County agencies weigh in on proposed White Marsh outlet mall at hearing

(Originally published in The East County Times, Vol. 19, No. 38 [June 26, 2014], pages 6 + 8.)
- by Emily Blackner -

At a public hearing on June 19, various county agencies and representatives of developer Paragon Outlet Partners spoke to an administrative law judge about the Paragon at Nottingham Ridge outlet mall proposed in White Marsh along MD-7/Philadelphia Road near I-95.

The hearing room was packed with over 100 people, a mix of supporters and opponents of the project, as Administrative Law Judge John E. Beverungen heard the case.

Both sides were legally represented as well, with Paragon’s lawyer facing off against lawyers hired by White Marsh Mall and by two private citizens whose suit will allegedly be joined by unspecified community associations, attorney G. Macy Nelson claimed. The first day of the hearing featured testimony from county agencies who reviewed various aspects of the proposal and by Paragon witnesses. The project’s opponents will call their own witnesses when the hearing resumes on July 23.

The county departments of zoning and environmental protection and sustainability did not have any objections to the plan as submitted. The representative from the Office of Real Estate Compliance said that his department had initial concerns about the project regarding the width of the sidewalks, but that they had been addressed in the most recent filing. Jane Tansey from the Department of Recreation and Parks noted that the proposed 250 apartment units would require the plan to meet county open space requirements. But Paragon has opted to instead pay a $30,000 fee to waive this requirement, as allowed by county law.

Only the Department of Planning raised substantial objections to the plan. Representative Lloyd Moxley revealed that the school impact studies suggested that the plan would put Vincent Farms Elementary School at approximately 117 percent capacity, higher than the 115 percent capacity the county allows. But other schools in the area are not as full and could ameliorate this situation by accepting overflow students, he said.

Moxley explained that the bigger issue was the 75-foot sign tower proposed on the site’s west side. “We could not recommend conceptual signage that matched what’s being proposed here,” he declared. “The height of the tower is a factor, but the intensity of the sign is more of an issue. This would be a commercial enterprise with a joint identification component that doesn’t exist anywhere in the county.”

The sign in question is a tower that would feature the names of the retail tenants in the outlet mall along with Paragon’s own logo. Exact details of how the sign would be laid out would vary depending on the lease terms agreed to, but Moxley said the combination of height and function lead to the decision. His office recommended a reduction to 50 feet and no joint identification component, similar to the other signs already in White Marsh.

“We feel this tower is a very important part of the plan,” said Salam LaHood, the architect who designed the proposed center. He noted that the tower is an architectural component built into the outlets’ design rather than the standard piling sign that many retailers use and that it would sit next to a parking garage, so it would not appear as high in comparison to its surroundings. Judge Beverungen will make the ultimate decision on whether to allow the sign as proposed.

Issues related to the outlets’ potential impact on traffic in the area were also discussed. Wes Guckert, president and CEO of Traffic Group, Inc., presented a report his company made modeling the traffic effects the project may have. Baltimore County divides roads into Level of Services which are impacted by specific intersections. It grades these levels of service and marks grades D, E and F on its yearly Basic Service Map. Guckert said that the Paragon property is located in a Level of Service C or better (since it is not marked in the map), although surrounding intersections are Grade D. Paragon plans to improve one intersection by widening the lanes and installing a right turn lane.

Guckert also said that his firm recommends that a ramp from northbound MD-7 to eastbound MD-43 be constructed if the plan was approved, but did not specify whether Paragon or Baltimore County should be expected to build this ramp. “We think it will enhance traffic operations to the area,” he said. If the ramp is not built, the Level of Service will drop to an F, which the county deems unacceptable, he said. Guckert also pointed out that the outlet mall will generate the greatest amount of traffic on Saturday, when the impacts would be the least severe because of the reduction in commuters on the road. However, even with this ramp the intersection of Ebenezer Road and MD-7 could fall to grade F.

Judge Beverungen will hear testimony from the rest of Paragon’s witnesses and from community members when the hearings resume. “This is an amendment to a plan that was approved years ago, so that makes things exceptionally difficult,” he stated.

This PUD plan under review is an amendment to a PUD approved by the County Council in 2008. The revision calls for a 560,000-square-foot outlet mall paired with 60,000 square feet of additional retail space, including restaurants and a hotel, and 250 apartment units. There are also currently two office buildings on the property, which are owned by Corporate Office Properties Trust (COPT). They would be upgraded to coincide with the new development even though COPT would retain ownership of them. The original plan featured 1,250 apartment units and 1.2 million square feet of office space. Paragon’s lawyers noted that that plan could still go forward if the amended version is not approved.

Some community leaders believe that those 1,250 apartments would have a greater traffic impact than the 250 in the current plan. Proponents also claim that the outlet mall will bring 1,600 jobs to the area and bring in $180 million in sales each year on top of the initial $100 million investment to build it.

Opponents question the impact on other local retailers like White Marsh Mall and The Avenue, the effect of new traffic congestion and patterns on the community and the lack of community input on the project.

Few surprises as primary elections come to a close

(Originally published in the East County Times, Vol. 19, No. 38 [June 26, 2014], pages 1, 2 + 4.)
- by Patrick Taylor, Devin Crum and Emily Blackner -

After months of campaigning, the primaries are finally over and the focus will now shift to the general election in November. And across the board there were few surprises.

One of the closest races of the evening belonged to the Democrats in the District 6 House of Delegates race. The 6th District race was handily won by incumbent Mike Weir, Jr., who ended the day with a staggering 4,181 votes. Taking up the other two nominations are Nick D’Adamo and Jake Mohorovic, who finished with 3,437 and 2,847 votes respectively.

Anna Pearce and Ed Crizer were in close contention throughout the whole evening, with Crizer and Mohorovic separated by a little over 100 votes. Pearce ended the evening off by 300.

“I don’t think I’ve ever worked harder in any election I’ve ever been in,” said Weir. “It was a lot of knocking on doors and writing literature and making calls and knocking on more doors. But I’m excited and it looks like we have to get working for November.”

Of the “Our Team” ticket, only Weir and Johnny Olszewski, Jr. made it past the primary, with Olszewski cleaning up in the 6th District’s State Senator race.

Olszewski took a commanding lead from the beginning and never looked in danger of giving it up. When all was said and done, Olszewski knocked off challenger Russ Mirabile by almost 2,000 votes. Olszewski will now face Republican John Salling in the general election.

“This was a really encouraging result,” said Olszewski. “It just goes to show that our hands-on approach really worked. I’m proud of the progress we’ve made over the last few years and I’m going to look to keep up that momentum when I get to the Senate.

When asked about facing Salling in the general, Olszewski responded that he was ready for what’s ahead.

“I don’t know much about John Salling,” said Olszewski. “I haven’t seen him around in the community much over the last few years and haven’t heard much from him. But I’m looking forward to the fight and hope we can move the campaign forward.”

In the County Council race in the Seventh District, Joe DiCara managed to come away with the nomination, but it was close throughout. DiCara maintained a lead for a strong majority of the evening, but there were moments when it seemed as if Brian Weir or Buddy Staigerwald were making a comeback. However, DiCara was able to hold on and edged out Weir by close to 700 votes.

“I’ve been involved in this community since 1974 when I began teaching at North Point Junior High,” said a beaming DiCara. “All I can really say is thank you to the voters.”

“My name is out in the community and the numbers suggest that I have electability,” he continued. “But I’m really excited because we won the Battle Grove Elementary precinct today and that area is much like a lot of the different communities in the Seventh District.”

DiCara will face Republican Todd Crandell, who ran unopposed, in the general election.

The race for the County Council’s Sixth District seemed at times especially heated. And both campaigns descended into negativity by the end of it.

Challenger Jeff Beard claimed incumbent Cathy Bevins has not done enough for her constituents and instead favored special interests in her decisions regarding zoning and land use. Meanwhile, Bevins attacked Beard’s past criminal record, as well as his lack of administrative or legislative one.

But in the end, with nearly 99 percent of precincts reporting early Wednesday morning, Bevins carried the day with a lead of just under 2,200 votes.

Bevins held a watch party with family, friends and campaign volunteers at the Hazelwood Inn in Rosedale, where they watched as she held a commanding lead from the beginning of reporting. However, she stated she was still stressed and never got too confident. “It’s been a rough day,” she said.

At just after 10:30 p.m. Tuesday night, Bevins announced to the group that Beard had sent her a message congratulating her. Although it was not official, campaign manager Chris McCollum commented, “I’d take that as a concession.”

As jubilation filled the room, Bevins gave a quick victory speech to her supporters. “I knew we were going to be okay - it was just getting through it - because we got so much work done,” she said.

“The end result is that she won and I didn’t,” said Jeff Beard. “That’s how these things work. I want to thank all of my supporters who believed in me. Honestly I’m more upset for the ones who worked so hard in getting me through this election.”

“I feel that I ran a clean campaign,” he continued. “I was only interested in her policies and not attacking her family or her personal life. My fullest intention was to make a difference in a positive way in District 6. I just wanted to help.”

In the House of Delegates’ Eighth District, the Democratic race was extremely tough and came down to the wire. Eric Bromwell, Renee Smith and Bill Paulshock received the Democratic nominations while Harry Bhandari and Debbie Schillinger put up strong fights.

“There are so many things to be proud of. This is the first time I ran for office and I ran against the establishment, so this is not bad at all,” said Bhandari. “We won people’s hearts and I am proud of the support we earned. This is not the end, this is a beginning, and starting point we can be proud of.”

The Seventh District race for the House of Delegates had never been heavily contested, with only three Democrats running on the blue side and two little-known challengers facing three entrenched incumbents on the red side.

In fact, polling by Pat McDonough’s campaign just weeks before Election Day indicated that the three Republican House incumbents held strong leads with voters over the challengers.

The District 7 Team, comprised of incumbent Republicans McDonough, Kathy Szeliga and Rick Impallaria, as well as Senator J.B. Jennings, was a formidable ticket and swept the race as expected.

California election illustrates benefits of open primaries in Maryland

(Originally published in The East County Times, Vol. 19, No. 36 [June 12, 2014], pages 12, 13 + 14.)
- by Emily Blackner -

This year marks the first that Maryland has chosen to hold its primary election in June rather than September. This gives more time for the party nominees who will officially be in the general election to get their message out there to voters, but it also means that the beginning of summer has so far been overrun by campaign ads on radio, TV and billboards. You can’t go on your daily run without passing seas of signs in front of every willing home and business. I will admit, it can get a bit tedious, and I will be absolutely sick of it by the time June 24 finally arrives. But I actually think this plethora of candidates is a good thing. Voters will have more of a choice, several shades of Democrat or Republican to choose between and, therefore, more likelihood of finding someone they really like and really believe will do the best job for the county, district or state. But I think there’s a way to expand this trend and make sure those chosen are even more representative of the people - open primaries.

A little bit of history is pertinent here. Primary elections as we know them didn’t really exist until 1968. The Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago that year and was beset by protests that turned to riots after citizens felt shut out of the process when the presidential candidate who won most of the primaries, Eugene McCarthy, was denied the nomination. People were rightly upset over the incident, and the binding primary that we now have was born (Republicans followed suit, and the states expanded the practice to other national and local elections as well). Prior to that, primaries were “preference primaries,” where the winner was a suggested candidate that the party insiders could ignore if they so chose. But until the 1910s, there was no primary election at all. The parties would hold national conventions (much like we have today) to select the nominee to represent them without any input from the public at large.

So the nomination process has certainly democratized over the decades, giving the people even more of a voice in choosing who will represent them. But the parties were never happy about giving up their control; this can be seen in the superdelegate system the DNC still uses today. It is also seen in the practice of closed primaries, where citizens must be registered with a party to vote in the primary, and may only choose from that party’s candidates in selecting nominees. This means that at least half of the eligible candidates are off-limits to that voter. In Maryland, a registered Democrat must chose a Democratic candidate for the nomination, even if he or she likes a Republican candidate more. Of course, the voter could simply change his or her party affiliation in order to back that Republican, but the stark truth is people are busy. Between work and kids’ activities and volunteering and exercise, most people don’t spare a thought to elections until the choice is imminent, usually after the deadline to change party affiliation has passed (It was June 3 this year). And voter turn-out is always low in primary elections (especially midterm elections like this one), partially because the hassle of changing parties discourages people from doing it, in which case they don’t show up to the polls at all. It would be so much easier if people could just arrive at the polls on primary day and select the candidate they like the most, regardless of party, as they do in the general election.

The closed primary system also cuts out an entire group of voters: independents and those unaffiliated with either major party. A January 2014 Gallup poll said that percentage of Americans identifying as independent has risen its highest level, 42 percent. Compare this to the 31 percent who said they were Democrats and 25 percent who identified as Republicans and you see this is a significant portion of people disenfranchised by the primary system.

Some will worry that in an overwhelmingly blue state like Maryland, an open primary system would mean that Republican candidates would never get a shot. But the results in California, which just held its first election under its blanket primary (or jungle primary) system, provide a rebuttal. California’s system is a top-two system, where all candidates, regardless of party, appeared on the same ballot. The top two vote-getters advance to the general, regardless of party. The state is as reliably Democratic as Maryland is, and yet the gubernatorial primary resulted in one Democrat (incumbent Jerry Brown) and one Republican (Neel Kashkari) candidate. The race for controller is incredibly close pending absentee ballot tallies, but Republican Ashley Swearingen got the most votes cast on actual election day. And in District 31, the first place finisher was Republican Paul Chabot, with fellow Republican Lesli Gooch battling closely for second with Pete Aguilar (as of this writing, less than 200 votes separate them). The San Bernardino Sun says that “If Gooch finishes second, it would be the second time in two elections that the district- despite a plurality of voters being registered Democrats- had two Republicans in the November election.” The 2012 election for this office also used the blanket primary system. So open primaries are not as disastrous to the minority party as some think. There is always a chance of hard-core partisans attempting to sabotage the other party in the primary by voting for weak candidates, but this happens with the current closed primary system as well. And an open primary would offset this trend by bringing in the independents and unaffiliated voters who will be voting based on the candidates’ merits and not the party interests.

The result would be more moderate candidates- Kashkari is a moderate Republican who the GOP believes is much more electable than the alternative, a right-wing firebrand named Tim Donnelly who made damaging, controversial remarks. Moderate candidates are more likely to listen to the other side, forge actual compromises and govern instead of descend into partisan bickering. After all, they would have to show how they are working for the entire district, not just the party activists. Similarly, you would see less of the flip-flopping that dogs leaders today. In closed primaries, a Republican (for example) will swing farther to the right to get the base to come out and vote and then migrate back to the center to pick up independents in the general, leading to inconsistencies in message. But in an open primary system, he (or she) would need to appeal to all voters in both races, which cuts out this swinging.

Seventeen states currently have open primaries, with 13 having a mixed primary, and their elections work just fine. And interestingly, Maryland could have open primaries any time it wanted to. The law allows for the parties to hold open primaries if they so choose, provided they notify the Board of Elections six months prior to the election. But open primaries would take away from the influence of the party machines, and however good that might be for the state, it will be a hard sell. But California showed that the open system doesn’t shut out the minority party, and that party insiders can trust the voters to choose a suitable (appealing, electable, qualified) candidate without their hand-holding. And given the benefits a more open primary system could provide, it seems worthwhile to at least make that pitch.

Campaign finance reports reveal some fundraising surprises

(Originally published in The East County Times, Vol. 19, No. 36 [June 12, 2014], page 2)
- by Emily Blackner -

In the absence of polling data, campaign finance reports filed by candidates on May 27 may provide some idea of where each candidate stacks up in competitive races.

The District 6 House of Delegates race, where two open seats have drawn an impressive 19 total candidates into the fray, reveals disparate spending strategies. On the Republican side, Roger Zajdel’s $20,076.13 bank account is an anomaly since he claims he is funding his campaign himself, leaving Bob Long’s balance of $10,041.73 as the highest. $7,997.60 of that was raised in the past five months, putting him ahead of Ric Metzgar’s $5,879.50 and Robin Grammer’s $2,585 receipts. However, these three have been able to keep pace with each other spending-wise, with $4,620.44, $4,617.04 and $4,483.91 of spending, respectively. Conversely, Zajdel and Mitchell Toland have spent under $1,000 total, and Liberatore, Magee and Sparks have signed affidavits affirming they did not and plan not to accept or spend more than $1,000 total. Zajdel’s reluctance to spend in spite of his balance, nearly double that of the second place Long, perhaps suggests confidence in his chances and, thus, saving up for the general election fight. But it is unclear if a mere $965.60 in expenditures will get him the name recognition he needs.

The Democratic field varies more widely in terms of fundraising, expenditures and overall balance. Nick D’Adamo has an impressive $88,679.94 in his war chest, but outspent his receipts by $22,887.48, having only raised $5,300. Still, he has spent more this cycle than any other single candidate in the race. Things get complicated somewhat by the presence of two tickets, Our Team with Ed Crizer, Eric Washington and Mike Weir and Team Clean Sweep, Anna Pearce and Rick Roberts. Crizer, Washington and Weir combined have spent $18,090.83 and Pearce and Roberts, $13,539.51, a surprisingly small difference. Crizer’s individual campaign balance of $17,074.69 puts him in second place, followed by Weir with $9,572. Pearce is a distant third, with $4,802.81 remaining, but she has raised an impressive $11,820 for herself. Only Washington and Crizer outraised her. Larry Harmel and Jake Mohorovic are sitting in the middle of the pack with only $799.65 separating their bank totals. Mohorovic’s fundraising dwarfs Harmel’s, though, with the former delegate pulling in $8,935.49 to Harmel’s $909.72. Steven Brown and Johnathan Campbell signed affidavits.

Democrats in District 8 are pulling some huge numbers campaigning for the open seat created by redistricting. Bill Paulshock, Eric Bromwell and Renee Smith have formed a formidable ticket with state senator Kathy Klausmeier. Bromwell, the incumbent, leads the pack with a $36,843.83 bank account, of which $19,455 was raised since January. Challenger Harry Bhandari, a veteran campaigner and party activist, actually beat Bromwell’s fundraising totals, but only just, raking in $19,955.01. He is also closely matching Bromwell in terms of expenditures, but Bromwell has a $569.50 lead (hardly statistically significant). This aggressive buying could pay off on election day due to name recognition. But Bill Paulshock outspent both Bhandari and Bromwell significantly; his $11,170.35 worth of expenditures is almost double that of Bromwell. Renee Smith has a comparatively modest $7,463.44 war chest and has only spent $1,085.56, so she seems to be relying on the heavy lifting of the others on her ticket to carry her through. Debbie Schillinger has a deficit of $150 in her campaign coffers, so her chances are minimal.

Turning to County Council, Democratic primary candidates are all in contested races, giving their Republican counterparts an advantage in that they can save their money for the general election fight. Jason Samios-Uy of District 6 filed an affidavit , while District 7’s Todd Crandell has $7,079.28 at his disposal. Meanwhile, District 6 Councilwoman Cathy Bevins is in a surprisingly difficult primary fight. Her $205,726.98 war chest is nearly 10 times that of challenger Jeff Beard ($24,242.23), but Beard has raised more than double her $46,255 total this cycle, raking in $102,062. This has enabled him to spend $77,849.76 and have money to spare, compared to Bevins’ $17,689 expenditures. The Baltimore Sun reports that much of Beard’s receipts are from groups tied to developer David Cordish, owner of the Caroll Island Shopping Center, while Bevins’ appear more diverse.

The District 7 race is turning out to be quite expensive as well, with $67,569.16 total used across the five Democratic candidates. Leading the way in both expenditure and fundraising is Ron Yeatman, with $25,755.05 (almost 40 percent of all expenditures) to $32,255 worth of receipts. Buddy Staigerwald has raised $23,373 and spent just over $18,000, and Joe DiCara has spent $13,540.47 while bringing in $27,555. Roll-over money leaves DiCara with the largest bank balance going forward - $21,999.53 - trailed by Yeatman at $12,179.14. Staigerwald, Brian Weir and Scott Holupka all have war chests below $10,000.