Van Hollen, Brown, Hoyer win federal races

(Originally published in the Prince George's Sentinel, Vol. 84 No. 44 [Nov. 17, 2016] pages 1 + 4) - by Emily Blackner -

SILVER SPRING – Although Republican Donald Trump carried the night nationally to become president-elect, in Maryland and especially Prince George’s County, Democrats won federal races decisively.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen has secured the open Senate seat left by the retiring Sen. Barbara Mikulski. In the House of Representatives race, former Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown redeemed himself from his 2014 gubernatorial loss to Larry Hogan to win the 4th District seat, while long-time Rep. Steny Hoyer won another two-year term representing the 5th District.

Maryland also supported Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, for president. She carried the state with 59.6 percent of the vote and Prince George’s County by 88.4 percent.

Voters on Election Day expressed a range of reasons for supporting Clinton, from enthusiasm to resignation.

A voter in Glenn Dale who gave her name as Sundee said, “I support Hillary Clinton all the way. There is only one option today.”

In Bowie, voter Brian J. said, “I came out for the presidential race and voted Clinton. She’s the lesser of two evils.” Van Hollen, Brown, Hoyer and other Democratic officials and supporters gathered at the Tommy Douglas Conference Center (formerly the National Labor College campus) in Silver Spring for a victory party last Tuesday night, where each expressed gratitude for their volunteers and voters.

Brown said this cycle’s campaign staff was “the best he ever had,” and though “small but mighty,” their hard work enabled him to come back from his gubernatorial loss.

“My father taught me a very important lesson as a young boy, the same lesson that I try to teach my children. He said, ‘Anthony, son, every so often in life, you’re going to have successes. And every so often in life you’re going to have setbacks,’” Brown said in his victory speech. “But he said, ‘The true test is whether you get up.’ And if you believe in what you do, you get up and you get back to it.”

Brown earned 73.9 percent of the vote across the entire 4th District, which also includes part of Anne Arundel County, but a crushing 90.1 percent in Prince George’s County.

He defeated Republican George McDermott, who garnered 21.7 percent of the total vote, Libertarian Benjamin Krause with 1.8 percent and Green Party nominee Kamesha Clark, who won 2.5 percent.

Brown will join Hoyer- the current House Minority Whip- as part of Maryland’s Congressional delegation, which includes all men for the first time since 1987.

Hoyer credited his victory to his voters and his record as a legislator.

“I am honored to have received the support of my neighbors to continue serving them in the U.S. House of Representatives. I am proud of what I’ve accomplished on behalf of my constituents throughout my career,” he said in a statement. “But there is still a great deal of work to be done.”

Hoyer garnered 67.2 percent of the vote. Challengers Mark Arness (R) and Jason Summers (Libertarian) got 29.6 and 3 percent, respectively.

Turning to the Senate, the general election race was not as hard-fought as the primary, which pitted Van Hollen against Prince George’s County Rep. Donna Edwards (whose seat Brown won Tuesday). But the county came around and ended up supporting Van Hollen in a big way; he earned nearly ten times more votes (315,929 to 32,075) than challenger Del. Kathy Szeliga, a Republican from Baltimore County.

State-wide, Van Hollen earned 60.3 percent of the vote to Szeliga’s 36.3 percent, with Green Party candidate Margaret Flowers pulling in 3.2 percent.

Van Hollen thanked his supporters Tuesday night shortly before 10:30 p.m.

“I am truly humbled, and it is time for all of us to get to work. I am very blessed to be here this evening,” he said. “I want to thank you for making me your partner in change in the United States Senate.”

He said this election was an important one, because it was about values and what the country should be like.

“In this election, we have had the character of America at stake,” he said. “I want to thank you for uniting behind a common purpose of trying to make sure every Marylander, every American, is treated with dignity, and treated with respect, and has the opportunity to have a fair shake in the United States of America.”

Van Hollen said his priorities in the Senate would be protecting the Chesapeake Bay, battling climate change, improving education and building up the economy.

Brown said his focus would be similar in the 115th Congress.

“I believe in the work we need to do to provide good schools and safe neighborhoods, and jobs and opportunities,” he said. “I’m grateful that the voters gave me an opportunity to get back to it.”

For his part, Hoyer said he will continue working on his Make It In America plan and supporting federal employees in his new term.

“I will keep working to ensure our federal employees receive fair pay and benefits. I will continue to stand up for our military installations across the district,” he said in a statement. “I will keep fighting to make a quality education at all levels affordable and accessible to everyone. And I will keep pushing for equal pay for equal work and a higher minimum wage.”

County voters give approval of Question D, other ballot measures

(Originally published in the Prince George's Sentinel, Vol. 84 No. 44 [Nov. 17, 2016] pages 1 + 3)
-By Emily Blackner -

PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY – In an election where many voters nationwide rejected the political elites, Prince George’s County voters largely approved the ballot measures put forth by their political leaders.

All seven of the county ballot measures- including bonds to pay for various county projects- passed with decisive margins. The closest contest was Question D, a proposal favored by county council members, the county executive and other business and political leaders that would add two new, at-large members to the council. With early voting and Election Day totals in, Question D garnered 214,700 votes, or 66.1 percent.

The next-closest ballot question was Question F, which had 71.2 percent of voters in favor. That question dealt with bonds for various renovation and improvement projects for county buildings. The other county bond measures, Questions A, B, C and E, all passed with 82 percent or more of the vote. Voters also supported Question G, a provision to provide for the legislative and executive branches to each seek outside council, rather than use the county attorney, in the event of a conflict between them. That measure passed with 85.3 percent of the vote.

State Question 1, which stipulates that in the event the attorney general or comptroller resigns from the post, the governor must choose a replacement from the same political party as the outgoing officeholder, passed by 72.5 percent of the vote statewide and 81.3 percent in Prince George’s.

The closeness of the Question D vote in comparison to the others may be attributable to the strong citizen campaigns mounted on both sides of the issue. “No on Question D” and “ReCharge At-Large,” the pro-Question D group, each organized events and printed flyers to attempt to inform citizens and make the case for their argument.

Proponents of the measure said the new members would allow more representative and responsive county government, as well as help attract economic development projects to the county.

County Executive Rushern Baker III supported the measure, and greeted the news of its passage warmly on Election Night. Baker spokesman Scott Peterson said, “County Executive Baker is pleased that Question D was supported overwhelmingly by Prince Georgians.

Two at-large council members will assist the progress of Prince George’s County and create a better and more responsive government.”

But Tamara Davis Brown with “No on Question D” said she was disappointed in the results.

“I know we had an impact and I know we educated some voters, but we just weren’t good enough,” she said.

Opponents like her objected to the measure because of the additional cost- over $1 million annually by 2020- as well as what they perceived as the self-serving nature of the proposal, since it would allow current, sitting councilmembers to potentially double their term limits from two to four terms.

Davis Brown said she believed a major reason for Question D prevailing was the sample ballots distributed by various campaigns. While the Prince George’s County Democratic Central Committee officially took no position, many felt the sample ballots- with titles such as “Democratic Sample Ballot 2016”- confused voters on that fact.

“I really think the sample ballot was the driving force,” Davis Brown said. “They were heavily distributed by the sitting judges who were hoping to be elected, certainly during early voting and at the top 100 polls on Election Day. Voters, unfortunately, rely on these as gospel.”

She also said the question’s position in the midst of the bond measures made it more likely to pass, since in her experience county voters “generally” approve those.

Voters leaving the polls Tuesday expressed their own reasons for both supporting and opposing Question D.

“I am somebody who likes change,” said Florence Ngundam of Bowie. “I think changes are good.”

Brain J., another Bowie voter, also supported Question D.

“I think the more the better. There will be more input into decision making,” he said.

A voter in Glenn Dale who identified himself only as Jose said he was against Question D.

“It’s just more government,” Jose said. “It’s just putting two more people there to do nothing for the county. This is just for their political careers.”

Davis Brown said the ”No on Question D” group plans to meet soon to discuss next steps, if any.

And Larry Stafford, executive director of Progressive Maryland, a grassroots organizing organization that strongly opposed Question D, said his group will be looking to recruit candidates to fill the two new at-large seats.

“We’ll be running progressive candidates for these new seats who have the heart of the people in mind,” he said.

State legislators offer preview of 2016 General Assembly session

(Originally published in the East County Times, Vol. 21 No. 12 [Dec. 31, 2015] pages 2 + 8) - by Emily Blackner -

With the 2016 General Assembly session approaching, the East County Times reached out to members of the Baltimore County state delegation to discuss their plans and priorities.

For Delegate Bob Long, a Republican returning to Annapolis for his second year, the main priority is home ownership.

“We are going to work in the Baltimore County delegation to help promote homeownership with tax incentives to help homeowners revitalize their homes,” he said. Long said he plans to introduce a bill about the homeowners’ tax credit and create a program to provide tax breaks for homeowners who are fixing up or improving their houses and property.

He said the overall state of the economy is an important factor in people’s decision to buy a home, so he will focus on lowering taxes and attracting good-paying jobs to the area.

“I know that sounds like a campaign stump speech, but it’s important. If people have good jobs they can afford to buy a home,” he explained.

Long also noted that his job is not just about proposing his own legislation, but also about voting on bills proposed by others.

“I’m down there to fight bad bills and ensure they don’t get passed, or do what I can to make a bad bill better,” he said.

Long also said he wants to work to address the issue of abandoned boats, as well as re-introduce legislation from last session to create a tax-free shopping week for college students and their families to purchase textbooks.

Now a returning delegate, Long says that the relationships he built last session will help him to be more effective this time around.

“We’ve built a mutual respect,” he said. “Your word means everything in Annapolis and people know my character now. They know they can county on me and trust me.”

Long, along with his fellow District 6 representatives, plans to hold a town hall meeting to discuss more of their plans and goals for the upcoming session. It is scheduled to take place on Monday, Jan. 4, from 6 - 8:30 p.m. at the North Point Library.

In District 7, the full slate of veteran lawmakers will return in January, among them Senator J. B. Jennings, (R), who also serves as the Minority Leader for the legislature’s upper chamber.

“As Minority Leader a lot of my concern is going to be working with Governor Hogan to get his agenda passed, to promote and protect his office and his agenda,” Jennings said.

He predicts that the governor’s proposals will include more tax reductions and reviews of state agencies, which fall under the General Assembly’s purview.

“We’re going to try to clean up different state agencies and be a little more efficient on the state level,” he said.

Jennings also said he will be working to prevent the legislature and its Democratic leaders from overreaching its powers in its effort to fight the governor.

Jennings’s individual priorities outside of his role as leader will deal mainly with 2nd Amendment rights and other gun issues, he revealed.

He plans to push for the passage of his bill allowing National Guard soldiers to carry their guns on base. As reported in the East County Times in August, the bill was pre-filed in response to the Chattanooga, Tenn., attack on armed forces recruiting centers on July 16.

“We want our men and women in uniform to be safe,” Jennings said.

Another bill would make the purchase of gun safety equipment like gun locks and gun safes tax-exempt as an incentive for gun owners to use those items and increase safety.

Overall, Jennings said he is confident in the governor’s agenda and looking forward to the session.

“It’s gonna be fun, like every other session,” he declared.

Another longtime Republican legislator, Del. John Cluster from District 8, disagreed with that assessement.

“I believe it’s gonna be ugly,” he said. “I was there during the Ehrlich days, it seems like it’s gonna be like that again. [The Democrats] are going to go after the governor any way they can.”

Cluster feels that the biggest point of contention will be the projected budget surplus. “The first thing Democrats want to do is spend it. But the governor wants to put that money away to deal with the structural deficit in years to come.”

In addition to gearing up to support Governor Hogan in that fight, Cluster has drafted several bills he plans to introduce during the session. He is working with Long and the rest of the county delegation on the issue of foreclosures, specifically the fact that many foreclosed houses fall into disrepair and negatively impact the neighborhoods they are in.

“We’ve got to figure out a way to at least make them presentable,” he said. The delegation is looking to other states to see what legislative solutions have worked, whether that it by going after the banks or the prior homeowners.

His other major priority is safety and the security of law enforcement officers state-wide, Cluster said.

“We need to protect out law enforcement officers,” he asserted. “Everyone seems to be coming down on them, and we need to help protect our Law Enforcement Officer’s Bill of Rights.”

Cluster wants to add several additional protections, including a stipulation that all internal investigations be completed within 90 days and a provision called Final Order, which states that a chief or commissioner cannot override the decision of the Trial Board.

“Why even have a trial board is the chief can go and change its decision?” he opined.

Cluster also plans to continue his push to put school resource officers, who are trained police officers with full powers, in every school in the state.

“With all the gun violence perpetrated in schools, it’s important to have a police officer there,” he said.

And a fifth provision that Cluster will propose is an animal rights bill that would allow a citizen who sees an animal locked in a car, in visible distress, to do whatever they need to to free that animal without fear of any civil or criminal charges.

The General Assembly session officially convenes at noon on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016.

Miele heading Rubio’s presidential campaign in Maryland

(Originally published in the East County Times, Vol. 21 No. 9 [Dec. 10, 2015]).
- By Emily Blackner -

First-term District 8 Delegate Christian Miele (R) has been named one of two state co-chairs of presidential candidate Marco Rubio’s Maryland campaign. Rubio is the first GOP candidate to select staff for heavily-Democratic Maryland.

Miele, of Perry Hall, will work with former Anne Arundel County Executive Laura Neuman to build up support for Rubio, a Florida Senator. Miele said right now the campaign is focusing on lining up endorsements from General Assembly members with high profiles in the state, as well as across various counties.

Miele said that a main reason for naming two co-chairs was so that he could remain focused on his duties in the House of Delegates once the legislative sessions starts again in January.

“When I’m in session, she’s going to be the one spearheading things,” he asserted.

“I also have been thinking of this as something I’m doing not as Christian the Delegate but me as just a citizen,” Miele said of his work with the campaign. However, he did acknowledge that he benefits politically from the opportunity to make connections outside of his district.

It was that desire that got him connected with the campaign in the first place, he revealed. Kentucky Senator Rand Paul had been a guest speaker at a Baltimore County Republican event in the spring, and Miele noted, “I thought it would make sense to get a different perspective and different voices.”

So he reached out to Rubio through his Chief of Staff, a Florida native, and began to make contact with the campaign. “One thing led to another and I just kept meeting people,” he said. “So it kinda happened very organically.”

Miele said he has been impressed with Rubio’s performances at the Republican debates, his foreign policy experience and ideas and his “pro-family tax reform plan.”

While many candidates are talking about simplifying the tax code and getting read of loopholes, Miele said, “Marco knows that tax credits for working families are still important. I think that’s one thing that sets him apart.”

“He brings a lot of things to the table that a lot of candidates don’t,” he continued. “Youth is an asset. He’s a very charismatic figure. And he has an optimistic message where a lot of the candidates are more doom and gloom.”

“He sorta reminds me of JFK in his youth and vibrancy,” Miele added, high praise from a delegate with a picture of that president in his office.

With the Iowa caucuses and other early primaries fast approaching, Miele said that Rubio is spending most of his time in those states, but that he is trying to get the candidate to make a stop in Maryland in the spring.

County Council’s rain tax repeal inspires supporters, opponents to rally

(Originally published in the East County Times, Vol. 21 No. 6 [Nov. 19, 2015], p. 2 and 6)
-By Emily Blackner-

At its Monday, Nov. 16 meeting, the Baltimore County Council voted unanimously in favor of a measure that will phase out the stormwater remediation fees, commonly referred to as the “rain tax,” over the next two years.

The move was preceded by rallies from organizers on both sides of the issue. On Saturday, Nov. 14, state Delegate Pat McDonough (R-7), a longtime rain tax opponent, held a victory party at Carson’s Creekside restaurant in Middle River to celebrate the pending repeal. Because the measure was co-sponsored by all seven Council members- a veto-proof majority- its passage was all but assured from the beginning.

“Both Democrats and Republicans on the County Council came together and as a result we have all seven of the council members voting against the rain tax,” McDonough announced.

Councilman David Marks (R-5) also stressed the bipartisan nature of the repeal effort.

“I want to recognize that this was a bipartisan effort and that my fellow east side councilmembers, Cathy Bevins and Todd Crandell, worked hard and took the lead on this issue.”

McDonough led the repeal campaign at the state level, speaking about the issue on his radio show- where he coined the term “rain tax” as a way to get people more inspired to join the fight- and speaking to local businesses to get grassroots support for the repeal effort. In fact, this “Stop the Rain Tax” campaign was kicked off in Carson’s three years ago, he recalled.

“Last year, I cosponsored a bill with the governor, and that bill at least changed the law,” he explained.

The state mandate for a dedicated fee was lifted, giving the counties flexibility in funding the required stormwater remediation projects.

“We still need to comply with all the environmental rules,” McDonough asserted. “It doesn’t change that, it just gets rid of the tax.”

He also criticized the fact that the most visible use of rain tax funds was the purchase of new street sweepers.

McDonough said he was proud of the success of the campaign.

“I felt the tax was unnecessary and very harmful to job creation and economic growth,” he explained.

Proponents of the fee cited environmental benefits and the need to clean and protect the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries as they rallied in Patriot Plaza in front of the Council chambers on Monday before the vote.

Elaine Lutz of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation explained that the CBF was not supporting the measure to repeal the fee because no alternative funding sources have yet been identified to pay for the stormwater remediation projects currently funded by the fee.

“We would like the Council to reconsider this legislation until there’s something the Council, County Executive and the public can agree on,” she said. “Why rush through this process with no transparent, public plan for funding? There will be no relief for businesses for seven to eight months anyway.”

The Council, in submitting the bill, expressed its faith that the projects could be funded through other funding sources as they had been prior to the fee’s imposition in 2013.

“There’s a misconception that with this repeal, these projects won’t take place. They will; it’s just the funding source will be different,” Council Chair Cathy Bevins (D-6) said.

Marks told the crowd at McDonough’s rally, “These projects had been funded for years before the rain tax through the general fund.”

Lutz contends that the money in the general fund is not legally required to go towards remediation projects, as the “rain tax” funds were, so they could be diverted to other purposes.

She also pointed out that although the county has a significant budget surplus this year, that could change quickly.

“The general fund surplus is not reliable or consistent, so there’s no guarantee the money will be there,” she asserted. “Frankly, in many years past, any excess money has not gone to stormwater projects.”

Lutz and the other people at the rally, who included representatives from Blue Water Baltimore, the Green Towson Alliance, Interfaith Partners of the Chesapeake and more, led a chant of “Show me the money!” before filing into the Council chambers with their signs.

But the Council was not swayed by their presence.

“It feels good to get this done,” Bevins said after the meeting. “And it feels good to be a united Council and an independent Council.”

Councilman Todd Crandell (R-7), who was elected last year partly because of his pledge to repeal the fee, was the one to actually make the motion to move the bill to vote.

“I tried to zero out the rain tax when we voted on it in February and just couldn’t get it done, so I really wanted to be the member to move it forward and get it passed,” he said.

“I’m very pleased,” he continued. “It’s good to be on a Council that can discuss things and reach a compromise to produce results.”

The stormwater remediation fees, already reduced by a third by a bill passed with the County Executive’s support in February of this year, will be further reduced in two stages. For Fiscal Year 2017, the rates will be lowered to $17 per single family home and $31 per 1,000 square feet of impervious surface for non-residential properties. Then, the fee will be fully repealed effective July 1, 2017 (for Fiscal Year 2018).

Phasing out the fee will allow the county to adjust to the loss of revenue and find new funding sources for the projects required to meet the total maximum daily load (TMDLs) reductions for runoff pollutants mandated by the EPA and federal court order.

Bevins said that the county executive has until July 2016 to present his plan for funding the stormwater remediation projects. He has not discussed with the Council what those plans might be, she revealed.

County Executive Kamenetz declined to comment for this story.

Lutz, in her public comment to the Council following the vote, also turned her attention to Kamenetz, asking the Council, “I hope you’ll join me in convincing the county executive that this is money well spent.”

Szeliga officially launches US Senate campaign

(Originally published in the East County Times, Vol. 21 No. 5 [Nov. 12, 2015], page 8) - By Emily Blackner -

After months of buildup, on Tuesday, Nov. 10, state Delegate Kathy Szeliga (R-7) officially announced her candidacy for United States Senate in 2016.

“Isn’t it time for new voices in Washington, D.C.?” she asked the crowd of supporters, to enthusiastic agreement.

The 54-year-old Minority Whip is hoping to build on the statewide success of Larry Hogan in 2014’s gubernatorial race and win the seat currently occupied by the retiring Barbara Mikulski, a Democrat.

Tuesday's announcement puts Szeliga into a field that already includes two other Republicans and two Democrats.

“I want to serve the US Senate to champion those forgotten Americans who get up and work hard, pay the bills and raise their family,” she declared.

In her kick-off speech, Szeliga detailed her background as a working mom starting from the bottom with her husband, hitchhiking to work as a laborer and maid before becoming a housekeeping manager at a resort. She attended night school while her children were young to earn a degree in early childhood education from Towson University, and eventually used those skills to help in the family’s construction business.

“I wanted to take those life skills and put them to work fixing some problems that I saw,” she said, winning a seat in the House of Delegates in 2010.

With Hogan’s election and the new crop of state-level Republicans in Annapolis, “Things in Maryland seem to be getting better. Now my focus shifts to Washington,” she concluded.

As senator, Szeliga said she would focus on improving quality of life- for example, by updating roads, upgrading airplane technology and making healthcare more affordable- improving national security through making the US more of a global leader on that front, and improving the nation’s schools.

“I have a little different angle on that,” she said of education reform. “I believe our schools have become factories that turn out kids who think their only future is a four-year college.”

Szeliga would work to expand vocational education through trade schools and degree programs, taking the example of eastside schools like Eastern Tech. However, she opposes the Common Core and would instead incentivize high schools to begin vocational training programs.

This would also help keep urban male youth in school and off the street, she said.

“I’m not naive. I don’t think I’m going to ride in on a white horse and fix everything by myself,” she said, but she believes her experience working across the aisle in Annapolis gives her an edge in accomplishing those goals.

“There used to be a time when we could agree to disagree, and do it agreeably. We didn’t have to call each other names and denigrate others because of their ideas,” she said. “That’s the kind of atmosphere we have in Annapolis. I might disagree with you, but we can still have a drink together.”

Szeliga says that as a working mom, she became very good at multitasking, which will allow her to pursue this Senate seat without shirking her duties as House Minority Whip. Her experience in Annapolis has also given her qualifications beyond those of the other Republicans in the field, attorney Chrys Kefalas and Navy veteran teacher Anthony Seda, she said.

“I’ve been elected to office; I’m the highest-ranking Republican woman in Maryland,” she asserted. “I have a built-in campaign structure with the 50 house members and 15 senate members, most of whom are supporting me.”

Several of those caucus members were on hand to support her at the kick-off, including House Minority Leader Nich Kipke, District 6 Delegate bob Long and District 8 Delegate John Cluster.

“I think she’s the right person for this job at this time. She’s the kind of person we need in D.C.,” Cluster told the East County Times.

Other supporters included Szeliga’s mentor and “fairy godmother” Ellen Sauerbrey and Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Shuh.

“She is a Republican. She is a mainstream conservative who believes the rightful role of government is a limited government,” Shuh declared. “Government has gotten too big, too distant and too gridlocked,” Szeliga declared. “Yet DC still finds the time to chip away at our liberties, spending more of our dollars while driving up the debt. But I think I’m a commonsense citizen legislator.”

Former Delegate Minnick remembered by colleagues

Originally published in the East County Times, Vol. 21 No. 2 (Oct. 22, 2015), page 28.

- by Emily Blackner -

Dundalk native and veteran legislator Joseph J. “Sonny” Minnick passed away last Monday, Oct. 12, at the age of 82. Minnick was in hospice care at Stella Maris in Timonium for a blood disease.

He was born on March 16, 1933, and resided in Dundalk for his entire life. After graduating from Dundalk High School in the Class of 1952, Minnick enlisted in the US Navy, where he served from 1952 - 1956 and earned a Good Conduct Medal. After that, he went to Dundalk and then to Essex Community College, in 1972 - 1973 and 1974, respectively. His career in politics began in 1988, when he was appointed to the House of Delegates to fill a suddenly vacant seat.

In numerous statements and online comments, his colleagues and constituents remembered him fondly.

“Delegate Sonny Minnick was a kind-hearted individual, a caring, constituent-oriented legislator and a patient mentor,” said Jake Mohorovic, a former District 6 delegate who served with Minnick.

Minnick, a conservative Democrat, was first elected a member of the House of Delegates in November 1994 and served from January 11, 1995, until January 14, 2015. He chose not to seek re-election in the November 2014 race.

His seat was taken by Republican Ric Metzgar, who called Minnick “a gentleman statesman.”

“Sonny was a tremendous man, a mentor and friend,” he continued. “The shoes are definitely harder to fill now, and I am truly honored to be seated at his seat in the General Assembly. I even have the same office phone number. He will be sorely missed.”

“He was always strong-willed and opinionated and tenacious in the way he went about his work, but he was always respectful of other people,” recalled John Olszewski, Jr., who served with Minnick from 2006 - 2015. The two were members of the Economic Matters Committee.

“His advice was always very helpful and insightful for me, and I’m grateful for that. I’m lucky to have had the opportunity to know him as well as I have,” Olszewski added.

Minnick was on the alcoholic beverages, business regulation, and unemployment insurance sub-committees. Prior appointments include the Commerce and Government Matters Committee and the Judiciary Committee. He also held several leadership roles, being elected the chair of the Baltimore County delegation from 1995 - 2006, and serving as the Deputy Majority Whip from 1995 - 1998 and the House Co-Chair of the Maryland Veterans Caucus from 1997 - 2015.

“Sonny was the unofficial chair of the ‘previous question caucus.’ He was the one to move the previous question to vote,” Olszewski revealed. “When debate would languish on, the speaker would look down from the rostrum and nod, and we’d know Sonny was about to make a motion.”

East County Times readers may remember Minnick from his “Sonny Sez” columns, where he would communicate with his constituents about issues and votes before the General Assembly.

Constituents leaving online tributes to Minnick noted that he always respected them and their opinions, even when they disagreed.

Outside of his life as a delegate, Minnick was the owner of a popular restaurant on Sollers Point Road that bears his family name until he sold the establishment a few years ago. Locals remember Minnick’s as a great place to watch the Baltimore Colts games, with Minnick leading the crowd in a team cheer.

He was also a member of VFW Post 6694, American Legion Post 38, and the Knights of Columbus. Minnick attended Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church in Dundalk, where a funeral mass was held on Friday, Oct. 16. He was also remembered at visitations held at the Connelly Funeral Home of Dundalk on Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 14 and 15.

And, Del. Metzgar revealed that he hopes to have the General Assembly observed a moment of silence in Minnick’s honor during the next session.

Minnick is survived by his wife, Barbara (nee Nastalski), children Christopher J. Minnick, Danielle Cogar and Barbara Morse, six grandchildren and a brother, Daniel Minnick.