Election night song lyric...

Down the tracks
Beautiful McMansions on a hill
That overlook the highway
Riverboat casinos and you still
Have yet to see a soul

--Ben Folds, "Jesusland"

I'm glad I brought the iPod.

More photos and an update..

Democratic party chair Tony McGuffin just announced that the delay in results is related to the extended polling hours in MontCo and Baltimore and that results should be coming in shortly....

More election results. These from Harmony Hall:

Ulman: 209
Dunbar: 59

Sigaty: 144
Feldmark: 118

More pictures...

Hey, we got something...

Results from three machines at Longfellow Elementary...

County Executive
Ken Ulman: 110
Harry Dunbar: 43

Council District 4
Mary Kay Sigaty: 85
Joshua Feldmark: 71

"Keep Blogging!" yells Ken Ulman's campaign manager...

Fuzzy reports coming in...

So, everyone here is asking everyone else: Who's got the numbers?

Apparently, the Board of Elections said the results would only be available on their website, which has yet to be updated. But some of the people sitting next to me appear to have some results that they're sifting through and entering into a computer. So, maybe in a few more minutes we'll have something. Stay tuned...

UPDATE: The results we have are from one precinct -- Hammond High -- and technically they weren't supposed to be handed out. Ah, the fog of election night...

It's 9 pm...

Do you know where your election results are?

I don't.

What's going on here...

Here are a few quick photos I snapped from the last few minutes...

Here's Hayduke Blogging Central. And yes, I keep my own blog up on the computer at all times -- I'm into myself like that.


Here's my blogging partner in crime, Evan Coren.


And, the first candidate to make an entrance, Calvin Ball, with his whole family -- including the two young ones...


An overview of the hall...


Sandwiches with minature American flags...


More soon...

And so it begins...

Polls just closed in most Maryland counties -- because of problems at polling stations, Montgomery and Baltimore City are staying open until 9 pm -- and results should start coming in over the next hour. Things won't really start picking up until after 9 pm here at Kahler Hall, the Democrats' election night headquarters. I'll probably fill time between now and then with random posts and pictures (as soon as Abbzug gets here with the camera cable that I left at home -- D'oh!).

I'll be mainly focused on the primaries for County Executive and the District 2 Council race, though I'm sure I'll comment on the other races, including statewide, and the atmosphere here in the room, as well.

Meanwhile, Evan, who's sitting next to me here at Bloggers' Row, is going to offer extensive, precinct-by-precinct coverage of the District 13 Delegate and District 4 Council races (he's got maps and tables and all kinds of good stuff that I'm too lazy and impatient to deal with).

As for the Republicans, the Davids -- Keelan and Wissing -- will be posting primarily at Keelan's site on county races, while Wissing promises coverage of races from around the state and country.

Since things might happen kind of fast around here, I'm not making any promises on the quality of writing. The quality of the grammar, I can assure you, will be horrible.

Also, the metal table we're working on is freezing. Oh well, it'll keep my Gatorade warm, I suppose.

Finally, I took the "How old are you" poll down; the pop-ups it creates are annoying.

Primary Eve...

Polls for tomorrow’s primary open in a little more than 12 hours from now. Do you know where your polling place is? If not, go here.

I take it by now most of you have already decided who you’re going to vote for (or if you’re going to vote at all). So, there’s no sense belaboring the races any longer. What’s done is done and we’ll find out tomorrow night (live on the Blogs!) whose campaigns will continue until November and who finally gets a decent night’s rest.

Since tomorrow’s going to be blog-crazy and I don’t want to run out of words half-way through the evening, I think it’s best that I leave you with just a few links to stories not-even-tangentially-related to the election.

Good to know the law of unintended consequences is still working.

If you don’t like it, bring your own lunch to school. I hate to sound like an a crotchety old fart, but I never bought lunch when I was in school. In fact, my mom stopped making them for me sometime in elementary school and ever since that time I’ve always managed to keep myself properly fed at school or (now) work. Granted, I subsist on a diet of nuts, berries and energy bars…

Finally, here's a story about the rise in popularity of age-restricted housing in Howard County, which I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on. This story was just sent to me by my father, who, according to the current poll results, is the oldest reader of this blog and someone who might be interested in such housing -- assuming, of course, that it's on a golf course.

See you tomorrow!

I'm going to be completely honest...

I have from now (10:48 am) until 1 pm to fix my lawn mower and then use it to cut the grass that has finally started growing again. This process will surely involve a trip to Home Depot, lots of swearing, and possibly a bloody knuckle or two, as I focus more on getting it done quickly than getting it done right. But it will all be worth it at 1 pm, when I will drop whatever it is I'm doing and spend the next seven hours parked in front the glowing box of happiness watching football. After that, I'll be at the Ben Harper concert at Merriweather. So, blogging's taking a back seat today.

There are a couple things worth pointing out. The first is that the mystery of who's responsible for the horribly innaccurate sample ballots printed in the Flier/Times has been solved. Hint: it's not who we thought it was.

The second is a page of letters on building heights in Columbia. Though I'm partial to the first, almost all are well-written and full of reasonable, rational arguements.

Go Ravens!

HoCo Blog Round Up...

There isn't much news in the news today...

Oh, there is this: a story about the fact that CA (really, the Owen Brown Village Board) is now hiring a mediator to help decide whether or not a fence should be erected around the Lake Elkhorn tot lot. Really? I'm beginning to think this all a long, drawn-out piece of performance art, staged for the enjoyment of all lienpayers. Either that, or CA has become a parody of itself. I don't care how you feel about the fence, CA could have saved itself a lot of time, anguish, humiliation and money by just building the fence.

But that's about it for news. So, let's see what's happening on the other blogs...

Bill Santos has a great piece weighing the pros and cons of various solutions to the soon-to-be-vacant supermarket space in Wilde Lake.

David Keelan thumbed through the HoCo Times from front to back, detailing the various campaign adds he spotted along the way.

David Wissing, meanwhile, finds a disturbing number of errors in the sample ballot printed in Patuxent's papers yesterday (apparently, the gaffes are the fault of the Board of Elections, however).

Evan Coren likes some Board of Ed candidates and really doesn't like others.

As for me, well, there\'s clearly not much going on here. Did you see the new poll?

Elections, celebrations and introductions...

With the primary elections only five days away, the Patuxent rags are charging head-first into the voters' knowledge vacuum with all you could ever want to know about the candidates and primary races, including a mention of the local blogs in this piece. Although the papers' endorsements came out last week, readers are given the chance to lobby for votes today in one of the longest "Letters" pages I've ever seen.

Aside from that, there isn't much of note in the Flier/Times, which is good because it's Thursday, Band Practice Day, and I have to take care of a few things (setting my fantasy football lineups) before trekking down to Annapolis. This admission is, naturally, just a pathetic excuse for today's pathetic output.

Before I go, however, I want to point out two things. First, it's the one-year anniversary/birthday of this blog. From this humble beginning, the blog has grown into...well, whatever it is now.

Second, after a limited release garnered favorable responses from people who are admittedly predisposed to giving me favorable responses (read Family), I'm sharing with a wider audience the location of my other blog, One Daily Shot. After I got a nice camera for my birthday, I decided I should learn to take better pictures. Using the same logic that prompted the creation of this blog -- improvement through constant practice -- I decided to take more pictures and force myself to post one a day. So, now when I take the mutt on walks, I bring the camera and look for a shot worthy of the Hayduke name. As you can see, the results have been mixed.

New Poll!

Check out the new poll on the right. Rather than focus on political stuff in these polls, I'd rather learn more about who lurks in this dark corner of the internet. So, be honest (or at least as honest as anyone is about their age).

Wednesday Round Up...

Oh, my. There is a ton of stuff to write about today. So much, in fact, that the only way to squeeze it all in is with a Round Up.

Here, in no particular order, is what has transpired in the last few days in the Fourth Greatest – But Third Richest! – Community in America…or, FGBTRCiA for short.

First things first. There’s a new guy in Blogumbia (get it, a combination “blog” and “Columbia”). Bill Santos, lifelong Columbian, former member of the Wilde Lake Village Board, and all around good guy, has carved out his own little slice of blogging heaven over at Columbia Compass, which has by far the best tag line of all the local blogs: “Navigating through the social, political, and cultural world of Columbia, Maryland.” Welcome, Bill!

Second things second. I saw her waving at cars this morning, now you can see her on YouTube. Nina Basu – the plucky, upstart, outsider, darkhorse, (insert other clichéd adjective for non-incumbent) candidate in the five-way race for three spots on the Democratic ticket in District 13 – just released a commercial to help spread the word about her campaign. What she lacks in fundraising, she makes up for in energy – the video was produced, apparently, using only volunteers. This is probably as close as I’ll come to an endorsement in this race: Before you decide who to vote for in this race, at least check out her website.

Speaking of District 13, the Sun released endorsements for this race yesterday. Like the Flier’s endorsements, the Sun opted to keep all three incumbents. The editors offer very little reasoning for their decision, saying there is an “excess of good candidates” and that Guy Guzzone “gives the impression that he views the House of Delegates as a step back from the rigors of running a local government.” The second part is a reference to the fact that he decided -- at least in part because of his father’s declining health -- to run for the House rather rather than County Executive. And the Sun's comment is completely true -- but neither in a good or bad sense, which makes the paper’s use of it seem silly.

Delegates are in session three months out of the year, and the rest of the time, well, they pretty much do whatever it is politicians do on a nine-month break: some fundraising, a few constituent meetings, working a real job, golf, etc. The County Executive works year round – day-in, day-out – on county stuff, a schedule that is considerably more taxing. But does the question of whether a candidate is qualified to serve rest solely on his/her desire to put in full-time hours? Isn’t the General Assembly made up of citizen-legislators, who by their very nature aren’t supposed to be full-time?

Also in the above-linked story are the Sun’s endorsements for District 9 – Gail Bates and plucky, upstart, outsider, darkhorse Melissa Ridgely Covolesky.

Remember Doughoregan? Well, it sounds like they’re approaching a solution for preserving most of the estate(s), though much is still up in the air, and development -- significant amounts of it even – is still on the table.

Another day, another trailer park announces it’s closing. Residents of this park have known for sometime that they would be forced out eventually, but the letters making it official just arrived. Here’s wishing them luck in their quests to relocate.

For now, I also think it makes sense to have the transportation department reside in the broader Department of Planning and Zoning. This, I hope, helps integrate the planning for system improvements with the county’s overall planning activities. Eventually, however, as the transit system grows, there will come a time when the two should be separated.

I suppose I could find something wrong with this idea for purely political reasons, but on the whole Chris Merdon’s plan to strengthen middle school athletics is pretty good. Of course, limiting it to one sport is going to make deciding which sport a bit tricky. And doing something for athletics without commensurate support for the arts or other non-athletic, extracurricular activities isn’t really fair. Moreover, when I went to middle school (actually, junior high) we had intramural leagues within our school that worked just fine and didn’t require busing, like Merdon’s plan would. But, on the whole, I’m generally in favor of it.

As for the synthetic turf fields at high school, I will only support this if they allow the “community” to use the fields when not in use by the school – i.e. for my annual Turkey Bowl on Thanksgiving. There’s one of these fancy fields up at Rockburn Park, but you can’t get on it without super special permission from some park overlord, which is malarkey. If there’s an empty field – especially a fake turf one – let people play on it!

Finally, I serve on an obscure Columbia Association committee and I have never gotten free booze at one of our meetings. I am outraged! In the big picture, this story doesn't seem very significant, but that doesn’t stop CA’s most vocal critic from making a completely invalid comparison: “But Alex Hekimian, president and co-founder of Alliance for a Better Columbia, a watchdog group, said he told the oversight committee, ‘If you give away free booze, why not give out free cigarettes because I'm sure people would like to have a cigarette, too.’”

I think I need a drink.

Airing dirty laundry...

The Republican primary in District 5 just got a little less crowded (not that it was ever really crowded in the first place).

Jim Adams, who was refreshingly candid about his chances of winning, has exited the race and thrown his support behind former police chief Wayne Livesay. Adams’s reason for leaving: “dirty politics.”

“The first reason is that there was a slim chance that I could win, but more importantly, I have recently become aware of what I refer to as dirty politics,” according to Adams’ speech given Monday at Chris Merdon’s campaign headquarters.

…“There are various items that the opposition is wrongly addressing and I will not go into them, with one exception. That exception addresses Wayne Livesay as a Republican,” according to Adams’ speech.

Of course, dyed-in-the-wool Republicans don’t have a problem with pointing out Livesay’s disloyalty and certainly don’t view such actions as “dirty.” However, on the Hedgehog Report, Adams goes into a little more detail about his decision.

Greg is running scared, he has no confidence. He had a push telephone pole conducted, omitted me, and used trash questions in reference to Livesay, and has not released the results. Greg is not impressing me as a man of good character, although I want to be wrong about this, his actions are disappointing me. I made my decision after conversations with MANY GOP members. None Recommened I drop out, some even suggested, without my prompting them that I stay in. It was in these conversations that I found out my conclusions about Greg’s campaign were not mine alone. I have always placed people before party...

Still, the full details of what he calls “dirty politics” remain elusive. Anyone who has been following this race at all, however, knows that it is highly charged and borders on what could be called “dirty.” Although I think David Keelan’s work on the Hatch Act issue was generally quite good, he has continued to target Livesay and sometimes, I would argue, crosses the fuzzy line. This is from last month.

Remember to stay on message and that Wayne Livesay is:

• An Opportunist (switched to the GOP to run in a GOP district)
• Doesn’t have the convictions of his beliefs (switched to the GOP to run in a GOP district even after he publically and loudly disowned the GOP)
• Won’t endorse Sandy Schrader
• A Republican in Name Only
• Doesn’t trust that citizens know that comp-lite was a complete farse
• Listens to Charlie Feaga too much
• Precided over a police department leading to two sexual harrassment lawsuits and chalks it up to disgruntled employees (read the court records - they don’t sync up).
• Doesn’t possess the grasp for details to be a legislator

My concern is that if we don’t stay on message and allow ourselves to be distracted then Wayne Livesay will win.

Although some of these items are just silly, partisan things, others are character attacks that rightly qualify as dirty. For instance, the last one, which basically amounts to calling him stupid. Livesay ran the police department admirably for almost a decade and yet he somehow doesn’t have it in him to decide on county-level legislation? That’s the easy part. Try implementing it.

Also, I would argue that it takes stronger convictions to leave a party than it does to blindly follow one. But that’s just my opinion.

Finally, hammering the point home about the ugliness of this race is the third comment – an odd, foreboding one made by timactual -- on Keelan’s post about this story.

There is another reason that Adams withdrew, but I do not want to get into that. He knows what I mean.

May the best man win, indeed.

I'm not really here...

I'm technically taking the weekend off from blogging -- this doesn't count. But if you're looking for something to occupy your time for a while, Evan posted what I think is the entire Harper's Choice candidates forum. He cut the video into several pieces -- each one covering a single question -- which makes it easy to navigate through the two-hour-plus forum. It's still a lot of videos, though.

Go spend some time there enjoying the new age of blogging in Howard County.

Oh, since I can't resist, here's another link or two.

This is, appropriately, the top story in the Howard section of today's Sun, even though we've known since February it was likely. I'm still excited.

I went back and forth on drawing attention to this, but, whatever, it's a story of interest. That you can see how bad I need a haircut is, well, just a chance to get to know your neighborhood blogger a little better.

That's it till Tuesday.

Friday Round Up: Tropically-Depressed Edition…

Ah, Ernesto, we hardly knew ye. From storm to depression in only a few short hours, you’re now just a little breezy and (hopefully) a lot rainy. Which is fine. We need the rain more than we need the wind. Anyway, here are a few stray thoughts before the dog and I go play in the rain.

This is a good idea: Giving tax credits to those who conserve energy by installing solar or geothermal systems.

Wisely, a developer hoping to build senior housing near the Columbia Medical Campus in Thunder Hill has withdrawn his plans after strong neighborhood opposition.

What?!? Is General Growth seriously even contemplating demolishing the Rouse Company building? Don’t they know what happened last time they tried to take down a Frank Gehry-designed building in Columbia? Do they really want to open up that can of worms again?

Cut down to size...

It looks like the total number of buildings in Howard County reaching 20 or more stories will be one, the Plaza Residences. Interestingly, it doesn’t appear that shorter buildings will be the product of some strict government regulation. Rather, such heights have been found to be unnecessary in completing the more-urban vision of Town Center currently being refined.

Responding to broad public concern, a height limitation of 14 stories for new buildings in downtown Columbia is under consideration by the county.

…Whether 14 stories would be an unconditional cap, or simply a general target that could be exceeded in some instances, has not been determined.

There remains the possibility that a final plan might propose the limitation but make it flexible so developers could construct taller buildings in return for public improvements, such as new roads, constructing "green," or environmentally responsible, buildings, and cultural or civic centers, said Elmina J. Hilsenrath, division chief of Environmental and Community Planning.

A draft of the plan for downtown, released to the public in February, had included a limitation of 20 stories.

…"We've been dancing around the issue for many, many months," Hilsenrath told a focus group studying the future development of Town Center. But, she said Wednesday, a computer analysis showed that virtually the entire plan could be achieved by enacting a lower height limitation.

Some may look at the idea of a “flexible” limit as a way to quell opposition while winking to developers. This would be wrong.

Like the two leading contenders for county executive, I don’t support firm height restrictions in Columbia or elsewhere in Howard County. This is not to say I’m in favor of tall buildings; instead, it reflects my belief that we shouldn’t impose our preferences on others, especially those who don’t currently exist.

In most cases, getting a law on the books is easier than taking it off. And this is probably true with respect to height restrictions, too. While tall buildings may run completely counter to the prevailing opinions of today, the preferences of future residents may be dramatically different. Yet, should we enact such controls, citizens twenty years from now will be stuck under out collective thumb.

A better way of ensuring heights aren’t out of whack is creating an explicit provision in the zoning regulations that allow oversight bodies to restrict building heights based on the character of the neighborhood and acceptance of the community. Granted, there is still some mushiness in this, but it’s better than what led to the Plaza being approved and it still offers flexibility for residents of the future to actually chart their own course.

On Dunbar...

Harry Dunbar gets a story today in The Sun. Like the man himself, it’s full of comedy but is only funny to a point.

The 62-year-old federal retiree and real estate agent has based his campaign on dissatisfaction with the pace of development, making flamboyant, often inaccurate charges about the most sensitive political issue in the county this year.

At a candidates forum Monday night in Harper's Choice, Dunbar again assailed plans for a high-rise near Lake Kittamaqundi and the redevelopment of Town Center, recalling the green open spaces when he arrived in the new town from New York City in 1973.

"That's when I feel we had the highest quality of life because we had uncrowded schools and less density," he said, adding there "were no cars and no noise."

OK, I’ll admit it: I laughed out loud when I read the “flamboyant, often inaccurate charges” part. That was funny.

What’s funny in a less “ha, ha” way is his statement about how great life was in Columbia in 1973. Is he serious? How could he have moved here then and not known about what the future of Columbia would look like? Models, drawings, brochures and other materials all displayed for anyone with eyes what the “Next American City” would look like. And, not surprisingly, it looked a lot like what we have now.

Let’s get back to those accusations.

He has accused Ulman of making "backroom" deals with developers to allow construction of the proposed 23-story high-rise in Columbia…”

...As for the 23-story Columbia high-rise, Ulman said he has never met "with anybody affiliated with the project," much less in a "backroom deal." Dunbar acknowledged that he has no firsthand knowledge of such a meeting, and though he claims he read about it in a newspaper account, he cannot produce a copy of any such article.

Ulman has been frustrated hearing the accusations, which he said go beyond normal standards of campaign criticism.

"I do not mind being criticized. That's part of the job. What I mind is when people lie about me. When people cross the line and make things up," Ulman said.

I don’t care how you feel about Ulman, but he’s completely right here. If you think flat-out lying about someone to further your own goals or views or partisanship is fine, you don’t deserve to be heard. As good as it is to have Harry Dunbar around for comic relief, his quixotic quest sets an example of dishonesty that only perpetuates a climate of hostility, one where unsubstantiated attacks are not only acceptable, but the preferred method of debate.

Meanwhile, Ulman also had this to say in the article:

"I am proud to have stood up strongly in supporting investing in our quality of life," he said at a recent forum.

However, he said more work needs to be done on the plan for downtown Columbia, which includes adding 5,500 housing units, stores, offices and a hotel.

"I thought 5,000 units is ludicrous. The vision that emerged from the charrette is too intense. It wouldn't work," Ulman said.

Now, here’s a question for you. I’ve heard a lot of people say that Ulman has no limit to the development that he thinks is acceptable. Yet, here’s an example to the contrary. Does anyone have a link/citation to an article or anything where he said he supported the 5,500 units for Town Center? If my memory serves, Ulman’s been fairly quiet on the downtown plan since around the time of the charrette, saying at most that he supports the process and those working through it.

TV time...

I can bite my tongue no longer:

The Wire is the best show I have ever seen. By far.

I know that statement may seem a touch hyperbolic, but you must trust me, it is not. On the surface, it’s just a show about police and drugs in Baltimore. Underneath that, it’s a show about everything.

Actually, calling it a show is probably not appropriate. Though I’m not sure what the best term would be – I’ve heard stuff like “visual novel,” which doesn’t quite cut it -- The Wire is certainly beyond normal television.

The City Paper has a long story (that you should read) about the show and its writers, David Simon and Ed Burns, a former reporter and cop, respectively, who also wrote one of my favorite books, The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood (Simon was also the writer and creator of Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets and the accompanying television show).

Since I've always lived in HBO-free houses, I never had a chance to see the show. But after reading The Corner last year and a lot of buzz about The Wire this summer (the fourth season starts next week), Abbzug and I decided to rent a few DVDs from season one.

That was a little more than three weeks ago. We finished season three on Tuesday. Thirty-nine episodes in 20-some days. It got to the point where Netflix couldn't keep up and we had to make special trips to Blockbuster and Hollywood Video, the latter being the only of the two stocking seasons two and three (and it might have been cheaper just to buy all three seasons). Many late nights we would finish an episode or two transfixed, precious minutes of sleep passing by, and without hesitation watch another.

Our complete devotion to the show, however, is not unique, either. Spend some time reading about The Wire on the internet and you’ll find countless others like us. For instance, here, here, here and here.

Like all addictions, The Wire takes its toll. But unlike most, it’s completely worth it.

Sun endorsements...

Buried in an obscure corner of cyberspace are The Sun's endorsements for county council races. Here's the link, which I just happened to stumble upon.

Anyway, in the more hotly contested council races, Democrats in District 4 and Republicans in District 5, the Sun selects Mary Kay Sigaty and Wayne Livesay.

In the other races, the paper sided with those you would expect it to.