BPW pre-meetings - how open is open?

October 16, 2008

The Annapolis press corps has only recently begun attending the “pre-meetings” that members of the Board of Public Works hold in advance of their twice-monthly get-togethers. That’s why I was surprised when I got the boot Wednesday morning, the same day that members of the state spending panel slashed Maryland’s budget by almost $300 million, affecting tens of thousands of Marylanders.

The pre-meetings generally consist of a quick discussion of the issues coming before the board. It’s typically not that exciting, but since the BPW regularly approves tens of millions in state contracts, transparency is very important. 

Gov. Martin O’Malley’s office maintains that the pre-meetings were always open to the press. The problem was that until recently, many of us did not know they were taking place, because their time and place are not publicized in the same way that the formal meetings are. The issue came to my attention when one of Comptroller Peter Franchot’s staff members pointed out that Franchot doesn’t attend the meetings because he’s concerned about their legality under the state’s open meeting rules.

So we’re allowed to go in there now, and so I did Wednesday morning in hopes of getting just a little more context about the list of budget cuts that had still not been made public as of 10 a.m. This was about two hours before the BPW voted to approve the cuts wholesale after a brief discussion.

For the moment, I was the only reporter in the room. O’Malley came in and was trailed a few minutes later by Communications Director Rick Abbruzzese. Rick looked at me and gave me the old heave-ho, you’re out of here, thumb-over-the-shoulder gesture.

Until state Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp arrived, Abbruzzese later explained, the governor’s staff would meet privately. Kopp stood in the hallway and spoke on her phone, not entering the room to create a quorum until the meeting had gone on behind closed doors for about 15 minutes. When Kopp entered the room, reporters were allowed in and we heard a short discussion of the cuts that included few specifics. We were handed a list of proposed cuts as the pre-meeting concluded.

So I’m wondering, is an open meeting closed until it officially begins? Help me out here, folks. Tell me what you think.

ANDY ROSEN, Business Writer

Sphere: Related Content

Posted by joe_bacchus | Filed Under Martin O'Malley, annapolis, government, law | 1 Comment 

“If we have the money, we must spend the money”

July 8, 2008

O’MalleyWatch.com took notice of the most recent piece from our Editorial Advisory Board.

In, “Slots won’t help if state can’t live within its means,” the board makes the argument that slots revenue would do little to solve Maryland’s budget issues:

“The truth is, no matter how much revenue slots produce, inevitably the state’s slots revenues will be insufficient to satisfy all the promises that have been and are being made about ‘investments’ in Maryland, its economy, its schools and its people…

“Slot revenues will only mask the fact that Maryland is living beyond its means. Even if slots are approved, after only a few years, more revenue will be necessary to meet all of the expectations that have been raised by the promise of the river of slots revenue.”

O’Malley Watch boils down the state’s problem to this: “There is a dangerous concept in Government: If we have the money, we must spend the money.” Maryland certainly seems to be suffering from this ailment.

If you haven’t seen it yet, read the board’s article from Monday’s edition of Maryland Lawyer.

JOE BACCHUS, Web Specialist

Sphere: Related Content

Posted by Jackie Sauter | Filed Under Martin O'Malley, law, slots | 1 Comment 

Polls, polls, polls

January 17, 2008

There’ve been a few notable Baltimore Sun polls released this week, including one that found the majority of Marylanders polled favor legalizing slots, one that found Gov. O’Malley’s job approval rating dipping into the 30s post-special session, and another that revealed 57 percent of Marylanders support the death penalty.

Well, here’s the latest poll on a controversial issue: most voters in Maryland support some form of legalized same sex unions.

The poll shows 19 percent support gay marriage while 39 percent support civil unions; 31 percent of those polled oppose either form of same-sex unions.

Would you have expected these poll results to unfold as they have? How much faith do you place in this data?

JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor

Sphere: Related Content

Posted by Jackie Sauter | Filed Under Martin O'Malley, death penalty, maryland, same-sex marriage, slots | 2 Comments 

  • Law

  • Business

  • Archives

  • Visit Eye on Annapolis

    Check out our blog on the legislative session, Eye on Annapolis.

  • Categories

Business

The business staff of The Daily Record newspaper will contribute to this section. We'll write about topics ranging from the workplace to energy to the environment, but we'll strive to keep it as local as possible.

RSS Business posts

Law

The Daily Record’s been Maryland’s legal newspaper for 120 years or so. Now, we want to be Maryland’s legal blog, too. Click here to join the discussion and read posts by our legal team, including our Monday law blog round-up.

RSS Law posts

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

  • Lou Fritz: Robbie Whelan’s, There Stands Brody Like A Stonewall, is typical of journalists who are long on...
  • Donald S. Smith: I find it interesting that those who claim to love freedom the most are sometimes the quickest to...
  • Steve: Robbie, Your ignorance is deafening.
  • Rich Barnett: Are you really able to write this story and end it with “one of the state’s most...
  • Winger: Well, let’s look at a list: 1.) Baltimore is situated below the Mason / Dixon line. 2.) The battery on...

On Commenting

We ask that our readers follow a few guidelines, noted below.

Please do not post any personal attacks, profanity, spam or other advertisements — they will be removed. Also, please post using only one name or pseudonym, as this consistency helps establish a sense of community. We will delete posts if they are signed with different names but originate from the same IP or email address. And if you’re going to comment using a proper name, please make it your own. Deliberate misrepresentations will be removed.