Qualifications for Orphans’ Court Judges

Hear contested matters regarding deceased persons’ estates

Along with circuit courts, can decide on guardianship of minors

Orphans’ Court judges:

Amendment requires that Orphans’ Court judges be licensed to practice law in the state of Maryland.

“Passage of this law would change a tradition in existence since Colonial times.”

-Vote411.org

Funding for Walters Art Gallery

Proposed measure would allow the City to borrow up to $300k for renovation of the museum.

Annual operating budget ~$15 million ($400k from Baltimore city, reduced from $800k before 2009)

Funding for Baltimore Zoo

Renovation of aging buildings

New penguin exhibit with underwater viewing

Improved penguin husbandry conditions

Proposed measure would authorize the City to borrow up to $200k to improve, repair, and replace facilities,

especially those related to penguins.

Questions C and H – Bond Issues

2 of the 9 bond issues (totaling $100M)

2010 - $100M passed

2008 - $75M passed

Can all be opposed if you are against increasing the

city’s debt

Or you can choose which things are worth the

indebtedness

Questions C and H cont’d

H = possibly easiest to support

Only $200K (0.2% of the total bond requests)

For the fucking Science Center. C’mon. Science!

C = one of easiest to oppose

$24M (2nd largest behind only $34M schools loan,

Question A)

Vague: “Community Development”

Sounds good, but what does that mean (no details)

Question 3 Changes when an official is removed from office when found

guilty of a “felony or crime of moral turpitude”.

Currently, officials may be convicted / plead guilty or no contest, and then remain in office until sentencing months later

Mayor Sheila Dixon

PG county councilwoman Leslie Johnson

Both pled guilty, continued to be in office and draw salary

YES vote means they are removed from office immediately

If found guilty but appealing, they are suspended; fired when appeals process upheld rather than waiting for sentencing.

Question 4 - DREAM Act

Versions passed by congress in 2009, 2010

Passed by Maryland Gen. Assembly and signed into law by Gov. O’Malley in 2011

Forced onto ballot by opponents, just like Q6

Allows non-citizen MD high schoolers to pay in-state tuition if:

They attended a MD HS for 3 years and graduated or earned a GED

Their parents filed state tax returns

Checklist called “long and detailed”

UMD: In-state $8900/year, out-of-state $27,000

Q4: DREAM Act, cont’d

Argument against

“Rewards” illegal immigration

Spends taxpayer money on undocumented immigrants

Will encourage immigrants to move to MD

Argument for

Only reduces tuition revenue by $3.5M annually

Results in more educated, higher-income, less-criminal

Marylanders, regardless of immigration status

Q4: DREAM Act, cont’d

I asked a Hispanic, my friend Paul

Truman in Flagstaff, AZ. He says:

“It makes the country better by

allowing lower income young adults

to integrate into society and

dedicate themselves to distinctly

American causes. And until the US

adopts more unilateral immigration

the types of people that it rewards

do not have a fair chance to

immigrate to the US.”

300K for Walters Art Museum

• Authorizes the City to borrow up to 300K for property

renovation

• Baltimore arts have faced cuts across the board -

Baltimore Opera was closed due to budget cuts

• Walters, internationally renowned, historic, used for

public education, and free

Establishing a financially self-

sustaining Stormwater Utility

• Single greatest source of water pollution in Baltimore

• A utility allows for any fees raised for stormwater to be

used for stormwater management only - disallowing them

to be borrowed elsewhere

• Funding is applied to activities to increase pervious

surfaces and capture stormwater overflow, such as

removing unneeded pavement and installing rain gardens

Congressional Redistricting

• Congressional District boundaries must be redrawn every 10 yrs after the census to adjust for population changes (so that every district covers the same amount of constituents)

• In Nov 2011, the General Assembly passed Senate Bill 1 to redraw districts immediately, however it was challenged in federal court

• Now, MD has the power to decide if they want the districts redrawn in the next 2 years (meaning your Congressional Rep may change)

• If you vote yes: voters will remain in the same Congressional district for the 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020

• If you vote no: Reps will retain their current districts until 2015, after which a new Congressional Redistricting Bill will need to be passed (as the 2002 census map will be “outdated”)

Question 6Referendum PetitionCivil Marriage Protection Act (Ch. 2 of the 2012 Legislative Session)

Establishes that Maryland’s civil marriage laws allow gay and lesbian couples to obtain a civil marriage license, provided they are not otherwise prohibited from marrying; protects clergy from having to perform any particular marriage ceremony in violation of their religious beliefs; affirms that each religious faith has exclusive control over its own theological doctrine regarding who may marry within that faith; and provides that religious organizations and certain related entities are not required to provide goods, services, or benefits to an individual related to the celebration or promotion of marriage in violation of their religious beliefs.

The Actual Question 6:

How Conservatives View 6 1/3

How Conservatives View 6 2/3

How Conservatives View 6 2/3

How Conservatives View 6 3/3

●

●

●

Why it Matters

In conclusion,vote Yes on question 6. Then we can attend more awesome hitchin' parties.

Judges for the

Court of Special Appeals

● intermediate appellate court for the state of Maryland○ "intermediate" meaning "in the middle"○ "appellate" refers to "appeals"

● the court is comprised of 13 judges ○ judges are appointed by the governor

voters confirm continuation the first election after their appointment, then once every 10 years

● Maryland has 7 Appellate Judicial Circuits○ Baltimore City is the 6th Appellate Circuit

What is the Court for Special Appeals?

● Born and raised in Baltimore● Undergrad at Howard University (1980)● Law degree from Rutgers (1983)● State's Attorney (1984-1988)● Federal Public Defender (1988-1997)● Federal Administrative Law Judge

○ Hearings and Appeals, Social Security Administration (1997-2002)

● Associate Judge, Baltimore City Circuit Court (2002-2011)

● Appointed to Court of Special Appeals in January 2011

The Honorable Shirley M. Watts

● life long resident of Baltimore

● 30 years legal experience

● 15 years judicial experience

● google searches for "scandal," "unethical" and "evil" in concert with her name yield nothing related to her

This one person identified only as

"criminal defense lawyer" at therobingroom.com

(where judges are judged) thinks she is in way over her head, and that she is

intellectually dishonest.

Pros Cons

Shirley M. Watts! Yes or No? (please pick one)

(Not actually Shirley M. Watts. This is Shirley Temple, child star.)

● Born and raised in Baltimore● Undergrad at Bucknell (1981)● Law Degree from University of Baltimore

(1984)● Lawyer, private practice (1984-1998)● Associate Judge, Baltimore City Circuit

Court (1998-2012)● Appointed to Court of Special Appeals in

January 2012○ he is one of the "Judges At Large"

The Honorable Stuart R. Berger

● life-long resident of Baltimore

● 30 years legal experience

● 14 years judiciary experience

● active in the community● positive comments and

well rated on "therobingroom.com"

I could find nothing glaring,

and now this side looks lame.

Pros Cons

Stuart R. Berger! Yes or No? (please pick one)

Stuart Little, taking a picture of Hon. Stuart R. Berger. That picture has since been lost.

Question M: departmental auditsWording on ballot: For the purpose of requiring certain City agencies to have their operations audited at least once during every 4-year term of the Mayor and city Council; defining certain terms; specifying who may conduct the audits; and requiring certain reports.

More directly: Every four years, an independent accounting firm would be paid to audit the finances of major city departments to “determine whether the agency is operating economically and efficiently, and whether corrective actions for improving its performance are appropriate.”

City departments affected: finance, law, public works, fire, police, housing and community development, recreation and parks, transportation, general services, planning, human resources, the mayor’s office of information technology, and the Baltimore Development Corporation

How we'd pay for it: Departments budget for their own audits.

Question I: $500K loan BMAPurpose: "renovated galleries, with upgraded roofing, fire suppression, and HVAC systems."

Comparable loans on the ballot:● $200K for the zoo● $200K for the science museum● $300K for the Walters Art Museum

Robert BellCivil Rights activist:He participated in a sit-it at Hooper's Restaurant, then at Fayette & Charles, which escalated to a 1964 Supreme Court case, Bell vs. Maryland, just before Congress passed the Civil Rights Act.

Many awards and leadership positions as a judge.

Question 7- GAMBLING

Adding a 6th casino in PG county,

allowing table games, more slot machines

Pros- It’s fun

Jobs “several thousand new jobs”

Money- tens of millions? 100 million?

MD gamblers will spend $ in state in stead of going out of state

Set to go to schools, but this could change at any time

Cons- It’s trashy

reduce profit at existing MD casinos

Would draw people who are “at-risk” for gambling addiction

Social problems

Question A- SCHOOL LOAN

Baltimore city to borrow up to 34 million for new schools and for improving existing schools

Pros- New schools

Improved schools

Happier kids?

Cons- Baltimore will be more in debt*

*if you vote no on this, you are an asshole

Question B- PARKS AND REC

Baltimore city to borrow up to 8 million for new parks and for improving existing parks including a

TREE PLANTING PROGRAM

Pros-

New parks, trees, recreational

facilities

Improved parks, trees,

recreational facilities

Healthier people?

Cons-

Baltimore will be more in debt

Question E- CITY BUILDINGS

Baltimore city to borrow up to 17 million

for acquiring land and property, constructing or improving city owned buildings such as LIBRARIES

and “equipping” said buildings

Pros-

New buildings

Improved buildings

More libraries

Perhaps buildings will

stop collapsing?

Cons-

Baltimore will be more in debt

Closing Thoughts- THE PRESIDENT

“Mitt Romney is a pompous asshole"

-Amy Gammon

Judges of the Circuit Court – Judicial Circuit 8

Kendra Ausby -- Born in Baltimore in 1971. Plays Lacrosse. Public

Service Award winner.

Jeannie Hong -- Born in Seoul, SK in 1965. Delegate at DNC in 2000.

Best lawyers under 40 award. Award of Excellence for Women in

Government.

Charles Peters -- Born in DC in 1956. Coaches many sports teams for kids. Awards from DEA

and Baltimore City Chief of Police.

Michael Reed -- Born in DC in 1960. Rich. Boring. Occasionally writes for the Harvard Law

Joural

Yolanda Tanner – Unwilling to include personal information on resume. Graduated MIT in

1980. Heavily involved in Lutheran Church in DE/MD. Specifically, youth substance abuse

programs.

David Young – Born in Hagerstown in 1951. Certificate of Appreciation from MD Red Cross.

Board of Managers at Druid Hill YMCA. Outstanding Alumnus from UMBC. MD Leadership in

Law award.

•33 judges total in circuit 8

•Appointed by Governor

•We are deciding if they deserve a full 15 year term

Question K – Municipal Elctions

•Baltimore city elections do not coincide with

national presidential elections.

•Huge democratic majority in the city means the

primaries determine the election.

•Current city officals receive one extra year

on their terms as a result

•Align the Baltimore City primaries with the

presidential primaries to increase voter

turnout.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

2008 2011 2012

Baltimore City Primary

Turnouts

Question L – Minority Party representation on Boards and

Commissions

•To allow unaffiliated and third party

voters the right to sit on city boards or

commissions as minority party

representitives

•Affects about 45000 voters

•40000 unaffiliated and 5000 third

party

Possible city boards affected include:

•Commission on Aging and Retirement

•Anti-Animal Abuse Advisory

•Youth Commission

Question D – Economic Development Issue

•Allow the City to borrow up to $15,800,000 for the

commercial/economic development plan of the Mayor and City Council

•Related to cultural life and tourism -- no information was available on what

the fuck that means

•Most likely this will

pass with or without you

•It always does