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Below are questions from Steve Green, editor of the Maryland Coast Dispatch to District 38B House of Delegates candidates (three Democrats and four Republicans), along with my answers. Note that answers were limited to 120 words each. The responses of all the delegate candidates were printed in the Sept. 10, 2010, edition of the Dispatch, beginning on Page 8A.
Candidate: Bernard John Hayden
Age: 62
Current Profession: Retired.
Professional Background: Journalism and editing. Congressional Information Service, 13 years, the last nine as managing editor. Carroll County Times, six years, news editor and copy desk chief. The Baltimore Sun, six years, copy editor and makeup editor. Managed the Boardwalk 5 &10 in Ocean City four seasons (1972 -1975) and worked winters at Edwards 5 &10. In 2009 and 2010, seasonal jobs in the Ocean City hospitality industry.
Residence: West Ocean City.
Four Questions To Be Printed Verbatim In Sept. 10 Issue (Max: 120 words)
Q. Why are you running for this particular public office? Please give at least three reasons.
Hayden: The global economy has changed, and more economic shocks probably lie ahead. Maryland must reform government and spending. I hope to be able to contribute to sound decisions by the General Assembly.
Second, voters have lost confidence in government and both political parties. If people give up on government, we’ll be at the edge of chaos. We need term limits on career politicians, and to streamline bureaucracy. No one is entitled to a political or bureaucratic job for life.
Finally, Ocean City, West Ocean City, and Ocean Pines should be represented in Annapolis. Some District 38B candidates are from Pocomoke, or Wicomico County. I live in West Ocean City and understand the seasonal resort economy.
Q. Eastern Shore representatives, particularly those who are new to Annapolis, traditionally have a tough time getting their voices heard during heated debates, such as the budget. How will you overcome this?
Hayden: Some legislators are in over their heads. Novice delegates who’ve lived all their lives in one rural county or one small town can sink like a stone in Annapolis. I have a broad understanding of Maryland government and politics from my work as an editor and journalist on the Western Shore, plus eight years as a Democratic precinct chairman in Montgomery County. I will work cooperatively with delegates from other parts of Maryland, and help them understand issues unique to the Lower Eastern Shore. Communication is a two-way street. Like college freshmen, new delegates should: 1) Attend your committee meetings and do your committee homework; and 2) Avoid being sucked into the late-night drinking scene.
Q. Reducing spending is expected to be a necessity during next year’s General Assembly session to balance the budget. Would you support increasing property taxes, or any other type of tax or fees, to make up the expected gap between expenditures and revenues?
Hayden: No new taxes in the next four years. The only exception: I would vote to increase the alcohol tax, which has not been raised in decades and is among the lowest in the country, by a dime a drink. The revenue is needed to keep schools and Medicaid afloat. We should begin cutting the sales tax when that is possible. Maryland will realize some added revenue from slots beginning in 2011.
Q. If elected, there’s a chance you may have to co-sponsor or at least support a bill deciding the Liquor Control Board for Worcester County’s future. What’s your position on the LCB?
Hayden: Worcester County leaders and voters have decided in the past that the Liquor Control Board benefits local residents. I believe that remains true today. It’s an unusual monopoly arrangement, but the liquor business is an unusual enterprise. The Liquor Control Board is better than a liquor store on every corner, and it provides needed jobs and revenue to the county.
If an audit finds corruption or incompetence, we should fire those responsible. If an audit reveals part of the Liquor Board operation is broken, we should fix it. Bar owners imagine that abolishing the Liquor Control Board would benefit them. But bar owners constitute a special interest. I will represent all the people of Worcester County.
– Bernard John Hayden
Democratic Party
District 38B, Worcester County and part of Wicomico County.
Thanks to The Daily Times in Salisbury for running the following item Friday in a prominent position at the top of the op-ed page (09-10-10, page A15). Thanks to my neighbor, Judy Davis, for the vote of confidence, and thanks to The Times for the generous headline, which I’m using as the headline for this post.
