Sunday, October 22, 2006

does this make leggett a republican?

pictured: Maple Lawn, a new development in Howard County.

Last night, I had a dream about Ike Leggett, and he blew me off again. But should I be surprised? I mean, he must know what I think of him.

The Post has definitely sided with the slow-growth crowd this election year. They're endorsing the Republican candidates for County Executive in both Howard and Anne Arundel counties which, notably, do have more conservative politics than Montgomery. However, their defense for Christopher Merdon of Howard and John Leopold from Anne Arundel should sound pretty familiar:
The two candidates for [Anne Arundel] county executive promise to avoid the mistakes that resulted in a sprawl of development that has overtaxed roads and schools and made many residents resentful . . .
[Mr. Merdon] recognizes that past battles over growth, including a rezoning that he opposed, has made residents distrustful of government . . .
And here's what the Post said about old Ike:
[Ike Leggett] is the right choice for a county facing a demographic makeover, the prospect of tightening budgets and the strain of impassioned debates over growth, development and traffic . . .
I don't know too much about the political situation in Howard County, but it sounds a lot like Montgomery County's, except they don't have a Clarksburg. Which is a shame, because it didn't give them a reason to go on a NIMBY rampage like we have.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Mr. Ficker,

How can you ever expect to be taken seriously by the citizens of this county, when espousing distortions such as these?

Let's get real:

1.) Yes Leggett has received between $75,000 to $77,000 according to Neighbors for a Better Montgomery and the Washington Post (at time of publication). The figure may be a little more now, but the fact remains, Leggett's total from developers is around 15%... there's nothing wrong with this. Silverman's developer take was 71% (over $1M several months ago) according to NBM and the Post and may be closer to $1.8M, when all his contributions are tallied.

You, on the other hand, are 90+% self-funded and that's fine, except that it may speak to the fact that few feel strongly enough about your candidacy to give you any money.

2.) As far a Leggett taking $20,000 from Aris Mardirossian and Steve Lebling (again, from Neighborspac)... he did and citizens will be watching. That said; Aris has given lots of money to ANYONE who will take it. In the 2006 election cycle Mardirossian and his companies (not including Lebling) gave more than $135,000 to the following:

Duncan
Denis
Floreen
Knapp
Leventhal
Perez
Silverman
Subin
Felton
Newsome
Ehrlich
Forehand
Frosh
Gansler
Garagiola
Gilchrist
Hixson
Hogan
Hucker
King
Kramer
McCarthy
Miller
O'Neill
Ruben
Taylor
The Committee to Retain the Sitting Judges
Democratic State Central Committee
Health Political Leadership PAC
Montgomery County Business PAC
Montgomery County Republican Central Committee

…clearly a man that likes to hedge his bets.

3.) As far as the 1998 election cycle is concerned, yes, Leggett received about 64% from developers, which amounted to about $160,000... so what.

4.) And yes, an uninformed Montgomery County Council voted to LEASE Belt Jr. High to Yeshiva at the behest of Duncan and Pasternak. The vote to do so was nearly unanimous. Leggett did not receive any money from Abramoff, whereas Duncan did.

5.) For you to mention the bogus "sexual harassment" case is beyond belief... even Silverman did not stoop that low. Anyone who knows about this chapter in Montgomery County politics, knows that the litigation was completely baseless. To try to use it to further your own political agenda shows your utter lack of character.

6.) As far as you never taking money from developers... You may not accept developer contributions, but then again, what developer in their right mind would give a crazed loser like you any money in the first place? In order for them to get a return on their investment, you would have to get elected and we all know that that will never happen.

Robin, please stick to doing what you do best, defending drunk drivers and making an ass of yourself at sporting events, but stay out of politics.