[PDF]Dirty Money In Baltimore County Politics

Dirty money in Baltimore County politics


Editor’s note: This is my letter which was originally published in the Baltimore Sun. I added some
context and links to help clarify some points.


I am deeply troubled by the hate mail from Connie DeJuliis that comes to my home every day.


For years, Sen. Jim Brochin has come to the yearly neighborhood meetings in my community to tell
about his accomplishments after each legislative session, and he has been on the side of the community.
I have not always agreed with him, but I know that he is at least honest and willing to engage in a
dialogue with others.


As Mr. Brochin told The Sun last month, “my job isn’t to do what Martin O’ Malley tells me to do. My
job isn’t to do what Kevin Kamenetz tells me to. My job is to do what my constituents want me to do”


»


(“Brochin, DeJuliis square off in redrawn north county district,” May 17).


As a result of such a brave act of political independence from the Democratic Party, County Executive
Kevin Kamenetz and outgoing Gov. O’ Malley have endorsed his opponent, Ms. DeJuliis.


The pro-DeJuliis and anti-Brochin hate mail is basically the equivalent of delivering attack ads to the
doorstep of Baltimore County residents.


Whether this is happening everywhere across the district, I do not know. What I do know is that these
ads, as the Teachers Association of Baltimore County recently pointed out in a letter to the Towson


Times [3], are distortions of the truth.


Maryland resident Yara Cheikh said the same, in a letter to the editor refuting the claims of Ms.
DeJuliis and saying that not only does Mr. Brochin’s agenda come “from the needs of his constituents
— and not political ideology” but that Mr. Brochin “doesn’t argue for small government or large
government, but rather for good government that serves the needs of his constituency” (“Sen. Jim
Brochin doesn’t serve big government,” May 14). Like one showing how he worked with the
community to stop the development of Towson Manor Park.


There is something that is even more disturbing about the DeJuliis hate mail. All or at least some of it is
funded by an unlikely source: the New York-based 1199 Service Employees International Union
Political Action Fund. Providing funding of some or all of these mailers shows that even good groups,
like the SEIU, can be corrupted by the urge to inject ever increasing amounts of money in politics on
behalf of their favored candidates.


This election is not about who has better political positions, but rather about ethics. Mr. Brochin is not
perfect, but at least he’s ethical and truthful. If Ms. DeJuliis is successful on June 24 then it will be
clear that the people’s voices have been drowned out by a sea of dirty money.


Burkely Hermann


Notes:


[1] This was originally referring to a positive ad Brochin sent out but the Sun deleted the words around
it, making it so the sentence doesn’t make sense.


[2] I posted the original attack ad on twitter:


[3] I self-published the letter online. It is as follows:


I saw this letter in the Towson Times (published on June 4, 2014) not that long ago, yet it hasn’t been
published online yet... I only got it in a letter from the Committee to Elect Jim Brochin. So, I’m going
to publish it myself. I do not know what the original title of this letter was, so I created one myself.


Dear Editor,


We the teachers of Baltimore County are very proud of our candidate recommendation process. We sent
out questionnaires to ALL who were running in this primary, Democrat and Republican. We invite
those who have returned their questionnaires to us to come for an interview with a panel of our
members. Each panel is made up of members from districts across the country. We inform our decisions
based on education issues. Contrary to popular belief, we do not choose our candidates by party, rather
than[1] by their stance on education issues.


In the state senate race for District 42 we interviewed both Jim Brochin, and Connie DeJuliis. The
interview team unanimously picked Jim Brochin as our education candidate. It was evident that he
understood the needs of the schools and the educators. He has supported education issues continuously
since he has served in that seat.


We recently heard about a negative campaign mailer sent to voters in the 42nd district by Connie
DeJuliis. She accuses Senator Brochin of voting to cut funding to schools. Nothing could be further
from the truth. Senator Brochin has been a campaign for the needs and dollars that support educators
and schools. He has been on the right side of countless votes to pass operating and capital budgets that
have provided record investments in education programs, services, and personnel, and to modernize
and build new schools. Senator Brochin has support education and continues to do so on behalf of not
only the students in his district but all across Maryland.


We want an honest politician in the Senate, one who will speak the truth and vote on his/her
convictions. We are not interested in someone who is willing to take obscure votes and twist the
meaning of those votes to try and mislead voters. We are sure that the voters are too smart for that trick.
After all we are the ones who educated those voters.


We need proven leaders who get results representing us in the Senate. That is who Jim Brochin has
been and will continue to be — a leader who will represent our interests and vote his convictions.


Abby Beytin


President, Teachers Association of Baltimore County (TABCO)