Should the Historic Core Remain Green?

Fellow Annapolitans:

I have always felt a certain kinship with nature. As a young man growing up in Davos, I remember weekend trips in dear papa's Aston Martin to hike the Weisshorn. It was always refreshing to enjoy the Alpine air and study the flora at 3,000 metres.

So you can imagine my consternation at the cuts to environmental programs in the Ancient Citte:
-- Two storm water engingeers let go at a time when storm water has become the water pollution issue nationally.
-- Floating island program to clean up Spa Creek halted.
-- The closing of Waterworks Park.
-- Defaulting on over half a million dollars of Federal funding for street end storm water treatment.
-- Greenscape programs eliminated.
-- $90,000 in a Federal grant let go to provide provide green thermal energy for the Markethouse.
-- Attempts to privatize the Annapolis Conservancy Board.
-- And a promise of 'no more rain gardens' from Mr. Smith.

Is his desire to keep the plebeian masses from our door by making Annapolis less attractive?

We understand this. This is the same trick old Aunt Bert used to play on us as children when she would plant elderly wet kissed upon our rosy cheeks. We would never want any of that anymore and thus we kept a wide berth!

Yet we fret. Exactly how does Mr. Smith propose we spend our day? And what will be the final outcome of Mr. Smith's anti-environmentalism?

If it brings less people into the Historic Core, then we shall shout hooray!

Although we may be doing so through our oxygen masks and chemical suits.

King of George

Word of the Day: Noblesse Oblige

Dearest Friends:

I find educating the public to be an obligation for those of us with social prominence in the Historic Core. So today I shall remind those in political positions of power of their burden, their noblesse oblige.

You see, you are my social inferior. Nevertheless, I shall never remind you, or others in your social standing, of this fact. Actually, I shall go out of my way to mingle and act with comity at required points of social contact. Such as the ladies tea party after having won a May Basket award, the fifth year in a row. Or during post riding brandies at the Clagett Farm in South County. Or shooting doves on the Eastern Shore with my man servant. You get the idea.

This is my noblesse oblige.

Lamentably, this is so lacking in our citte government. The public glee with which Mr. Smith and Mayor Cohen make public threats on the radio and destroy careers, as sad and paltry as they may be, is distressing to my gentle demeanor. In fact, Mr. Smith is veritably giddy in his wanton destruction of the sinews of democratic government. They have even surrounded themselves with a cordon of constabulary to prevent any social intercourse whatsoever.

Mr. Smith and crew enroute another firing.

I believe this reflects poor breeding. Mayor Cohen was raised on Monticello Avenue, a noted locale for hot heads and Historic wannabes. Heaven knows where Mr. Smith is from. Certainly not from the Historic Core of the citte.

Let us hope Mr. Smith and Mayor Cohen will begin to better treat those who have served us for years with fidelity and honor yet have unjustly found themselves under their axe. After all, noblesse oblige requires us to veil our distain.

Merci beaucoup.

King of George

Fellow Travelers:

Unelected bureaucrats are now cordoning off their lives from common people with our own police. The same police that have run up the largest overtime bill in the City's history.

The picture above was taken this morning by a concerned citizen in front of Doug Smith's house on Revell Street. Of course Revell is not in our Historic Core. And, in fact, Mr. Smith's home is far from historic, being a knock down rancher that somehow passed HPC review in 2002 (let me see, how exactly did that happen?).

Nevertheless, I say Bully!

We need over-the-top extravagantly costly protection if we are to safely celebrate while Rome burns. When Mr. Smith wastes money, he knows how to do it: spend it on yourself!

We in the Historic Core have one response: where is our police cordon? We are inundated with attacks by Arnoldians and Severna Parkites daily. Not to mention those pesky kids from St. Marys and Green Street School. Plus the residents from the outer Wards who seem to think this is their citte too.

Thus it is somewhat comforting to know Messr. Smith and Cohen are safe at night.

But what about us?

King of George

33 Fired Today

Good Fellows:

As a resident with 18th century sensibilities living in the Historic Core, I accept the fact that there should be some inside dealing among friends. We are a small town where everyone knows each other and we all have to go along to get along.

A case in point is yesterday's firing of the Director of Central Services, Rob Schuetz, by CAO Doug Smith. Mr. Schuetz (a non-Annapolitan from some place called 'Lutherville') was hired after the forced retirement of our dear friend Emory Harrison. One of his primary missions was to sort out the Gordian knot of the Markethouse and Police Department projects. Although its hard to evaluate in great detail, Mr. Schuetz appeared to do just that.

Interesting, the litigation is still continuing with the APD HQ and includes one Eastern Waterproofing Company, a subcontractor on the site. They reputedly did a good job, but their management practices were not up to Mr. Schuetz's liking. So he included them in the suit.

It turns out one of the principals of this business may have direct ties to Mayor Cohen. The rumor swirling through our streets today is that the Mayor was asked by his friend to 'go easy' on Eastern Waterproofing. So, just one month after he was assured by Mr. Smith that he still had a job in Cohenville, Mr. Schuetz is fired.

It would be nice for the 33 people who were fired today to know that the decision making was above board, fair and just. Yet this is the Ancient Citte. I think its a fine thing if we fire people for political reasons to take care of our friends. It's our genetics.

John Ridout would have wanted it that way.

King of George

Let's Get Fiscal

Dear Souls:

Since we in Ward One subsist on trust funds, we have always had a hard time understanding the accountant's vocation. Nevertheless, this so called budget gap has us befuddled. Where has this money gone?


- $3,100,000 owed the City from the County for waste water treatment
- $2,200,200 for ambulance services provided by the City owed by the County
- $1,970,000 for new buses from US DOT
- $2,010,000 from the US DOE for thermal cooling for the markethouse – refused by the Smith Adimistration
- 3 grants to DNEP
* $150,000 for E Star improvements to the city
* $90,000 for improved storm water run off
* $60,000 for waste water improvements

$9,580,000 US dollars.

So what has Doug Smith done to retain these monies?

Na-dah.

Dr. 'I Don't Know' Arnett

Dearest Annapolis:

Those 'over the bridge' have always concerned the King. Doubly perplexing are politicans who get elected and then seem to lose their bearings on how to vote and what is important.

Dr. 'I Don't Know' Arnett is at it again.

The man who abstained on last year's budget vote and is the main proponent of firing city workers is, in the new council, number one in abstentions again this year. Abstaining in one case twice on the same piece of legislation.

Being dazed and confused, he tried to adopt the infamous taxi cab horn ordinance left to us by Ward One Poseur Julie Stankivic. Fortunately, common sense was not totally absent on the council and it was defeated by a lack of even a second.

We in Ward One want to know: is there something in the air over there?

King of George

Reports from the Front

Friends:

We fear for our courtyards, gardens and paths.

Mayor Cohen and Mr. Smith have pulled out the stops for the self preservation of their regime. At a Church in the African American community Smith and Cohen were escorted by uniformed police Tuesday night. Armed uniformed police officers are now in City Hall, Gorman Street and will be available in other key city buildings. And we are being told of other more secretive and extreme personal security measures being taken to protect the corpus of the principals. These costs will exceed one quarter of one million dollars for the tax payers and are mounting.






In fact, City Hall has begun to resemble the Furhrer Bunker. Lights out, little activity, art removed and just the drone of ventilation fans. Will Smith create a free fire zone around our municipal building? I suggest you pay your water bill by mail.

Alderperson Finlayson is venturing into this lair this morning to confront the Finance Chief, Dr. Elliot, about his mangled numbers and confusion between grants and tax revenues. We wish her well on her mission of peace.

These are truly historic events for the Ancient City. Not since General Butler invested Annapolis with those damned Yankee soldiers in 1862 has armed force been used to subdue our populace. Now it is not an invading force from the North but our own cops on overtime that will be used to subdue us -- all because Mr. Smith is lacking physical courage?

The first calls for a recall campaign reached our ears yesterday. As one Alderperson was heard to say "There certainly will be enough folks to go door to door with clipboard and petitions after the layoffs". 4,999 more signatures needed and counting.

We fear for our quaintness, our gardens and our paths. Will they be filled with the clip of jack boots, the crackle of political fortunes combusting and the acrid smell of subjugation?

King of George