Dear
Friend,
What
makes this election season so extraordinary is that five of Maryland's
six statewide offices could change hands. Of the six incumbents--governor,
lieutenant governor, comptroller, attorney general and two U.S. senators--only
one, Barbara Mikulski, is guaranteed to be in office when the dust
settles. And she's not up for election this year.
A
soon-to-be-released Gonzales poll will give us a clearer look on how
the races stand as we approach the primary, and I will give you an
update.
But
I wanted to let you know that in a race that has so far received less
attention than it warrants, I have decided
to endorse Stuart Simms for attorney general.
 |
Stuart
Simms |
Stu
has an unmatched breadth of experience that will make him a great
AG. Educated at Dartmouth and Harvard Law School, he has served as
state's attorney for Baltimore City, secretary of Juvenile Justice
and secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional
Services in the Glendening administration. Most recently, he has been
engaged in the private practice of law with a major firm in Baltimore.
Stu knows criminal and civil law, and he has a distinguished record
of public service. He will be an outstanding attorney general. I look
forward to working with him.
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Turning
to another matter, as many of you may know, I have been serving on
the General Assembly's Special Committee on Employee Rights and Protections,
which has been investigating reports that the Ehrlich administration
has abused state personnel laws by firing long-term state employees
without cause or for political purposes.
We
have heard disturbing stories of valued employees being let go with
no notice or without supervisors even examining their personnel files
sometimes allegedly for partisan reasons. These are not ranking, policy-making
employees, but mid-level workers who provided valuable service to
the state, without regard to politics.
A
key witness in early August was Joseph Steffen, Governor Ehrlich's
ex-staffer who resigned after he was caught spreading malicious rumors
on the internet about Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley. Dubbed the
"Prince of Darkness" by Governor Ehrlich, Mr. Steffen traveled
from agency to agency to review programs and recommend which employees
to keep and which to fire. His trademark was a statue of the Grim
Reaper, which he kept on his desk.
Since
Mr. Steffen's resignation in February, the administration has tried
to distance itself from him; Paul Schurick, the governor's communications
director, set the tone by describing Mr. Steffen as "irrelevant
to our world." But, at our hearing, Mr. Steffen testified that
Mr. Schurick, claiming to speak for the governor, had promised to
"take care of him" after he resigned.
Mr.
Steffen also testified that, while working for the governor, he had
coordinated his activities at state agencies with Lawrence Hogan,
the governor's appointments secretary. Mr. Hogan has denied that allegation.
Mr. Steffen and Mr. Hogan both testified under oath.
Mr.
Steffen and two other administration staffers subpoenaed by the committee
refused to answer certain questions. But our committee is seeking
court orders to compel them to respond.
The
bottom line is that the administration continues to be less than forthright
in answering questions about their personnel policies. We'll keep
working to get the answers. Stay tuned for the committee's report
later this fall.
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