Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Hayduke Awards...

I thought about doing a month-by-month recap of major stories throughout the year, but soon realized that was way more work than I was interested in doing. So, this – an entirely fabricated and indulgent set of awards, some silly, some serious – is my compromise. I plan on covering a lot of ground (i.e. making up a lot of awards) over the next few days and by the end of it, hope to have a list of posts encompassing most of the significant local issues from 2006.

On, then, to the first installment of the first annual Hayduke Awards -- or, for short, "The Dookies."

Quote of the Year: "I didn't realize Howard County residents were that stupid." -- Brian Harlin, Republican Party Chairman for Howard County. Thank you, Brian.

Best Previous Awards Post: The first COPE Forum.

Best Made-Up-By-Hayduke Award: "The most outrageously stupid and evil bureaucracy in history," Fairfax County (in fairness, they did repeal the hurt-the-homeless measure that was the source of my ire, but they're still pretty dumb for coming up with it in the first place).

Best Inter-Blog Discussion: Bloggers David Keelan, David Wissing and I debated a pair of competing tax cuts with (surprisingly, in blogdom) fact-based, non-partisan arguments. First installment here, second here and third here.

Best Insult: It's a toss up between "YOU'RE an IDIOT!" and "your credibility level is now at -45 and descending," both from (who else) Tom Berkhouse in the same comment.

Most In Depth Coverage of an Issue: Affordable housing. Here are what I consider to be the top three posts: one, two and three.

Best Post About Buying My First House: Pretty self-explanatory.

Best Endorsement: I like to think that this piece is the reason Ken Ulman was elected County Executive. Nothing you say will convince me otherwise.

Best Post-Election Recap: Here.

Best Post-Election Recap with Charts: Here.

Best Post-Election Recap by Someone Other Than Me: Here.

Biggest Non-Story Story of the Year: The Resume.

Best Method for Dealing With Non-Stories: Satire.

Best Guest Blogging Appearance by Family Members: Brother, Mother and Wife (kinda).

Best Guest Blogging Appearance by a Non-Family Member: MacHater on the new Kings Contrivance Harris Teeter.

Best Journalist Impersonation: My post about a meeting of the Merriweather Post Pavilion advisory committee.

Best Photo: Hmm...either this or this.

Best Photo Series: The HFStival at Merriweather, Part I and Part II.

That's all I have time for now. More tomorrow, with an expanded focus on other blogs. In the meantime, feel free to suggest your own awards or nominees in comments!

62 comments:

FreeMarket said...

Although he already received recognition for best insult, I think Berkhouse deserves special recognition for making up a word. The word may have its roots in erroneous spelling, but I think “HYPOCRIT” is top notch. I am currently lobbying to have in included in Webster’s Dickshonairy.

Anonymous said...

Can I nominate this one for "Laziest Post, Relabeling Past Posts as Awards"?

Are you really serious that you think Fairfax County was evil for requiring certain safety standards for all kitchens that serve the public?

Anonymous said...

How 'bout these awards?

Best fake job title: "Secretary of the Cabinet"

Best accomplishment: Ulman single-handedly saving Merriweather

Best comment by a County Executive in the first month (to a County employee): "Get on board or I'll have your job"

Least qualified County Executive: you get the picture

Anonymous said...

Or, how about this one:

Least able to converse productively: Anon 12:11

Anonymous said...

Or how about sorest loser: Anon 12:11

Anonymous said...

Even better.

Anonymous said...

Most memorable performance at a charity buffet: Merdon and the infamous "napkin" incident

Anonymous said...

How about "Biggest apologists for Democrats with fake resumes"

Everyone must agree that faking a resume is generally a no-no? What Ulman did or did not do is another issue.

But people who say "it's OK" without all of the facts are being blindly partisan. People who say "it's OK because he was elected" are even worse.

Anonymous said...

And what facts do you have that Ulman faked his resume? Keelan's accusations aren't enough.

Anonymous said...

So there IS a "Secretary of the Cabinet" -- that should be verifiable but nobody can do it. Every government job has performance evaluations, which should list title and responsibilities.

Does a White House summer intern makes you a "Clinton White House staffer"

Generally, is a fake or exaggerated resume a disqualifier?

Anonymous said...

Are ethics violations a disqualifier? Were you just as animated when Merdon abused his position as councilperson to extort funds from liquor board license applicants?

Anonymous said...

I didn't vote for Merdon, but I do see a bit of a difference: Merdon's actions (if true) were isolated, while Ulman's actions (if true) are ongoing. Ulman's website still lists his job titles.

So, I think the general question is a good one:

If it is shown that someone's resume has exaggerated job titles, what should happen to that person?

Some people seem to think that nothing should happen, but I disagree.

Anonymous said...

Whoa, whoa.

What's this about Merdon and the liquor board? How did I miss that? when? what? Details, please.

Anonymous said...

Anon 3:12, Right on the mark.

Anonymous said...

Nobody has answered the question about resumes. What should happen if the accusations are true?

FreeMarket said...

Holy crap. I cannot believe these resume accusations are still being discussed. I don’t know, maybe he did exaggerate. The Baltimore Sun talked to Glendenning who said that Ulman was there and did his job. He has other experience on the Council and has been active in the community. These accusations, even if true, are completely meaningless. I don’t know if people are jealous that he is going places at such a young age, or there is some anti-Semitism going on here, or if Ulman slept with someone’s wife, or if people are just sore losers, but give me a break. To beat him up over this for this long is getting really pathetic.

Anonymous said...

Yes, time to move on. If the resume thing comes up again so be it - but I won't bring it up. Anti-Semitism? Freemarket where did you get that idea? That is a huge leap.

Calling Merdon an extortionist doesn't help either. The ethics board found no wrong doing. As to Ulman's resume - the voters found no wrong doing.

Anonymous said...

Couldn't disagree more. Ulman's resume continues to lay claim to positions that appear to be exaggerated (at least the titles)

Glendening didn't confirm that Ulman actually held certain positions. He said "all I know is he was there"

Ulman's resume continues to be fair game as long as he asserts that he was in fact "Secretary of the Cabinet" and other gems

Anonymous said...

the voters found no wrongdoing when they re-elected Nixon

Anonymous said...

And the voters found no wrongoing when they re-elected Bush (worse than Nixon, and won't be remembered as kindly regardless of the onset of infirmity with age)

FreeMarket said...

“Ulman's resume continues to be fair game as long as he asserts that he was in fact "Secretary of the Cabinet" and other gems”

Ok, so where is Ulman asserting this?

Anonymous said...

He changed his website to remove the questionable titles

The Ho. Co. Dems website still has his "resume" with "Secretary of the Cabinet" capitalized like an actual job title would be

http://www.howardcountydems.com/ht/d/OfficialDetails/i/34809

He removed his biography from the Howard County website, as if it never happened.

http://www.co.ho.md.us/PortalServices/HC_CountyExecutive.htm

Find the old websites online to see how changes have been made(internet archives are great)

http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=80691

Find his old County Council bio, with the questionable titles:

http://web.archive.org/web/20021204163206/http://www.co.ho.md.us/CountyCouncil/Dist4_Bio.htm

Why would he have his bio with "Secretary of the Cabinet" and other titles when he was on the County Council but remove them once he was elected County Exec?

Removing the questionable paragraphs of his bio - is this Ulman's way of coming clean about his past? Is it an admission of previous use of misleading information? For me it raises more questions

Can anyone find any evidence of an actual Secretary of the Cabinet position in Maryland? I sure can't and I don't think anyone has thus far

FreeMarket said...

Anon 2:43- based on your research, it appears that Ulman is no longer asserting any of these job titles. When you stated that “Ulman's resume continues to lay claim to positions that appear to be exaggerated (at least the titles)”, that is not true at all. For you to continue to beat this matter means that there is something else about Ulman that you dislike. Maybe he personally slighted you in some way, maybe you are jealous of him, maybe you are upset that Merdon lost. Whatever the reason, it cannot possibly be the resume issue. Please move on.

Anonymous said...

I have to say that I'm MORE concerned- not less- if he has changed the titles on his resume. Or- to be more accurate- I wasn't really concerned at all at the possible resume puffery as long as he had the conviction to stand by it. I am concerned now that he has backed away from it- it makes it seem worse.

Anonymous said...

Agree with anon 6:02. I am more concerned.

Seriously - does it sit well with you that someone might fake a resume to get a position, as long as they get rid of the resume once they have the position??

What does this say about his campaign promises??

Anonymous said...

I'd hardly call the write-up on the HoCo Govt page a resume. The reason why it's changed. Could it possibly be because now he isn't running for office?

For example, the resume I give out when job seeking is not the same as the bio that is posted online about me. They serve two different purposes.

You are grasping at straws, anon. Looking for scandal where there is none. It's just sad and pathetic at this point. Like freemarket said, either Ulman has wronged you personally or you are just a bitter person.

Either way, your accusations lack merit and reek of sour grapes.

Anonymous said...

To 10:21 -- His County Council website used to have his entire resume with all of the previous titles. He wasn't running for office then. Any other explanation?

Maybe got rid of the job titles now because he is sick of this controversy. His resume has served the purpose of getting him elected.

So what if the jobs on his resume maybe don't exist? The end justifies the means. He is a Democrat and was elected. If he duped us in the process, so be it then we were duped. So what if it is all based on a house of cards?

Politicians shouldn't be held to a higher standard.

BTW, when someone says "the accusations lack merit" then that means that they can establish that there WAS a position called "Secretary of the Cabinet" then? Anyone?

That would settle the controversy. Anyone?

Anonymous said...

So, this is the worst thing you have on Ulman? I can think of worse things.

Who, in their right mind, would think that a twenty-something was a chief of staff, heading a cabinet, or acting as a primary advisor in any statewide position for the governor in Maryland?

Campaign promises? Come on. You don't really listen to that stuff, right? If you want more from candidates, evaluate actions rather than words.

(and hey anon 10:21 - calling the resume' antagonist "bitter" neutralizes your otherwise persuasive argument)

Anonymous said...

Who in their right mind would lie about being a chief of staff, cabinet head or advisor for the governor? That'd be pretty pathetic!

FreeMarket said...

“Numbersgirl - you're not even worth a rebuttal.”

Berkhouse to English translation: instead of attempting a rebuttal, I will simply insult you personally.

Anonymous said...

Anybody able to substantiate the Secretary of the Cabinet thing on Ulman's CV yet?

Removing the offending pages AFTER the election is pretty suspect IMHO. We need to keep a close eye on this guy. Based on the limited history, I don't trust him.

Anonymous said...

dude - he got away with it. It's over. I bet he'll never mention his old jobs again.

Anonymous said...

seriously folks, some of you are acting paranoid. he took everything on his website down, save for a thank you note. most people do that after an election because theyre not campaigning any more. i bet he'll put it back up again because he actually was in all those positions, and he had the business cards to prove it. so just get over it.

Anonymous said...

wrong - the state has no records of any job titles to match Ulman's resume.

One way to settle it would be for him to release his job evaluations, which every employee receives. Someone like Ulman would surely keep those.

He purged these titles from his official bio. He won't use them again.

Anonymous said...

wrong - the state has no records of any job titles to match Ulman's resume.

One way to settle it would be for him to release his job evaluations, which every employee receives. Someone like Ulman would surely keep those.

He purged these titles from his official bio. He won't use them again.

Anonymous said...

Anon 12:29: "wrong - the state has no records of any job titles.."

Do you work for the state? Can you substantiate this claim?

Ulman not releasing his personnel files is NOT proof that they don't exist. Merdon didn't release his personnel files, either. Yet you make no claims that the fudged his resume.

Anonymous said...

release his job evaluations? are you serious? who does that?

Anonymous said...

I would release whatever records I had if I were accused of fraud -- unless I really did pad my resume.

If I did pad my resume, I would remove them after the election from all my bios.

Can't anyone establish that these positions ever existed by using personnel records from a FOIA request - it'd be easy to do (unless they were faked),

Anonymous said...

Ulman would have to release his job evaluations because that is private information. As to job title. That is a matter of public record and anyone can send an information request to the governor's office requesting all information related to Mr. Ulman's job title and description which would include working titles. The document is called an MS-22.

If you are interested in pursuing this then get the MS-22. If it shows something then tell us. Why keep bringing it up. I posted 5 seperate essays on this with plenty of documentation regarding the inconsistencies in Ulman's resume. In the end - no one cared.

Anonymous said...

Agree with anon 5:46. The burden is on Ulman to support his dubious claims. Until then, he lacks credibility. On Election Day, I didn't know about the resume. I wish I did. I would have cared. The press should have investigated this before the election, so as to expose unethical behavior.

Anonymous said...

Where were the Republicans on this? Ulman is a lawyer, so his bar application should have his jobs and also disclose any disciplinary action during school. Mary Kay could have won in 2002 had this been public back then...

Anonymous said...

Interesting debate, but nobody can actually provide any support that positions like Cabinet Secretary actually exist and also that Olman worked in these capacities.

I seriously doubt that anyone could do it. A simple phone call to the state government should resolve it. The office of Personnel Management would be a good place to start. This debate will go on forever until it is settled. The fact that it hasn't yet should make us all uneasy.

Anonymous said...

i think it's been over 96 days w/o an explanation of the job titles

don't hold your breath

Anonymous said...

the resume padding was first brought up in march 2006 here:

http://hocomd.wordpress.com/2006/03/29/ken-ulmans-curriculum-vitae/

so its been about 300 days without an explanation from Ulman.

Anonymous said...

anon 12:14- You need to get laid. Badly.

Anonymous said...

I think everyone with common sense ignored Keelan's smear attempts. Sad to see you bought into it.

If you honestly believe this crap, then why not do something? No, pissing and moaning on blogs doesn't count.

Get out there, request information, or, what an idea, give Ulman's office a call. No? You won't? Oh, that's right, cause you don't have a leg to stand on and are just PISSING AND MOANING!

Anonymous said...

Good points anon 7:46! What anon 12:14 really means is that he/she has sat around for 300 days with his/her thumb up his/her butt waiting for others to take action. Some people are talkers, some are doers, but it is clear that anon 12:14 is just a talker. I like it when he/she says “…its been about 300 days without an explanation from Ulman”. Why would Ulman respond to anything? Thus far the only mention of resume padding has been on blogs. When asked about it by the Baltimore Sun, Ulman did respond and had business cards to back up the titles. If this person wants to take this further, then why don’t they do it? Because they know they don’t have a leg to stand on, that’s why. Ulman has since taken down his resume, so I suppose this person is desperately trying to keep this matter alive. How sad.

Anonymous said...

re "A simple phone call to the state government should resolve it."

Yes, it should. Have you made such a phone call?

Anonymous said...

After reading the back-n-forth, I decided to step up. Here are my findings (feel free to verify yourself):

Step 1: Phone call to Maryland's Department of Budget and Management. 1-800-705-3493.

Step 2: I pressed 2 for the Annapolis office. I was connected to someone who asked my name and connected me to someone else once they asked what I wanted.

Step 3: I spoke to a man and was re-directed.

Step 4: I spoke to another person who said that someone would call me back.

Step 5: I received a call back today. According to their search, there is 'no record' of a 'Secretary of the Cabinet' position ever existing in the state of Maryland.

The State Archives page also has position listings.

No record.

Ever.

That's just one of the positions. I didn't check all of his other positions.

Elapsed research time: 10 minutes.

Do you still honestly believe that there is a 'Secretary of the Cabinet' position?

Such a lofty title - what would be involved in such a position?

If he wanted to be honest, he could have said he was a secretary (no caps) for a Cabinet member or something.

I can get business cards to say anything. You actually pay for and print up your own business cards in the government.

I say release the job records.

How can someone who lacks integrity to get elected then be expected to act with integrity once elected?

Troublesome.

Almost as troublesome is the 'head in the sand' attitude by partisan supporters.

Anonymous said...

I have no rebuttal for your claims, so I will accuse you of being an Anti-Semite or some other red herring slur.

Anonymous said...

Good research effort on the resume but not necessary. Common sense should tell you that the titles are not legit. At least you have silenced the skeptics.

BTW - the bios for other winning candidates weren't removed after the election. Look at O'Malley, Cardin, Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett. Just to name a few.

Sad that few seem to care. In the private sector, resume padding would have serious consequences.

Anonymous said...

I was looking forward to reading a pro-Ulman reply to these accusations for the past week or so. The silence is deafening.

I have lost the little respect I had for the guy and don't see voting for him ever again.

Anonymous said...

Disillusioned: Please refer to the section in your handbook titled "Moving on."

Anonymous said...

Another non-response from someone w/ low expectations

Anonymous said...

Slick Kenny Ulman must be hoping this will go away - but I will remember next election.

Anonymous said...

Ulman is a fraud - anyone who went to school with him will tell you the same thing (other than his sycophantic buddies who are now under his employ)

He is a running joke to fellow alums - he has no views of his own except those that will get him elected

Ho Co is worse off for trusting a guy like him - if only he were exposed before the election

Anonymous said...

People can feel free to say I smeared Ulman. I don't think so. I posted documentation from the State that showed Ulman never held the titles he claims. He puffed up his resume.

No one cares now and no one will care in 4 years. However, in 8 years when he runs for higher office people will care. This isn't a done issue.

The sad part is that he didn't have to puff up his resume. By all standards I think Ulman is off to a very good start. Too bad this will drag on him in the future.

Anonymous said...

I care about his resume. He will NEVER get my vote again. He has shown himself to be dishonest. Plus, he betrayed several Democrats in order to get elected. It shows a scheming nature that makes him unworthy of public trust.

Anonymous said...

If he ever runs for higher office, then he will have to release his Maryland Bar application. That will have all of his jobs listed and any disciplinary actions against him.

Failure to mention disciplinary actions or correct job titles would be serious indeed.

Anonymous said...

This post about Ulman's resume has 63 (now 63) comments. Pretty impressive for a 'non-story'

Anonymous said...

You should take this page down befor Ulamn runs for governor.

Anonymous said...

Take this down. It is over. He will be Lt Gov and should not have to deal with this.