Uncategorized – Page 40 – Sandy Rosenberg

A dedicated champion of the district

June 20, 2018 | by delsandy | Uncategorized | No Comments

The race for delegate in the [41st] district includes one no-brainer: Del. Samuel I. “Sandy” Rosenberg, who has for years been one of the sharpest minds in the legislature and a dedicated champion of his district.

Baltimore Sun endorsement, http://www.baltimoresun.com/…/bs-ed-city-legislative-endors…

…

It’s very nice to be praised for my mind.

How I use my skills is what matters.

Praise for being a “dedicated champion of the district” no doubt centers around my work to keep the Preakness at Pimlico.

But there are several other neighborhood issues that have been and, if I’m re-elected, be the focus of my concern.

What will happen to Northwestern Senior High now that Forest Park students are returning to their rebuilt school?

Can we turn the Ambassador Theatre into an arts attraction?

The Edmondson Village Shopping Center has been a dangerous eyesore for years. Can it be turned around?

My ability to work on those issues depends upon you.

I hope you think that I deserve your support.

Early voting ends at 8 pm on Thursday. The polls will be open from 7 am – 8 pm on Tuesday.

I took note of it

June 14, 2018 | by delsandy | Uncategorized | No Comments

The Maryland Stadium Authority held a public hearing on the future of Pimlico Race Track Tuesday night.

The testimony of Rosalind Griffin did not make it into the Baltimore Sun story, but I took note of it.

She testified on behalf of herself; her community, Mt. Washington; and two others, Cylburn and Levindale-Sunset.

Mt. Washington is north of the track; Cylburn and Levindale-Sunset are on the south side.

Their demographics differ, but their interests regarding Pimlico’s future are the same.

The survey results in all three neighborhoods were very similar as to the preferred uses of the site.

We are very supportive of horse racing, Ms. Griffin testified, but concerned about the traffic, litter, and noise that would be generated by the daily use of the site for non-racing purposes.

Those concerns can be addressed.

It’s my job to make sure that they are.

It’s also my job to help expand the number of neighborhoods working together.

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Why I work hard on behalf of all of the communities of the 41st District is at the heart of this video:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XKNKNDKRLRLd_08SykTvn4kSoIclP6nl/view?usp=sharing

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Early voting begins today. I look forward to seeing you at the polls.

Pimlico: A 21st Century Redevelopment with 21st Century Jobs

June 12, 2018 | by delsandy | Uncategorized | No Comments

The Preakness was first run on this site in 1873. It should remain here for the 21st Century.

Hundreds of jobs will be created by making this a 365-day per year model of economic and community redevelopment. They should be 21st Century jobs.

“To me, it’s magical in here. There’s something about it. I’ve been watching it since I was 10, 11 years old.
You think of Jim McKay. You think of the Preakness. There’s so much history here.”

Bob Baffert, trainer of the Triple Crown winner Justify, said that when he was here three weeks ago.

I’ve been watching horses run around the track at Pimlico since I was in elementary school. I’ve represented the surrounding neighborhoods for 36 years.

We’ve seen a lot of changes at Pimlico during that time – good and bad. And we’ve seen a lot of changes in Park Heights, but the question before us today – whether to keep the Preakness here and to redevelop the land no longer needed for racing, will be a crucial turning point for the Park Heights community.

We need a vision for Pimlico and Park Heights: economic and community redevelopment that would complement a 21st Century thoroughbred racing facility. We need a vision that would allow for the necessary upgrades at Pimlico and help fulfill longstanding promises to revitalize the Park Heights community.

We can make this vision a reality. We can make the infield a year-round facility for recreation and entertainment. The Baltimore Development Corporation has already had serious conversations with various commercial enterprises interested in the site.

“The question is, can we come up with a solution which is a win-win-win?” Frank Stronach, founder and honorary chairman of the Stronach Group, recently told the Baltimore Sun. “A win for the horse industry and a win to eliminate poverty in that area.”

What the Stadium Authority is considering for the Pimlico site and what Mayor Catherine Pugh is proposing for the Park Heights neighborhoods meet the definition of a win-win-win.

Redeveloping the track to ensure it continues as host of the Preakness Stakes is not a pie in the sky proposal. It would appeal to “anybody,” developer David Cordish said last week,

For the 21st Century School Buildings Plan, which is administered by the MSA, a memorandum of understanding requires efforts to maximize local and minority Baltimore hiring and to identify student work experiences. We must do the same here.

Two 21st Century schools, Pimlico and Arlington Elementary Middle Schools, will be reopening within a mile of the track over the next 15 months. Additional investment in these schools neighboring the track is essential.

On the eastern end of the site, LifeBridge Health expects to use its Preakness Way property as a destination campus, including an outpatient care center.

Oriole Park at Camden Yards was the first major-league baseball stadium to win the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) award – the mark of an environmentally sound facility. We should do the same here.

“The Preakness isn’t going anywhere,” declared Governor Larry Hogan on Preakness Day. Mayor Catherine Pugh is steadfastly committed to keeping the Preakness and redeveloping Park Heights.

The Maryland Stadium Authority built Camden Yards, the “ballpark that forever changed baseball.” It can do the same for horse racing at Pimlico.

I look forward to working with the Authority and the residents here tonight in accomplishing that goal.

My written testimony at a meeting of the Maryland Stadium Authority on the future of Pimlico. 6/12/18

The smoke didn’t get in their eyes

June 8, 2018 | by delsandy | Uncategorized | No Comments

A business constantly seeks ways to expand its customer base.

The tobacco industry does this by selling flavored tobacco products – .

But not in San Francisco.

The City Council passed a law banning the sale of flavored tobacco products.

Flavors especially designed for young users include bubble gum, chicken and waffles, and unicorn milk. Also prohibited are vaping liquids packaged as candies and juice boxes for electronic smoking, and menthol cigarettes.

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company was instrumental in petitioning this issue to referendum.

The voters overwhelmingly approved it on Tuesday – by 68% to 32%.

I’ve asked the General Assembly research staff how this ban differs from Maryland law.

The supporters of the law are a who’s who of anti-smoking advocates, including former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

I may be in touch with them after June 26.

City Forever

October 28, 2017 | by delsandy | Uncategorized | No Comments

“Where did you go to high school?” one Baltimore native often asks another.

I went to City College, as many of you know.

Yesterday, I went to the school’s annual Hall of Fame ceremony.

I was inducted a dozen years ago. That earned me a seat on the stage.

Class banners were hung on the walls of the auditorium.

The 1954 banner caught my eye. That was the year that Brown v. Board of Education was decided.

Thurgood Marshall argued that case. If Baltimore’s schools were not segregated when he was a student, I said to myself, he would have gone to City.

The first women graduates walked across the stage in 1978.

Carnitra White ‘87, one of this year’s inductees, is now the Executive Director of the Anne Arundel County Department of Social Services.

Before the ceremony, she reminded me that we had worked together on social welfare issues over the years.

When she gave her speech, she asked the students if, like her, they were having trouble in Chemistry.

The response was nearly unanimous.

“Like myself, are you from a single-parent family?” she continued.

Nearly half the students responded.

I’m going to call Director White on Monday to discuss what effect that may or may not have on their education.

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I left the ceremony shortly before it ended to meet a friend for lunch.

My car was parked near the main entrance to the school.

The doors were wide open. I could hear the school song.

I walked back inside and stood in the back of the auditorium.

“City Forever, we’ll praise her to the skies. “

It was amazing!

Learning and Zip Codes

October 13, 2017 | by delsandy | Uncategorized | No Comments

“Do we as a society believe it is acceptable for a child’s life to be predetermined by the ZIP code in which they were born?”

City schools CEO Sonja Santelises posed that question last night to a commission studying the state’s funding of pre-kindergarten through 12th grade in public schools throughout the state.

Irvington is in zip code 21229 – Frederick Road near the City line. My 41st District colleagues and I attended the community’s monthly meeting Tuesday night. Concerns about drug dealing in the immediate area where the meeting took place were the focus of discussion..

The next day, an Irvington resident emailed me, “I’m wondering, very genuinely, if more money for education is a reasonable solution to our education problem when, from an outside perspective, we don’t seem capable of managing the money that we do have and have had access to…I’d be interested in hearing also, how we as a community can hold our public officials and managers accountable for spending appropriately.”

I responded: “You make a valid point. An increase in funding for our public schools would be an opportune moment to seek to increase the quality of education by adding appropriate criteria to assess how the money is spent. At the same time, the vast majority of the children attending City schools are in poor families. That means that more resources are essential to enable them to overcome the obstacles generated by poverty. Those resources cost money.”

Our public schools are where all students, regardless of income, regardless of zip code, have the opportunity to prepare themselves for adulthood. It is our obligation, as citizens and as legislators, to fund our public schools and then oversee their operation so that they can meet that obligation.

Protecting Our Rights – Voting and Guns

October 5, 2017 | by delsandy | Uncategorized | No Comments

My bottom line: The law should benefit people or prevent them from being harmed without unduly burdening the rights of those whose conduct is being regulated or criminalized..

One example is voter fraud.

To what extent should we impose barriers to the exercise of this fundamental right when seeking to prevent individuals from voting illegally?

The Congress struck the proper balance when it enacted the Help America Vote Act in the wake of the Florida recount in 2000.

In addition to official government documents, proof of residency can be demonstrated by a person’s address on a rent notice or a utility bill.

My legislation, which was enacted, adopts that federal standard when an individual’s right to vote is challenged at a polling location.

http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/frmStatutesText.aspx?article=gel&section=10-312&ext=html&session=2018RS&tab=subject5

A second example of that balancing act is gun control.

Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited. From Blackstone through the 19th-century cases, commentators and courts routinely explained that the right was not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.

Who wrote that? It was Justice Scalia in his majority opinion striking down DC’s gun control law.

When the members of the Congress, the General Assembly, or any other legislative body seek to prevent the loss of life due to firearms, we must do so without violating the 2^nd Amendment rights of gun owners.

But we can do so, as Justice Scalia pointed out.

And we must.

BP fastballs and not long winded

March 30, 2017 | by delsandy | Uncategorized | No Comments

More batting practice (BP) has been scheduled on the medical marijuana bill.

The Democratic caucus will meet tomorrow to learn about it.

I expect this will be a favorable audience.

But even if they’re BP fastballs and very hittable, the practice will be worthwhile.

—

There will be floor debate on the bill on Monday. The session will likely start at noon.

First pitch at Camden Yards is at 3:00.

I will try not to be long winded.

Down the Stretch They’ll Come

February 27, 2017 | by delsandy | Uncategorized | No Comments

I started going to Pimlico Race Track not long after I started going to Memorial Stadium.

Jay Slater, a classmate at Cross Country Elementary School, lived at Rogers and Merville Aves., across the street from the top of the home stretch.

We would watch the races from his attic window – sometimes the roof.

I was not so visible over the last 14 months as I helped bring about the study of the future of Pimlico that was released last Friday.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-pimlico-study-20170224-story.html

I brought together the funders of the study, the Maryland Stadium Authority; the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation; the Maryland Racing Commission; and the Baltimore Development Corporation.

At our only gathering last winter, I called to order the Third Saturday in May Committee. (That’s when the Preakness is run.)

Pimlico is where the Preakness belongs.

It’s been run there for more than a century. That weekend is a big economic benefit for the Baltimore region.

I’ve remained the designated prodder, helping move the players who can finance Pimlico’s renovation, Governor Hogan, Mayor Pugh, and the Maryland Jockey Club, towards the finish line – an agreement that would keep the Preakness at Pimlico.

The clock is ticking

March 9, 2015 | by delsandy | Uncategorized | No Comments

When the legislature is in session for only 90 days, time is your enemy.

The session ends five weeks from today.

However, two weeks from today is the deadline for my bills to pass the House and cross over to the Senate. Ditto for Senate bills.

If your bill doesn’t meet that deadline, it’s delayed in the Rules Committee.

One of my bills will be considered in subcommittee this week. I met today with the chair and committee counsel to see if an amendment would satisfy my objectives and address the objections raised by the industry.

Another bill has passed the House in prior years. It’s scheduled for a subcommittee vote this week. An amendment has been drafted; I’m ok with it.

A letter from the affected agency will say that we can achieve one of my bill’s goals under existing law. No legislation would have to be passed.

I thought one of my bills would be voted on this week. Apparently not. The identical bill has been introduced in the Senate. I asked the sponsor to press for a vote.

It doesn’t matter which of our bills becomes law.

My Key Issues:

Category: Uncategorized