Rikki Takes a Shot from the Jewish Times

It seems that Baltimore Jewish Times Executive Editor Phil Jacobs doesn't think too much about Rikki Spector representing us up here in the 5th district while living in a luxury high-rise down at the Harbor.

Check THIS out.

Where’s Rikki?
The worst kept political secret in town has seemed to gain some exposure, you know the one, Baltimore City Councilwoman Rochelle “Rikki” Spector maintaining her “official residence” in her district (our neighbhorhood), but pretty much living with her boyfriend at his Inner Harbor condo. I mean, I’m sorry, but we as constituents don’t ask for so much that we hope our elected officials can actually deliver, but could we at least demand that you live in the place that votes you in office? Plenty of us would love to spend a night in an Inner Harbor hotel or apartment, but we can’t afford it. Something about day school tuition and having to live within proximity of our synagogues.

Ouch. And imagine what people who DON'T like her say!

AMAZING Letter to the Editor: Slots

I was flabbergasted to read this letter from a racing industry insider. He points out that the decriminalization of slot machine gambling will only benefit wealthy track owners. I have said this for years, but to hear it from an indsider is truly remarkable.

Slots shift dollars to racetrack ownersJudging by his recent pronouncements, Gov. Martin O'Malley has apparently adopted the racing industry's position that Maryland must have slot machines ("O'Malley sees slots as savior of racing," June 14).

However, the racing industry's position has been contradicted by a number of reputable economic studies that show that giving racetracks slot machines is an unjustified bailout of a failing industry.

While slot machines are sold as a wise fiscal policy, they most clearly benefit the racetrack owners, who have been loudly calling for slots to be approved.

Magna Entertainment Corp., which owns Laurel and Pimlico racetracks, has flipped racetracks in Pennsylvania and in Canada for several hundred million dollars after legislation was passed to allow slots at those tracks.

By selling slots licenses for a fraction of their worth, states have, in effect, transferred hundreds of millions of dollars of economic value from taxpayers to racetrack operators.

A simple auction of gambling licenses, open to all, would quickly determine the real value of slots licenses.

If Mr. O'Malley has his way, Maryland will join the list of states where track owners hit the jackpot while state taxpayers are left to deal with the consequences.

Most legitimate studies predict that the vast majority of slot dollars spent in Maryland would come from within the state of Maryland.

That important economic fact means that the dollars spent on slots would be nothing but a voluntary tax or simply a trade-off of disposable entertainment dollars.

Frank Trigeiro Laurel
The writer is a former chief financial officer for the Maryland Jockey Club and a former acting chief financial officer for Magna Entertainment Corp.

MWIA Annual Meeting Wrap-Up

The annual meeting was very well attended. Mayor Dixon spoke, and she brought lots of staff with her including Parks and Rec head Connie Brown and others.

Questions largely focused on issues related to crime. The Mayor is focused on getting the police out of their patrol cars and into the communities in an effort to regain the trust of the people. In addition, she wants to repair the relationship between the BPD and the State's Attorney's office. Both seem to be reasonable ideas. She has been waffling a bit in terms of her support for Police Commissioner Hamm. This reminded me a bit of Peter Angelos and his "support" for Sam Perlazzo (who was fired this week). I don't see a huge amount of leadership coming from Hamm and I don't think that anyone would be crushed if he were replaced with someone who could offer more for the BPD and the people.

Naturally, there were questions about the schools. Dr. Shepley (principal of MWES) asked about getting real funding for repairs to the older buildings. The Mayor gave reasonable assurances that this was a concern for her, and she even went so far as to state that we need to build more schools. Given that Baltimore has the oldest school building inventory in the state, this is something that I am very pleased to hear.

On the question of taxes, she referenced her Blue Ribbon Panel on taxation. They seem to be looking at everything, but the realities are brutal. She pointed out that for every penny in property tax reduction, the city loses $2 million in revenues. She states that she would love to get the city tax rate into line with the county, but we all know how likely that is.

Regarding the fate of Pimlico Middle School, she says that no decision has been made and all options are still on the table including locating the Police and Fire Academies there, tearing it down for other purposes including either residential properties or a new school.

Other elected officials present included Del. Sandy Rosenberg (21209.org approved), Del. (and mayoral candidate) Jill P. Carter, and the Councilwoman Rikki Spector, who still doesn't live in our district.

MWIA Notes

A quick acknowledgement of Rus McLawhorn and Shea Lyda who did an absolutely fantastic job of organizing our neighborhood picnic which was held on Saturday afternoon. This is a great neighborhood event that deserves a much larger turnout. Don't miss it next year.

Don't forget the MWIA Annual Meeting. It's tomorrow night at 7 at the elementary school. The Mayor will be there to answer your questions on schools, crime, parks, streets, whatever. This is your opportunity to demonstrate our committment to City Hall. If you attend one meeting every four years, this is the one. Invest an evening in your neighborhood.

Should Your City Council Rep Live in Your District?

The fact that Rikki Spector doesn't really live in the 5th district got some coverage in the Sun today. She is pretty much shacked up with her long-time boyfriend, Oscar Brilliant, down at Harbor View on the water. Nice digs.

So here's what happened when Rikki was in a hearing on the proposed expansion of Harbor View which many local residents oppose:

Ann Fiocco, president of Riverside Action Group, punctuated her testimony against HarborView's plan to build two more waterfront towers with this bit, aimed at committee member Spector: "Since she lives in HarborView, I respectfully ask that she recuse herself."

Councilwoman Agnes Welch did what any good committee chairwoman does when someone drops a bombshell at a public hearing. She started talking as if she hadn't heard. Spector just smiled at Fiocco, who sat down. But state Sen. George Della picked up where Fiocco left off.

"What my constituent said - you know why? Because she sees you down at HarborView all the time," Della said. "The perception is, the fix is in."

The rest of the article can be seen HERE.

Mayoral Race Heating Up

On Tuesday the 19th at 7 PM you will have a chance to ask questions of Mayor Dixon at the MWIA Annual Meeting. This is an important opportunity for our community to show how seriously we take our civic involvement. The more people who show up at that meeting, the faster our calls will be returned by City Hall.

Meanwhile, Kieffer Mitchell is the first candidate to run a TV ad. Let me know what you think. Will this approach work with voters? Will Mayoral control really fix the schools?

Virgin Festival 2-for-1 Tickets

As many of you know, the MWIA has arranged for folks who live in the neighborhood to get 2-for-1 tickets to the Virgin Festival at Pimlico. We would first like to thank promoters I.M.P. for this very generous deal.

The promoters, who were generous enough to create this deal for us, have asked that we institute a process so that only people in the neighborhood get the ticket deal, and that the tickets are NOT re-sold. To that end, we have come up with the following:

1) Dues paying members of the MWIA are eligible to receive a voucher to purchase up to four tickets at the 2-for-1 price. Dues are $25 and cover the 2007-08 membership year which starts at the June meeting being held on June 19 at 7PM at the elementary school. You can pay your dues on the spot, or we can check the list to see if your dues have already been paid. Your name and address will be recorded on our V-Fest Master List. You can also pay your dues and get a voucher at the annual picnic to be held in Luckman Park on June 16 at 4 PM.

2) On the day of the concert, you will need to show up at Pimlico's Will Call window with a local ID that matches the name and address on the master list. You can then buy up to four tickets at the 2-for-1 price. You will have your choice of 1-day tickets, 2-day tickets, or 1- or 2-day VIP tickets. All of the details on ticket levels are available at www.VirginFestival.com.

3) YOU CANNOT RE-SELL THESE TICKETS. We want to respect the generosity of this offer by observing the one rule that I.M.P. insisted on.

And now, your Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: What if my son or daughter wants to buy tickets?

A: As long as your household has a paid membership, that is fine with us. Please have the person who will pick up and pay for the tickets have their name on our master list. If you show up with a voucher and your name is not on the list, you have a problem.


Q: What if the Festival sells out?

A: This deal is good regardless of a sell out. I.M.P. has assured us that they will have tickets at Will Call for us regardless. Remember, this is not a seated event. A few extra tickets are not that big a problem.


Q: What if there is a problem with the process the day of the concert?

A: My cell number will be on the front page of the master list. If there is a problem, you can call me at that time. I have the cell info for the principals at I.M.P. and will do everything I can to help solve your problem. PLEASE AVOID PROBLEMS BY FOLLOWING THE ABOVE INSTRUCTIONS CORRECTLY. Have local ID and be sure that YOUR name is on the master list.


Q: What exactly IS a local ID?

A: A local ID is a driver's license of Maryland State Identity Card that shows your picture and an address within the MWIA boundaries. These boundaries can be seen in the MWIA by-laws (article III) at http://www.mwia.org/mwia/Association_By_Laws.pdf


Q: Can I invite a guest from outside of the neighborhood?

A: Yes, so long as the person who is listed on the Master List picks up all of the tickets for your party, your guests can live outside of Mt. Washington. And we feel bad for them.


Q: I cannot make the picnic or the Annual Meeting. How can I get a voucher?

A: Are you kidding? It's the MWIA Annual Meeting! This is our best chance to show the Mayor (our headlining guest) how involved our community happens to be. If you expect to get good response from City Hall for the next four years, being at that meeting is critical. If, however, you are in a coma or are called to Stockholm to receive a Nobel Prize, you can contact me off-list at Aaron@21209.org and I will upbraid you personally and then provide you with a voucher and add your name to the Master List.

Northwest Baltimore Park

I was in a meeting with the Chief of Parks today. He touted the Friends of Patterson Park as an international model for volunteer groups. Their website is really worth a look. They are doing amazing things over there.

While they have a huge park with loads of different kinds of programming and activities, there are things that they are doing that we should be applying to our own Parks here in Mt. Washington.

Western Run Erosion

As you probably know, the City is planning to re-work the Western Run to help control erosion. They did the same thing on Stony Run recently and now it's our turn. This is going to involve heavy equipment working in the stream, and some big trees are going to come down. This sounds like a bad thing, but the fact is that we are losing trees around the Run at an alarming pace. I took this photo this morning on my way to work.

Richard Branson Video Re V-Fest

Luckman Park Leak

There is a sewage leak at Luckman Park. You don't want to use the swingset area or the lower playground until the City (which IS working on it) can get this fixed and cleaned up. The upper playground is fine.