At the end of the week, Del. Sandy Rosenberg, a 25-year State House veteran who is vice chairman of the Judiciary Committee, heads to Sarasota, Fla., for Orioles Fantasy Camp, the 14th year he has traded the halls of Annapolis for the baseball diamond.
“It?s early enough that the press of legislation is not as high,” Rosenberg told The Examiner. “We haven?t voted yet in committee. And I found that it hasn?t affected my ability to get [bills] through the legislature.”
The issue “was raised in my last campaign, and I?m here,” he added.
Former Del. Wendell Phillips sent a mailer in the 2006 campaign that was critical of Rosenberg?s attendance at the camp instead of the legislature, according to Del. Nathaniel Oakes, who serves with Rosenberg in District 41.
“I don?t think my constituents object to my work ethic,” Rosenberg said. “I?m in touch with the office.” This is now a lot easier with a laptop and cell phone, technology he didn?t have when he first started going.
“He really doesn?t miss anything,” House Judiciary Chairman Joseph Vallario said. At this point in the session, the committee doesn?t meet on Fridays or Mondays, he said. “He?s been doing this for years, and they?d miss him down there [at the camp].”
Rosenberg will attend only the first three days of the camp this year, visiting his parents in Florida beforehand, and return to Maryland on Tuesday night.
Rosenberg?s trips are shown as excused absences on House quorum calls in past years, but this simply involves filling out a form that states the reason for the absence and giving it to the House clerk. Speaker Michael Busch was only vaguely aware that Rosenberg went every year to the camp.
“Every legislator is responsible for his own attendance and performance here,” Busch told The Examiner. “He?s been respected by his colleagues, and he?s been re-elected by his constituents. If his performance is respected by everyone, that?s what I judge him by.”
Rosenberg makes no secret of his attendance. He writes about the camp in his diaries on the Internet , and it?s been mentioned in print. Rosenberg is an Orioles superfan, with season tickets to Camden Yards. He keeps going to the camp because “you get the opportunity to play with, play for guys you idolized when growing up. You get to hear stories from them and socialize with them.”
