BRIGHTEST IDEAS
Chesapeake Habitat for Humanity and, eventually, 100 families will benefit from a $500,000 Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. pledge to not only rehab houses in the resilient East Baltimore neighborhood of Monument-McElderry-Fayette, but to make them energy efficient far into the future.
The details: Improved insulation, high-performance windows, upgraded air conditioning and other state of the art “green” technologies will be a big part of refurbishing the homes. That is a very bright idea. Energy costs are second only to high property taxes as a barrier to elderly and working poor owning homes. So by shining the light of good example, BGE also is bestowing the gift that keeps on giving. Chesapeake Habitat Executive Director Mike Mitchell said the BGE homes also “will catalyze investment and interest for numerous people to move in.”
Market culture
Baltimore is blessed with some of the best cultural attractions in the country, especially for a small city. They all have something special to offer. So, why not offer a selection from all of their gift shops at one of the nation?s top tourist attractions: Inner Harbor.
The details: Baltimore Museum of Art, the symphony, Visionary Art Museum, the Walters, and at least a dozen other cultural venues in the area have gift shops with unique offerings that could highlight their attractions for tens of thousands of Inner Harbor visitors who probably will never get a chance to make the rounds of everything here. Putting selections in a shop in Inner Harbor?s increasingly retail pavilions — for a reasonable percentage, of course — would boost revenue for all, awareness of cultural attractions here and Baltimore?s image in the world.
Better late than never
Emergency responders in Maryland still can?t communicate with each other (at least electronically,) and now Gov. Martin O?Malley and State Police Superintendent Terrence Sheridan say they are going to do something about it no matter what the cost.
The details: So far all they?ve done is hold a press conference and promise to spend as much taxpayers? money as they can. Sure, when some fire and police units must communicate through runners, as they did during a Chesapeake Bay Bridge incident last year, it?s time to get the no-brainer idea to upgrade the system. A bright idea would be to pledge thrift instead of profligacy in doing so. Computer and telecommunications systems are some of the only things in the world that actually have come way down in price over the last decade, unless of course government is buying.
If it saves, do it
The four-day workweek for non-emergency Baltimore City employees proposed by Councilwoman Belinda Conaway is worth doing if it actually saves money.
The details: Conaway says having “nonessential” city employees work four 10-hour days instead of five eight-hour days “would save a lot of heating and cooling costs as well as electricity charges.” Makes sense. It also would keep offices open later for public service. In times when more and more private-sector taxpayers are putting in 10- and 12-hour days five and six days a week — often at several jobs for the same or less pay — and small-business proprietors are working the usual 84-hour week to go broke, Conaway?s idea does not sound like much of a hardship. In fact, it should prompt a review of which city jobs actually are essential and nonessential, a process needed at all levels of government.
Going hybrid
Gov. Martin O?Malley is heading the Mass Transit Administration?s fleet in the right direction by replacing aging diesel buses with hybrid models. He said three-quarters of the fleet would be replaced by 2014.
The details: The new buses cost 53 percent more up front but use 20 percent less fuel than their equivalent diesel models and require about 90 percent fewer maintenance trips. The MTA says the extra costs are made up within two years. Those numbers must be audited. But the switch makes state taxpayers less vulnerable to rising gas prices and helps save the environment in the process.
WORST IDEAS
Right to beer?
Is this what the civil rights movement has degenerated into? The Baltimore National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is outraged that food vendors at Baltimore?s 220-year-old Lexington Market require patrons to, gasp, buy food to get beer.
The details: Six years ago the market imposed a policy of limiting customers to two beers and only selling to those who eat. Lexington is, as it has been for two centuries, a food market. Market managers imposed the policy because it was turning into a big bar with a few drunks, as usual, ruining it for everybody. Market spokeswoman Darlene Hudson said, “The beer is supposed to complement the food. It?s good to have a little beer with the oysters or steamed crabs.” Right on! Any claim that this policy — which applies to all people — somehow discriminated against African Americans actually insults African Americans. Worse, it disparages the sacrifices so many Americans have made in the struggle against discrimination and distracts from the very real, ongoing residual racism that plagues America still. Now, if somebody wants to claim the two-beer policy is anti-German and Irish, they might be able to make a case.
Commissioned to death
Will a commission really help to resolve deeply held divisions over capital punishment?
The details: Gov. Martin O?Malley recently created a 23-person commission to study the death penalty in Maryland. Over five months it will study the racial, jurisdictional and socioeconomic effect of capital punishment; the risk of innocent people being executed; and the cost of prolonged court cases. Plenty of studies already exist on these issues. Why do we need to spend taxpayer dollars to revisit them yet again? Besides, if the group is balanced between opponents and supporters as officials say, how will rehashing old information sway members? opinions? Will we need a commission to study why the death penalty commission failed to reach a consensus?
Waiting to save
A new study by Ernst & Young shows that almost three out of five new retirees in Maryland will likely outlive their financial assets if they try to maintain their standard of living after leaving the work force.
The details: This is particularly scary because just as the first wave of baby boomers starts retiring, the bill for government employee pension and health care benefits — largely unfunded — will begin coming due. Except for government workers, fewer and fewer Americans can rely on pension plans to buffer their retirement years. So just as the vast majority of retirees see their standard of living decrease, they will be paying for government workers to enjoy full medical benefits and pensions they will never enjoy. If it isn?t already abundantly clear: Recent graduates, start saving now.
Fighting over slots campaign funding
Is this the best argument slots proponents have against their rivals? Pro-slots groups are accusing opponents of taking contributions from out-of-state gambling interests whose businesses could be threatened by their legalization in Maryland.
The details: Who cares if opponents take money from out-of-state interests? Or if supporters do? Supporting legislation is no crime, but hiding where your funds come from should be. Both campaigns should pledge to make available online the name and contact information for all contributions they receive — upon receipt, instead of the longer time allowed by law.
Bye-bye to plastic
Baltimore City is one step closer to banning plastic bags in major supermarkets as of Tuesday. Legislation sponsored by James Kraft (D-1), would require supermarkets with more than $500,000 in sales to use only recyclable paper bags.
The details: Only San Francisco has banned plastic bags. And bills in both Anne Arundel County and the state legislature failed to make it into law in the past year. Studies show plastic bags are cheaper and require less energy to make than paper bags. Kraft would better serve his cause by proposing voluntary restrictions on environmentally damaging practices. Asking the city of Baltimore to ban buying bottled water, which is readily available at every tap, and ending parking subsidies to city employees to encourage them to use public transportation are two ideas to start with.
Banning bags will only drive already skyrocketing food prices higher. Kraft can serve both the environment and his constituents by changing the culture rather than the law.
