Chris Delaporte says: Audit the Parks Dept. already. He used to run it. (Photo by: Frank Klein)

Those interested in the struggle (and why is this a struggle? Everyone agrees, right?) to get an audit of the Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks ought to tune in to the Marc Steiner Show tonight at 5 p.m. (less than an hour from now, sorry) on WEAA, 88.9 FM.

From Steiner:

“Tune in tonight at 5:00 for a discussion on financial accountability within the Baltimore City government. Guests include: Baltimore City Council members Bill Henry, Carl Stokes, and Jim Kraft; and Baltimore Park Advocate Chris Delaporte.”

Read more from Delaporte at The Brew, where he seems to have a column.

The ongoing, never-ending saga of the “rec centers” will, obviously, continue. It’s part of every discussion, it seems. A couple hours ago, City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young brought the possible/probable closing of several of them up at a Council Committee of the Whole meeting with Schools Superintendent Andres Alonso, who was there detailing the school budget. Young asked about the possibility of the school system taking over operation of some of the centers.

Alonso said that the school system was negotiating for some use of some buildings, but by no means would it be taking over center operations: “There is no such thing as a school system running a rec center for $200,000.”

Young: “That’s a no.”

UPDATE: Audit advocates have started a petition. Follow the link if you want to sign. The goal is 20,000 signatures. They’ve got 37 so far (on 5/16 at noon).

J.P. Grant (From Grant Capital Management website)

So the Baltimore Grand Prix has its third corporate coordinator in less than a year, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced yesterday.

The Sun had it first, focusing on the marquee name of Michael Andretti.  But the online Baltimore Brew has a bit more context about the real new leader, James P. Grant—noting that he’s given Rawlings-Blake (with some help from his family and company) more than $38,000 in campaign donations.

The Sun’s bit has what looks like the money graf though:

The new contract requires Race On to pay $50,000 to be shared by neighborhoods near the race course, and $300,000 to cover a portion of the city’s services for the race. City officials have estimated that staffing the race with police officers, firefighters, traffic directors and maintenance workers will cost about $800,000. Taxpayers cover the rest of the tab.

As for Andretti himself—here’s his twitter feed, with 58,000 followers. No word here about his role in the Baltimore endeavor. His daughter apparently made the dean’s list though, so congrats on that.

The actual contract between the city and Race On is supposed to be appended to the mayor’s announcement, but we don’t see it there. If you are able to extract it, please let us know or send a copy. The mayor is inviting feedback on the contract at her official email, mayor@baltimorecity.gov

Michael Andretti

However, a proposed consent decree filed with the lawsuit, which may take affect some time after a 30-day public-comment period, could allow the company to not admit fault, bring its boiler operations into compliance, and pay a $200,000 fine, rather than face the per-diem penalties. The lawsuit does not state how often American Sugar is alleged to have violated its permit, called a Title V permit, nor does it tabulate the total amount of potential penalties it is facing.

The consent decree is signed by American Sugar senior vice president Michael S. Seither. Attempts to reach representatives of American Sugar, the EPA, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland for comment on the litigation were not immediately successful.

UPDATE: American Sugar Refining, Inc. has issued a statement on the matter. See below.

FOR RELEASE

Contact:
Stu FitzGibbon
American Sugar Refining, Inc.
410–783-8628
American Sugar Refining to Add Stricter
Clean Air Controls at Baltimore Refinery

BALTIMORE, MD — May 11, 2012 — American Sugar Refining, Inc., a company actively committed to sustainability, will begin implementing additional clean air initiatives at its sugar refinery in Baltimore, as part of a recent agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

American Sugar received a notice from EPA in September 2009 alleging that boilers at the Baltimore plant had exceeded the operating criteria in the air emission permits.  At the same time, EPA offered to meet and discuss corrective actions.  American Sugar believed the operations were in compliance but agreed to meet with EPA and fully cooperated throughout the agency’s investigation.

American Sugar and EPA negotiated a settlement agreement, which EPA filed as a Consent Decree along with a formal complaint recognizing that American Sugar and EPA have agreed to settle the matter in order to avoid costly litigation.  American Sugar at all times acted in good faith with EPA and the Maryland Department of the Environment.  Throughout the negotiations, EPA allowed American Sugar to continue its operations.

“Our refinery has been a steady part of Baltimore’s economy for 90 years,” said Refinery Manager Stu FitzGibbon. “All of our employees here take our environmental responsibilities extremely seriously. The company’s willingness to install additional control technology above and beyond what we believe is currently required demonstrates American Sugar’s commitment to maintaining and improving air quality in the Baltimore area.”

American Sugar employs a company-wide Corporate Sustainability Manager, based in Baltimore, who is actively seeking opportunities to make the company’s operations even more sustainable.

As part of the settlement, the company has also agreed to pay $200,000 to resolve all disputed issues connected with the boiler operations.

MEL GUAPO

UPDATE: A sentence has been removed from this post at the request of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Daniel McIntosh has long maintained he’s been the majority shareholder of Sonar nightclub in downtown Baltimore since he took over from co-founder Lonnie Fisher in 2007. But if new federal charges against McIntosh and nine others, filed May 2 in Maryland federal court, are true, McIntosh has had a silent partner in Sonar: Matt Nicka, the lead defendant in the decade-long, $30-million, cross-country pot-conspiracy case that was first filed under seal in Dec. 2010.

Court records do not indicate that Nicka has ever been arrested and arraigned for the charges, so, presumably, he’s a fugitive, along with three other co-defendants in the case. His nicknames are “Surfer Dude,” “Grump,” and “Morrow,” according to the indictment, and he also uses the following aliases: Anthony Thacker, Matt Smith, Matt Marino, Matt St. John, Calvin Bartlett, and Matthew Johnson.

Other than information in the new, 26-page indictment, which describes Nicka’s leadership role in a scheme that used trains, planes, and trucks to move pot and money around the country for years, and that engaged in a host of activities to hide the proceeds, City Paper has learned little about Nicka.

In 2008 and 2009, the indictment states, Nicka and McIntosh “did manage and control” Sonar, and made it “available for use, for the purpose of unlawfully storing, distributing and using marijuana,” verbiage that the indictment distils down to “maintaining drug-involved premises.” They also are accused of laundering money together by wiring pot-dealing proceeds to “purchase sound equipment for Sonar” in July 2007.

While Nicka and McIntosh, who is 36 years old, are lumped in with all the defendants as accused pot-dealing money-launderers, they are the only two named in connection with Sonar.

Jeremy Landsman, a 32-year-old Baltimore developer who last year partnered with David Berg, of the Baltimore-based Berg Corporation demolition firm, to purchase the real estate where Sonar is located, and who is also the landlord for McIntosh’s other business–McCabe’s Restaurant in Hampden–was revealed in February to be a co-defendant in the case. In the new superceding indictment, Landsman is not listed as a defendant, though he is mentioned as having participated in the conspiracy’s pot-dealing and money-laundering activities.

Property records indicate that Anthony Thacker–one of Nicka’s aliases–gave a property on Weldon Avenue in Medfield to one of Landsman’s real-estate companies in 2008. That property, which Landsman’s company sold for $226,500* in 2009, is two doors down from the property that was posted to make McIntosh’s bail in the case.

McIntosh is the lone defendant in two of the new indictment’s 16 counts. They allege that, during 2008, he used property on Weldon Ave. to deal and use pot, and that, also in 2008, he traveled to and from California on pot business.

Landsman’s lawyer, Barry Pollack, did not immediately return a phone call and e-mail for comment. A voice message left on Berg’s cellphone was not immediately returned. McIntosh’s attorney, Carmen Hernandez, wrote in an e-mail today that McIntosh continues to maintain his innocence. The Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office does not comment on pending cases as a matter of policy. Nicka does not have an attorney on record in the case, and his whereabouts are unknown.

The original indictment in the case listed 15 co-defendants. Six of them–Landsman, Andrew Sharpeta, Sean Costello, Daniel Fountain, Adam Constantinides, and Joseph Spain–are not on the roster of co-defendants in the new indictment. Four of those no longer named–Sharpeta, Costello, Constantinides, and Spain–have entered plea agreements with the prosecution, and three–Sharpeta, Costello, and Constantinides–have already pleaded guilty to superceding charges.

As City Paper reported in March, the Nicka indictment is tied to other cases in state and federal court in Maryland. Another Baltimore developer, 34-year-old Jacob Jeremiah Harryman, and 34-year-old Andrew Jin Park of Pikesville, are central figures in the investigation that connects the cases, which has been conducted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, and the Baltimore County Police Department.

*An earlier version of this post incorrectly listed the sale price as “more than a quarter-million dollars.”

And the Mayor’s office confirms, Sun says.….

Wait up, says Councilman Bill Henry: We don’t have any slots yet.

In a rare display of non-unanimity, City Council members Bill Henry (4^th District), Carl Stokes (12^th), Warren Branch (13^th) and Mary Pat Clarke (14^th) voted to send a property tax break for city homeowners back to committee. The ten other council members, including Council president Bernard C. ‘Jack” Young, voted against the measure and then passed the bill over Clarke and Branch’s “no” votes and Henry’s abstention.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake touted passage of the bill in a press release e-mailed on May 1, saying  the “New tax credit program will provide 20 cent property tax cut by 2020 for homeowners, without slashing funding for crime reduction and public education.”

The bill, 12–0040, offers small reductions in property tax rates on owner-occupied homes over each of the next eight years, with the revenue loss being partially replaced by taxes paid by the operators of the planned slot machine emporium. Billed as “20 by 2020,” Mayor Rawlings-Blake has made it central to her effort to attract more homeowners to the city.

The bill had reached Third Reader, a status that normally leads to unanimous passage. But Councilman Henry stood to say that the tax credit perhaps should be delayed until the slots parlor is closer to fruition. The cut will slice $3.8 million from the city’s budget next year, he said, which is a big part of the $4.6 million in additional after-school activities funding advocates have suggested the mayor consider.

“This is a matter of timing,” Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke said. “We have on our desk tonight the mayor’s budget. I haven’t read it yet. It seems not quite right to cut taxes before we ascertain that this budget has the funds we need to meet the needs of our youth.” She suggested the council read the budget first and pass the tax cut later.

Council Vice President Ed Reisinger (10^th District) said his constituents want the tax cut, and that the committee process found the bill favorable. “The mayor today committed to work with the council” in regard to budget items for youth services, he said.

In voting to hold the bill a week, Clarke said the tax cut would amount to $3.30 per month for the owner of a home assessed at $200,000.

“I want to thank Council President Bernard ‘Jack’ Young and members of the City Council for giving relief to city homeowners,” said Mayor Rawlings-Blake in her e-mailed press release about the bill, which is time-stamped 8:44 a.m., April 30—some nine hours before the vote. “When you ask families what they need in order to stay in Baltimore, it is safe neighborhoods, good schools, job opportunities, and lower property taxes. At the same time we are making progress reducing crime and improving our schools, we have to do everything reasonable to reduce the property tax burden on homeowners. And we need to pay for it without slashing the budget for basic City services.”

She is not allowed in your room, boys. (Facebook photo of alleged Colombian prostitute a Secret Service guy refused to pay. (via NY Post, so take it for what it’s worth))

Secret Service members to receive special ethics training at Johns Hopkins. From this morning’s Baltimore Sun:

“Ninety-nine times out of 100 they know the right thing to do. The question is, what do you do when you hit a tough moral case?” [Christopher Dreisbach, director of Applied Ethics and Humanities for the Division of Public Safety Leadership and a noted ethics expert] said. “What I do is try to get them better prepared to take on those tough moral cases.”

We are modifying the Maryland common law of liability as it relates to attacks by pit bull and cross-bred pit bull dogs against humans. With the standard we establish today (which is to be applied in this case on remand), when an owner or a landlord is proven to have knowledge of the presence of a pit bull or cross-bred pit bull (as both the owner and landlord did in this case) or should have had such knowledge, a prima facie case is established. It is not necessary that the landlord (or the pit bull’s owner) have actual knowledge that the specific pit bull involved is dangerous. Because of its aggressive and vicious nature and its capability to inflict serious and sometimes fatal injuries, pit bulls and cross-bred pit bulls are inherently dangerous.

The decision, published April 26 in the case captioned Dorothy M. Tracey v. Anthony K. Solesky, sends the case back to the Circuit Court for retrial under the new standard. In the past, a bite victim would have to show that the person who had control of the dog knew the dog was vicious and failed to take adequate measures to prevent the bite. Proving that  usually required the victim to find evidence that the dog had bitten someone before—and that the defendant knew that.

The law now says: “When an attack involves pit bulls, it is no longer necessary to prove that the particular pit bull or pit bulls are dangerous.” It applies not only to the dogs’ owners, but to any person who “had the right to control the pit bull’s presence”—i.e., the land lord.

This could have profound implications not just for slumlords, but also for animal shelters, rescue volunteers (and their landlords), animal hospitals and veterinarians.

(Hat Tip: Hayley Nethen)

UPDATE:  The Humane Society Weighs in

The Humane Society of the United States Responds to Maryland Court of Appeals’ Decision Regarding Pit Bull Dogs

(April 28, 2012) The Humane Society of the United States will work with Maryland dog advocates and members of the legislature to develop rational, science-based dangerous dog policies for the state after the Maryland Court of Appeals issued a decision fundamentally changing longstanding liability rules relating to pit bull and mixed pit bull dogs.

Betsy McFarland, vice president of The Humane Society of the United States’ companion animals department, issues the following statement:

“In addition to our general concerns about the issues with breed-specific public policies, we believe that the court overstepped its authority. The decision acknowledged it was ‘modifying the Maryland common law of liability.’ A seismic shift in Maryland law of this nature should be undertaken by the legislature, not judges. The legislature should conduct appropriate fact-finding and hearings, consider the available science, and make a measured, non-emotional decision on this important policy issue.

We encourage advocates to call their state legislators to respectfully voice their concerns, and urge them to work with advocates on legislation in the next session that provides rational, science-based dangerous dog policies for the state.

The Humane Society of the United States’ companion animals department is in communication with shelters and rescues, and will be looking for ways to support them as they consider the ramifications of this decision.”

For more information about pit bulls, go here.

Facts:

• Renters who currently own a pit bull or pit bull mix should contact attorneys licensed in Maryland with any questions or concerns regarding their specific situations.
• In general, a landlord cannot change a lease to ban pit bulls before the lease term expires. A lease is a contract, and under Maryland law the landlord may not change the terms of the lease without your consent for the remainder of the lease term. If your lease has an automatic renewal clause, the landlord must notify you of a rent increase or any other change with enough notice for you to decide whether you want to renew or not. If your lease does not automatically renew, you should be sure to thoroughly read the new lease you will sign for any prohibition against dogs that may constitute a pit bull.
• Options for renters with pit bulls will likely begin to be more difficult to find. For tips for finding pet friendly rental properties, go here: http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/animal_friendly_apartments.html.
• In general, if a tenant breaches the terms of a lease agreement, a landlord may evict him or her. However, the landlord must go to court and obtain an eviction judgment first.  Also, state law requires the landlord to first give the tenant one month’s advance notice that he is ending the lease and the reason why. However, if the breach of lease involves tenant behavior that constitutes a danger to other people or property, the landlord must only give 14 days advance notice. Therefore, if a tenant with a pit bull or pit bull mix has a lease that is about to expire, he or she should review the new lease for any changes, as there may be a short time frame in which to make moving arrangements.
• If a tenant does not have a written lease or does not know whether it’s in effect, he or she should be aware that a landlord is required to use a written lease if the tenancy is going to be for a year or longer, or if the landlord owns five or more rental units in the State.  If a lease is to last more than a year, it must be written to be enforceable. If you have an oral agreement you landlord must still give proper written notice before any changes to the terms of an oral lease.

Update (II):

Reader Amanda Fitzgerald shares this alternate view of pit bull life.

There’s also a map of the district with contact numbers for community resources (the Commission on Aging, Baltimore Substance Abuse Systems, etc.) and the requisite hyperbole: “2400 hours is just a fragment of time Councilman Nick J. Moseby has spent working for the people of the 7^th District.”

Wow: 24–7 since you were sworn in—all on behalf of the constituents? How do your bosses at Verizon feel about that?

All kidding aside, as political propaganda goes, this is pretty slick.

You should have thought of this before you took that balance transfer offer, thug!

Below, reproduced in its entirety, is a press release we just got from our friends at ACA International, the debt collectors’ consortium:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Mark Schiffman, PR Director

Tel. (952) 259‑2124 or schiffman@acainternational.org

DEBTORS’ PRISONS DON’T EXIST, NOR ARE THEY RETURNING

MINNEAPOLIS – (April 26, 2012) – ACA International, representing the credit and collections industry, reiterates that while there are shared concerns related to arrest warrants it disagrees with comparisons to the return of ‘debtor prisons’ as alleged in sensationalistic media coverage.

Following is a statement from Patrick Morris, CEO of ACA International.

“To claim that debt collectors are manipulating our judiciary system for their exclusive benefit is simply wrong and runs counter to judicial independence.

Third-party debt collectors are hired to assist in the recovery of unpaid accounts from consumers that have acquired, but not paid for, goods and services. Typically, lawsuits by debt collectors against consumers are an action of last resort.  If, after several attempts to communicate, the collection efforts fail through the inability to reach a consumer or lack of cooperation, the owner of the account may seek a court’s help to adjudicate disputes, determine the proper amount owed and enforce payment.

ACA members follow state law and do not advocate for, nor can they cause, a consumer to be arrested or jailed for an outstanding debt. Like any other civil court case, only a judge, at his or her sole discretion, can issue an arrest warrant that calls for jail time; and only when an individual has been ruled to be in contempt of court for failing to respond to a court order.

The Illinois Collectors Association has met with Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office on this topic and is not opposing proposed legislation in the state. We want to work with policymakers, regulators, courts and attorneys general to identify practical solutions for improving communication so that disputes can be resolved without the need of judicial action.

The work of debt collectors is vitally important to the national and state economies through the recovery of $54.9 billion in unpaid debt to businesses, government and non-profits. Its impact is also felt as the provider of more than 148,000 jobs; as a taxpayer contributing our fair share to local, state and national governments; and $85.2 million and 650,000 hours assisting charitable organizations in our communities.”

ACA International is the comprehensive, knowledge-based resource for success in the credit and collection industry.  Founded in 1939, ACA brings together more than 5,000 members in the United States and abroad, and their employees, including third-party collection agencies, asset buyers, attorneys, creditors and vendor affiliates.  ACA establishes a wide variety of products, services and publications.  For more information on ACA, visit www.acainternational.org. For more information about debt collection and consumer rights, please visit www.askdoctordebt.org.

–END–

Further reading:

In Jail for Being In Debt (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

Debt collectors get jobs in hospitals and present patients with past due bills as they head to ER, implying pay up or no lifesaving operation (NYT).

Jailed for $280: The Return of Debtors’ Prisons (CBS Moneywatch)

So remember: debt collectors don’t jail people, judges jail people. Debt collectors just file the cases and screw up the process service that leads judges to believe debtors are in contempt of court.

“Since our Advisory Board was appointed four years ago, the Department of Recreation and Parks has had three Directors and faced at least three budget reductions,” reads the letter, which was signed by all five members of the board (there are three vacancies). “Last year, the citizens of Baltimore were threatened with recreation facility closures right before the height of the summer season. This year, seven of thirteen pools are slated for closing. While we certainly understand the demands of a budgetary crisis, we are concerned that the continued threats to our recreation and parks system send the wrong message to our citizens about our priorities, particularly when the Department of Recreation and Parks is already in a precarious position.”

The open letter (see below) came about after years of reaching out to the mayor and her advisers, Board President Carolyn D. Wainwright says in an interview, “but for the most part our experience is that the administration has just not been very receptive to hearing about needed improvements…but instead uses the department to slash budgets. To say that you’re going to close seven of 13 walk-to pools right before summer is kind of ridiculous.”

Mayoral spokesman Ryan O’Doherty did not immediately respond to an e-mail from City Paper.

The Department of Recreation and Parks has had management and budget problems for years. When Gregory Bayor took over as director in 2010, Rawlings-Blake said it was a new day: “We will no longer accept mediocrity or the status quo,” Rawlings-Blake said in a statement quoted in a Sun story.

Last month Bayor announced he was leaving to take a Parks chief job in Tampa. In a statement, Rawlings-Blake praised his tenure: “I would like to thank Mr. Bayor for his service to the citizens of Baltimore and for increasing staff morale in the department during the last two years. Mr. Bayor has laid significant groundwork, creating new public-private partnerships with local businesses, foundations, and community organizations that will strengthen recreational opportunities for Baltimore going forward. We wish him well in his future endeavors.”

As The Baltimore Brew recently noted, those “public-private partnerships” for administering the city’s beleaguered youth recreation centers went over poorly among residents.

In its letter, the Parks Board asks the mayor to keep the rec and parks budget flat this year and earmark more than $1 million for the pools. It recommends an “in-depth evaluation process” of the department’s “financial, programmatic, personnel and management policies and practices using the accreditation guidelines as set forth by the Commission on Accreditation for Parks and Recreation Agencies,” a nationally known accreditation organization.

It also seeks an audit of the department, which was requested by the board years ago and never done. Last month, City Councilman Carl Stokes (12^th District) introduced a bill to require an audit of every city agency every other year. Although administration officials said they had no problem with that, Stokes met with opposition in a private meeting before the bill was introduced (“Counted In,” Mobtown Beat, March 28).

Wainwright says the board meets next on Wednesday evening, April 25, at 7 p.m. in the Rollins Howard “Pete” Rawlings Conservatory in Druid Hill Park. She says she hopes board members and others will hear budget information from interim Parks Director Bill Vondrasek.

FRANK HAMILTON

The owners of South Mountain Creamery (SMC), the Frederick County dairy farm and mainstay of Baltimore’s farmers markets, are facing a new phase of legal trouble with the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office (MD-USAO).

As City Paper first reported on Wednesday, the bank account where SMC deposits its farmers-market proceeds was emptied in late February, pursuant to a federal warrant for apparent violations of an anti-money-laundering statute known as “structuring,” in which cash deposits are illegally made in increments of $10,000 or less in order to evade bank-reporting requirements. Yesterday, MD-USAO filed a civil-forfeiture action in U.S. District Court, seeking to keep nearly $63,000 of the nearly $70,000 seized. The latest development was first reported today by the Frederick News-Post.

The forfeiture complaint, signed by assistant U.S. attorney Stefan Cassella–who literally wrote the book on federal forfeiture law–includes an account of what SMC co-owner Randy Sowers told law enforcers in an interview on Feb. 29. He said, the complaint recounts, that “during the farmers’ market ‘season,’ his weekly cash receipts were on the order of $12,000 to $14,000,” yet “he kept his cash deposits under $10,000 intentionally so as not to ‘throw up red flags.’” He also told the agents that “he was advised by a teller at the bank that the deposit of more than $10,000 in cash would lead to the filing of a form, and that he decided from that point forward not to make deposits in excess of $10,000,” according to the complaint.

As a result of Sowers’ admissions, along with bank and SMC records showing a pattern of cash transactions under $10,000 despite greater amounts being earned at each weeks’ farmers markets, Cassella’s complaint states that the facts support “a reasonable belief” that there was “an intentional scheme or plan to hold back cash receipts” in order to evade the federal bank-reporting requirements.

Sowers’ attorney, David Watt, has advised his client not to talk with City Paper about the situation, and Watt did not immediately return calls for comment. As a matter of policy, MD-USAO does not comment on pending court matters.

The Baltimore Brew’

The award–which the Brew says passed this morning with Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake abstaining–would pay greiBO K Designs a “producer’s fee” of $150,000 as well as $50,000 for “marketing and infrastructure costs” and $100,000 for “entertainment fees to assist with securing local and national talent.”

The company is run by Shelonda Stokes, who the Brew describes as an old friend of the mayor and a $2,200 campaign contributor. Of course, the campaign contributions have nothing to do with the awarding of this contract, according to mayoral spokesman Ryan O’Doherty.

There’s more to the story. Go read it.

The reality is the same as last year: Snakehead catchers can register for a random drawing and maybe win a $200 gift certificate to Bass Pro Shops at Arundel Mills, a “Passport” state park pass or a fishing license. But somehow the message morphed into a bounty-for-every-fish story that went world-wide—including a video put up by the Detroit Free Press and this Christian Science Monitor piece that remains uncorrected.

“We got some calls from Bass Pro,” says Joe Evans, a DNR spokesman. “Apparently there were some people bringing fish [to the store], demanding their gift certificates.”

Evans says he spent time earlier this week writing e-mails to editors at ABC News, United Press International, and many other outlets. He says he thinks a reporter for AOL/Patch somewhere out of state started the false rumor, but he said he wasn’t entirely sure where it originated. “We read and re-read our release,” he says. “And we couldn’t see how” it was misconstrued.

So, OK, repeat: you will not receive a $200 certificate for your snakehead. You will receive a chance to win the cert or another prize. Same deal as last year. Here’s the original release. The drawing is Nov. 30.

Oh, and did we mention, catching these things is its own reward. They fight like hell, and they taste delicious, Evans says.

“Really firm, white meat,” says Evans. “They work well on a grill. Broil ‘em. They take on the flavor of whatever you want it. I’m not gonna necessarily compare it to chicken…”.

Photograph by Frank Klein.

The Baltimore City Liquor Board is challenging the liquor license renewal of JHJ Saloon, whose co-owner has been found incompetent to stand trial on sexual assault charges and was recently remanded to a state hospital for further evaluation.

In a letter dated March 31, the board of Liquor License Commissioners wrote Bridget Helmbright and Lester Sexton saying that the board itself is  “protesting the renewal of your license on its initiative based on” Article 2B Section 10–401(a)(2).

The law appears to give the board broad authority; it says, according to the letter, that:

“Any permit … may be revoked or suspended by the issuing authority for any cause which in the judgment of the official, court or board is necessary to promote the peace or safety of the community …”.

There is a reference in the letter to the “competency of Douglas Sexton to hold a liquor license,” and the file contains court documents pertaining to the sexual assault charges against Sexton, as well as City Paper’s initial story about the cases.

Sexton owns 51 percent of the liquor license, according to the file, while Helmbright owns 49 percent. Before last year, Sexton owned 100 percent of the liquor license. The bar, which has been under Sexton and Helmbright’s control since 1981, has never been in trouble with the Liquor Board, records indicate.

The public hearing on the liquor license renewal was set for Thursday, April 19, at 2:15 p.m. in room 215 of City Hall, but could change if Sexton and Helmbright (or their lawyer) ask for it to be rescheduled. The letter says “the public hearing must take place during the month of April or your establishment will have to close on May 1, 2012 and remain closed until the hearing takes place.”

The Fells Prospect Community Association wrote the board yesterday saying it supports the board’s efforts against the bar.

Key phrase here: “significant washout and undermining conditions.”

Hat Tip to City Councilmember Mary Pat Clarke, who e-mailed us (and everyone) about the coming jam. Here’s the link to the Transportation Dept. details.

Full release below.

Traffic Advisory

Jones Falls Expressway Lane Closures to Begin

Significant Delays Expected for Motorists

The Baltimore City Department of Transportation would like to advise motorists that beginning Friday, April 13,2012 at 7:00 p.m., the left lane of both the northbound and southbound Jones Falls Expressway in the vicinity of 29th Street and Druid Park Lake Drive will be closed.

The lane closures are needed for emergency repairs to collapsed drainage pipes that are located underneath the expressway and have caused significant washout and undermining conditions. Once the closures are implemented, they will remain in effect until construction is complete, which is expected to take up to six to eight weeks. However, the duration of construction is uncertain at this time, and the lane closures could extend beyond this period.

It is important that these closures are implemented now for safety reasons due to the undermining of the roadway. Due to the complex nature of the work involved, motorists will not see any construction work occurring in this area for a few weeks after the closures are implemented.

Once repairs begin, adjacent lanes of travel may be narrowed through the construction zone for the safety of the work crews. In addition, adjacent travel lanes and possible full closures of the expressway may be implemented during evening and late night hours.

These lane closures will cause significant delays along the expressway, particularly during the morning and afternoon peak hours. The remaining two lanes in each direction will not provide sufficient capacity to accommodate traffic demand and will result in serious congestion.

To avoid delays during the lane closures, motorists are strongly advised to use alternate routes when trying to access the downtown area during peak hours. Commuters should also consider using alternate modes of travel including the Light Rail and Metro Subway. If possible, motorists should alter their travel times to “come early and stay late” in order to avoid delays.

TRANSIT OPTIONS: The MTA operates the Metro which serves Northwest Baltimore City and County, and the Central Light Rail which serves points north. Note that the Metro and Light Rail are completely unaffected by traffic conditions. In addition, there are several express and local bus options. Transit information is available at 410–539-5000 or at www.mtamaryland.gov.

ALTERNATE ROUTES: For those who continue drive, there are a number of alternate routes that can be utilized:

• For motorists coming to or from Northwest Baltimore or northwest Baltimore County (including Pikesville, Reisterstown and Randallstown), the alternate routes are Liberty Road/Liberty Heights Avenue, Reisterstown Road and Park Heights Avenue.
• For motorists coming to or from North Baltimore City or County (including Towson, Timonium and Cockeysville), the alternate routes are Charles Street, York Road and Loch Raven Boulevard.
• For motorists coming to or from Northeast Baltimore City and County (including Parkville, Overlea and Perry Hall), the alternate routes are Hillen Road/Perring Parkway, Harford Road and Belair Road.

For additional information, including a map of suggested alternate routes, log onto www.BaltimoreCity.gov.

The discovery of this safety hazard highlights not only the importance of routine maintenance and inspection, but the need for continued investment in our aging public infrastructure.

Baltimore City Department of Transportation:

“Keeping Baltimore Moving Safely”

*Fire Department

*Recreation centers

*Employee benefits/pensions

Or, conversely (or, also, at the same time), you can demand

*Property tax cuts

*First-world levels of competence from city government

*Police Commissioner Fred Bealefeld’s head

It’s all scheduled for tomorrow night at 6 p.m. Below find the release from Jack Young’s office. Remember, if you go, park legally. They WILL ticket you.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Board of Estimates to Host Annual Taxpayers’ Night

WHAT: The Board of Estimates will hold its annual Taxpayers’ Night. Taxpayers’ Night allows citizens an opportunity to voice their thoughts and concerns about the Mayor’s proposed Fiscal Year 2013 budget. Members of the Board of Estimates will meet to listen to residents and gather feedback.

WHEN: Wednesday, April 11, 2012, at 6 p.m.

WHERE: War Memorial Building, 101 N. Gay Street.

Adam Riess shows Sen. Mikulski a plaque in her honor.

Scientists at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) near Johns Hopkins’ Homewood campus today honored Sen. Barbara Mikulski’s long-term commitment to space science by dedicating a data archive in her name and naming a supernova after her. STScI is in charge of operations for the Hubble Space Telescope.

Mikulski, who recently became the longest-serving woman in Congress, fought for the Hubble when it was still in its planning and construction stages in the ’70s and ’80s as well as for repeat service missions to keep it alive, most notably the final 2009 mission, which was almost scrapped after the 2003 Columbia disaster. She also pushed hard to get the James Webb Space Telescope—aka Hubble 2.0—which will be operated out of STScI, funded after the House  proposed cutting its funding and canceling the project  in July 2011.

Mikulski received four standing ovations from a packed auditorium of visitors, friends, family, employees of STScI and NASA, among other agencies, and distinguished guests including Maryland Nobel laureates Adam Riess of Johns Hopkins/STScI and John Mather of Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt.

“Everyone in this room knows the senator for her strong advocacy for what we do here at STScI,” said William Smith, president of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), pointing out that she has also advocated for science research as a whole. “Her influence is beyond anybody’s measure.”

The Barbara A. Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) contains data from 16 space-based observatories stretching back to the early ’70s; when the James Webb launches in 2018, its data will be stored there as well. The archive currently contains 200 terabytes of data—nearly the amount of information in the Library of Congress—and its data is available for free online to anyone in the world. Scientists, and citizen scientists, can use the archived data to make discoveries.

“You don’t get to be me without a whole lot of ‘we,’” Mikulski said at the ceremony. “The archives belong to the common heritage of mankind. It is paid for by the American people. It is owned by the American people.”

The astronomers also dedicated a supernova—the massive explosion of a star in its death throes—to the senator, naming it Supernova Mikulski. The supernova, the result of the death of a star eight times as massive as the sun, was discovered on Jan. 25 by Riess, and is located 7.4 billion light-years away, in the constellation Sextans. That means that when the supernova exploded, our solar system was still a few billion years away from being born. If it were visible to the naked eye or a ground-based telescope, it could be seen below the bright star Regulus.

Toward the end of the dedication ceremony, Mikulski thanked her great-grandmother, who immigrated to the United States from Poland, her mother and father, and God, in addition to her constituents and everyone present. “Religion and science will never collide,” she said. “If science is truth and God is truth we are all compatible.” She concluded with her usual signoff: “God bless you, thank you for this honor, and may the force continue to be with us.”

Video of the ceremony, including speeches from Riess and STScI Director Matt Mountain and a message from former astronaut and former STScI Deputy Director John Grunsfeld, can be found here.

Vito Simone as he appears on Linked-In

Debra Donahoo waited two years to hear from a judge what she already knew was true—that her former best friends, Vito and Gail Simone, lied to her in April of 2006 in order to get $50,000 for an ill-fated real estate deal.

Now she’ll have to wait years more to be paid the $44,500 she’s still owed. She may never get anything.

“I proved fraud,” Donahoo says by phone on March 25. “It was based on fraud.”

Says Simone, former president of the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors and still a licensed real estate agent and federal HUD loan consultant: “I would like nothing more than to set the record straight, especially on Ms. Donahoo’s case. Right now we have filed an Appeal and are working through the legal system.  With all fairness to Ms. Donahoo and me, I think it is important to respect that process and allow it to play out without trying the case in the press. As a side note, we have been involved in four similar cases and won them all.”

It’s not exactly true to say Simone “won” them. But he didn’t lose them either. The state Injured Workers Insurance Fund, for example, dropped its $173,000 suit in 2009. But its attorney told City Paper then that it was not because its claim lacked merit.

City Paper wrote about the Simones’ bankruptcy shortly after they filed it in February of 2009 [“Boom and Bust,” Mobtown Beat, March 18, 2009; Vini Viti Vito, Feature, April 8, 2009]. The couple listed $3.9 million in liabilities and less than half a million in assets. Several creditors filed motions to challenge the dischargeability of their debts, and all but Donahoo gave up or settled.

“I expected the case to go this way,” says Andre Weitzman, Donahoo’s lawyer. “But you never know. Exceptions to [bankruptcy] discharge are extremely difficult. Most people don’t attempt it.”

Even if the case is, as the Simones’ lawyer, Russell Karpook contends, just a simple breach of contract, it illustrates the pitfalls awaiting unwary investors and some of the legal trapdoors that real estate professionals can drop through in order to avoid repaying their debts.

The story begins on the night of April 28, 2006. Donahoo says Simone called her to his house to discuss an urgent request. Donahoo, who has known Gail Simone since the two were in high school, and at the time worked part time for the Simones’ real estate company, went to Simone’s home and heard that Vito needed $50,000 to close the biggest deal of his life the next day. An investor had dropped out, and without the money, the Simones stood to lose the deal and their very large deposit.

Donahoo tapped her home equity line of credit for what she understood would be a four-month bridge loan, at most—just until the couple and their other partners could refinance the ambitious project on Druid Park Lake Drive in Reservoir Hill, where they planned to build four wrecked houses into a dozen $300,000 condos. Vito and Gail Simone offered her 18 percent interest—$1,000 per month—in the meantime.

Though the deal did not close for two months, the Simones made 26 monthly payments before their bankruptcy. They even renegotiated and formalized the terms of the Donahoo loan. They told Federal Bankruptcy Judge Nancy V. Alquist that Donahoo had approached them with the deal and wanted to be a “hard money lender”—a contention the judge found incredible.

Donahoo’s lawyer introduced as evidence an e-mail from Vito Simone to Donahoo: “I am very sensitive to the situation that I created by asking for your help financially.”

Weitzman also established that Simone personally invested only $5,000 in the Druid Park Lake project—and that his real estate brokerage earned a $45,000 commission when the property changed hands.

On the witness stand, Simone told the court he had no loan applications pending in August of 2008. Weitzman introduced an e-mail to Donahoo, dated August 14, 2008, in which Vito Simone refers to a pending loan application and a “normal 30–60-day approval process.”

On the Simones’ behalf, Karpook argued that even if the Simones had misled their friend in April of 2006, the fact that she signed a renegotiated deal in February of 2007 moots any lies the Simones may have told. “I think that note being executed negates anything that happened in the initiation of the loan that they’re saying was induced by fraud,” Karpook told the judge in his summation at trial, in December, 2010. “After that occurred, she and they agreed on the terms to a note, it was signed. Payments had been made, and continued to be made.”

In her ruling 14 months later, the judge didn’t buy that or a technical argument Karpook made saying that oral false statements about a debtor’s financial condition don’t constitute fraud under the controlling law.

Donahoo’s lawyer says she cleared a high hurdle in winning the judgment.

Bankruptcy is about treating all creditors equally, dividing the existing assets so that no creditor gets a greater percentage of their investment repaid than the others, Wietzman says: “It’s difficult to get the evidence [of fraud].”

Once a judgment is made, it is good for 12 years, and renewable for an additional 12 years, Weitzman says. But collecting can be difficult, even before an appeal is filed. Dominic Marcuccio, for example, got a $69,000 judgment in state court before the Simones’ bankruptcy. The claim—and the judgment—was for fraud, according to Marcuccio’s lawyer, Amar S. Weisman. But when he tried to garnish Vito Simone’s pay from Yerman, Witman, Gaines and Conklin Realty, he got nothing back but a letter—from Yerman’s lawyer, Russell Karpook—saying that Simone was not an employee of the firm: “and therefore no wages are due the judgment Debtor from the Garnishee.” [“Unjust Enrichment?” Mobtown Beat, August 19, 2009].

When asked on the witness stand in December, 2010, who his employer was, Vito Simone replied, “Yerman, Witman, Gaines and Conklin Realty.” According to his Linked-In profile, Simone still works for a subsidiary of the firm, Strata Referral. William Yerman was one of the Simones’ larger creditors, claiming a $250,000 stake in the soured Druid Park Lake deal, according to the Simones’ bankruptcy filing.

Karpook did not return a call from City Paper asking about the case.

Weitzman, Donahoo’s lawyer, says Simone’s answer under oath does not mean Karpook mislead Weisman earlier. Garnishing someone’s pay is not easy if they don’t get a regular salary. “They could be contractors,” Weitzman says. “If someone is an independent contractor you have to issue a garnishment of property other than wages—and you have to serve it at a time when the person is due a commission.”

Simone is on a list of federally-approved Housing and Urban Development consultants and also operates a business called 230k Services. He advises people how to borrow more money than the house is worth in order to rehab it, with a government-backed loan. “FREE 1-Hour PRE-purchase renovation consulting for your clients!” Simone offers on his Linked-In page, which has more than 30 recommendations and more than 500 connections. “Call or email me. Make better offers in today’s market.”

The Midtown Community Benefits District is proposing a sharp increase to the district’s surcharge in order to fund a surveillance camera system and more security patrols. The Sun had the piece last night—just in time for tonight’s board of directors vote on the plan at 6:30 p.m. at MICA. Looks like the board is going to go for it. Greg Baranoski, a 19-year Bolton Hill resident and former board member, called City Paper to repeat his opposition to the increase and critique the Sun’s coverage.

“What I wish I had seen,” he says, “is the Sun doing a call to central district police to find out what through-the-roof crime spike justifies a 40 percent increase in our assessment.”

The proposal is here.

The average assessment would increase by just $125 a year, proponents say—“just 34 cents a day.” But of course, the average $250,000 assessment includes some vacants and a lot of condos, Baranoski counters: “If you’re in Bolton Hill and your house is assessed at $600,000 or $700,000, as many are, it’s a lot more than $125 a year.”

The matter, if passed by the board tonight, will have to get approval from the Board of Estimates.

Midtown Benefits District Board Chairman Jason Curtis says the district’s surtax income “has declined since the introduction of the Homestead and other tax credits and due to drops in district property values.” By Baranoski’s calculation, the assessment increased by 194 percent over the past seven years as property values increased, even as the actual levy remained at 13 cents per $100 valuation.

Though there are occasional muggings and other crimes in the central neighborhoods (the District covers Mt. Vernon, Bolton Hill, Madison Park, Midtown-Belvedere, and Charles North), the crime rate is much lower now than it was 20 years ago, Baranoski says. He doubts the camera system will help suppress crime further, and says increasing the assessment when the city and state are contemplating various tax increases makes little sense.

“We’re already living in the highest tax neighborhoods in all of Maryland,” he says.

Rendering of the State Center–This Would Be The Retail Part

Opponents of the $1.5 billion State Center project suffered a setback Monday night when the House of Delegates passed a bill to “better define” public-private partnerships. The bill, backed by Gov. Martin O’Malley, carried an amendment seemingly aimed at scuttling a lawsuit against the State Center project.

The bill, and the floor amendment introduced in a work group composed of members from the Environmental Matters, Appropriations and Health and Government Operations committees, caused a stir all weekend. Opponents, including Del. Luiz R.S. Simmons (D-Montgomery), on Saturday said the amendment made the bill a “Trojan horse for the worst kind of special interest.”

The amendment retroactively allows the defendants in cases involving public-private partnerships (triple p’s, in the jargon) to remove the case directly to the state’s highest court—the Court of Appeals.

A coalition of downtown office building owners and Little Italy restaurateurs has sued the state over the State Center project, claiming the developers were chosen without proper bidding and that the cost to state agencies—$33 per square foot—is a bad deal for taxpayers. The state has dragged its feet in providing the documents the plaintiffs have demanded. The judge has sided with the plaintiffs on that point—called discovery. The house bill, if passed by the Senate, could short-circuit the discovery process, according to Ramsey Flynn, who has spoken for the plaintiffs in the case. He blasted out an e-mail quoting the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Alan Rifkin:

“The amendment is a transparent attempt to end-run a pending case and divest the court of jurisdiction in the midst of discovery and before a trial on the merits. It undermines the integrity of the judicial process and is improper from every perspective.”

Flynn has been working his e-mail list all weekend, and the story made headlines around the state. Maryland Reporter and Fox 45 drew a direct line to State Center from the bill.

Proponents said the retroactive provision was not nefarious or unusual, and that it is in the public interest to expedite the slow-moving court process because, well, time is money.

Here’s a link to a video of the House debate from Saturday.

While the amendment caused a ruckus, the main bill has been less controversial. The Washinton Post has the broadest take on the bill on Saturday, linking the effort to a little-noticed, O’Malley Administration trend toward more PPPs:

Under current regulations, only Maryland’s Transportation Department has the authority to pursue public-private partnerships. The measure would expand that power to the state’s Department of General Services — the umbrella agency responsible for nearly all procurement, buildings and construction.

It would allow the state to lease public assets for up to 50 years and would set up a process for companies to make unsolicited proposals to take over management of state facilities.

In exchange for constructing roads or buildings or upgrading existing ones, the state would guarantee investors a stable return or free them to operate the facilities as for-profit businesses if they share with the state a percentage of earnings.

PPPs and long-term leases have been a trend in government for several years. The deals are often used to get politicians out of a short-term fiscal jam when facing re-election or a jump to higher office, but they are not always great for taxpayers.

They were under the impression that Baltimore Behavioral Health—an independent nonprofit clinic that serves some 1,300 recovering addicts each day—was moving out.

As the Baltimore Brew reports, John H. Spearman, senior vice president at University of Maryland Medical Center, told residents that locating the drug treatment clinic in other neighborhoods “got ruled out from above.”

Spearman’s clinic, funded by Baltimore Substance Abuse Systems, which is the city’s drug treatment overseer, moved to the building in January. The Abell Foundation bought both 1001 and 1101 West Pratt St., which currently houses Baltimore Behavioral Health Inc. (BBH).

Neighborhood residents protested the move, saying that too many drug treatment services have been concentrated in their neighborhood. Relapsing addicts commit crimes and attract drug dealers, residents say. BBH has been cited for financial problems and lax monitoring of the housing in which its patients reside. City Paper and the Sun both published stories two years ago about BBH’s problems, and a state investigation led to a shakeup of into the company’s board of directors and a $90,000 fine for hiring a doctor who had previously been convicted of Medicaid fraud.

The state investigation was still ongoing in late 2010, with an estimate of “months, not weeks,” a spokesman said at the time. It is unclear when, or if, the state investigation into BBH concluded.

Bank of America sued BBH to collect some defaulted loans last year, The Sun’s Scott Calvert reported. BBH reportedly had trouble making payroll and sold its Pratt Street building in January for about $3 million. At the time, the Sun reported that BBH planned to lease its old offices.

BBH’s status as a going concern has been the subject of street rumor for years. Spearman was not clear about who told him BBH’s days in west Baltimore were numbered, according to the Brew. Spearman said only that “we were misled” into believing that BBH would be vacating the adjacent site.

For years, Linda Stewart has been using the city’s water bill web site to spot check for crazy bills, and for years she’s been finding them. (Here’s her site).  Remember, the city site’s data is only “preliminary.” That’s important, as we shall see.

Last month a city audit found millions of dollars in overcharges, millions more in undercharges, and the city reportedly has refunded $4.2 million to customers who had been overcharged on estimated bills.

Today the Sun featured the saga of Ivymount Apartments, which got a $1.4 million water bill on Feb. 28. That’s about 1,000 times the usual bill–or 250 years of typical water usage. After complaining for a month, the complex’s owners got a corrected bill for $13,500. “Our system is working as it should,” DPW spokesperson Celest Amato told the Sun.

It’s about to work much better, if other DPW spokesman Kurt Kocher is right. According to the Sun: “He said the department planned to stop posting preliminary bills on the customer website because it caused too much confusion.”

In other news, former Mayor Sheila Dixon’s photo will be excised from all official records.

Harrah’s might be in our future, ’cause that’s some jobs, baby!

Casinos, like convention centers, over-expand, cannibalize each others’ customers, and eventually end up in the hole. Let exhibit A be Foxwoods, in Ledyard, CT. The New York Times Sunday mag chronicles its troubles this week.

With $2.3 billion in debt (and a probable $600 million haircut for investors), Foxwoods, which is the largest casino in the Western Hemisphere, is a perfect laboratory in which to observe the casino life cycle. Opened in 1992, it quickly became fabulously profitable, in part by busing in Chinese-American gamblers from New York City’s five boroughs. (I was there for that and remember well the scene.)

Inevitably competition bloomed, beginning with the Mohegan Sun and now, 20 years out, with casinos and slots parlors up and down the East Coast. Massachusetts is on the verge of legalizing them too, and Maryland is (fitfully, alas) beginning its own casino boomlet.

How we arrived here is a story seldom told. Gambling has always been vice. The public policy question was always about the degree to which prohibition kept it in check. Then came the idea that governments would be better off regulating and facilitating it than trying to stamp it out. As the piece in the Times puts it:

A kind of self-perpetuating momentum fuels gambling’s growth: the more states that legalize it, the more politicians in states that haven’t done so argue that if their citizens are going to throw money into slot machines, they might as well do it at home. “Those people would lose that money anyway,” Ed Rendell, the voluble former governor of Pennsylvania, said in a tense appearance on “60 Minutes” last year. Teeth clenched, he continued, “You’re simpletons, you’re idiots if you don’t get that.”

The Times’ account leaves out the state lottery boom of the early ‘70s, which truly touched off the legalization fad. Just about every lottery state (Connecticut included) promised lottery revenue to public education. And every state then reneged on its promise by slowly withdrawing the general revenue funds from education, leaving school funding pretty much where it was before the lottery riches arrived. It’s one of those grand scams (like “commercial-free” cable TV) that a few people remember.

But I digress. The Times piece surveys the cost-benefit landscape admirably:

Most people probably would not guess which state reaps the most revenue from its casinos. It is Pennsylvania, which in 2010 collected $1.3 billion from slots and table-game revenues. The state had just 10 casinos, but Rendell negotiated an agreement that requires them to turn over 55 percent of the hold from their slots to the state — an advantageous deal for the public and one that showed other states what casino owners will tolerate to gain entry into a market.

(Maryland is 67 percent of slots; Connecticut’s rake is a mere 25 percent).

The industry itself has grown powerful, deploying economists and lobbyists to D.C. and across the land to tout the economic benefits of gambling.

An economic impact study commissioned by the [American Gaming Association] last year counted $34.6 billion in nationwide gambling revenues in 2010. That represents money that individuals bet, lost and left behind in casinos. According to the study, casinos supported 820,000 jobs, created $125 billion in spending and accounted for close to 1 percent of the U.S. gross-domestic product.

This notion that gambling “creates jobs” is both central to the industry’s argument and frankly specious. Yes, building rich mahogany suites for high rollers is a productive enterprise, and someone has to put together the slot machines and roulette wheels upon which the enterprise turns. But to count overall “gaming revenue” as productive income discounts the opportunity cost of substituting entertainment of any kind (let alone entertainment that principally consists of taking peoples’ money away by mechanical means) with the creation of durable goods or the provision of socially useful services. Economically speaking, a dollar spent repairing a bridge or outfitting a children’s hospital returns more to society than a dollar flushed down a slot machine.

Economists used to understand this concept. No longer, it seems.

While gambling lobbyists swarm all over every state capital, there are no comparable legions of slick lawyers and consultants touting the benefits of, say, functioning sewer works or water billing systems.

The money that might otherwise be invested in these things (yes, creating jobs, etc.) is spent instead on subsidies to ever-expanding convention center developers, casino builders, stadiums and the like.

Two bills were carried into the General Assembly this session—a House bill (938) by Del. Shawn Tarrant (D-40) and a Senate bill (543) by Sen. Verna Jones-Rodwell (D-44).

The bills would allow BD7 liquor license holders—those with on-premise consumption—who also have both “adult entertainment” licenses from the city and a full kitchen to stay open, serving food and drinks until 3 a.m. Currently only four Baltimore bars meet the criteria, though it is not entirely clear which ones. The bill appears to be on behalf of Scores, located near the city jail on the Fallsway.

“Often we are told we can not get increased enforcement from both the Police and inspectors due to budget concerns yet this bill only requires a small fee of $750 per year to stay open until three am,” Fells Prospect Community Association President Victor Corbin wrote when he got wind of the bills last month.  “It’s an insult to the residents of Baltimore City to think we will get the enforcement we will need.”

There would be no nudity allowed during the extra hour and, under the latest potential amendments being discussed, drinks would have to be cleared from the tables at 2 a.m; only food could be served. Opponents say the measure, if passed, would be impossible to enforce in the short run and, in the long run, could lead to a general closing time of 3 a.m. for all bars, perhaps even state-wide.

“Our biggest concern is that this an opening salvo for future relaxing of liquor laws,” Sen. Barry Glassman (R-Harford County) wrote in an email exchange with other legislators in February.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has said nothing about the bill, but Mary Pat Fannon, who lobbies for the city in Annapolis as head of the Mayor’s Office of Government Relations, wrote an email to activists in February that makes it clear the mayor does not oppose the bill. The idea is to have the “Liquor Board … determine the activities between 2 and 3 a.m. – like when the food can be ordered, etc.  That way folks at home will have an opportunity to comment on it,” she wrote.

Tarrant originally defended the bill to activists who asked him to withdraw it, saying clubs like Scores provide fellowship. “It is time to bond with your boys,” Tarrant said, according to a piece on the North Baltimore Patch web site. Then, on March 2, Tarrant sent a letter to Rep. Derrick E. Davis (D-25), who chairs the Economic Matters Committee, withdrawing the House bill.

The Senate bill continues, and Corbin, Joanne Masopust from the Fells Point Community Organization and several others drove to Annapolis on March 8 to meet with senators about the matter. The group passed out packets of opposition letters and found their way into several legislators’ offices, according to Corbin. He says Sen. Lisa Gladden (D-41) indicated she wanted her name removed from a list of the bill’s sponsors, and Jones-Rodwell’s aide told the group that the senator had not been aware of Scores owner Brian Shulman’s history at Chubbies, an Eastern Avenue strip club that was shut down several years ago amid liquor license violations and neighborhood opposition.

Sen. Joan Carter Conway (D-43) told the opponents that she would withdraw the Senate bill if she got a copy of Tarrant’s letter withdrawing the House bill, Corbin said. As of March 15, however, the bill is still live, according to the General Assembly’s web site.

A fiscal note on the bill says it would cost $80,000 in increased police protection, while garnering only $3,000 from increased licensing fees.

Bruce Bereano. COURTESY FERN SHEN/BALTIMOREBREW.COM

Maryland lobbyist Bruce Bereano, an Annapolis fixture despite his 1994 fraud convictions in connection with his lobbying activities, on Feb. 28 lost his bid to erase his federal criminal record. Neither U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein nor Bereano’s lawyers, Timothy Maloney and Matthew Bryant, would comment on the case, which Bereano intends to appeal to the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond, according to the docket.

The case, filed on April 12, 2011 , attempted to clear Bereano’s name in light of a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Skilling v. United States, which overturned the provision of the federal mail-fraud statute that Bereano claimed was the basis of his prosecution. That provision made it a crime to deprive the public of “honest services,” a broad concept in which a fiduciary trust is broken.

The 1994 criminal case charged Bereano with stealing his clients’ money by falsely billing them for “legislative services” and diverting the resulting revenues to politicians via masked contributions from his political-action committee. In 1998, after his attempts to appeal the convictions failed, he received a sentence of five months of incarceration, five months of home detention, and a $30,000 fine. The convictions also resulted in his disbarment.

In declining to overturn the convictions, U.S. District judge William Nickerson wrote in his 13-page opinion that, after pouring through the record in the 1994 case, he came to the conclusion that the honest-services statute was not “solely or primarily” the crux of the prosecutors’ case before the jury. Instead, Nickerson found that, while the government argued that Bereano “violated his clients’ trust, it equally argued that Bereano committed pecuniary fraud” – which Skilling did not overturn – “by taking money that he was not authorized to take.”

Nickerson emphasized a point made by prosecutors during their closing arguments before the jury in 1994. “The Government even analogized a telephone company defrauding its customers of millions of dollars by sending a million customers a bill with an additional dollar billed,” Nickerson wrote, “to Bereano defrauding his clients of several thousand dollars by adding 150 dollars, an amount no client would question, to a few clients’ bills. This simple analogy clearly relied on a theory of pecuniary fraud, not honest services fraud.”

The event will be held at the Creative Alliance at the Patterson, 3134 Eastern Ave. RSVP by March 5 to Holly Leon-Lierman at Holly.Leon-Lierman@Rescue.org or 410–558-3167.

The Maryland U.S. Attorney, Rod Rosenstein, said in a press release that “sports betting is illegal in Maryland, and federal law prohibits bookmakers from flouting that law simply because they are located outside the country.” He added that “many of the harms that underlie gambling prohibitions are exacerbated when the enterprises operate over the internet without regulation.”

Bodog has been an obvious target in Maryland’s probe since at least Dec. 21, 2006, court documents show, when an undercover IRS agent opened a Bodog account and started gambling online. As the probe continued, numerous defendants have been charged–two of them, Edward Courdy and Michael Garone, for laundering Bodog’s money via two companies, ZipPayments, Inc., and JBL Services, Inc., that are mentioned in the Bodog indictment. The case against Courdy is currently sealed, and has been since sometime in the fall of 2009, a little over a year after the charges were filed. In Dec. 2010, Garone was sentenced to one year of probation after his cooperation with law enforcers was completed.

Another of the probe’s cooperators, James Davitt, pleaded guilty in January 2011 to conducting an illegal gambling business. Davitt’s scheduled sentencing has been postponed, and in July the prosecutor in the case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Kay, wrote a letter to the judge explaining that Davitt’s cooperation would continue “at least over the next several months.”

Yesterday, Maryland money-laundering charges against another of the probe’s defendants–Kenneth Wienski–were dismissed, and court documents state that his prosecution will be pursued elsewhere. The allegations in Wienski’s case also involve ZipPayments and JBL Services. Wienski did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

“We would love it if you would mention all the steps we’re taking right now to improve customer service,” says Celeste Amato, a spokesperson for the Department of Public Works. “We’re about to up the number of customer service representatives.… We want to reduce frustration.”

Frustration was apparent in the 29-page audit, available at the City Comptroller’s web site. Among the findings:

1. The Bureau of Water and Waste Water did not have written policies and procedures to guide its staff in performing their duties. (The Bureau says they’re there).
2. There were no good records of adjustments for overbilling—so nothing to audit there.
3. There were no actual or estimated meter readings for numerous new accounts for several years after new water meters had been installed.

Amato says that last issue was a communication breakdown within the department, so that the addresses of about 1,000 new meters at a county housing development never got put on a meter reader’s route.

But the main focus of the audit was the too-high bills many city and county residents receive seemingly at random. The problem has been epidemic this decade, eating up staff time at city council offices and causing no end of trouble for cash-strapped residents, who can face the loss of their property for unpaid water bills. From the audit:

There were 57 properties included in the city’s May, 2010 Tax Sale solely because of unpaid water and sewer charges that were based on estimated usage rather than actual meter readings for consecutive periods ranging from four quarters (1 year) to eighteen quarters (4 ½ years).

The auditor selected three properties for testing, and found no “actual meter readings” with which to calculate the correct charges.

The audit began when a citizen complained about crazy bills for 20 properties. The citizen is not identified in the audit, but the scenario sounds a lot like Linda Stewart, former proprietor of the Gaslight Tavern, who has been tracking water bills since about 2006, when her bar was threatened with tax sale over wrong bills (“Water Weight,” Mobtown Beat, June 3, 2007). Stewart, who started this facebook page to publicize the water bill irregularities she has been finding, says she isn’t sure if she was the source for the auditor, but  “no one has more information than me,” she says. “I think the information had to come from me.”

Stewart says she’s glad something is finally being done, but she wonders why it’s taken five years.

The auditor found 12 of the 20 test accounts to be overbilled by a total of $5,824. One more got overbilled and later refunded. And the others?

We could not determine whether two of the accounts included as part of the original allegations were over or under-billed. For one of the accounts, there were no actual water meter readings during the period for comparative purposes. The other account contained a “True” reading and no estimated readings; however, the meter appeared to be running backwards.

The remaining five accounts seemed OK, the audit said.

The tendency to estimate bills—and to overestimate those amounts—appears to be the core of the problem. There are 411,000 active accounts, of which 18,266 had been estimated for a year or more, according to auditors (the bureau says it’s more like 10,000). That’s at least 2.5 percent of the total. In its response to the new audit, the bureau noted that 2,222 city accounts had been overbilled and 163 underbilled, while in the county, 2,747 were overbilled and 140 were underbilled. Taken together, then, the bureau is about 15–20 times more likely to overbill customers as to underbill them.

Amato could not explain that tendency.

In 2008, John Brewer, who was in charge of billing for the system, estimated the bureau had an error rate of less than 0.2 percent—two errors in 1,000. Amato says Brewer retired about a year ago and that the bureau is working to fill his position.

In 2009, 88.4 percent of the meters were read; in 2011,  92.8 percent, which means 7.2 percent were not read that year—about 56,000 meters.

Amato says there are multiple reasons for the unread meters. “Some are inaccessible,” she says. “They can’t be found. We have increased the number of staff dedicated to that. Now we start dropping a new meter in whenever the old one is gone.” Others who have inside meters that are supposed to transmit a reading to a box hanging outside (but don’t) have been getting forms that instruct them to read their own meter and call in the readings. This is a technique in common use in many cities. It is new to Baltimore.

“The [billing] system is 40 years old,” Amato says. “Time for the upgrade.”

Says Stewart: “It’s too big for them to fix overnight. It’ll take years for them to fix this problem.”

Photograph by Jefferson Jackson Steele.

Johns Hopkins’ JHMI shuttle, a free service provided to Hopkins students, faculty, and staff traveling between the academic/medical behemoth’s various campuses, has long been known to provide free rides to pretty much anyone who shows up at one of the stops along its route, despite official Hopkins policy that riders must be prepared to show a Hopkins ID. But on Monday, Feb. 13, new signs were posted on the shuttles reminding passengers of the ID policy, and a City Paper employee observed drivers carding passengers as they boarded the bus and refusing those without Hopkins credentials.

A call to Johns Hopkins about the new enforcement elicited an e-mail from Dennis O’Shea, director of media relations, who wrote:

Drivers will check IDs on randomly selected runs, perhaps more frequently than has been the case in the recent past. This is not in response to any particular incident. It is, rather, a measure intended to ensure the safety and security of our passengers and the integrity of  a service provided by Johns Hopkins for Johns Hopkins.

In other words, the free rides might be over.