20030225 Golf vs Corporate America

Golf vs Corporate America

February 25^th, 2003

THE QUESTION: Over a generation ago, in 1923, who was:

1. President of the largest steel company?

2. President of the largest gas company?

3. President of the New York Stock Exchange?

4. Greatest wheat speculator?

5. President of the Bank of International Settlement?

6. Great Bear of Wall Street?

These men were considered some of the world's most successful of their day. Now, 80 years later, the history book asks us, if we know what ultimately became of them.

The answer:

1. The president of the largest steel company, Charles Schwab, died a pauper.

2. The president of the largest gas company, Edward Hopson, went insane.

3. The president of the NYSE, Richard Whitney, was released from prison to die at home.

4. The greatest wheat speculator, Arthur Cooger, died abroad, penniless.

5. The president of the Bank of International Settlement, shot himself.

6. The Great Bear of Wall Street, Cosabee Livermore, also committed suicide.

However, in that same year, 1923, the PGA Champion and the winner of the most important golf tournament, the US Open, was Gene Sarazen.

What became of him?

He played golf until he was 92, died in 1999 at the age of 95. He was financially secure at the time of his death.

THE MORAL: Screw work. Play golf. You'll live longer and be better off in the end.

20030221 Manchester MAYOR and TOWN COUNCIL

Manchester Carroll County Maryland MAYOR and TOWN COUNCIL

http://members.fortunecity.com/manchester/manchester/index.html

Information retrieved February 21^st, 2003

A Mayor and Town Council, serving executive and legislative functions govern the town. The mayor and town council meet at the Town Office at 7:30 PM, the second Tuesday of every month.

MAYOR Chris D'Amario (term expires 2003) E-mail: chrisd@qis.net

COUNCIL MEMBERS:

Stephen Bankert (term expires 2005)
Mary Minderlein (term expires 2003) Home Phone: 410-239-7502
Daniel Riley (term expires 2005) E-mail: Kriley@carr.org

Ryan Warner (term expires 2003) E-mail: warner@qis.net

Dale Wilder Home Phone: 410-239-4336 (term expires 2005)

STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE Will Berry

TOWN OFFICE: 410-239-3200

Kelly Baldwin, Director
Sue Edwards
Michelle Wilder
Gerri Berwager
Laurie Miller

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS:
410-239-1482

Steve Miller, Director
Don Nott
Levi Kontz
Raymond Wike
Randy Baer
Fred Haifley
Delbert Green
Tedd Reed
Chris Resh
Brad Herman
Milton Herman
Bud Dell
Don Nott, Sr.

WASTE WATER TREATMENT PLANT:
410-239-7900

MAINTENANCE SHOP:
410-374-6097

POLICE DEPARTMENT:
410-239-6900

Charles Lewis, Chief
Gerald Gall, Sgt.
Steve Goetz
Matt Warehime

Memorial Building
3208 York ST * PO Box 830
Manchester, MD 21102
Phone: 410-239-3200
Fax: 410-239-6430
E-mail: manchest@qis.net

Childs Walker Baltimore Sun: Roush 38-year Lehigh employee retires

A towering feat caps his career

February 12, 2003

Cement: After completing a once-in-a-lifetime project, the $270 million expansion of the Lehigh plant in Union Bridge, manager Dave Roush, a 38-year company employee, retires.

By Childs Walker, Sun Staff, February 20, 2003

Through the 12-hour work days, the tedious permit hearings and the nights spent hearing people tell him he was blocking out the stars, Dave Roush never lost his enthusiasm for the tower.

His thick hands would always come to life when he talked of it, the steel structure rising as high as 20 stacked farmhouses above the crop fields of western Carroll County.

And when it was done, Roush knew he had succeeded in the greatest endeavor of his life. So he quit.

At 60, Roush could have spent a few more years as manager of Lehigh Portland Cement Co.'s Union Bridge plant. But how many chances would he have to bring North America's most productive cement kiln to a rural town of about 1,000? After seven years of all-consuming work, it seemed an impressive way to go out.

[…]

Cement has been at the heart of Roush's working life, but his formal relationship with the substance ended last month, when he retired after 38 years with Lehigh, a Pennsylvania company now owned by German conglomerate Heidelberger Zement AG. Heidelberger has not appointed his replacement.

A respected but usually soft-spoken member of Carroll County's business community, Roush oversaw the $270 million expansion that gave out-of-the way Union Bridge a monument to modern ingenuity.

"He's one of the highest-quality individuals I've known in my life," said Paul Denton, president of Maryland Midland Railway, which has done business with Lehigh for 17 years. "He's just all integrity from top to bottom. He knows all aspects of the business, and he is very thorough."

[…]

… It was good training for Union Bridge, where he moved in 1977.

Happy to be back in Maryland, Roush was assistant manager for seven years, then took over the plant just as a new quarry was about to open outside nearby New Windsor. The prospect of a giant rock-blasting operation next door did not please residents of that quiet town, so Roush had to learn public relations on the fly. He began attending community and government meetings and, for the first time, offered regular plant tours.

People had long regarded Lehigh, which has operated in Union Bridge since 1909, as the big, bad company on the hill. So Roush set to convincing people that the plant was staffed by 200 trustworthy friends and neighbors. The medicine he delivered was sometimes bitter, but he developed a reputation as a reasonable man, even among critics of the company.

"I would not have wanted his job," said county Commissioner Perry L. Jones Jr., who was mayor of Union Bridge from 1990 until last year. "People would always be on his back about the dust or the trucks or the noise, but he just sat there and rolled with the criticism, never raised his voice. He handled the job as well as any public relations guy Lehigh could ever hire."

Roush had a gift for talking about cement, an ability to make people understand what he and his co-workers were doing at the plant.

Jones said Roush earned more respect for Lehigh by commissioning charitable contributions to the town, county and country.

Lehigh began to sponsor a town picnic, set up a scholarship at nearby Francis Scott Key High School and frequently donated $20,000 or $30,000 to help the town with a construction project. After the big snowstorm of 1996, Roush sent company machines to clear back roads around the county. In 2001, Lehigh sent one of the huge cranes used for the expansion to New York City to help pull apart World Trade Center rubble.

[…]

Read Mr. Walker’s entire article here: http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/carroll/bal-ca.cement20feb20,0,3423020.story?coll=bal%2Dlocal%2Dcarroll

20030220 A towering feat caps his career sun

*****

Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://www.westgov.net/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/

20030209 Carroll County Times editorial: Frank Johnson – “A problem of wearing many hats”

20030209 Carroll County Times editorial: Frank Johnson – “A problem of wearing many hats”

Carroll County Times editorial: Frank Johnson – “A problem of wearing many hats”

Editorial for Feb. 9, 2003
February 09, 2003

A problem of wearing many hats

Mount Airy Town Councilman Frank Johnson has been wearing a lot of different hats lately, but the time has come for him to step back and make some realistic decisions about where he believes he can do the most good.

The councilman was instrumental in rallying support and bringing together a Council of Governments in Carroll at a time when communication between the county office building and Carroll's municipalities was sorely lacking. He remains a vocal advocate and is actively involved as the organization gets up and running.

(Webmaster’s note: The idea that Mr. Johnson “was instrumental in rallying support and bringing together a Council of Governments in Carroll” is not consistent with how many of us remember it. See: 20020822 “Mayors consider an area council” By Mary Gail Hare, Sun Staff)

Johnson also took a job as assistant to County Commissioner Julia Walsh Gouge. And while he and others have said there is nothing legally wrong with collecting paychecks from both the Town of Mount Airy and the county, there likely is an ethical issue involved.

That issue is compounded by Johnson's other involvement in Mount Airy, where he serves as zoning administrator and is the council's liaison to the planning commission.

At the very least, Johnson has spread himself too thin to be entirely effective in any one of the positions. And because his many positions span from Mount Airy to Carroll's municipalities to county government, that means the impact is being felt everywhere in the county.

Johnson owes it to the people of Mount Airy, owes it to the towns, cities and organizations that make up the Council of Governments and owes it to taxpayers who pay his salary as Gouge's assistant to step back from some of these responsibilities.

He must assess where he believes he can be most effective, and then concentrate on those areas.

Wanting to help out in as many different ways as possible is an admirable trait, but it does no good if the person is running in so many different directions that it takes away from all of his various jobs and duties.

20030209 Carroll County Times editorial: Frank Johnson – “A problem of wearing many hats”

Labels: People Carroll Co. Johnson – Frank Johnson, People Carroll County

20030201 Maryland Municipal League’s Maryland Mayor’s Association - Mayor’s Press Conference February 1st, 2003

February 1, 2003 Mayor’s Briefing Sheet

Maryland State Budget Municipal Impacts

Maryland Municipal League’s Maryland Mayor’s Association - Mayor’s Press Conference February 1^st, 2003

Also see:

20030131 State's mayors brace for state budget cut by Janie Schmidt and Carrie Knauer writing for the Carroll County Times

For more information, click on: Maryland General Assembly Opera, Maryland Municipal League, Westminster City Finance, Maryland State Budget, Taxes Maryland.

[For past posts on “Soundtrack” about the Maryland Municipal League click on: Maryland Municipal League. Disclosure: I served on the Maryland Municipal League Board of Directors annually for five consecutive years, from June 2000 to May 2005.]

The recently released Maryland state budget included cuts in aid to municipal government as the new Ehrlich Administration attempts to address budget deficits exceeding $1 billion. While the budget document touts overall increases in aid to local governments, those increases are largely confined to education and libraries – programs that do not affect Maryland’s incorporated cities and towns.

Provisions of the FY 2004 state budget with potential negative impacts on municipal government include proposals to:

Withhold from local governments $102.4 million in Highway User Revenues. Cost to municipal governments in FY 2004 is $12,267,074 according to an analysis prepared last week by the Maryland Department of Legislative Services

Withhold $10 million in circuit breaker tax credit reimbursement payments to local governments to help pay for administrative costs of the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation. Municipal impacts could approach $0.5 million.

Transfer to the state's general fund $29.9 million dollars from the local share of Program Open Space (POS) revenues. This represents a 48% reduction from the FY 02-03 program fund total. Total municipal losses will vary depending on what projects were planned for the coming year. However, an estimated 50% reduction to municipalities is likely in FY 2004.

Transfer to the state's general fund $8 million in the current fiscal year and $10 million in FY 2004 from the Waterway Improvement Program. Municipal impacts could approach $2.0 million.

Eliminate the Department of Natural Resources Community Parks and Playgrounds grant program. Since its inception two years ago, the program has provided around $11 million to local governments, with approximately 60% or $3.2 million of the funds going to municipalities in FY 2003 and 91% or $4.3 million in FY 2002.

Municipalities stand to receive additional funding through the following programs, which received more money in the Governor’s proposed FY 04 budget:

Increase to $8.7 million funding for the Community Legacy Program. Program funding has been $13 million and $6.5 million in each of the past two years. Municipalities received 76% or $10.7 million of these funds in FY 2002 and 83% or $2.3 million of available funds allocated thus far have been awarded to municipalities in FY 2003.

Increase by over $22 million, funding for the Maryland Water Quality Revolving Loan Fund and the Maryland Drinking Water Revolving Loan Program. Municipalities received $127 million or 32% of the available Water Quality Revolving Loan Fund monies from FY 2000 through FY 2003. Of the funding allocated from the Maryland Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund from FY 00 through FY 03, 75% or $15 million of the monies went to municipalities. State estimates put the total funds needed to rehabilitate aging wastewater treatment plants over the next twenty years to be $4 billion.

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