Maryland – Gary Bennett Publishing

Affordable housing bills well represented in new session

By Gary Bennett and Hugh Gordon

This article appears in the February 10, 2024, issue of the Fredrick News-Post’s Opinion section.

The Affordable Housing Council of Frederick County is pleased to see there is clear recognition by the Maryland General Assembly, as evidenced by the actions it is taking, of the massive shortage of affordable housing across all of Maryland.

When the 90-day 2024 session kicked off on Jan. 10, it had prefilings over more than 800 proposed bills, many of which overlap. Of these, more than 200 deal with housing, affordable housing or related subject areas. All will be heard in committees in which Frederick County is well represented.

Despite the Affordable Housing Council’s urging, no housing-related priorities made it into the Frederick County Council’s 2024 legislative package. However, the County Council did provide several position statements supporting affordable housing initiatives and particularly the landlord/tenant “just cause” eviction notice.

The Affordable Housing Council has identified the following seven bills as important to advocate for and actively track during their monthly deliberations.

• HB3: Expedited Development Review Processes for Affordable Housing — sponsored by Del. Vaughn Stewart of Montgomery County. It requires local jurisdictions to implement an expedited development review process for affordable housing.

This bill is especially attractive since it mirrors the governor’s wish to reduce the public hearing process used to delay projects or have them narrowed and a 2024 policy priority for the local Affordable Housing Council to streamline Frederick County’s and the city of Frederick’s permitting process to accelerate affordable housing projects.

• HB7: Housing Innovation Pilot Program and Housing Innovation Fund — also sponsored by Stewart. It proposes establishing a housing innovation pilot program at Maryland’s Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) for providing loans for local housing authorities to develop mixed-income, cross-subsidized housing.

DHCD, the primary housing authority for the state, funds or insures loans for the purchase and construction of housing for low-income families; helps low- and moderate-income families buy or rehabilitate houses; and aids nonprofit organizations with grants or loans to house the elderly, developmentally disabled and homeless.

This bill dovetails nicely with Frederick County’s stated goal for its Division of Housing to expand further into the world of housing finance by prioritizing outside funding opportunities to create and preserve affordable housing.

• HB63: Property Tax Credit for Dwelling House of Disabled Veterans — sponsored by Del. Andrew Pruski of Anne Arundel County. It provides for a tax credit for dwelling houses of disabled veterans as declared by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.

• SB25: Disabled or Fallen Law Enforcement Officer or Rescue Worker Property Tax Credits — sponsored by Sen. Katherine Klausmeier of Baltimore County. It proposes a tax credit for disabled or fallen law enforcement officers or rescue workers.

• HB69: Live Where You Teach Program — sponsored by Del. Marlon Amprey of Baltimore City. It authorizes the Community Development Administration in the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development to administer a homebuyer assistance program and a rental assistance program for housing near schools where school employees want to live.

• SB90, sponsored by Sen. Antonio Hayes of Baltimore City, is proposing that $200,000 be appropriated for CDA to apply to the Live Where You Teach Program.

This bill, if passed, would only apply at this time to the school staff in Baltimore City, but the positive ramifications for teachers statewide could be huge in the future.

• HB154: Revaluation of Property on Transfer After Appeal — sponsored by the chair of the Ways and Means Committee on behalf of the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation. It provides for a homeowner’s property tax credit for applications submitted within three years after April 15 of the taxable year for which the credit is sought. This means that if the assessment of the property is reduced upon appeal, the taxpayer pays the lower amount.

• HB138: Financial Literacy for All Act — also sponsored by Amprey. It proposes financial literacy requirements as part of required curriculum for students. Financial literacy is an important component for understanding prerequisites for buying, renting or financing a home.

All of these proposed bills are important building blocks for the creation, preservation or financing of affordable homes in the state of Maryland.

We are heartened that help is on the way for millions of Marylanders who can’t afford the home they need.

Editor’s note: Gary Bennett is a retired marketing executive. Hugh Gordon is the association executive for the Frederick County Association of Realtors and has decades of experience in the real estate world, including 24 years as a mortgage banker. They are longtime Frederick County residents and members of Frederick’s Affordable Housing Council.

Going downee ocean, hon: Ocean City in the winter

By Gary Bennett

The gloriously empty Ocean City beach in winter.

This article appears in the December 14, 2023 issue of Frederick News-Post’s “72 Hours” entertainment insert.

Ask a Marylander where they’re going this summer, and chances are you’ll hear the typical “Merlin” response, “downee ocean, hon!” (Translation: Down to the ocean, my friend.)

Of course, when you go to the ocean in Maryland, you’re going to just one place: Maryland’s iconic beach resort, Ocean City.

But let’s face it, Ocean City in the summer is not for everyone. It can be loud and obnoxious. I know it can be an acquired taste for many, including myself. But, as with, say, a stern mother-in-law, if you can give yourself a chance to know and love her, you’ll be repaid many times over.

There’s good news for people like us: We can fall in love with Ocean City all over again in the winter. It’s really the perfect antidote to the winter blues. So, if you haven’t tried Ocean City with a chill in the air, you’re in for a treat. A calm, quiet treat.

CITY SIZE

In the off-season, Ocean City returns to being a small village of about 7,000 residents, down from about 320,000 in the summer. This is about the size of Walkersville! With so few people and so much land and infrastructure, you’ll have plenty of room to spread out and relax.

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Be advised: Ocean City is open in the winter. Not everything, of course, but everything that matters.

You’ll still have the iconic boardwalk paralleling the Atlantic Ocean from First to 27th Street. You’ll still have about 10 miles of sandy beaches to explore. You’ll still have beautiful sunrises over the ocean and sunsets over the bay.

When you bundle up for a brisk walk on the smooth, wooden-planked boardwalk in the winter, you’ll have plenty of room to watch the crashing waves without crashing into fellow tourists. Believe it or not, fires are also allowed on the beach, with a permit.

Most of the familiar boardwalk haunts will be open at least for limited hours in the winter. I’ve frequented all these in the winter myself: Thrasher’s French Fries, Wockenfuss Candy, Fisher’s Popcorn, The Dough Roller, M.R. Ducks and Purple Moose Saloon, to name a few.

HOTELS

Not all hotels are open in the winter, but you should have no trouble finding perfectly acceptable oceanfront properties to unwind and gaze upon the waves. Most will have indoor pools, too. The name-brand hotels are your best bet in the winter. Also, be sure to search out local favorites Carousel and Princess Royale. They and others will feature specials for Valentine’s Day and the long President’s Day weekend.

RESTAURANTS

Many of the smaller restaurants on the boardwalk are closed in the winter, but don’t despair. Food options are plentiful year-round for locals and brave tourists. I recommend Harborside Bar and Grill, which reopens Dec. 15, for burgers and comfort food, in West Ocean City. Fager’s Island is a fine upscale restaurant worth visiting in North Ocean City. Other local favorites are Marlin Moon, Palm, Coral Reef, Captain’s Table and The Restaurant at Lighthouse Sound.

DOGS AND BIKES

If you have dogs and want to bring them along, the offseason (Oct. 1 to April 30) is for you. Dogs are allowed on the beach anytime. You’ll have ample room to throw that frisbee or play ball. For a little green space, head up to 94th Street for the Dog Playground. It comes complete with a doggie pool, a small dog area and covered seating with plenty of benches. You’ll need to register your dogs in person at Northside Park on 125th Street or online at oceancitymd.gov/rec. Passes are $10 for one day and $20 for three days.

On those relatively warm winter days that are become increasingly normal, head out by boat to the sandbar just north of Hooper’s Crab House where you’ll likely see plenty of dogs frolicking in the shallow water.

Bring your bike, too. Bikes are also allowed on the boardwalk at any time in the winter. The same goes for rollerblades, scooters and other self-propelled and small engine apparatuses. Rentals will be hard to find, so bring your own. Up and down the boardwalk from start to finish is a perfect 5-mile circuit.

Dogs frolic in the cold, shallow Ocean City surf.

FISHING

The typical fishing season in Ocean City is May through October, so you may not be able to charter an excursion during the off-season, but you can do some ocean, bay, surf or pier fishing on your own any time of year. A valid fishing license for the Atlantic Ocean and coastal bays is required.

Ocean City bills itself as the “white marlin capital of the world,” but several other species are plentiful and in season at any time of year, including American eel, black drum, black sea bass, bluefish, croaker, grouper, mahi-mahi, red drum, Spanish mackerel, spotted seatrout, flounder, wahoo, and weakfish.

INDOOR MINI GOLF AND ICE SKATING

Old Pro Golf has an under-cover course at 68th Street called, appropriately, Undersea Adventure. There’s no better way to while away a couple hours putt-putting your way in total warmth through whales’ mouths and windmills and up and down long hills and curves.

The beautiful oceanfront Carousel Hotel at 118th Street has an indoor ice-skating rink open to the public. Between October and May, you can reserve the rink for two-hour time slots for $125 — perfect for a getaway birthday party.

WINTERFEST OF LIGHTS

If you go between Nov. 17 and Dec. 31, you can enjoy Winterfest of Lights, a mammoth display of holiday lights you can stroll or ride through on a handy tram in 58-acre Northside Park. The animated light displays include a 50-foot tree, flying reindeer and hot chocolate and photos with Santa. This is a much larger display than anything available in Frederick. It’s on par, scale-wise, with the large Christmas lights display in Olney but at a fraction of the cost. The price per person to go through the Olney display: $39. Ocean City’s Winterfest: $6.

ASSATEAGUE ISLAND

You can head a little south of Ocean City for a beautiful escape to Assateague Island. The island itself is 37 miles long and spans Maryland and Virginia. You’ll want to stop at Assateague Island State Park, which has two miles of pristine beach. The nearby marshes are the homes for hundreds of species of wildlife you can spot in the off season, including the famous wild horses. The 100 or so horses roam free and make for great photos. But keep your distance. They are wild animals, after all. The Assateague Island National Seashore Visitor Center offers interesting exhibits including marine aquariums, touch tanks and a film about the wild horses.

View from our winter time, ocean front, reasonably-priced hotel.

PUBLIC PARKS

Ocean City is home to several public parks and recreational areas. Some of my favorites include Inlet Park, which is at the southernmost tip of the boardwalk and features great views of the Atlantic and Ocean City’s official time capsule. Northside Park at 125th Street offers 58 acres of hiking trails, a playground, fishing lagoon, picnic areas and an indoor gymnasium. Sunset Park has a bayside promenade with fantastic views of the bay and Assateague. The Downtown Recreation Complex has basketball courts, a skate park, two tennis courts, a playground and an area for bay fishing.

OUTLET MALL IN WEST OCEAN CITY

You can easily spend an entire day at the Outlet Mall in “West O,” as the locals call it. Over 30 outlet shops feature discounts on apparel, footwear, jewelry, handbags, kid’s clothing and eats.

FOX GOLD COAST THEATER

You can kick back and relax in heated recliners and catch the latest movie you can’t seem to find the time to enjoy in Frederick. The theater is on Coastal Highway at 113th Street behind the Goad Coast Mall.

BAR SCENE

If hitting the bars is more your style, Ocean City naps a bit in the winter but certainly doesn’t hibernate. Local favorites like Brass Balls Saloon, Seacrets, Fager’s Island and Pier 23 are open and inviting places to sample local beers and cocktails.

And speaking of local cocktails, don’t forget to sample Ocean City’s own original Orange Crush at just about any bar in town. I heartily recommend you go to the source of this concoction at Harborside Bar and Grill in West Ocean City, where you can also have the best burger in town. Be forewarned, it is the quintessential biker and dive bar.

OCEAN CITY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

For a more genteel evening, head over to the Ocean City Performing Arts Center. Located inside the Roland E. Powell Convention Center at 4001 Coastal Highway, the center provides local, regional and national musical acts, plays and a variety of off-Broadway shows.

The venue is similar to our Weinberg Center, with a 1,200-seat auditorium, two tiers of fixed seating and a concession area. During the off-season, they specialize in orchestral shows, stand-up comedians and tribute shows.

OCEAN CITY LIFE-SAVING MUSEUM

Near the end of the boardwalk at the inlet is the Ocean City Life-Saving Museum. There, you’ll find exhibits of the great storms that have battered Ocean City over the years, sea life, shipwreck finds, mermaids and how life-saving is performed in Ocean City.

BERLIN

The historic town of Berlin is only 8 miles west of Ocean City and well worth a visit. Like Frederick, it has been designated an arts and entertainment district. Its downtown has over 60 retail shops, restaurants, art galleries and music venues. You can explore Berlin’s rich history at Taylor House Museum.

SALISBURY

Salisbury is an easy 30-minute car ride to the west. You won’t want to miss The Country House, “the largest country store in the East,” as it is billed. It’s located at 805 E. Main St. and is quite impressive, with 16,000 square feet of gifts, antiques, home décor, linens, florals, baskets, jewelry, food items and seasonal items.

Gary Bennett is a longtime Frederick resident who spends his time hiking, biking, volunteering and providing childcare for grandchildren. He is married and retired from his career as a nonprofit marketing executive.

The goal-oriented author enjoying a crisp day on the boardwalk.

Maryland’s Quiet Senators

By Gary Bennett

Maryland’s two mostly reticent U.S. senators, Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen.

Quick, can you name Maryland’s two democratic U.S. senators? If you came up with Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen without much effort, then you have better recall than me. And I’m a lifelong democrat who voted for both of them—and in Cardin’s case, multiple times.

There can be no doubt that neither Maryland U.S. senator goes out of his way to seek the limelight. It is difficult to recall the last time either was interviewed on the network news or even prime time cable news, which has hours of content to fill. Van Hollen has been a bit more vocal than Cardin, especially lately, but not by much. Even a search of this newspaper, the respected daily that covers the second largest city in Maryland, yields very little news coverage of either. And surprisingly, despite Frederick County slowly turning blue, neither Cardin nor Van Hollen currently has a Frederick office.

While Maryland’s other statewide office holder, Governor Larry Hogan, has dominated the local airwaves and print media with his management of Maryland’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, Senators Cardin and Van Hollen seem to be satisfied to stay in the background. Indeed, the pandemic and opposition to former President Trump has raised the visibility of Governor Hogan to levels not seen for a Maryland governor since Spiro Agnew in 1968 who was on his way to becoming Richard Nixon’s vice president.

Certainly U.S. senators are not responsible for administering policy at the state level like the governor, but it is perplexing that neither have provided a more vocal public stance in helping to convince Marylanders to do the right thing with masks, social distancing and vaccinations.

And, there hasn’t been much of an opportunity for either senator to shine during the last two years of the Trump presidency. During that time, not much got accomplished in the Senate except the nomination and approval of federal judges. A look at Cardin’s and Van Hollen’s 2019 and 2020 day-by-day voting records shows a series of no votes for almost all federal judges nominated by Trump and not much else. With a new democratic president and a democrat-led Senate in place now, there should be more opportunity to legislate and lead, but we’ll have to see.

With his unobtrusive and low-key persona, it is surprising to find that Ben Cardin is rated as a very effective U.S. senator. According to research conducted by the Center for Effective Lawmaking at Vanderbilt University in 2018, Ben Cardin was ranked as the sixth most effective democratic senator out of 45. At the other end of the spectrum, Chris Van Hollen ranked forty-second, owing mostly to his relatively short time in the Senate and junior status. The democratic senators rated as most effective are Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jon Tester (D-MT), and Gary Peters (D-MI).

To be sure, ranking the effectiveness of U.S. senators is at best a subjective exercise that you are free to discount. After all, the rankings did not take into account important but hard to measure activities such as constituent pride in having them as a senator, loquaciousness, leadership qualities, combativeness toward the other side, constituent service and performing oversight of the executive branch.

But what the study did attempt to do was evaluate the effectiveness of each senator in moving their agenda through every step of the legislative process. The resulting effectiveness scores were based on the number of bills a legislator sponsored, how far each of those bills advanced, and its relative substantive significance. Full rankings, methodology and an executive summary may be found at thelawmakers.org.

Without a doubt, Mr. Cardin’s longevity in the Senate drives his perceived effectiveness. He has been a U.S. senator since 2007. Unless he retires—Mr. Cardin is currently 77 years old—he’ll stand again for reelection in 2024. He is chair of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee and a senior member of the Foreign Relations, Finance, and Environment & Public Works Committees. Among his accomplishments are helping to write the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), sponsoring laws guaranteeing dental care to children under CHIP and prohibiting racial profiling at all levels of law enforcement.

Mr. Van Hollen was elected in 2016 and will stand for reelection in 2022. He has not reached chair or senior member status of any Senate committee yet. He is a member of the Appropriations; Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs; Environment & Public Works; and Budget Committees. He has been unable to make much headway into his stated priorities: ensuring more and better jobs, strengthening small business, and increasing educational and job training opportunities. But there is potential for him to be successful in the Senate. A member of the House from 2002 to 2016, he is credited with pushing through substantial legislation in areas such as protecting the Chesapeake Bay, fighting childhood cancer, and assisting families of children with disabilities.

It’s too early to see what the future holds for either Cardin or Van Hollen. While some senators run for president to simply raise their profiles, it seems unlikely that Van Hollen and especially Cardin will mount such an attempt in the near future. Cardin is 77 years old and may retire at the end of his term in 2024. Van Hollen is 61 and very ambitious. But relatively unknown democratic presidential candidates from Maryland tend to not get too far. Just ask Martin O’Malley and John Delaney.

It seems more likely that Van Hollen will face Larry Hogan in an epic match up for senator in 2022 even though Hogan has said publicly that he is not interested in running for that office after his term as governor ends. After flirting in 2020, he seems more interested in a longshot run for president in 2024. But with his ability to win democratic votes in an overwhelmingly blue state, the pressure for him to run for Senate to help tilt it red may be too strong to turn down. As for Cardin, if he does retire in 2024, the odds-on favorite to replace him has to be our new rising political star, Representative Jamie Raskin, fresh off his star turn in the second Trump impeachment trial.