Sparks flew over the building of the Intercounty Connector, how Maryland will deal with illegal immigrants and the need for better health care access during a heavily attended town hall meeting with the state’s new governor in Montgomery County.
The Tuesday night event was the first of Martin O’Malley’s One Maryland tour, in which he’ll travel the state listening and learning about citizens’ concerns right up until the day he’s sworn into office next Wednesday.
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O’Malley spoke little duringthe gripe session, but said he was “bowled over” by the fact that nearly 1,000 county residents turned out at Einstein High School in Kensington.
“There’s a new sense in Annapolis and in the Maryland Association of Counties,” he told the crowd. “People know our problems are complex, but there are no challenges we face that are greater than our resolve to come together and look for solutions.”
Transportation overwhelmingly was the problem Montgomery County residents wanted to discuss Tuesday, with a large contingent of ICC opponents challenging the validity of the $2.5 billion undertaking.
Michael Rubinstein, of Silver Spring, told O’Malley he could do nothing for Marylanders if he kept the more than 50-year project alive.
“[Former Gov. Robert Ehrlich] fast tracked that one highway while everything else has languished,” he said. “I challenge you: Don’t put any shovels in the earth until you have answered this question: Where should we spend our money?”
In response, O’Malley only promised to keep an open mind.
On the subject of immigration, the former Baltimore mayor laid the blame squarely on the federal government for doing “an abysmal job of protecting our borders.”
“The most dangerous thing for the state and the nation is to create a whole underclass of people who do not contribute taxes, who are off of the radar of any law enforcement,” he said.
When asked squarely if he supported the Healthy Maryland Initiative — which would double the state tobacco tax to pay for health insurance — the governor would only call the proposal “intriguing.”
“There’s pent-up frustration as we watch Massachusetts and Vermont,” he said, referring to revolutionary universal health coverage plans instituted in those states. “We’re looking forward to rolling up our sleeves to come to a solution.”
