The Bowie City Activist

2008 Bowie Person of the Year - Mayor Gee Fred! 2008 – What a year in the City of Bowie! Earlier in 2008 was the so-called “ethics showdown” between the friends of the incompetent Mayor Gee Fred Robinson and the supporters of the competent Councilman Todd Turner concerning the ethics of Mr. Turner’s dual employment as a city council person and as an employee of PG County. Just when you thought Mayor Gee Fred couldn’t do anything more stupid than his attack on the C&C Dance Company several years back – spending tax money attacking a dance studio that half the town’s kids have attended at one time or another - the incompetent Mayor Gee Fred out did himself in the stupid department as he himself had dual employment with Prince Georges County in the 1980s. Thus, the position Gee Fred and his supporters were taking boiled down to them saying it was OK for white Gee Fred Robinson to have dual employment in the 1980s, but not OK for African American Todd Turner to have dual employment in 2008. Well Golly Gee Fred, can the mayor get anymore stupid? Of course, the alleged At-Large Councilman Dennis Brady who takes himself way too seriously kept Bowie yawning as perhaps the most boring Councilman ever on the Bowie City Council, at least in the opinion of this long time City Council observer. Isaac Trouth kept an eye on our city finances as construction of a new city hall was discussed in 2008. Geraldine Valentino-Smith threw tomatoes at some new city hall ideas and I found one of them during a walk along Kenhill Drive last summer (strange, the Bowie Blade News had an article on tomatoes that very day). Councilwoman Diane Polangin kept her constituents well informed as District 2 FINALLY had representation on the City Council after 23 years of that John Rouse “the louse” brown nose suck-up Jack Jenkins. And, councilman Jimmy Marcos was busy trying to help get a new tenant for the vacant Giant store at Bowie Plaza when he wasn’t too busy standing in line for Lindsey Czarniak's autograph at PG Stadium or deep in legal briefs with his Ledos Pizza litigation. Then, later on in 2008, Mayor Gee Fred Flintstone dropped the ball failing to communicate with County Councilwoman Ingrid Turner about the City’s priority of keeping funding for the second Bowie Senior High School. Way to go Gee Fred! Unelected City CEO David Deutsch continued to defy our Maryland State Constitution Article 34 Declaration of Rights. Oh, and let’s not forget the hoax of someone mailing bogus code enforcement notices out to unsuspecting city residents. 2008 was quite a year in the City of Bowie! So, in the spirit of TIME magazine, can we find a fitting “Person of the Year” in the City of Bowie? The Envelope please... Without a doubt, The Bowie City Activist person of the Year in 2008 is Mayor Gee Fred Flintstone pictured on the current updated page of The Bowie City Activist at www.bowiewatch.org. Happy New Year Everyone! Richard www.bowiewatch.org 1961 Belair at Bowie Pioneer resident

ROBINSON’S “HAPPY TALK” STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS IGNORES THE REAL ISSUES IN BOWIE! (Added 2/3/09) Mayor Gee Fred Flintstone gave his annual “State of the City” address – you know, that all important city address that use to be given the week before our City elections so the incumbent mayor could receive the extra added advantage of free publicity in the Bowie Blade News. This website blew the whistle on this John Rouse “the louse” trick in 2005 when I learned that the timing of the State of the City address had changed right along with the changes in our Bowie City election cycles that was a chicanery scheme concocted by Bowie Blade News crony Gerard Devlin because Fred Robinson was almost ousted in 2002 by Paul Ellington who came within 600 votes of Robinson. Today, the annual “State of the City Address” is now given in January long after city elections are over just like every other level of government. I count this change as an accomplishment of my local political activism here in my hometown of Bowie and I hope future mayoral candidates will benefit from the fruits of my labor. I still believe the “State of the City” should be written into the Code of Bowie. I thought about attending Freddy Flintstone’s annual city address last week myself, but then I thought why do I want to spend $23 listening to Gee Fred Flintstone give the same “happy talk” I have heard in the past – for a speech that should be free and open to the general public? Of course, I could raise the issue that at every other level of Government, the head of the Executive Branch gives the state of the County, State or Union address. In Bowie, that would be the unelected City manager who is the head of the Executive branch of government in Bowie. In our City Council/City manager form of City government, the Mayor is a Council Legislative position – a ceremonial figurehead obfuscating who the real boss of Bowie is. Isn’t this type of obfuscation typical of Gee Fred Flintstone? I dislike “happy talk”. “Happy Talk” is when someone paints a false rosy picture while ignoring the real problems and real issues. I have a different opinion of the State of the City of Bowie than Mayor Gee Fred Flintstone. I find Mayor Robinson’s remarks regarding the State of the City as quoted in the Bowie Star to be rather shallow. First, it is a rather sad commentary for the City of Bowie with an estimated population of 60,000 people to find the Mayor giving this important annual address before one special interest group with an audience of only “more than 40 business leaders and city employees” according to The Star. It demonstrates how removed Mayor Robinson and the 16 year unelected incumbent City Manager David Deutsch are from the citizens of Bowie who pay the lion share of the city’s bills in city taxes. Second, Robinson’s self serving and self aggrandizing statement regarding the city’s fiscal management is only Robinson’s opinion. I do not share this opinion. Frankly, it is real easy to manage the city’s finances in an environment where the city has ultimate taxing authority to raise taxes to cover excessive spending and is relying on a Federal bailout to the State to be passed down to the City. I believe it takes no talent to do that, that anybody can do it which is only one of many reasons why I am calling for a new City Manager in Bowie and I am reaching out to the NAACP to partner with me to help bring city management change to Bowie. As only one example of Deutsch’s fiscal mismanagement, I invite the public to visit The Bowie City Activist website and read the October 31, 2005 webpage (available in the dropdown box) the blog entry entitled “Robinson’s police cost study is a fraud”. To date, Mr. Deutsch continues to fail his fiduciary responsibility to track the actual and projected costs of the city police force against his original cost contained in the 2005 police referendum question – which would be a better barometer of Mayor Robinson’s opinion. Lastly, while Mayor Robinson is quick to give his mis-directed credit to the City Manager, I give all the thanks and credit to the taxpayers of Bowie who pay the bills – a big difference between Mayor Robinson and me, and how we each think. We are not allowed to have real debates in the City of Bowie. The Greater Bowie Chamber of Commerce has long ensured that we do not have debates in Bowie. As Fred Robinson knows, in an open debate, I can rip Fred to shreds which are why the cowardly Robinson has to hide behind the GBCC. So, let me take this opportunity to state for “the state of the city” - without any “happy talk” - that the longer Mayor Gee Fred Flintstone is Mayor of Bowie and David Deutsch is City Manager, the trashier and filthier our city becomes!! Bowie was deceived into trash and filth in 1998, and each year since 1998 Bowie has been getter trashier and filthier the longer Gee Fred Flintstone stays in office. Any one who remembers Bowie before 1998 knows my statement is true! There once was a pride in Bowie that is now long gone. Perhaps Gee Fred is appropriate as our figurehead because whenever I see trash and filth in the streets of Bowie – which is usually on a daily basis driving through my Kenilworth neighborhood - I think of Mayor Gee Fred! Of course, I am guilty too when I think of the trash and filth that I left on Audubon Lane in September 22, 2006! When you see trash and filth on the streets of Bowie, or worse – liquor bottles which I am seeing discarded on the streets ever so more often – and, you remember the pride that was once Bowie before Gee Fred became Mayor by lying to Bowie about stopping Bowie Town Center, be sure to say, “Thanks Gee Fred!” So, the State of the City finds the City getting trashier and filthier with an unelected City Manager as head of the City who would be an elected official at most other cities the size of Bowie. David Deutsch’s long 16 year incumbency has been dangerous to liberty, particularly to those who believe in Equal Opportunity Employment, in this Maryland city – just as our founding Maryland fathers said he would be! BOWIE BRIEFS (Added February 3, 2009) • I want to thank the people of Bowie who leave me things to find in the streets of Bowie. There was the unopened can of premium beer found on Kemmerton Lane near Keel Turn last summer. Thanks, it tasted great on a hot day. Then, there was a resident on Kembridge Drive who was having a yard sale. When I walked by a conversation about a physical ailment I have ensued, which prompted him to give me an electric back massage pad that he had on sale in his yard sale. He said to me, “Here, take this for all you do for us.” I thanked him graciously. Oh, and there was the perfectly good tomato found near the curb on Kenhill Drive near Rt 197. I don’t know if people are playing mind games with me as two days earlier I ran into Geraldine Valentino Smith at Shoppers Food Warehouse in Crofton, and the Bowie Blade News had an article that day about the nutritional value of tomatoes. But, the tomato did make a good sandwich. Thanks! • The former Bowie Economic Development Commission Chairman Sherman Ragland has been awarded the Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation by the CCIM Institute, one of the leading commercial real estate associations in the world. The designation was awarded October 16, 2008 during the Institute meetings in Chicago, IL. Ragland was among a group of 368 commercial real estate investment professionals from across the United States who earned the designation by passing the Institute’s 6-Hour Comprehensive Examination, the final element in the designation process. Sherman Ragland is the President of the Greater Washington, DC Real Estate Investors Association (DCREIA.COM) and is the Managing Director of the Prince George’s Fund, a Private Equity Fund that Manages direct and syndicated commercial real estate investments of a select group of high net worth residents of Prince George’s County, MD. Ragland is also the past Chairman of the City of Bowie Economic Development Commission and is the Chairman-Elect of the Prince George’s Chamber of Commerce. He and his wife and three children live in Bowie, MD. CCIMs are widely recognized as experts in commercial real estate transactions, including transaction structuring, syndication, asset management, valuation, and investment analyses. The Chicago-based CCIM Institute is an affiliate of the National Association of Realtors® and is the governing body of the largest commercial real estate network in the world. Congratulations to Sherman! • I got quite a good laugh when I read the hoax story in the Bowie Blade News about bogus code enforcement notices being sent out under the Mayor’s name – although the hoax originator got the Mayor’s name incorrect. But, the thought of Gee Fred getting calls at home from irate Bowieites did put a smile on my face until I realized the story itself was a hoax planted in the Bowie Blade News just so Gee Fred could call someone “pond scum” in the Aunt Agatha column. Well Golly Gee Fred, I wonder who Gee Fred had in mind? His description in the Aunt Agatha column didn’t fit anyone in Bowie that I know. • I have recently reconnected with 5 former classmates from 1960s Bowie Somerset Elementary School on the popular professional network site, Linkedin.com. One childhood friend, Jack Faer, went on from Somerset to be a Senior Vice President of Fidelity Investments. Another Bowie boy made good! • And speaking of the popular professional relationship website, The Bowie City Activist notices The honorable District 3 Councilman Todd Turner is now connected with 2007 District 3 Challenger Mary Ellen Winlund. Should we read something more into this connection? • Attendance at the Legislative Open House this year with Delegates Hubbard, Holmes and Levi and Senator Doug JJ Peters was sparse this year considering the current financial crisis. It was a rather low key event. • Mark Hammet, the popular St. Pius school teacher, musician and former city politician, looked good recently when we ran into each other at Chaney’s Auto Service. I still laugh at the memory of little Jackie Jenkins sitting at a candidate forum during the 1998 city election flanked with mighty Michael McArdle at one side of him and Mark Hammet sporting a pony tail on the other side him. Hammet played a similar role that Jim Golato played in the 2005 City election. I asked Mark if he thought about running for Council again, and his politically correct reply was a definite “Maybe”. • District 2 Councilwoman Diane Polangin reminds everyone that now that it is tax time, the scam artists will be hard at work. She reminds us the IRS will never contact you by e-mail. She just received a scam e-mail in her office and have reported it to the IRS. She reminds us to be careful. • Oh good grief! Is the hapless Dennis Brady (yawn) dying his hair? You certainly don’t see Councilman Jimmy Marcos dying his hair! • My daughter and another third generation Bowieite had a “sleepover” recently at my home. About midnight, the girls said they wanted to go to Taco Bell’s drive thru still open on a Saturday night/early Sunday morning. On the way back as we drove up Superior Lane, the girls got a lecture about how lucky they were because 1960s Bowie didn’t have anything to offer for a midnight snack – or even a 9 O’clock snack. While driving past Carousel Carpets on Superior Lane, I told the girls that the building that now houses Carousel Carpet was built to be Bowie’s first movie theatre. My daughter’s friend said her father says the same thing whenever they drive by Carousel Carpet as well. But here is a piece of Bowie trivia: What was the first movie to play in Bowie’s first movie theatre? The answer is provided at the end of this blog column. • The Bowie Baysox is Bowie’s professional minor league franchise. Perhaps someday I will display the article on The Bowie City Activist website in which Mayor Dick Logue said nobody here was interested when Maryland Baseball Limited Partnership owner Peter Kirk first approached the City and announced he wanted to put a minor league franchise in Bowie. But did you know the Baysox are not the first professional sports franchise in Bowie? The city once hosted a professional lacrosse team franchise. The professional franchise only played one season here at Bowie Senior High School in a league that included teams from New York and New Jersey. The Bowie Blade News gave our professional lacrosse team good coverage. • I recently informed a group of shoppers at Safeway, Marketplace that there has always been a grocery store at that location since the early 1960s. Long time Bowieites will remember Food Fair as our first modern grocery store and was the anchor store along with Peoples Drug store (now known as CVS) at the old open style Belair Shopping Center where Safeway now operates. • Starbucks announced a second round of store closings as hard times fall on the retail coffee shop giant. My question is will the Bowie Plaza Starbucks survive the cut? Every time I venture into the Bowie Plaza Starbucks, the store is almost as empty as nearby T J Elliots. • Answer to the Bowie trivia question asked earlier in this column: Debbie Reynolds in “The Singing Nun”. And to the reader that asked, no - Connie Jenkins did not do a movie review for the Bowie Blade News. That was way before the conflict of interest Jack Jenkins/Bowie Blade News barter arrangement exchanging free movie reviews written by wife Connie for John Rouse "the louse" in exchange for Bowie Blade News political endorsements. Diane Polangin wasted about $8,000 of campaign finance money in the 2005 city election but for the Jack Jenkins City of Bowie/John Rouse "the louse" Bowie Blade News political corruption blocking equal opportunity for this qualified woman in 2005! For some reason, the term "sexist pig" comes to my mind when I think about what John Rouse "the louse" did in the 2005 city election with his barter arrangement with that little brown nose suck-up, Jackie Jenkins. Shame on you John Rouse - no wonder you run from me like the coward you are every time you see me in a public place. Notice: Content on this website may not be copied or reproduced without permission. © 2009 – The Dahms Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

ROBINSON/DEUTSCH "WHITES ONLY" SEGREGATED CITY HALL A DISGRACE TO BOWIE (Added February 22,2009) Late in 2008, I blew the whistle and exposed the City of Bowie administration under Council Mayor Fred Robinson and City CEO David Deutsch for what it truly is – a segregated “whites only” administration where the only concentration of African American workers can be found among the city’s garbage collectors. By the way, our garbage collectors are the hardest working city employees in the City of Bowie. The following letter of Complaint has been sent to the NAACP. Please spread this information throughout Prince Georges County and join me in helping to bring back good government to my hometown of 50 years. Richard December 16, 2008 NAACP 9201 Basil Court - Suite 115 Largo, Maryland 20774 Subject: Civil Rights Complaint of Racial Discrimination in the City of Bowie To the Executive Committee, It has come to my attention that the City of Bowie under City Manager David Deutsch has failed to provide Equal Opportunity employment to minorities among the top jobs in Bowie City government. Mr. Deutsch’s long duration in office as the unelected Chief Executive Officer of the City of Bowie has been detrimental and harmful to promoting equal opportunity advancement among African Americans in the administration of Bowie City government. A working definition of racial discrimination in an organizational context is a situation where an unequal distribution of power is allocated along racial lines. It must be systematic throughout an organization. A recent survey of Mr. Deutsch’s administration found a rather shocking discovery that a lack of racial diversity exists among the top City Hall jobs which “a rational man or woman” would find extremely unusual for a taxpayer financed public organization - all of Mr. Deutsch’s direct reports with the exception of Police Chief, are all Caucasian. Additionally, the community has informed me that there also exists a second tier of staff that is almost entirely Caucasian as well. This unusual lack of racial diversity among the top jobs in Bowie City Government calls into question Mr. Deutsch’s long duration in public office as the Chief Executive Officer of the City of Bowie, his hiring practices, and his performance reviews of subordinates among the various tiers in his organization. The Bowie City Council was placed on public notice on July 4, 2007 by this citizen to rotate the City manager in accordance with both the principle and the law of Article 34 of our State Constitution Declaration of Rights. Maryland Appellate Courts have never ruled whether Article 34 applies to the municipalities in Maryland. Without going into too much detail in this letter, my July 4, 2007 letter arose from Mr. Deutsch’s misconduct during the 2005 Bowie City elections, and the Bowie City Council’s failure to investigate Mr. Deutsch’s misconduct. In closing, I believe Mr. Deutsch’s long duration as City manager is not only dangerous to liberty in this Maryland city, his long duration also promotes legacy racial discrimination in the City of Bowie and promotes an unequal distribution of power in the city’s top jobs that are allocated along racial lines. I ask for the NAACP to review this Civil Rights Complaint of Racial Discrimination in the City of Bowie and join me in calling for Mr. Deutsch’s removal as City Manager of Bowie. Respectfully, Richard A. Dahms City of Bowie, Maryland Racial Composition of Incumbent Top Positions As of February 12, 2009 City Manager David Deutsch - Caucaison (Note: Per the City Charter, the City Manager is the Chief Executive Officer of the City). The City CEO’s Direct Reports are: 1. Assistant City Manager John Fitzwater – Caucaision 2. City Manager Office: City Clerk: Pam Fleming - Caucaision Assistant to the City Manager: Denise Mahoney - Caucaison Personnel: Mr. Clinton – Caucaison Communications: Una Cooper – Caucaison Emergency Management: Mr. Creveling – Caucaison 3. Police Department: Chief Katherine Perez – Hispanic 4. Information Technology: Robert Boller - Caucaison 5. Finance: Robert Patrick – Caucaison 6. Community Services: Lawrence Pierce – Caucaison 7. Planning: Joe Meinhert – Caucaision 8. Public Works: Jim Henrikson – Caucaison In addition to the above, the contracted City Attorney Bobby Levan and daughter Elisa Levan (Nepotism) are both Caucaison. There is a second tier of top jobs in Bowie City Government administration reporting to the above identified Department heads (The following list may not be exhaustive; a thorough and complete review of the racial composition for entire City of Bowie organization is required): Police department: Deputy Chief John Nesky - Caucaision Community Services: Assistant Director Sally Hein – Caucaision Planning: John Henry King – Economic Development Director – Caucaision Public Works: Assistant Director Dan Layton - Caucaision City Outreach Coordinator Leni Stern - Caucaison What a disgrace these two City Hall Clowns, Fred Robinson and David Deutsch, are to the people of Bowie. And let me remind everyone that Fred Robinson's political affiliation is DEMOCRAT - a democrat overseeing a segregated "whites only" administration in a county that is predominantly African American, monopolized by Democrats, and prides itself on its diversity. The word "Hypocrite" certainly comes to mind when I watched Fred Robinson on cable TV televising the City of Bowie's Dr. Martin Luther King Day activities. What an outrage and disrespect to Dr. King's Legacy. Fred Robinson speaking at an event honoring Dr. King is analogous to a Nazi SS lieutenant speaking at the Holocaust Memorial honoring Holocaust victims. It is an outrage and disgrace. Deutsch should have been fired in 2005 for interfering with Diane Polangin’s campaign on election night using a contracted PG County police officer to interfere with her poll watcher – a violation of the Code of Bowie that states his actions are grounds for dismissal. But, Deutsch’s long duration as the unelected City CEO has been more harmful to Bowie’s African American population as we can see by his failure to provide equal employment opportunity among his top City Hall positions. Deutsch, a “Napoleonic” little man, ought to be run out of Bowie. Or better yet, a good old fashioned "tar and feathered" Deutsch placing him in stocks out in front of Bowie City Hall for public display would be more appropriate. BOWIE BRIEFS • What a hoot! The Burt and Ernie Bowie News and Views Show on Channel 77 kept me in stitches laughing. The ever eloquent Bowie businessman Burt Oliver plays the straight man on the Cable Channel 77 program across from an Uncle Fester look alike from the 1960s show Adams Family. Now if Burt Oliver can just put a light bulb in John Rouse’s mouth and it lights up, Rouse would be a shoe in for the Uncle Fester role in any Adams Family re-makes. • And speaking of the Burt and Ernie Bowie News and Views Show, if Jim Travland can do something about the glaring light bouncing off John Rouse the louse’s head it would improve the show. Perhaps some make-up on Rouses big bald head would help. • I recently ran into Joe Hines, a candidate from the 2000 Bowie City Council elections. The former city politician reports he is still living in South Bowie and his family is growing. • While I was checking out at the Giant at Freestate Mall, the lady at the register called me “sir” at which I replied to a friend who I happened to see walking by, “Did you hear that? Someone in my hometown of almost 50 years called me sir”. My friend responded real loud so everyone could hear, “Well, I bet it wasn’t Fred Robinson”. People waiting in the checkout line suddenly started laughing! Notice: Content on this website may not be copied or reproduced without permission. © 2009 – The Dahms Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.