Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist

Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Md Troopers Assoc #20 & Westminster Md Fire Dept Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Showing posts with label Erratum Ethics and morality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Erratum Ethics and morality. Show all posts

Friday, March 20, 2015

My copy of the pamphlet on the 1979 Maryland Public Ethics Law and some thoughts on the current Maryland Ethics disclosure law.

My copy of the pamphlet on the 1979 Maryland Public Ethics Law and some thoughts on the current Maryland Ethics disclosure law.


For your files, please find from my old papers a copy of a pamphlet that the State Dept. of Legislative References published in early 1979 about the newly enacted Maryland Public Ethics Law which went into effect on July 1, 1979.

I have long-since forgotten the context of the law or what particular incident may have precipitated the law.

I do remember that at the time fulfilling the requirements of the law were relatively effortless and unremarkable.

According to some individuals close to the situation, “legislation enacted by the Maryland General Assembly in 2010 required local ethics ordinances to be at least as stringent as state law. At the time, many municipal government officials expressed alarm over the breadth of the new financial disclosure requirements. Municipal officials were concerned that the broad requirements would deter capable new candidates from seeking local office and influence current elected officials to decline to seek reelection.

“Bills introduced in the 2014 session of the General Assembly by Senator Raskin and Delegates Gilchrist and Haddaway-Riccio sought to exempt local municipal elected officials from disclosing certain items.

In 2015, the Maryland Municipal League is taking a different approach to this legislation. Rather than exempting elected municipal officials and candidates for municipal office from filing financial disclosure statements, or certain information therein, this legislation would shield certain confidential information from public inspection absent a finding by a local ethics commission of a violation of any part of the municipalities’ financial disclosure or conflict of interest requirements.

“Specifically, the law would shield information regarding a spouse or dependent child, and, unless related to a business entity with which the municipality has conducted business within the last 10 years, the candidate or elected official’s interests in real property located outside the municipal corporation, interests in corporations, partnerships, and limited liability companies, employment information, and indebtedness.

“All of the above information would still be reported and submitted to the local ethics commission, be available to the local board of elections, and to the courts; however, it would not be releasable to the public absent a finding by the ethics commission of a violation.”

I was elected to the Common Council of the City of Westminster in 1999 and served as Mayor from 2001 until 2005.  In these capacities, and particularly as Mayor, I expended numerous hours engaged in activities in furtherance of the interests of the City and its residents and businesses.

At all times during my elected service, I worked in non-City-related employment, as a businessman, farmer, artist, and free-lance journalist.

I currently find the requirements of the Model Ordinance to be unreasonably burdensome. Although, in my capacity as an elected official, I thoroughly understand that I have no reasonable expectation of privacy as to information that is relevant to my service as a municipal employee, the Model Ordinance presents an opportunity for an excessive arbitrary invasion of my personal privacy, unrelated to the purpose and intent of the State Public Ethics Law, because the required disclosures would include information neither relevant, material, nor reasonably calculated to lead to the disclosure of pertinent information related in any way to my public service.

I take pride and satisfaction in my past service for our citizens as an elected official in Westminster, notwithstanding the fact that my expenses as an elected official exceeded the compensation provided by the Charter of the City of Westminster

I am unaware of any conduct by a City elected official or by a candidate for City elective office during my tenure that presented either a conflict of interest or the appearance of conflict of interest that would have been identified and corrected by the Model Ordinance but that would have been missed by the City’s Proposed Ordinance.

In my view, the provisions of the Model Ordinance, if not modified and revised as set forth in the City’s Proposed Ordinance, impose a substantial hardship and an undue intrusion upon the personal privacy of persons who choose to run for and serve in public office in the City of Westminster, without accomplishing any significant benefit in terms of protecting the public that would justify the hardship or invasion of privacy.

Although I, along with current and former municipal officials throughout the state, understand that in order for municipal government, the government that is closest to the people, to be effective, it must be transparent and open, approachable and accessible.

Strong ethics ordinances are critical for local government to effective, vibrant and meaningful.

My family has been involved in municipal government for many-generations dating back to before the 1890s. It is my insight that adoption of the Model Ordinance is over-kill and as such would significantly reduce the availability of qualified individuals for public service and encourages currently- elected officials to decline to seek reelection.

I do not know the status of the current legislation in the Maryland General Assembly. I do know that the current law is so severe, punishing and draconian that many good folks who would make great local municipal officials have quietly opted-out of participating in local government as a result of the new law.

Many current officials have determined that it is punitive in nature but find themselves unwilling to publicly challenge it for fear of being subjected to political and media ridicule – so they have simply decided to quietly opt-out from serving.

It should be further noted that no one can serve in public office without the support of their family. Family members across the state have objected to disclosing aspects of their personal life that have nothing to do with the material conduct of municipal government.

The nature and breadth of issues that municipal government officials deal with are far narrower than those that state and even county officials address. It stands to reason that the nature and breadth of financial disclosure of municipal officials versus state officials should parallel those differences.

Just saying

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Baltimore Sun Carroll Eagle: 



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See also - Kevin Earl Dayhoff Art www.kevindayhoff.com: Travel, art, artists, authors, books, newspapers, media, writers and writing, journalists and journalism, reporters and reporting, music, culture, opera... Ad maiorem Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem. “Deadline U.S.A.” 1952. Ed Hutcheson: “That's the press, baby. The press! And there's nothing you can do about it. Nothing!” - See more at: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/#sthash.4HNLwtfd.dpuf
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Saturday, August 02, 2014

ProPublica By Paul Kiel | Washington Post: USA Discounters hooks some service members with credit before springing the debt trap

ProPublica By Paul Kiel |  Washington Post: USA Discounters hooks some service members with credit before springing the debt trap
By Paul Kiel | ProPublica July 25 
Army Spc. Angel Aguirre needed a washer and dryer.
Money was tight, and neither Aguirre, 21, nor his wife had much credit history as they settled into life at Fort Carson in Colorado in 2010.
That’s when he saw an ad for USA Discounters, guaranteeing loan approval for service members. In military newspapers and magazines, on the radio, and on TV, the Virginia-based company’s ads shout, “NO CREDIT? NEED CREDIT? NO PROBLEM!” The store was only a few miles from Fort Carson.
“We ended up getting a computer, a TV, a ring, and a washer and dryer,” Aguirre said. “The only thing I really wanted was a washer and dryer.”
Aguirre later learned that USA Discounters’ easy lending has a flip side. Should customers fall behind, the company transforms into an efficient collection operation. And this part of its business takes place not where customers bought their appliances, but in two local courthouses just a short drive from the company’s Virginia Beach headquarters.
From there, USA Discounters files lawsuits against service members based anywhere in the world, no matter how much inconvenience or expense they would incur to attend a Virginia court date. Since 2006, the company has filed more than 13,470 suits and almost always wins, records show.
“They’re basically ruthless,” said Army Staff Sgt. David Ray, who was sued in Virginia while based in Germany over purchases he made at a store in Georgia... Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/usa-discounters-hooks-some-service-members-with-credit-before-springing-the-debt-trap/2014/07/25/4def7fcc-0dc4-11e4-b8e5-d0de80767fc2_story.html?wpisrc=nl_eve
*****

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Kristi Hedges – Huffington Post: Guess Who's The Next Greg Smith?

Kristi Hedges – Huffington Post: Guess Who's The Next Greg Smith?

3/19/2012


When I read Greg Smith’s blistering op-ed about Goldman Sachs in the New York Times last week, I was floored. My first thought was “How brave!” quickly followed by, “Is he crazy?” Publicly quitting your job with a resignation letter to the world stating that your former company is “ripping people off” with “morally bankrupt” leadership is not a good career move… http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2012/03/19/guess-whos-the-next-greg-smith/

[…]

Though Goldman attempted to undermine his credibility by calling him a “disgruntled, mid-level employee,” numerous accounts corroborate what Smith himself said: he was a star performer on a fast-track who felt compelled to call out an ethical breakdown in one of our vaulted institutions. One of Smith’s colleagues described him as having a “clear moral compass.”

I can’t speak to the accuracy of Smith’s account at Goldman, or why it took him 12 years to figure all this out. And frankly, that’s not why I’m writing about it.

At some point in our careers, many of us will find ourselves in a place where what we’re asked to do at work directly contradicts our own deeply held values. I’m not talking about the small indignities that come from having a boss on a power trip or a job you hate. But rather the piercing jabs at your conscience that make you wonder who you really are.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, count yourself lucky… http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2012/03/19/guess-whos-the-next-greg-smith/

*****

Friday, March 16, 2012

New York Times Greg Smith: Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs

New York Times Greg Smith: Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs


OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR

Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs

By GREG SMITH

March 14, 2012

TODAY is my last day at Goldman Sachs. After almost 12 years at the firm — first as a summer intern while at Stanford, then in New York for 10 years, and now in London — I believe I have worked here long enough to understand the trajectory of its culture, its people and its identity. And I can honestly say that the environment now is as toxic and destructive as I have ever seen it.



To put the problem in the simplest terms, the interests of the client continue to be sidelined in the way the firm operates and thinks about making money. Goldman Sachs is one of the world’s largest and most important investment banks and it is too integral to global finance to continue to act this way. The firm has veered so far from the place I joined right out of college that I can no longer in good conscience say that I identify with what it stands for… http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/14/opinion/why-i-am-leaving-goldman-sachs.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all&src=ISMR_AP_LO_MST_FB

Related




"Leadership used to be about ideas, setting an example and doing the right thing. Today, if you make enough money for the firm (and are not currently an ax murderer) you will be promoted into a position of influence." …http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wendell-potter/goldman-sachs-greg-smith_b_1362755.html?ref=politics&ir=Politics






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Tuesday, July 06, 2010

No, Rolling Stone - YOU SUCK

No, Rolling Stone - YOU SUCK

Methinks Rolling Stone protests too much...

Matt Taibbi writes: "Here's CBS's chief foreign correspondent saying out loud on TV that when the man running a war that's killing thousands of young men and women every year steps on his own dick in front of a journalist, that journalist is supposed to eat the story so as not to embarrass the flag."

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/matt-taibbi/blogs/TaibbiData_May2010/122137/83512

Lara Logan, You Suck

June 28, 2010 By Matt Taibbi

Countess/WireImage

Lara Logan, come on down! You're the next guest on Hysterical Backstabbing Jealous Hackfest 2010!

I thought I'd seen everything when I read David Brooks saying out loud in a New York Times column that reporters should sit on damaging comments to save their sources from their own idiocy. But now we get CBS News Chief Foreign Correspondent Lara Logan slamming our own Michael Hastingson CNN's "Reliable Sources" program, agreeing that the Rolling Stone reporter violated an "unspoken agreement" that journalists are not supposed to "embarrass [the troops] by reporting insults and banter."

Anyone who wants to know why network television news hasn't mattered since the seventies just needs to check out this appearance by Logan. Here's CBS's chief foreign correspondent saying out loud on TV that when the man running a war that's killing thousands of young men and women every year steps on his own dick in front of a journalist, that journalist is supposed to eat the story so as not to embarrass the flag. And the part that really gets me is Logan bitching about how Hastings was dishonest to use human warmth and charm to build up enough of a rapport with his sources that they felt comfortable running their mouths off in front of him. According to Logan, that's sneaky — and journalists aren't supposed to be sneaky:

"What I find is the most telling thing about what Michael Hastings said in your interview is that he talked about his manner as pretending to build an illusion of trust and, you know, he's laid out there what his game is… That is exactly the kind of damaging type of attitude that makes it difficult for reporters who are genuine about what they do, who don't — I don't go around in my personal life pretending to be one thing and then being something else. I mean, I find it egregious that anyone would do that in their professional life."




















To gain more insight into the left's thinking when they recently smeared the American military and why the job of beat reporters was made even more impossible by a hot dog looking for 15 minutes of fame at our expense: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/matt-taibbi/blogs/TaibbiData_May2010/122137/83512

*****

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Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Is it wrong that I don't care?

Is it wrong that I don't care?

By
Iwrite06's blog http://skirt.com/

Friday, June, 26, 2009

In the last week three celebrities have died. Ed McMahon, Farah Fawcet and now Michael Jackson. I was briefly saddened by all of those deaths, especially Farah’s because of her long, painful battle with cancer. She was definitely a female icon - I mean her hairstyle defined a generation of women.

Along the same lines, Michael Jackson defined an entire genre of music - he was thrust into the spotlight at the age of 6 and never got a break from it.

McMahon was a regular on the Tonight Show, host of Star Search and those publisher clearing house things - he was a household name.

So I'm not surprised the world is saddened by their deaths.

However, I am surprised that Michael Jackson's death has taken over every single news outlet in the country (I'm not so sure about elsewhere) and I just read on CNN that his death took over the internet yesterday as well, and almost took it out.

[…]

I just can't really comprehend it. There are people out there in this world actually mourning the loss of these people. Having memorials, putting flowers on their Walk of Fame stars and all sorts of other things and it just weirds me out.

[…]

There are more important things to worry about today, like how to get the GOP to get their heads out of their asses and admit there is no such thing as the "sanctity of marriage," (thank you S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford and all you other philandering politicians) while the rest of us try to get more women, minorities and gay men/women into public office.


Read her entire column here: http://skirt.com/: Is it wrong that I don't care? By Iwrite06's blog

20090626 Skirt Is it wrong that I don't care?

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Mark Sanford – Don’t Cry for me Argentina


Mark Sanford – Don’t Cry for me Argentina


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrx5Ve7y0xM



Lyrics to Don't Cry For Me Argentina (Evita)
:
It won't be easy
You'll think it strange
When I try to explain how I feel
That I still need your love
After ll that I've done
You won't believe me
All you will see
Is a girl you once knew
Although she's dressd up to the nines
At sixes and sevens with you

I had to let it happen
I had to change
Couldn't stay all my life down at heel
Looking out of the window
Staying out of the sun
So I chose freedom
Running around trying everything new
But nothing impressed me at all
I never expected it too

Don't cry for me Argentina
The truth is I never left you
All through my wild days
My mad existence
I kept my promise
Don't keep your distance

And as for fortune and as for fame
I never invited them in
Though it seemed to the world
They were all I desired
They are illusions
They're not the solutions
They promise to be
The answer was here all the time
I love you and hope you love me

Don't cry for me Argentina

Don't cry for me Argentina
The truth is I never left you
All through my wild days
My mad existence
I kept my promise
Don't keep your distance

Have I said to much?
There's nothing more I can think of to say to you
But all you have to do
Is look at me to know
That every word is true
[ Don't Cry For Me Argentina (Evita) Lyrics on http://www.lyricsmania.com/ ]

Artist: Andrew Lloyd Webber lyrics

Title: Don't Cry For Me Argentina (Evita)


20090625 SDOSM Mark Sanford Dont cry for me Argentina


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Sanford's Presser: Instant Classic Sanford del Presser: Clásico Instantáneo

Jueves, 25 de junio de 2009

Sanford's Presser: Instant Classic Sanford del Presser: Clásico Instantáneo



Mark Sanford's press conference. Did you watch that performance? Sanford marca la conferencia de prensa. ¿Te ha ver que el rendimiento? Wow. Wow. He just... Acaba ... he just kept going. que acaba de mantener. How did it compare to some classic political meltdowns of the past? ¿Cómo comparar a algunos políticos clásicos crisis de los últimos? Favorably! Favorablemente!

He was 24 minutes late to the podium and then he rambled, just straight-up rambled, apologizing to literally everyone he's ever met, talking about dinosaur sheets and "Adventure Trips," becoming tearful, and wasting a full ten minutes of rambling before finally admitted to cheating on his wife. Él fue de 24 minutos tarde a la tribuna y luego rambled, justo recto hasta rambled, pedir disculpas a todo el mundo está literalmente conocido, hablando de hojas y dinosaurios "aventura", convirtiéndose en lágrimas, y gastar un pleno de diez minutos antes de senderismo admitidos a engaño sobre su esposa. He cheated on his wife for a year with some friend from Argentina, and his wife has known for five months, and the affair just continued, while he worked on his marriage, and it was not until he disappeared on Fathers' Day (to spend "five days of my life crying") and the media caught wind that something might be up here that he decided it was time to apologize to his family and maybe stop the affair. Él engañó a su esposa durante un año con algún amigo de Argentina, y su esposa ha conocido durante cinco meses, y el asunto sólo continuó, mientras trabajaba en su matrimonio, y no fue hasta que desapareció en los Padres Día (para pasar "cinco días de mi vida llorando") y los medios de comunicación que capturan el viento podría ser algo aquí que decidió que era hora de pedir disculpas a su familia y, quizás, dejar el asunto.

It was a bravura live political meltdown. Se trata de un colapso político bravura vivir. Though it was dissimilar in tone, it was a cousin to Blago's classic presser. Aunque fue distinta en el tono, es un primo del clásico a Blago prensatelas. Not the first one, with the poetry, but the classic Friday afternoon performance about the children with cancer . No es la primera, con la poesía, pero el clásico el viernes por la tarde sobre el rendimiento de los niños con cáncer. Or maybe the one about cowboys? But while Blago filibusters and mugs and grins, Sanford just bared way, way too much of his soul. O quizás una sobre vaqueros? Pero mientras Blago filibusteros y tazas y sonríe, Sanford sólo se descubrió modo, demasiado de su alma.

It blew away Spitzer's one minute apology —He took questions! Se volaron un minuto Spitzer de la disculpa-Entiende preguntas! His wife was at home!—and Clinton's initial denial and eventual apology were, in comparison, boring. Su esposa estaba en casa! Clinton-y la denegación inicial y eventual disculpas fueron, en comparación, aburrido.

It was Terrell Owens-esque, actually . Se Terrell Owens-esque, en realidad. Sure, he could've blamed outside forces, like when Mark Foley's attorney blamed booze and priests . Claro, podría haber culpado fuerzas externas, como cuando el abogado de Mark Foley culpó alcohol y sacerdotes. But no. Pero no. He had no excuses. Él no tenía excusas. That made any sense. Que tuvo sentido.

It was reminiscent, especially with the wife's glaring absence, of the pre-9/11 Rudy Giuliani classic, "I am telling the press about my separation from my wife before I tell my wife." Se recuerda, especialmente con la notoria ausencia de la esposa, de la pre-9/11 Rudy Giuliani clásico, "Estoy diciendo la prensa acerca de mi separación de mi esposa antes de que yo le digo a mi esposa."

Sanford didn't have a single sound bite as classic as Nixon's "last press conference" (well, maybe "the biggest self of self is indeed self"), but it will provide us with many days of joy, until Tim Pawlenty's "I am addicted to meth" conference next month. Sanford no tiene una sola mordida como sonido clásico como Nixon "última conferencia de prensa" (bueno, tal vez "el mayor libre de la libre es, en efecto, libre"), pero nos dará muchos días de alegría, hasta que Tim Pawlenty "I soy adicto a la metanfetamina "conferencia el próximo mes.


Sanford's instant classic in full: Sanford del clásico en su totalidad:

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