leadership Council, a 501(c)(3) organization that works for sustainable local economies and job growth.

Spy Eye: The Slow Death of Kent Plaza

While it is true that the Kent Shopping Plaza has never looked particularly healthy during its fifty-plus years as Chestertown’s shopping center,  images of despair are starting to fall on the North Chestertown property. Owned and seemingly neglected by Baltimore landlord David Cordish, whose other properties have won national awards and the praise of design critics, Kent Plaza stands today as an embarrassment for both the town and the Cordish Company.

Op-Ed: Does Chestertown’s Planning Commission Respect History? by Holly Geddes

If you think Diane Daniels and I respect each other, you are correct. I hope her wish comes true and we can, as a town, respect the history of Chestertown specifically and all small, historic towns in general.

I am concerned that the Planning Commission, however, does not respect the history of the development of towns generally or Chestertown in particular and that raises questions. Historically, towns were built with the expectation that if you worked in town, you lived in town. Conversely, if you lived in town you worked there, too.

You might live above your shop. Or you might live next door to your business. The density of stores would cluster around one or two corners. As you moved even a half block from that center, businesses and shops would be built next to each other and finally, folks would find themselves in residential spaces.

In the 1800 and early 1900’s, folks worked from home in a way that has only recently come back to fashion with home offices. So you often see the layout that is present on the west side of High Street above Lulu’s. In almost all towns with historic districts in the state of Maryland this pattern is respectfully recognized in a zoning designation that is called a “central zone”, a “hybrid zone” or a “mixed use” zone. Mixed use does not refer to the use of a single building. It refers to a zone or cluster of buildings.

Understand that zoning became an issue in Chestertown around the 1980s, about the time the Tidewater Inn in Easton was thinking of expanding to our town. For what ever reason that expansion did not occur. But the zoning created for it has remained to the detriment of some property owners. Also understand that the purpose of zoning is to prevent harm to the citizens by making sure that the use of property does not present a health, safety or other threat.

Here are a few important questions: As a town, do we want to honor the history of the development of Chestertown by having a hybrid/ central/ mixed use zone? Do we believe in the right of people to use their private property to their own benefit? Do we want to preserve the heritage of this town?

So, we can designate the current “commercial” district or some part of it to recognize the growth of town. We can understand that the top of High Street, Cannon Street and Park Row and other areas were built with a mix of businesses and homes. Or we can require the space to choose between being residential or commercial. Our Planning Commission has disregarded town history by choosing the second option.

The second choice condemns the owners of property that does not fit the new designation to lose income and limit activities to those chosen for them by the town government. The cost of changing a shop into a home or an apartment into a shop is too expensive to be workable. The choice between the two designations means that half the area will not make enough profit to be able to do regular maintenance let alone restoration. This degrades the appearance of the transition parts of town. It also means that as the property value goes down, the property tax revenue also goes down. Everyone in town suffers.

My question for the Planning Commission is, “Why would you do this?” You are rewriting the zoning schemes right now. Why not do it properly and respectfully? Why deliberately restrict people from the use of their property in the most profitable way? No one is asking to put in anything that is harmful, unhealthy or of high nuisance problem on these transitional spaces. You have required Mr. Kirby to put just such a transitional zone into his plan for Stepney Manor. Yet a block of citizens has petitioned the town to include this transitional zone on their street and you have said it is impossible. There are quite a number of questions here. Maybe you can answer them before the zoning plan goes to the town for approval.

Spy Op-Ed: Business as Usual in Annapolis by Senator E.J. Pipkin

Once again, the Assembly refused to bite the bullet and chose business as usual.  The General Assembly refused to make tough choices to balance the budget that would overcome the nearly annual deficits of $2 billion forecasted for the next four years until 2015.  I, along with Senator David Brinkley (District 4, Frederick), proposed a budget of tough and serious cuts that would have resulted in a balanced budget for 2011 and 2012. We showed that if the legislature really wanted to, it could plug the budget deficit and take Maryland out of the red without raising taxes.

Instead, the Governor’s $13.2 billion budget was business as usual with a series of one-time accounting gimmicks, fund transfers, timid cuts and a dependence on federal stimulus funds.  It fails to guarantee either fiscal stabilization or sanity.  It kicks the can down the road and guarantees $2 billion deficits annually.

Not all budget cuts are the right kind of cuts, however.  The slash of highway user funds to the counties is ill-conceived and short-sighted.   These funds are supposed to be the local share of the state gas tax and are used by local governments to repair roads.  For the next year, counties will get almost no highway user funds.  Then, for the next few years, they will get about 10% of what they would have ordinarily received.  I proposed amendments to restore this funding –we deserve our share of the gas tax revenues we pay.  In the rural areas we depend on that funding to improve safety and accessibility.  Not surprisingly, legislators from the urban areas who are proponents of mass transit projects like the Red Line in Baltimore opposed these amendments.

The Governor’s allotted aid for education for the Upper Shore was generally flat from last year.   The three-year freeze on in-state tuition costs for Maryland’s university and college students is eliminated in this year’s budget.   However, increases in tuition will be held to 3%.

In one of the most short-sighted and callous moves, the Assembly increased the liability limit on automobile insurance policies from $20,000/$40,000 to $30,000/$60,000.  This will increase premiums for 98% of the people in the Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund, some of the poorest of the poor, already paying top dollar for their policies.  This was the wrong time to increase premiums for those already struggling in this recession.  It is my view that many who cannot afford the premium increase will let their policies lapse.  I stood up on the Senate floor to oppose the passage of what I see as a regressive tax on Maryland drivers.

As for our consistent fight on behalf of Bay Bridge users, SB 651, which I sponsored, will be written into regulation.  This regulation will require that the MdTA hold public meetings within a 30-mile radius of the toll facility before they can raise tolls or fees.  This bill was in response to the toll hikes last year without adequate public notice or meetings.  My legislation, the hearing, and the input of many Bridge users are the reasons the MdTA consented to adapt this regulation.

I also expect that SB 650, another piece of legislation I sponsored, will also be written into regulation.  This regulation will require that the Executive Secretary of the MDTA to keep the Board informed in detail about public comments received in response to a toll or fee hike.  Currently, public comments are scrubbed by staff and are summarized.  The Board should know word-for-word what the public is saying before they raise tolls or fees.

The Upper Shore also welcomed news of the passage of SB 593 to treat the Queen Anne’s County Emergency Center the same as emergency rooms connected with hospitals.  This means that ambulances bringing patients to this facility will be reimbursed and the County will not be responsible for the cost.  This legislation was a partnership of the legislators, the counties, and the University of Maryland.

Another piece of legislation that impacts our access to healthcare was SB 992.  I sponsored this legislation to give Queen Anne’s and Caroline Counties the right to participate in the Certificate of Need (CON) process for the regional hospital to be located in Easton.  This bill will also most likely be written into regulation.  Without this regulation, our counties have no right to participate in the process of locating a regional hospital, even though they supply most of the patients.  SB 992 rights a wrong and I look forward to working with the Maryland Health Care Commission to ensure the Upper Shore has a seat at the table.

Several laws to crack down on child sex offenders were approved.  They include bills to: require lifetime supervision with possible GPS monitoring…require more information to be placed on the state’s sex offender registry and link it to registries in all other states…prohibit good behavior credits for serious sex offenders…establish a separate registry for juvenile offenders…and increase the mandatory penalty from 5 to 15 years for anyone convicted of second degree rape and other second degree sex offenses.  Although I believe that the General Assembly did not go far enough to protect our children against these violent predators, these bills were a step in the right direction.  I was able to amend the Governor’s legislation (SB 856) to include the requirement for the Sexual Offender Advisory Board to consider ways to increase cooperation among states with regard to sex offender registration and monitoring.  The accused sex offender in the case of Sarah Foxwell on the Eastern Shore was a repeat offender in both Maryland and Delaware.  If we increase communication between states perhaps we can track these violent criminals more effectively.

A prohibition against using a hand held phone while driving was approved.  Although I support education efforts to inform drivers about the dangers of distracted driving, I did not support this legislation.  Data has repeatedly demonstrated that the problem is not necessarily holding one’s cell phone, but the distraction of the conversation.  We need to address the real problem – I do not support passing laws to make Marylanders criminals just for the sake of passing a law.

Maryland became the 5th state to outlaw the manufacture, distribution and sale of plastic baby bottles and sippy cups made with plastic containing Bisphenol A (BPA).  Studies have shown that the chemical BPA has negative effects on fetal and infant brain development and behavior.

Businesses and the Governor agreed on changes to the unemployment law.   The state will receive $127 million in federal funds to make these changes which allow employers to pay their unemployment taxes in installments this year and the monthly interest on late payments will be lowered from 1.5% to 0.5%.  The unemployed will see the weekly minimum unemployment benefit increase from $25 to $50.

The Administration and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) prevailed over any attempt watermen made to have their voices heard on the Administration’s plan to expand Maryland’s network of oyster sanctuaries and push them into aquaculture.  Although the plan provides $2.5 million in state and federal money to help transition the watermen into aquaculture, DNR’s attempts to establish these sanctuaries is robbing these watermen of their livelihood and their way of life. DNR opposed my bills that would have allowed the watermen to have a voice in the planning of these oyster sanctuaries and a temporary halt of these plans.

As I see it, the 2010 session was the tipping point.  There were a lot of feel good pieces of legislation but really, it was just business as usual.  The Maryland Transportation Authority is on the record for stating that they will be proposing toll increases in 2012.  The Administration has gone as far as it can go without significant changes in policy to deal with the deficit.  Business as usual will not cut it anymore.  The only thing it will do is speed the state into raising taxes or tolls.  Be assured, I will fight any effort to increase taxes and I encourage you to contact me to learn of ways to get involved in the process.

School Lunch Reform?

While doing dishes, I heard something on TV about a bill in Congress aimed at decreasing the fat and salt in school lunches.  All I could find from a quick net search was S. 3123 (Senate bill), which aims to:

“amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a program to assist eligible schools and nonprofit entities through grants and technical assistance to implement farm to school programs that improve access to local foods in eligible schools.”….” This Act may be cited as the ‘Growing Farm to School Programs Act of 2010’.”

A good thing, certainly, though it may fail to take into account the vagaries of actually growing local food in places like Arizona and Montana. (We began shipping things all over the place so those who went through hurricanes, drought, floods, locusts, and plagues, which destroyed local crops, wouldn’t die of starvation. Gradual globalization wasn’t JUST economic opportunity.).

The school lunch issue has been with us for decades if not centuries. Yes, centuries. Well-meaning well-heeled women in Europe in the 1700’s formed small groups to feed hungry children in school.  But the effort really began to take hold in the latter 1800’s with the rise of the middle class. Groups of women who no longer had to earn wages to help feed their families turned their attention to the children of the poor, in New York City in particular, who came to school hungry.  Really hungry — not only no breakfast, but often no supper the night before as well. Not good for the kids, not good for learning, not good for a democratic society, which needs a well educated, well-informed electorate, and strong bodies to serve in the military.

The effort went government-sponsored in the early 1900’s when one third of conscripts for American troops in WWI were so malnourished they couldn’t serve. WWII, following on the heels of the Great Depression, turned up a load of men who were likewise riddled with rickets and other diseases of the chronically malnourished.  Good nutrition of the populace, linked with national security, was now a full-blown governmental concern. The Child Nutrition Act, originally enacted under President Lyndon Johnson in 1966, to expand the reach of federal nutrition programs, requires reauthorization every five years. Congress is expected to reauthorize the bill this spring.*

Naturally, government-subsidized agricultural surpluses became part of the equation, which would have been fine if it hadn’t been for our huge corn production, which in turn must be made into SOMETHING, which is where we get a host of mal-nourishing yet highly seductive processed and snack foods.

The changes have been incremental, but the whole question of school lunch, its content, costs, and administration, has become something of a Gordian Knot, whose strands include farm lobbies, big ag, food conglomerates, Madison Avenue, lobbyists, and the questionable allegiances of some legislators to say nothing of our current (learned) national food cravings. But we may have reached a tipping point; we may have finally agreed that something needs to be done — and soon — since instead of raising generations of under-fed malnourished citizens, we’ve moved on to raising over-fed malnourished citizens. With new attendant health problems. More economics.

With diligent work, we may be able to untangle the threads of the knot rather than take an ax to it. Let’s hope this bill and the Child Nutrition Act’s renewal together help to actually improve the school lunch.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s111-3123

* http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/02/vilsack-makes-case-for-healthy-safe-school-lunch/

Spy Op-Ed: In the People’s Service? by Rachel Carter Goss

To say that I am confused by the activities and relationships of the FASTC Opposition groups is an understatement.   Queen Anne’s Conservation Association, Inc. (“QACA”) is an established organization. Citizens for Greater Centreville (“CGC”) is a separate “group” – it has a blog and posts on many different Centreville issues.  When I first happened upon the CGC I thought I would become a member, since my family home is in Centreville.  I was confused that the suggested membership donation would be made to QACA.  Why?  I thought maybe QACA controlled the site but then researched and saw that CGC has its own President and Vice President.  If CGC has its own leadership/administration then why would the donations go to QACA?  Oh, well –I just chose not to join and now I just respond on their blog.

Then, I read a few letters – boycott letters in particular – that were signed by Citizens for Ruthsburg.  These letters referred to their website, CGC.  Even stranger, I thought, was that the address used by this group was a home address.  When I inquired about the CFR on the Facebook page, Discuss & Stay Informed: Proposed Security Training Center in Ruthsburg, MD, I was told that the Facebook page was the closest thing the group had to its own website. I found this odd because I hadn’t seen any indication that a group was running the page. The person who responded to my inquiry wrote that he had made a donation to CFR and that check went through – wasn’t that enough for me to believe that the group was legitimate.  No, I thought – it is not.  I checked to see if the CFR had filed for 501 (c)(3) status – it hadn’t and it wasn’t even an established LLC – so how could it take donations?  I was left with more confusion…CGC = QACA = CFR = CGC…?

So, why would CFR (aka Friends of Ruthsburg) need money?  There is clear reference to the CGC website.  It is already established so that shouldn’t cost any money.  The man who lives at the home address used in the boycott letters has mentioned that he has over 2,000 pages of documentation ‘against’ the FASTC – well, I thought…maybe the donation money is paying for paper and printer ink.  Some of the people in Ruth burg mentioned they were going to make yard signs.  I don’t know if they did, but maybe the money would be used for the signage?  I was still confused.

Then, I heard that there was going to be a private meeting to be held at the Ruthsburg Community Center and a video was to be presented.  I also heard that copies of the video/DVD had been made and would be distributed.  So, maybe that’s why the CFR needs money – to burn DVDs.   The day after the meeting I asked about the DVD – I was promptly told that it was copyrighted, but I could make a donation to the CFR or FOR of $5 for the DVD – the $5 covers cost of production and shipping.  Hmmm.  How could a non-501 (c)(3) take donations?  And, once it was announced that the DVD would be available in a few local shops/businesses, I thought – well, shouldn’t the cost be less than $5 because there wouldn’t be a shipping cost incurred.  I was still confused.

If the CFR is neither a 5013c nor an LLC how can they take $5 in any way?  Shouldn’t they charge sales tax if they are selling a product?  Well, I later read that QACA would take the $5 as a tax-deductible donation and give the $5 to CFR and they would send me the DVD.  I suppose that is allowed…

With our economy as it is right now, $5 is $5.  QACA is an influential group and, according to past tax returns, they have pretty deep pockets.   So, if everyone involved with CFR/FOR/CGC/QACA is so dedicated to the people of Ruthsburg, why didn’t QACA just pay for the production costs of the DVD along with any expenses accrued for travel, lodging, food… and let people make a tax-deductible donation,  if they choose straight, to QACA?  But, since that doesn’t seem to be the case, I am still confused how a non-501(c)(3) group can take donations and/or why they aren’t charging sales tax.  Maybe the $5 covers production, shipping and sales tax – but what if it’s not shipped to the buyer – I have a headache.

If anyone can clarify…, I would really appreciate it.

Rachel Carter Goss

Spy Op-Ed: The Kids Come First by Bob Kramer

I believe it is quite evident from the public hearings that the parents and citizens of the County of Kent care very much about our public education system. It should also be quite evident that our elected Board of Education (BOE), Superintendent Barbara Wheeler and the Central Office staff have done an in-depth analysis that has presented the public with four proposals regarding the school consolidation issue.

While I think each of the four proposals are well thought out and offer many advantages including substantial savings, I believe choosing one of them (or Proposal #5 – do nothing or Frank B. Rhodes ingenious Proposal #6) is the easy way out. And that’s why I’m offering Proposal #7, the hard choice, but the better one for the long run and will transform our public school system into an economic asset for the county. And here are some supporting thoughts…

A. A community school adds 10-25% to local property values. It’s difficult to say that eliminating a community school would reduce property values in Rock Hall, Millington or Galena by 25%, but even at 10% reduction in any of these communities would result in losses of property tax revenue by about $75,000 + or – within three years.

B. Many parents are considering home schooling and private school alternatives, if their local schools are affected. IF just 50 students depart the Kent County Public School System (KCPS), that results in an incremental loss of almost $300,000 annually in state funding. And depending where these departures come from, it might make further changes necessary.

C. Eventually the economy will rebound and parents will be looking at the County of Kent as a possible new location. IF the State Department does build its facility in Ruthsburg, then there might even more parents looking for schools for their kids. Hopefully, KCPS would be one of their choices. Will the changes in Proposals #1-7 make us more or less competitive with the other counties?

The potential dollar losses in A. and B. above seem to cover any savings in all the proposals except for #4, which seems too extreme to be considered a viable solution. And we’re still left with big future revenue opportunities in C. above and that’s why we should make these changes in stages as I have proposed in #7 (and I understand the logistics problems associated with the K-5 change). We cannot afford to exacerbate the student defections that we’ve been facing in recent years. And I’m not sure the founding families of the Charter School initiative will be engaged enough to consider moving their kids to KCPS… and that’s more lost incremental income.

I’m uncomfortable with putting price tags on school kids’ heads, but that’s what education in Maryland has come down to for a small county like ours. We have to do something, but we have to get it perfect the first time. We just don’t have any margin for errors.

I’m a newcomer to our slice of paradise, but what I’ve learned in ten short years is that there is a tremendous community spirit in our county. This may be a common trait for all rural counties, but I really think we’re more than a bit unique. In any case, don’t our kids come first?

Proposal #7

Keep all schools open.

Extend all elementary schools to K through 5th grade.

Move the Alternative School to the High School (or Chestertown Middle School)

Relocate the Central Office to Chestertown Middle School (or the High School). Invest the proceeds from the sale of the 215 Washington Avenue building into one time educational opportunities so as to not create any tag along operational expenses in future years. There also should be an opportunity to move several Central Office positions to other schools that would create an embedded co-joined sense of involvement in the day to day operations of the individual schools.

Create a strategic Blue Ribbon panel to include parents, educators and citizens (as representatives of the taxpayers) to review:

A. The state school funding formula. It’s not enough to keep saying that this formula is unfair to our small system. We should present what we feel are the necessary changes that would include a base allocation of funds for every system that would eliminate the economy of scale discrepancies between the large and small systems.

B. Evaluate the budget prospects for the next three fiscal years and what operational changes would need to be made to operate within those confines.

C. Delineate what would need to be done to meet all state curriculum requirements within the next three years.

D. Review all school consolidation possibilities.

E. Recommend a permanent location for the central office.

F. Invent the future of KCPS based on a thorough analysis of how the dynamics of STEM, 21st Century, Charter School and Magnet School initiatives can synergized.

G. Provide a continuous feedback at each BOE meeting… with a final report and recommendations due at the January or February 2011 BOE meeting

Spy Op-Ed: The Lipstick on The Collar by John Lang

There’s a story of a man coming in his front door at dawn who tells his wife he worked late and didn’t want to disturb her so he slept in the hammock in the backyard. She advises there’s lipstick on his collar and, besides, she gave away that hammock last month. And he says, “Well, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”

John Colmers, secretary of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, could have heard that line. He’s sticking to his story: “There is a community mental health infrastructure on the Eastern Shore.”

Never mind that mental health professionals have testified that such “infrastructure” is negligible. At present, Upper Shore has 40 beds for psychiatric care — and they are full. When its doors are locked, where will those people go? The nearest such public center is in Cambridge, and its beds are already just as full. The only other nearby option is Union Hospital, a private facility in Elkton with just five beds for mental care. The Chester River Hospital Center here doesn’t have a psychiatric unit.

Yet even today Colmers argues otherwise in a belated reply to an email sent to Gov. Martin O’Malley a couple months ago by a Chestertown resident urging that Upper Shore Community Mental Health Center be kept open.

He does acknowledge, “There are areas that need to be enhanced.” But he does not specify what those enhancements need to be.

It is only fair to the mentally ill that facilities like Upper Shore be closed, Colmers contends.

As he explains it, Maryland’s health care system has resulted in persons receiving care regardless of ability to pay, adding, “The exception to this has been the way mental health has been handled on the Eastern Shore.”

Colmers points out that an individual who has insurance is treated in the private system. But here, one who is uninsured gets referred to a state hospital for in-patient services.

“This is unacceptable,” Colmers writes. “Our plan is to fix this inequity.”

And therefore the Upper Shore Center will close on March 1. After that, the plan is, if you are uninsured and admitted to an emergency room, you will be admitted to the inpatient unit at that hospital, or be transferred to a general hospital with an in- patient psychiatric unit.

“All Maryland citizens should have access to the same care regardless of ability to pay,” Colmers concludes.

It’s a rendering of real world equity that brings to mind the bon mot of Anatole France: “The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to beg in the streets, steal bread, or sleep under a bridge.”

What if the local hospital, such as Chestertown’s, doesn’t have a psychiatric unit? What if the nearest hospital that does is several counties away, or even in another state, like Delaware? Where do the crazed and indigent go, who have no other place for rest? Except beneath a bridge?

Colmers doesn’t address any of that, but he’s sticking to his story, “There is a community mental health infrastructure on the Eastern Shore.”

Which sounds like a man in need of a hammock.

Spy Op-Ed: Delay School Plans by Tom McHugh

The Rock Hall meeting to hear the proposals for Kent County school closings was another example of the spirit and commitment of the Rock Hall community to our local schools.

As a retired educator, trainer of teachers, and Professor of Educational Studies, I would argue strongly for a delay in any attempt to reorganize our county school system.  The proposals from the school administration reek of bad planning and a headlong rush to what could be a terrible decision. At the very least, Proposition #5 should be the choice, at least for now.

Even a cursory exploration on the web of “best school practices” regarding school closures shows you that the first recommendation is the formation of a task force of community leaders, to include:

• business people
• community workers
• parents
• teachers
• religious leaders
• civic organizations
• land owners/ and brokers

This task force would take on the role of gathering facts. Often this process is a year long sequence…not a few weeks. Working with such a group, the county school leaders might work toward consensus and avoid antagonistic confrontation.  Transparency would be assured.

I have worked with public schools in several states over my 40 year career.  In every case drastic moves like school closures are motivated by the real pressures of finances and state mandates.  Both pressures are present in this current situation.  But we must firmly emphasize to our leaders that Rock Hall has a system which works.  Parents whose kids have gone through our schools know that our two schools emphasize the real qualities of a good eduation: caring teachers and administrators, amazingly strong parental involvement, broad community support and academic achievement by the students.  Words like “family” and “fun” and “neighborhood” and “helping” are expressive of what we do here.  Good writing, reading, and math/technology skills flow from those characteristics…not from ipods,or twitters, or technology “integrators”.

Let me close with a quote from the California Department of Education…” The decision to close a school is anguishing. It profoundly affects parents, neighborhoods, communities, district personnel, and, of course, students. It affects relationships, routines, and cherished territorialities. In short, it alters not only district operations but also lives.”

The Kent County school administration and the Kent County school board owe us a period of time…for study and for careful thought. They should not ignore Rock Hall’s call for a stop to their actions. The meeting at Rock Hall Middle School last night would be the envy of most public school systems in this country…we had retired people, teachers, kids, politicians, watermen, parents…all there for one reason: to fight to maintain schools that work.

Thomas F. McHugh,Ph.D
Professor Emeritus, Education
Vassar College

Spy Op-Ed: Will the Church be Relevant in 21st Century by David LaMotte, Jr.

The Chestertown Spy sponsored a forum on November 7th that brought together the rectors of five local Episcopal Church parishes and the question posed was “will the Protestant Episcopal Church exist in the 21st Century, and if so, why would it be relevant to believers?”

As a follow-up I would like to offer some thoughts on a broader question, will THE Church be relevant to spiritual growth in the 21st Century?  Or perhaps put another way, will Christianity become less or more relevant to spiritual growth in the 21st Century, and what can the Church do to be relevant in the future?  As ludicrous as these questions may initially seem, I think they are worth asking to bring about thought and dialog.

I read recently that there are more than 38,000 Christian denominations around the world.  These are churches or groups of churches, like the sizeable Episcopal Church, that differ from each other in some way, be it their worship service or their interpretation of scripture or in some other way.  Within each of these denominations there are numerous differences in beliefs that often cause great struggles, such as the dramatic divisions presently taking place in the Episcopal Church.  And within each individual parish there are broad ranges of beliefs that are sufficient for constant debate and parishioner change.

What about the rest of the world’s population, the majority of the souls sharing this planet who participate in other organized religions or none?  I venture to say there are no two people, be they siblings or strangers, who share all of the same beliefs.  And why should we?  It seems to me every individual has his or her own treasure chest of experiences.  Cultures and educations vary dramatically, and so do individuals’ experiences, no matter how close genetically or environmentally two people may be.

Hopefully, at some point an individual recognizes there is more to life than survival, than seeking pleasure and avoiding pain.  Each person’s search for meaning is paramount, whether it leads to a concept of or even a relationship with God, with the Universe, and it needs to be respected.  Is it really so important that everyone’s beliefs and search be the same as yours and mine?  Surely not, but clearly the core of what we believe does matter, it matters for our own growth, for assisting others in their growth and for mankind’s positive evolution.

It is so incredibly simple and so incredibly complicated.  It is painfully elusive to mankind but a part of every human’s life, no matter his or her circumstances.  In its fullness it is beyond human comprehension yet the opportunity to experience it and gain some understanding of it is available to everyone all the time.  It is what so many who die and are resuscitated emphatically stress that It’s all about when they say “what I thought was important in life really isn’t, how did I not know?”  It is what we are so easily distracted from in our churches and synagogues and temples as we gravitate toward all the things we disagree about, but it is the core of every Christian denomination and every organized religion.   And it is what Christ tried to tell us and what the Church has tried to capture and communicate but so often failed miserably in its countless interpretations.

Will the Church be relevant in the 21st Century?  How can the Church stay true to its critical mission?  How can it better avoid the distractions that divide us from each other within the Church and divide us from the rest of the planet’s souls?  How will the Church evolve as man’s consciousness grows, as man seeks the truth in light of his ever expanding scientific understanding of our universe, albeit quite miniscule, and as he becomes less satisfied with religious dogma and less content to accept the Church’s explanations based upon scripture selected by the early Church, or at least the Church’s interpretation of this limited selection of ancient scripture?

The Church will most certainly be relevant in the 21st Century because like other religious institutions it is built upon Love, love of an all-knowing and all-loving creator or God, love for all persons and love for all of creation, our world and the universe.  This is Christ’s overwhelming and overarching message, and it is the fundamental truth on which the world’s other recognized religions are based.  It is focusing on this truth, measuring all choices against this truth and avoiding being mislead by all other lesser beliefs, which detract from this simple but infinitely misunderstood truth, that will enable the Church and other institutions, which are vehicles for helping us comprehend and create love, to be vitally relevant forever.

The Church will continue to be relevant with its countless denominations and parishes appealing to the broad spectrum of individuals in their unique, conscious or subconscious, quests for meaning and for support in their relations with God and the Universe.  But it will need to be vigilant in focusing on what Christ was trying to help us understand and internalize about Love. It must be careful not to limit its interpretation of Christ’s message of Love and not to portray itself as the exclusive religious source of Love and of relationship with the Creator and the Universe.

Oh leaders of our churches, gone must be the days of dwelling on sin and endless debate of who Jesus was and what the ancient texts were saying or not saying.  The Church is carrier of the greatest messages of Love the world has known yet continues to trip all over itself.  The world is still starving for Love and is so filled with fear, seemingly unaware that we are eternal and only temporarily here, trying to survive and enjoy this brief life, but mostly here to learn, experience, show and teach Love.

It seems the veil between our dimensions of this life and the next is thinning and man’s awareness of multiple dimensions is growing with the frequency of related experiences and with science’s new theories and discoveries.  As Christ’s message of Love becomes more clear, more universal and poignant through these experiences and this knowledge, the Church must evolve with its fundamental yet very dynamic truth.  And I would venture to bet Christ is counting on the Church doing just that.

Godspeed Church of the 21st Century!

Spy Op-Ed: Health Policy over Politics by Rep. Frank Kratovil

The discussion of health care reform has been one of the most partisan and heated public debates our country has seen in years.  As a freshman lawmaker, it has certainly been an eye-opening experience.  What has struck me the most, however, wasn’t the anger and unruliness that grabbed so many headlines during August, but rather the number of people I would encounter who believed that I should commit to voting one way or the other before even knowing what would be included or excluded from the legislation.   This was perhaps the only aspect of the health care debate that was truly bipartisan; I heard from many Republicans who demanded that I oppose any health care reform package, regardless of its contents, while some Democrats have told me I had a duty to unquestioningly support the bill simply because it was a priority for my party’s leadership.

It’s unfortunate that this debate – on one of the most important challenges facing our nation today – has been reduced to such a black-or-white oversimplification.  The need for reform is clear:  Without reform, premiums and out-of-pocket expenses continue to rise rapidly for both middle class families and employers. But the pathway for achieving reform is far more complex.  The goals of reform must be two-fold:  expanding coverage and reducing long-term costs by significantly slowing the rate of health care inflation.  This health care reform debate offers us a historic opportunity, but passing a bill that does not truly achieve these goals would waste this historic moment.

Since the introduction of H.R. 3200 in July, I have voiced a number of concerns about the legislation.  Chief among these were the bill’s failure to curb long-term costs, it’s potential to increase the deficit, and its inadequate protections for small employers, which I fear may have an adverse impact on job creation.   Following the August recess, I also led a group of my fellow freshman in sending a letter to House Leadership urging them to include additional reform proposals in this bill, such as allowing insurance companies to compete across state lines and promoting policies to reduce medical errors, lawsuits, and medical malpractice rates.

While the revised H.R. 3962 made progress toward these goals, I am not convinced that the final bill is a fiscally sustainable approach to reforming health care.  The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) indicates that the bill does not reduce long-term health care costs, and that it drastically increases federal health care spending in the near-term and long-term.  Furthermore, while the bill is projected to decrease the deficit over the first 10 years, the CBO said this reduction is largely due to the removal of a $210 billion provision to correct the formula by which doctors are paid under Medicare.  That “Doc Fix” language was moved into a companion bill, which Congress will consider later this month.  Taken together, these bills will increase the deficit substantially in the years ahead.

To be successful, health care reform must both expand coverage and reduce long-term costs.  Unfortunately, this health care reform legislation will significantly increase long-term spending, is unlikely to reduce the deficit, and even costs several hundred billion dollars more than the $900 billion target for which President Obama has advocated.  As the debate moves to the Senate, both parties would be well advised to dial back the propaganda, put down the talking points, and focus instead on the substance of legislation before them.  I’m hopeful that a better bill is still possible, one that more effectively bends the cost curve while going further to protect small businesses, increase competition, and decrease the deficit.  If and when a bill does come back from the Senate, it will be policy, not politics, that will determine my support.

Spy Op-Ed: Chesapeake Clean Up Plans by John Mann

Earlier this year President Barack Obama referred to the Chesapeake Bay as a “national treasure” and issued an executive order to restore its health.  His plan, revealed on Monday, calls for the EPA to set a series of two-year milestones meant to bring the current cleanup effort (started in 2000) up to speed by 2025.  This strategy represents a shift in leadership from the state level to the federal one.

J. Charles Fox, the EPA’s Senior Advisor on the Chesapeake Bay and Anacostia River, says efforts on the state and individual levels will still be a crucial component for success, “We have to do this in close partnership with state governments and those in the private sector.  We simply cannot succeed on our own,” he said in a conference call with reporters.

It appears that the Obama administration will try to elicit change with both the incentive of benefits and the threat of punishments.  Federal officials pledged $90 million more a year in payments to farmers operating within the Chesapeake Bay watershed.  This “aggressive, voluntary partnership effort” is meant to get farmers to incorporate environmentally friendly practices (such as planting cover crops in the winter) in order to prevent polluted runoff from entering the Chesapeake Bay.

There are also provisions in the plan to work with Maryland and Virginia agencies on rebuilding the oyster and crab populations.  On an individual level, volunteers would have the opportunity to join a proposed Chesapeake Conservation Corps, where they would learn “green” job skills while working to improve the estuary’s health.

If states aren’t meeting EPA guidelines, possible consequences could include rejection of environmental permits, cuts in federal funding, or the blocking of new development, however the specific sanctions won’t be spelled out until later this year.  The public will have a chance to comment on this plan until Jan. 8 when it will enter its finalization stage.  Chestertown residents will have a chance to question Mr. Fox in person this week.

Both Mr. Fox and Ann Pesiri Swanson, Executive Director of the Chesapeake Bay Commission will be at the Prince Theatre this Sunday delivering a lecture entitled, Restoring the Chesapeake Bay: The Next Step (For details, visit www.ehos.org).  This event, hosted by Echo Hill Outdoor School, is the inaugural Walter B. Harris Memorial Environmental Lecture.

John Mann is the Assistant Director of Echo Hill Outdoor School

Spy Op-Ed: School Food and Democracy? By Nancy Taylor Robson

A Sept. 21 2009 article in The Nation written by slow-food guru, Alice Waters, notes the building evidence for the mind-body connection when it comes to food. Especially food and kids. The article mentions Morgan Spurlock’s 2004 documentary, Super Size Me, which features (among other things) Central Alternative High School, a school for troubled youth in Appleton, Wisconsin. In looking for ways to turn things around, Central’s teachers, parents and administrators changed the food. Instead of the usual processed meals, the school cafeteria began offering fresh, locally grown, low-fat, low-sugar alternatives. The healthier meals are delicious. The students love them. They perform better in class and don’t get sick as often. And strikingly, discipline problems dropped sharply. “We are learning [Waters writes] that when schools serve healthier meals, they solve serious educational and health-related problems.”

This should not come as a surprise but somehow does. But Waters goes on to say that that’s not the real end of our story – or shouldn’t be.

“…what’s missing from the national conversation about school lunch reform is the opportunity to use food to teach values that are central to democracy. Better food isn’t just about test scores, health and discipline. It is about preparing students for the responsibilities of citizenship.

“That’s why we need to talk about edible education, not just school lunch reform. Edible education is a radical yet common-sense approach to teaching that integrates classroom instruction, school lunch, cooking and gardening into the studies of math, science, history and reading.

“Edible education involves not only teaching children about where food comes from and how it is produced but giving them responsibilities in the school garden and kitchen. Students literally enjoy the fruits of their labor when the food they grow is served in healthy, delicious lunches that they can help prepare.”

Sabine Harvey’s school gardens are another piece of the puzzle.

Spy Op-ed: The Real Waterfront Story by Bryan Matthews

Chestertown is about to receive a wonderful gift. It won’t cost the citizens a thing, and in fact everyone will benefit many times over.

A contaminated site is about to become clean and beautiful.

Rather than condominiums, townhouses, and apartments that would have maximized profits, college facilities and open space will prevail.

An attractive Boathouse and even a Center for the Environment will eventually grow from the ground.

A public Riverwalk will emerge.

Chestertown will have a beautiful waterfront Gateway.

Like most things, this didn’t happen by accident.

KRM (former owner) could have developed this property any time in the last 15 years and it would have been gone forever.

It chose not to.

KRM could have sold it to developers who would have developed it.

It chose not to.

Washington College has coveted this property (adjacent to our current waterfront) for many years.

Roy Kirby knew the College wanted and needed this property.

Roy and KRM came to the mutual conclusion that the best interests of the College and Chestertown were for the College to acquire this property.

It was not the most lucrative conclusion for either party.

KRM sold the entire property (Stepne & the waterfront) to Roy because Roy made the commitment that he would split the property and ensure the College’s position.

Roy has sold the most valuable piece of Chestertown waterfront property to Washington College for more than $3million less than the current appraised value.

He could have developed it.

He chose not to.

The College has committed to clean up the site, beyond what federal and state laws require it to do.

With Chairman Ed Nordberg’s careful leadership, the College has been involved in this process for over two years, and is well aware of all information regarding contamination and clean-up options.

The best available professionals have been secured, and using modern testing procedures they have investigated all possibilities.

The most current EPA and MDE standards have been and will continue to be met.

The College is fortunate to have the resources to enlist the best expertise available.

It will not happen overnight, but in the coming years the citizens of Chestertown will see a sick piece of land along the river come to life.

In the not-too-distant future Chestertown will enjoy a new treasure along the Chester.

Something to celebrate.

Bryan Matthews is Director of Athletics and Associate Vice President for Administrative Services for Washington College.

Spy Op-ed: CRA Faults State and County by Tom Leigh, RIVERKEEPER®

The Chester River Association is profoundly disappointed with the process that approved construction of a private residential sewage treatment plant for Elizabeth Wilson on Bungay Creek, a tributary of the Chester River, near Rock Hall.

Sadly, final go-ahead for this plant — on September 21 at the Kent County Board of Appeals — came just 10 days before such treatment plants will be banned statewide. Thus, Kent will boast the only such facility in Maryland. That is a painful irony since the Chester River Association was the prime mover in creating the statewide ban of private waste water treatment plants and their accompanying discharge into tidal waters for new construction, which was approved almost unanimously by the 2009 session of the General Assembly.

Why does CRA oppose such plants? Because in this case it will be used to skirt zoning laws – to allow development on land that won’t perc (as the Wilson property would not). This plant makes a mockery of the most basic Smart Growth concepts, putting development on acreage that planners had intended to preserve forever.

So how did this come to pass? It started with the Maryland Department of the Environment.

MDE approved a permit for the Wilson plant — EVEN THOUGH Kent County officials openly opposed it and the Water and Sewer Plan state very clearly that the county opposes such plants.

MDE approved the permit — EVEN THOUGH MDE admits that no other such plant exists in Maryland, that the plant is experimental, that it will require constant monitoring and that its components are not certified for “structural adequacy” or “performance.”

CRA finds this performance by MDE incompetent, unhelpful and even destructive. MDE Secretary Shari Wilson has stated flatly that she and her department are against these plants, that they turn zoning laws upside down. And yet her department apparently didn’t get the message.

Unfortunately, once MDE acted, local officials in Kent seemed to feel they had no choice but to toe the state line. As a result, they allowed a state regulatory agency to dictate what happens here in Kent County.

The county’s environmental health director signed off on the plant. The county’s director of planning and zoning signed off on it because she felt she had no mechanism to decline it once the health department approved it. The county Board of Appeals signed off on it (by a 2-1 vote). But where was allegiance to the Water and Sewer Plan?

The fact is that local officials had the right NOT to sign off on this treatment plant. The Water Management Division of MDE stated specifically within the permit to construct the plant that local officials could halt this process. But they didn’t. Instead, they allowed the river to receive discharged waste from a non-conventional, experimental treatment facility and signed off on it.

In effect, CRA’s view is that our local officials, including the Board of Appeals, paid no more attention to what Kent’s residents wanted, as expressed in the Water and Sewer plan, than MDE did. This is a sad result because there is no doubt these officials care just as much about this county and its environmental health as CRA does.

So where does that leave us? Somehow, we must create a mechanism in the approval process for building permits (and any other permits that are relevant) that demands such permits comply with the local Water and Sewer Plan. Does such a mechanism exist already? Apparently not.

Kent County’s Water and Sewer plans speak very clearly against private sewage treatment plants – yet MDE went right ahead and approved the Bungay plant. MDE is not going to protect local laws. We must find the way to do it ourselves.

–By Tom Leigh, Chester RIVERKEEPER®

Spy Op-ed: School Food by Nancy Taylor Robson

Margaret Ellen Kalmanowicz has got her hands full. She’s the director of both transportation and food service for Kent County schools. Transportation is sorted now, but food service is ongoing. In an effort to improve the school food, Kalmanowicz got a fresh fruit and vegetable grant for two schools, Rock Hall and Garnet. Similar to a farm-to-school program, which more directly connects local growers to school breakfast and lunch programs, it tries to reintroduce real food to kids who were not only raised on Cheetos and chicken nuggets, but have come to expect those things in school, too.

“We had [the fresh food grant] last year too,” says Kalmanowicz. “Every day through fall and spring they have a sampling of different fruits and vegetables.” Kalmanowicz also got a Team Nutrition grant for Worton and Millington Elementary schools, which offers those kids a fruit and vegetable taste-testing one day each week for a year. This grant also requires physical activity and nutritional education for the kids.

The taste testing has gone ‘extremely well.’ In addition Kent County’s schools, like others across the nation, have begun to introduce whole grains in place of white flour for breading, pancakes, etc, but it’s a tough sell among a lot of the kids. And it’s small potatoes nutritionally speaking, but it‘s a beginning.

For anyone who has been horrified by the school menus, and wondered why, when something like 60% of our public school children eat both breakfast and lunch in school – and childhood obesity is increasing exponentially – the menus are so heavily carb-based, one has to look to a software program called NutriKids. Nutrikids is a menu-planning program produced by the LunchByte Systems Company in Rochester, NY, and is the food-planning tool used ‘in over 8,000 schools districts in all 50 states’ according to its website.  Interestingly, one of its four partnerships and associations’ listed on the website is Kellogg’s NuCrew program, Kellogg being the grain and processed food people. Presumably there are nutritionists who plan the menus on this software and vet the balances and the calorie counts – I have not yet dug a little further down to find out who they are, but will – but it doesn’t look like it.

For Kalmanowicz there’s the ‘will the kids eat it?’ issue.  Waste at any time, but especially now, is anathema. There’s also the perpetual question of economics. And the logistics – fresh fruits and vegetables in late winter, during what some Native Americans dubbed ‘hunger moon’ from local producers? Tough. But if we’re going to seriously address the issue of our nation’s health, we need to make healthy changes in school food.

On Thursday at 7:30 PM, Prince Theatre, The Chestertown Spy is sponsoring a  showing of Food, Inc, which addresses some of these issues. Tickets for a suggested donation — a fundraiser for Colchester CSA – are available at the door.

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