Haines Hellions 4-Commishs Chipmunks 3

by David Grand
February 10, 2005

Although they lost this year's game, at least they weren't whitewashed as they'd been in the past. And if there was a victory trophy, Sen. Haines could rightfully claim he's entitled to have permanent possession of it, after his unbroken string of wins over three, successive boards.      

As it turned out, though, my pre game predictions were fairly accurate: that Del. Nancy Stocksdale would, per usual, follow Haines lead; that Del. Susan Krebs, who'd already tipped her hand in the papers, would vote for the transfer tax; that both Sen. Allen Kittleman and Del. Tanya Shewell (the two rookies) would jump off the fence they've been straddling onto Haines backyard, not wanting to give a false impression in their public debut that they were anything other than team players.        

But I was wrong as two left shoes in believing that Sen. David Brinkley, and Del. Donald Elliott would never have voted "yea" on that tax, especially since just two days prior to the hearing in Carroll they'd turned thumbs-down on the same tax proposal made by the commissioners in Frederick County (wearing two hats as they do). It goes to show that there's no sure thing in a horse race or in politics.       

As to why they elected to jump like frogs from one side of a stream to the other is a wide open to interpretation. But if I were to make an uneducated guess, I'd say that Brinkley might've had some kind of a vision the night before he voted on the transfer tax for Carroll, in which his late, famous namesake appeared and told him to quit being such an ultraconservative and to be more open-minded; and that a good starting point would be to vote for that teeny-weeny tax that poor Carroll County needs so badly.         

Now, Elliott's sudden conversion I can only make a wild guess at. It may have been as a result of his coming to believe, as I long have, that the closer we get to meeting our Maker, the more honest we become with ourselves and others, and less dogmatic in our views. Since we're both the same age, that makes it sound credible. But whatever his motivation, I don't doubt that he sincerely believes he did the "right thing." And that's all that matters.       

As far as who disappointed me the most, I'd have to say it was Sen. Kittleman, who's living proof that the apple doesn't always fall close to the tree. He made that abundantly clear by the double standard he applied in denying Carroll a transfer tax, when Howard County (which he also represents and resides in) has had that same tax for the longest time. If he wasn't a state senator, I'd call him an out and out hypocrite. But to be respectful, I'll use that less offensive term-two-faced.       

And there's no doubt in my mind, that were his father still with us he'd have voted for that tax without any hesitation, mindful as he was of the big disparity between the economic welfare of Howard County and Carroll-the former looking like a fat house cat, and the latter like a skinny alley cat. And the best example of that is, that while Howard is close to the top rung of the ladder in economic development in the state, with a hefty 20.23 commercial/industrial percentage of its tax base, Carroll's is a paltry 12.52, which puts it on the bottom rungs.       

On a personal note, I'm glad I can now consign my fat folders on the transfer tax to where they can at least serve a useful purpose, in lighting my woodstove. And I look forward to shifting my focus to the goings-on in Annapolis, which abounds in hot-button issues and colorful characters, guaranteeing me an unending supply of fodder for columns.