Patronage

NOW COMES former state Sen. Clarence M. Mitchell IV to claim a $92,000- a-year patronage plum from Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. Mr. Mitchell's salary and job attract attention, because he comes to the work enshrouded by ethical lapses and because Governor Ehrlich ran against what has been called a "culture of corruption" in Annapolis. How deep is the governor's commitment to change if he's hiring someone recently censured by the Assembly's ethics panel? Seems the former senator took a loan from bail bond interests who had various bills pending.

— Rod Blagojevich may have escaped criminal conviction on most counts, but his trial offers no comfort to Illinois' long-suffering voters. It was a sleazy reality show, featuring insider deals and pay-to-play politics. Blago's closest aides either testified against him (acknowledging their role in a criminal conspiracy), or, like Tony Rezko and Stuart Levine, couldn't be trusted to testify. And so ends another exciting season of Illinois' version of "Jersey Shore," starring the former governor as "The (Bad)

It turns out that the General Assembly isn't the only legislative body in Maryland with its own scholarship scam. As The Sun's Thomas W. Waldron and Eric Siegel reported recently, Baltimore City's elected officials also have been using public funds to play Santa Claus for local college students.For 126 years, the state's senators and delegates have handed out taxpayer-funded scholarships to constituents. This year alone, lawmakers have nearly $8 million to play with. In past years, all too many Maryland legislators have awarded scholarships to the children of friends, associates and campaign workers -- even to their own offspring.

Officials are investigating a complaint from a former City Hall worker who says she was forced to resign last year after she refused to fire a staff member to make way for a "patronage appointment," according to documents obtained by The Baltimore Sun. The former employee, Jennifer L. Coates, who was director of council services, said that City Council President Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake and her chief of staff, Kim Washington, repeatedly asked her...

In an annual ritual of patronage, Gov. Martin O'Malley submitted his "green bag" nominations to the state Senate yesterday, naming 165 people to state boards and commissions. Among the appointments, which are subject to Senate confirmation, are his previously announced choices for the State Board of Education and new members for the University System of Maryland Board of Regents, the Maryland Stadium Authority, the state Port Commission, the Injured Workers' Insurance Fund and other unpaid policymaking and advisory bodies.

From: Bill D. BurlisonCroftonRecent news accounts of the bill of (District 32) Delegates Elizabeth Smith and John Gary Jr. to require the publication of names of recipients of education patronage is good for a smile. It would be helpful if they would explain how their bill would change the current law, which presumably requires that this information be accessible to the public.For those who have forgotten, "education patronage" is the popular term for the process by which state legislators buy votesfor the next election by passing out scholarship money to constituents.

A former city judge will head a citywide task force formed to determine whether state senators should end decades of patronage at Baltimore's liquor board.Attorney Peter D. Ward and other panel members will recommend whether board employees, who have been political appointees for more than 60 years, should be hired through a civil service-style system.Mr. Ward, who served two years as a judge on the old Baltimore Supreme Bench and a dozen more as a city, state and federal prosecutor, said yesterday that the panel would hold public hearings and meet with board employees before reaching any decision.

A bill that would end Baltimore's patronage system for hiring city liquor inspectors has passed the Maryland House of Delegates, but it might who select inspectors.Baltimore Democratic Del. James W. Campbell sponsored the bill, which would require that future liquor inspectors be hired under the city's civil service procedures.Mr. Campbell said yesterday that he is trying -- for the second year -- to abolish the patronage system because he wants "to remove any questions about the liquor board's motivations in enforcing the laws."

For the second year in a row, organizers of Howard County General Hospital's biggest annual fund-raiser -- the "Symphony of Lights" -- blamed a drop in patronage on bad weather and increased competition.This year's show suffered an almost 25 percent drop in patronage even after promoting new attractions.The initial count shows just 25,164 vehicles visited the exhibit -- down from 33,635 vehicles last year and 43,410 its first year -- despite $2 discount coupons offered for midweek visits, said Debbie Daskaloff, who runs the Symphony of Lights exhibit.

THE STENCH OF corruption emanating from the old-fashioned political patronage system that dispensed jobs to city liquor board members and inspectors in Baltimore has been evident for more than 60 years. The eight state senators who represent the city could have ended it a long time ago. They haven't because they like things the way they are. It gives them power.That power was evident last month when state Sen. Larry Young gave orders to the liquor board to fire an inspector, Marion P. Turner, that he suspected of cooperating with FBI agents reportedly investigating him. Ms. Turner was hired because Mr. Young told the liquor board to hire her five years ago. She was fired nine days after he decided she was no longer a team player.

Unexpectedly on August 13, 2009, PAUL NICHOLAS YACKANICZ; beloved husband of Regina Ann Yackanicz; loving father of Mark Joseph Yackanicz and wife Deborah Ann, Paul Thomas Yackanicz; cherished grandfather of Nicholas Thomas and Michael Mark. He was preceded in death by his mother, Teresa Yackanicz. Relatives and friends may call at the family owned AMBROSE FUNERAL HOME, INC., 1328 Sulphur Spring Road, Arbutus, MD 21227 on Monday from 3-5 and 7-9 p.m. A liturgy will be held on Tuesday at the Patronage Mother of God Byzantine Catholic Church, 1260 Stevens Avenue, Arbutus, MD 21227 beginning at 10 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations in Paul's name may be made to the Patronage Mother of God Byzantine Catholic Church.

State lawmakers, using a system of patronage that persists in Annapolis despite tight budgetary times, are seeking to direct hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to projects at nonprofit organizations they help run. In Baltimore, Del. Hattie N. Harrison has requested $75,000 for the Historic East Baltimore Community Action Coalition and an affordable housing development. The Democrat is president of the nonprofit, and her son, Phillip, is employed as a counselor there.Sen. Robert J. Garagiola, a Montgomery County Democrat, wants as much as $250,000 to expand the BlackRock Center for the Arts, a theater and teaching venue where he sits on the board and his daughter takes jazz classes.

The nomination of Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr.'s son for a District Court judgeship is prompting a vow of resignation from at least one member of the Anne Arundel County Judicial Nominating Commission and raising old questions of nepotism and political interference. Thomas V. Miller III, a 12-year veteran of the Maryland Parole Commission, was passed over by the 13-member nominating commission in February when he applied for one of three vacant positions. But after Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, issued an executive order in April requiring all such panels to produce at least three nominations per vacancy, the commission voted Wednesday night to recommend Miller and four other previously rejected candidates for a spot on the bench.

In an annual ritual of patronage, Gov. Martin O'Malley submitted his "green bag" nominations to the state Senate yesterday, naming 165 people to state boards and commissions. Among the appointments, which are subject to Senate confirmation, are his previously announced choices for the State Board of Education and new members for the University System of Maryland Board of Regents, the Maryland Stadium Authority, the state Port Commission, the Injured Workers' Insurance Fund and other unpaid policymaking and advisory bodies.

In addition to controlling $29 billion in spending and dominating the airwaves with his agenda, Maryland's governor has another powerful tool at his disposal: the ability to hand out patronage positions. More than 6,000 state employees - about 10 percent of the state government work force - can be fired at any time and for any reason. Generations of governors have rewarded allies and friends by giving them good-paying state jobs with decent benefits. But when Democrat Martin O'Malley takes office Wednesday, the scope of his hirings for those positions could be hindered by the legislature's yearlong investigation into the personnel practices of his Republican predecessor.

On December 25, 2005, MARYCATHERINE MEYERS, beloved wife of the late George A. Meyers Jr., loving mother of Cathy Johnson, Mitch Meyers, Glenn Meyers, Marilyn Wagner, cherished grandmother of seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, dear sister of William Henn and Helen Simpkins. Donations maybe made to the Patronage of Mother of God Brzantine Catholic Church, 1260Linden Church, Arbutus, MD 21227. For further information please call Ambrose Funeral Home, Inc. at 410-242-2211. www.ambrosefuneralhomes.

CITY RESIDENTS are depending on House delegation chairman Frank D. Boston Jr. to accomplish what has in the past been unachievable -- successfully steer legislation that puts city liquor inspectors under the civil service system. The Senate, which in the past has always thwarted efforts to do that, has finally passed a liquor inspectors bill and sent it to the House. Under Delegate Boston's guidance, the measure should become law this session.It wasn't easy to get the Senate to agree to the measure sponsored by Sens.

WHY DO patronage plums fall often to the least able? And why do the powerful insist on a pinch or two of bravado when they hand out the loot? It's more satisfying when the beneficiaries are unqualified. Anyone can appoint qualified people. You're rewarding the faithful. You're building the party. You're triggering spasms of pain in your opponents. What's not to like? Thus do Maryland Democrats plan hearings into patronage outrages they allege against Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., whose approach to the distribution of government jobs would make the old Baltimore bosses blush.