22 responses so far ↓

• 1 Greg Johnson // Sep 19, 2006 at 10:54 am

  While I greatly respect the mandate that Billy Boniface won in this primary and project that he will win handily in the general, I am very concerned about how he will preside over the BRAC issue. The expansion of Aberdeen Proving Ground is undoubtedly the largest single issue facing us in the next four years. Harford County is going to be changed dramatically as we experience the influx of THOUSANDS of families from affluent New Jersey suburbs. Schools, traffic, and development are going to take the front page of the Aegis, and we are going to need leadership that can handle solutions for infrastructure and revitalization of the Route 40 corridor. I do not want to borrow trouble, but I think it is fair to ask a candidate whose primary campaign focus is “…wanting Harford County to be the same for my children and grandchildren as it was when I grew up” what he is going to do in terms of smart planning for development in a county that is becoming increasingly less-rural. I hope there will be plenty of opportunities between now and the election for Billy to shed light on his plans for managing BRAC.

• 2 Greg2 // Sep 19, 2006 at 3:16 pm

  I hope you, Kazi, and Steffen learned your lesson. bitter partisanship will be rejected by most voters. Bob Ehrlich didn’t learn and will get his report card in November-L for loser.

• 3 changeintheair // Sep 19, 2006 at 4:12 pm

  Charles White, unchallenged Democratic candidate for County Council President, drew nearly 13,000 votes in the Democratic primary election. On the Republican side of the ballot inexperienced Billy Boniface won the primary with only 8,821 votes with Robert Wagner recieving 3,973 and Aaron Kazi recieving 3,838.

  Boniface won the Republican primary after the Baltimore Sun ran a banner-headline story two days before the election about an alleged memo from the Harford Homebuilders Association that endorsed Robert Wagner for County Council President.

  Did the Homebuilders Association pull a “trojan horse endorsement”? Did the Homebuilders make a late endorsement of the candidate that they didn’t want, knowing that anti-development sentiment was deep and wide in the county?

  On the same day the Homebuilders endorsed Wagner with their political “kiss of death” the co-founder of the smart growth Friends of Harford also endorsed Wagner as the best Republican candidate for proper land use management , in a buried letter to the editor in the Sun.

  Was the Baltimore Sun used as a “patsy” or dupe by the Harford Builders Association to help the developers pull Wagner down politically?

  If angry and disappointed Wagner voters either sit out the election or join forces with the Democrat Charles White (12,950 + 3973= 16,923) then the Boniface-Kazi developer vote (8,821+3,838=12,659) will be soundly defeated.

  *See “Two Minute Warning”post on Sept 10th under Robert Wagner or Friends of Harford.

  UPDATE: The political chicannery going on in the Harford Republican Party is endless. The Harford Homebuilders Association (The Developers) apparently liked both Robert Wagner and Billy Boniface for County Council President. They have given both candidates extensive campaign funds. But near the end of the primary a supposed SECRET internal memo from the Home Builders Association was for political reasons leaked to the Boniface campaign in order to damage Wagner as a candidate in the eyes of many Republican voters. The Boniface campaign in turn for political reasons leaks the supposed SECRET internal memo to the Baltimore Sun in order to damage the Wagner campaign. The Sun decides the supposed SECRET memo is a real memo and news worthy. They print a banner headline story two days before the election (GOP Candidtes Make Last Push To Lead the Council, 09/10/16) suggesting that according to the supposed SECRET memo the Home Builders Association has secretly endorsed Wager for Council President. The public reaction is that significant amounts of Republican voters in Aberdeen, Havre de Grace, Churchville and North Harford ,who are worried and concerned about overdevelopment, change their minds about Wagner and vote for Boniface. Justin Fenton in the Sun one week after the election (GOP Electorate Refuses To Walk The Party Line ,09/17/06) points out that Boniface won all six Harford Districts, but he won real big in District D(55%),District E (60.6%) and District F (54.1%).

• 4 Shhhhhh // Sep 19, 2006 at 6:28 pm

  “wanting harford county to be same for my children and grandchildren as it was when I grew up” Let’s get REAL…it’s too late for that and it has been for some time. That’s another “keep it rural” statement in disguise. The leadership and experience drum was beat to death on these issues but no one heard….NOW your asking questions?

• 5 Sharks // Sep 19, 2006 at 8:33 pm

  This is hilarious, apparently the Democratic blog doesn’t get enough traffic so he is posting his stuff on Harford Republican… that is funny.

• 6 Notes and Asides // Sep 19, 2006 at 11:20 pm

  Greg2…Though I wan’t it the Kazi camp, I have to say I hope you’re joking. The only reason Wagner went down is because Kazi and his gang nailed Wagner to the wall. Everyone knows it. Everyone. It’s been the talk of Harford County. Just ask Mike Geppi, who was talking about it at the GOP Unity Breakfast. Billy Boniface was the beneficiary of Kazi’s destruction of Wagner. To think otherwise is sheer idiocy, and shows a total lack of understanding on how attack politics work. And, no, I am not going to engage your sophmoric views in further discussion.

  As for Ehrlich being an “L” for loser, I guess that’s something you want to happen. Disgraceful. Perhaps you live in one of those homes that has a Billy sign next to a Martin sign.

  Boy, I’m happy I found this site. The level of political understanding here ranges from the high to the ridiculous to the sublime.

• 7 GoldwaterGOP // Sep 20, 2006 at 12:15 am

  Greg 2,

  You call Ehrlich a practitioner of partisian politics……

  Where have you been over the last 4-years??? You obviously missed out on the Democratic General Assembly’s attempts to change our State’s constitution to get at Ehrlich, Hold a sham of hearings surrounding supposed firings of “AT WILL” employees, who by the way should have had all of their resignations pre-written the day they accepted the job, Change the state’s election laws to again Get Ehrlich, pass laws that chip away at the Governor’s authority, all in a unified very partisan effort to Get Ehrlich! If anything, the legislative leadership should be tossed out on their ear! I find it quite funny that 3 times now they have been slapped down by the courts, and have several times been pointed out in the national media as being the worst legislature in the country!

  You want to talk partisianship? I suggest you make an appointment to see Mr. Miller and Mr. Busch. WAKE UP! Our state is being held hostage by our legislature! Just take a brief look at some issues that they have totally screwed Maryland Citizens on…

  1) Wall Mart Bill – Screwed thousand of Somerset County citizens out of jobs, and told the other companies GO AWAY!

  2) Medical Malpractice – We all got screwed on this one, especially the folks who have to pay the HMO tax to subsidise the insurance rates for doctors. Trial Lawyers laughed all the way to the bank on that one.

  3) Election Laws that promote voter fraud – Even Mexico and Iraq have more fool proof voting laws!

  4) Baltimore City School Reform – Kids even got screwed!

  These are just a few of the attacks that were launched on Maryland Citizens by our legislative leaders! If anything, they should be the first to be sent home!

  Change in the air,

  I think you need lay off of the sci-fi and political theory novels for a bit! Your take on the Sun’s article and the supposed affect it had on the election is quite a stretch. Wagner defeated Wagner and that is all anyone has to say on that matter! The electorate finally woke up on that one!

• 8 PolJunk // Sep 20, 2006 at 7:19 am

  You guys need to be careful about violating copyright laws. You can’t post entire news articles.

• 9 GOPerative // Sep 20, 2006 at 11:32 am

  PolJunk,
  My post only included a link to the Baltimore Sun post. Changeisintheair copied part of a post from another blog which he did cite in the original comment. I edited the comment with the other sites’ domain name because I’m not going to use my site to advertise for the competition. Most bloggers do not mind their postings being re-posted on other sites as long as they are given credit. Fenton and other journalists have actually thanked me for posting links to their articles. When they write pieces that are interesting I am glad to post links. Like you suggested to me, I will no longer post articles in full.

• 10 Shhhhhh // Sep 20, 2006 at 11:52 am

  There’s probably plenty of O’Malley-CRAIG signs together too. Look closer!

• 11 Notes and Asides // Sep 21, 2006 at 12:13 am

  Shhhhhh,…I have noticed the plethora of homes with O’Malley-Craig signs togther, thanks to the Right Mr. Robert Hockaday, I’m sure! How, though, do you explain the number of homes that bear signs supporting that growing Helton-Boniface connection? Exactly what is going on here?

  Something tells me that Billy’s bumpkins used David Craig’s rather inept group during the primary, and are now sticking it to them in the General. Gotta love that Helton-Boniface Darlington connection!

• 12 independent educator // Sep 21, 2006 at 6:52 am

  I have noticed a Boniface-Helton connection since the Farm Fair. Perhaps the two candidates share a stand or stands on actual county issues. There ARE voters who vote on the issues rather than the straight party line….. amazing, huh!
  Meanwhile- any thoughts on Wagner’s post election proposal to cut county taxes and consequently county revenues?

• 13 ReaganAgain08 // Sep 21, 2006 at 10:06 am

  Half the people wearing Billy Boniface shirts at the Farm Fair were also sporting Ann Helton stickers. I’m not at all surprised to see Billy Boniface being tied even closer to Ann Helton now that the primary is over.

  Independent Educator, as concerns your statement that there are voters who vote on the issues rather than the party line, well of course. In particular, in the Craig-Helton matchup, I don’t really see a whole lot of difference, other than that Ann Helton probably would not be as tied to the developers. A lot of folks, GOP or otherwise, may vote on that issue alone.

• 14 Greg Johnson // Sep 21, 2006 at 10:21 am

  Can I ever get an answer to my question?

• 15 Shhhhhh // Sep 22, 2006 at 6:07 am

  I’m not sure about the Helton-Boniface connection. It doesn’t make a lot of sense since Craig wanted Boniface in. I’m NOT surprised about Wagner’s proposal…trash him all you like for whatever reason, he’s part of a few on the council trying to do something with the out-of-control budget. So much waste but it’s OK since it comes from the exec?? I guess everyone’s real excited about District D’s new rep too….runs as a repub votes as a dem…when he takes a stance.

• 16 ReaganAgain08 // Sep 22, 2006 at 8:56 am

  No, there is a Billy Boniface-Ann Helton connection, of that I’m pretty darned certain. Even if it’s at a mid to low level group of campaigners, there is some connection. I just can’t figure out why there is, though, unless Notes and Asides is correct in his or her posting that maybe (some of) Billy Boniface’s folks sort of, kind of, played David Craig’s folks.

• 17 endorsements // Sep 22, 2006 at 12:18 pm

  funny to see a conversation speculating about Boniface-Helton connection in a thread that links to an article in the Sun that explains that all of Boniface’s family are Democrats. I guess reading is a lost art – wild speculation is in vogue.
  Besides, regular people are going to wear stickers or post signs of whoever they like, it has nothing to do with who the candidate is aligned with! If I put an Ehrlich sign in my yard along with a Cardin sign, would you say that Ehrlich is dumping Steele and joining up with the Democrats? Totally ridiculous…

• 18 GoldwaterGOP // Sep 23, 2006 at 12:05 am

  Endorsements,

  Finally someone with some sense posts! People here are getting a bit over zealous with their conspiracy theories and supposed inside rumor mill. Most of these posts are border line ridicilious. Good Post Endorsements! Let’s bring some reality back into the conversation.

  As for the Craig/Boniface conspiracy, Boniface won that race with little to no help from the Craig camp. Secondly, any rumor that Boniface is supporting Helton over Craig is simply spreading LIES.

• 19 Notes and Asides // Sep 23, 2006 at 9:47 am

  GoldwaterGOP….I beg to differ, my friend, with your assertion that Boniface won his race with little or no help from the Craig camp. Craig’s Chief of Staff Tomarchio was seen personally door knocking and lit dropping with the Brash Billy B.

  A GOP Delegate also overheard this same Mr. Tomarchio advising some Pubbies at the post primary Breakfast that the Craig camp worked behind the scenes with Billy B. (I’ll check with the Delegate and see if he’ll let me use his name for verification). He didn’t tell me this in any accusatory way, just matter of factly.

  David Craig’s Chief of Staff: That in and of itself shows the Craig camp offered one heck of a lot more than little or no help to Billy B. That is/was certainly their right, but to try to deny it now, especially since their pick won the race, is nonsense.

  One last thing, Goldwater: No one here has said Billy B, himself, is supporting Helton over Craig. What has been said, and it is as true as the day is long, that there is a Helton-Boniface connection, and it’s coming right out of Darlington. It may not be “official” but it is there. Get your facts straight and cut the “spreading LIES” nonsense.

• 20 Shhhhhh // Sep 23, 2006 at 6:33 pm

  GoldwaterGOP –It is not a conspiracy theory that Craig helped Boniface with his campaign…in fact it’s no secret either. It’s true. So now we have a consensus builder and they have their YES man.

• 21 Me // Sep 25, 2006 at 10:02 am

  Seriously! Anyone who didn’t notice the overt Craig-Boniface connection is either blind or part of one of their teams and is trying to downplay it. Billy is a total “yes” man. That’s why Craig hand-picked him– he knows that Billy won’t raise any objection to his drunken-sailor budget. I wish Harford County “republicans” would start to realize that true Conservatives desire PRINCIPLED LEADERSHIP; not “consensus-building.”

• 22 Shhhhhh // Sep 27, 2006 at 6:05 am

  THANK YOU me. He needs people on council that won’t object to a 4+ year spending spree…that’s why I don’t understand why people are so excited (Republican party) about these so called changes….this is the new face of the GOBN.

  North Harford Wake up call…these opinions on Schrodes are coming from people that know him or have spoken to him and come up with HUH? the keep us rural thing—that should’ve been a slogan 10-15 YEARS ago. I know all about “northern harford county” and I’m sure you do appreciate the landscape and don’t want to see development etc etc etc…but I will say it again…YOU CAN”T FORCE people or famrers to hold on to their ground because you like looking at it. That is unrealistic. Even with the preservation program how many next generation farmers are in Harford County that are going to commit to that as a lifestyle and business? Please take into account all the other factors surrounding a decision about selling farmland besides $$$$$$$$$$$ and your lovely view.

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