Mike Miller

The House of Delegates approved new fees on development yesterday to pay for the Chesapeake Bay cleanup, a proposal advocates say would also help reduce urban sprawl. The measure would charge developers based on the creation of "impervious surfaces" such as rooftops, driveways and parking lots that cannot be penetrated by stormwater, thus contributing to runoff into the bay. Development outside designated growth areas would be assessed at a higher rate, and builders could mitigate the fees by using environmentally friendly construction techniques.

Panel given until March 16 to finish probe of CurranHouse Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr. and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller agreed yesterday to give the ethics committee until March 16 to complete an investigation of state Del. Gerald J. Curran.Committee members asked Tuesday for a two-week extension of the March 2 deadline set by the presiding officers.The panel is investigating reports that Curran, an insurance broker, has developed potentially lucrative arrangements with state offices and private enterprises with issues pending before the legislative committee he has chaired.

In the crush of bodies in a narrow hallway outside the Maryland Senate chambers yesterday stood a shaken Larry Young, listening to the sound of muttered words coming out of faces inches from his and hoping to find some emotional sustenance."

An article in Sunday's Sun misstated state Sen. Thomas L. Bromwell's campaign fund raising relative to that of Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller. Miller has raised $452,297, exceeding Bromwell's $437,896. A chart accompanying the article misstated the amount of state Sen. Walter M. Baker's fund raising. He has raised $93,121.The Sun regrets the error.Pub Date: 9/03/98

WHAT A FRIEND we have in Jervis.With nary another wise man to be found in all of Maryland, the great thinkers in Annapolis last week trotted out Jervis Finney, former U.S. attorney, former state senator and full-time paragon of virtue, to investigate the shadow life of state Sen. Larry Young.Young is accused, mainly by this newspaper, of various conflicts of interest. Finney is accused of being pure of heart. Young is accused of using his political muscle for private gain. Finney is accused of being a seeker of simple truth.

THOMAS V. Mike Miller Jr. has served in the state Senate for 21 years. He's been its president for 10 years. He is proud of that chamber and especially of his long tenure as presiding officer.Yet now Mr. Miller has allowed the Senate to be embarrassed by Gov. Parris N. Glendening. He has put his colleagues in an unfair position. And he has gotten himself in a situation where he owes a big debt of gratitude to the governor. Mr. Glendening is sure to call in that IOU at crucial times.What Mr. Miller did was let it be known that he wouldn't be upset if the governor and his corrections secretary put his son, Thomas V. Miller III, in a $56,000 a year job as a parole commissioner.

When Gov. Parris N. Glendening blessed the appointment of Thomas V. Miller III to a $56,000-a-year seat on the Maryland Parole Commission last week, it amazed elected officials and political observers alike.It seemed nearly inconceivable to some that Glendening would award such a plum patronage job to the son of his one-time arch-enemy, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. -- a fellow Prince George's County Democrat who once said, "We need an honest governor, which rules out Parris."

Anne Arundel County didn't open its arms to Jack Kent Cooke's proposal for a 70,000-seat stadium for his Washington Redskins football team. So the fabulously wealthy Mr. Cooke moved his act to Prince George's County, where he's targeted a farm inside the beltway for his stadium. Our message to P.G. officials: Proceed with caution.Mr. Cooke is used to getting his way. He tried to massage state and Anne Arundel officials and neighborhoods near the Laurel site. He tried to minimize the cost and impact of his huge edifice on a suburban community.

An article Nov. 19 stated incorrectly that lobbyist Alan M. Rifkin formerly worked for Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. In fact, Mr. Rifkin was an aide to former Senate President Melvin A. Steinberg.The Sun regrets the error.

WhoopsLast week in this space, it was incorrectly reported that the legislature's Democratic presiding officers named six legislators to the Task Force to Review the State's Election Law.In fact, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. and House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr. each named two members to the panel. The remaining two members were appointed by the Republican leadership, Sen. John A. Cade and Del. Robert H. Kittleman.

The Sun's Laura Vozzella reported this week that Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith is selling his house in Reisterstown and moving to an apartment in Cockeysville, with the thought of possibly running for state Senate in the 7th District (now represented by Sen. Andy Harris, who is probably going to run for Congress). Really? When Dutch Ruppersberger finished his two terms as Baltimore County executive, there was a strain of thought that saw Congress as a step down - much less the General Assembly.

It was real-life drama and not a movie, but something about it reminded me of a scene from The Godfather: The developer David Cordish shows up in the middle of the Maryland slot machine thing like Michael Corleone flying out to Vegas to make Moe Greene an offer he can't refuse. Mr. Cordish arrives in this recessionary winter with a billion-dollar casino plan for Arundel Mills - a mall, not a racetrack - and he meets the state's deadline to put up $28.5 million for nearly 5,000 slot machines, and he does it with a big smile, saying to the people of Maryland and their elected leaders: "I got the best deal on the table, and I'm ready to go."

Heart must be part of budget priorities State Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller says of his strategy to balance Maryland's budget, "You manage it like a businessman manages a business" ("Tough choices," Jan. 11). Given the high failure rate for businesses, we want to propose a better way: Manage the budget with heart. When the heart dictates our priorities, essential needs are met first. But Maryland has lost its heart. It is the wealthiest state in the nation yet it ranks near the bottom in spending on essential services for citizens with severe disabilities.

O'Malley open to changing campaign contribution rules Gov. Martin O'Malley indicated yesterday that he would be open to raising campaign contribution limits and possibly closing a campaign-finance loophole that allows big donors to avoid the limits. Under state law, an individual or business may give no more than $4,000 to a candidate during a four-year election cycle and no more than $10,000 total in that period. Some donors have gotten around those regulations by giving through separate but related limited-liability companies.

Today we look at a few problems - and offer a few solutions. It's only right. You can't just sit around and gripe about stuff, and groan that things will never change. You have to flick on your brain and come up with solutions. That's what Einstein did, and if Einstein could do it, trust me, anyone can. Problem: Blue crabs have been in decline in the Chesapeake Bay to such an extent that the governor of Maryland asked the U.S. commerce secretary to declare the bay fishery a federal disaster.

The Maryland State House is similar to a marble mausoleum: Not much changes over time but the residents. Politics and the creaking advancement of democracy are the session norm. This process involves piles of paper and a lot of pontification, both stuffed with procedural formality. What little evolves does so lazily, trickling along like a withdrawing glacier. From this photographs are to be made. Better yet, photographs with visual interest. The difficult part arises in trying to create stimulating pictures of people who, for the most part, do one or more of the following: Stand with microphone, sit listening, stare at laptop screens, read papers or quietly converse in person or by phone.

Here is how the average Maryland commuter spends his travel time: sitting alone in a car stuck in traffic. In an economy where time is money and gasoline is approaching $3 a gallon, all that inconvenience comes at a cost - about $3 billion per year. At least that's the finding of a new report by the Texas Transportation Institute for some leading Maryland business groups. The authors looked at a variety of economic factors, from wasted fuel to the more nebulous "lost economic opportunity" that results from all that unproductive time.

Backers of the new law allowing more than 50,000 ex-felons to register to vote in Maryland say they don't expect many of them to exercise the right, and Senate President Mike Miller sounded a pessimistic chord about it the other day. "People that have a history of not voting are not going to just pick it up on their own," he said. You're right, Big Mike. So, tell you what: How about launching a voter education drive aimed at the ex-felon? Go ahead. Do something grand before you retire.

The House of Delegates approved new fees on development yesterday to pay for the Chesapeake Bay cleanup, a proposal advocates say would also help reduce urban sprawl. The measure would charge developers based on the creation of "impervious surfaces" such as rooftops, driveways and parking lots that cannot be penetrated by stormwater, thus contributing to runoff into the bay. Development outside designated growth areas would be assessed at a higher rate, and builders could mitigate the fees by using environmentally friendly construction techniques.

It's legacy time for Thomas V. Mike Miller, possibly the longest-serving Senate president in all the 50 states. It's a testament to his skill at rounding up the votes - for himself. He's been able to stay ahead of the bristling egos arrayed before him in the grand Senate chamber since he was first elected president in 1987. He's famous in Annapolis for getting his way. One of those who admire his clout offered this tribute: "Mike Miller could get the votes to burn down the State House."