A Message to You Rudy: Ex-mayor may have aided decision to keep Police Chief

It looks like Randy Rudy’s job as chief of the Aberdeen Police Department is safe - at least for the time being - although it remains unclear whether Mayor Mike Bennett is giving the chief a chance or simply had his hands tied thanks to a parting gift from the city’s former mayor.

In an email written by Bennett last week and provided by Art Helton, the mayor made it clear he wants Rudy to remain the city’s police chief, but, beyond that, he wants Aberdeen’s top cop to be the one running the department. Under the administration of former Mayor Fred Simmons it was often questioned who was running the Aberdeen Police Department - Rudy or Simmons.

“Chief Rudy is a law enforcement professional whom I respect. I have had several conversations with him over the past month and shared with him my desire for him to run his dept,” Bennett wrote.

“We talked about his being placed in a secondary position over the past 2 years and I assured him that I was going to give him an opportunity to run his dept. and that unless I had a brainstorm (I do have some experience in this area) I would work through the City Manager,” he continued. Continue reading A Message to You Rudy: Ex-mayor may have aided decision to keep Police Chief

Proactive Police Protect People, Prevent Problems, Procure Praise/Prize

Though occasionally accused of being too aggressive and militaristic of law enforcement initiatives for such a small city, the Aberdeen Police Department’s surveillance camera system and Rapid Response Team (RRT) have undoubtedly helped proactively combat crime and clean up city streets.

At a ceremony in Glen Burnie on Tuesday, those efforts by Aberdeen Police were officially recognized when the law enforcement agency was the recipient a pair of crime prevention awards handed out by Gov. Martin O’Malley.

The Governor’s Crime Prevention Award for Outstanding Proactive Crime Prevention Programs in Maryland was awarded to the Aberdeen Police Department for both its Camera Surveillance Project and its Rapid Response Team Safe Street Initiative. Continue reading Proactive Police Protect People, Prevent Problems, Procure Praise/Prize

Return to Sender: What do Aberdeen police have to do to get an RSVP from their mayor?

For the last three weeks, representatives of the Aberdeen Police Department and Municipal Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 128 have been trying to arrange a meeting with newly elected Mayor Mike Bennett.

In that time, at least two letters of invitation sent to Bennett from the FOP have been met with no response, yet the new mayor has found time to meet with Aberdeen’s auxiliary police department - a group in which Bennett’s unofficial and ultimately unsuccessful running mate Steve Johnson is a member.

What’s more, city police officers are now concerned about what they have been told will be the beginning of informal interviews this week conducted by members of Bennett’s 30-person transition team.

“The current concern is that we are not confident in some of the members of the transition team. We believe that there is a conflict of interest and we want to ensure we are represented fairly and accurately. Given the makeup of the team we requested the meeting to give the mayor the majority point of view,” said Aberdeen police officer and FOP Lodge 128 acting president David Swain. Continue reading Return to Sender: What do Aberdeen police have to do to get an RSVP from their mayor?

An Army of One

Newly elected Aberdeen Mayor Mike Bennett has announced the membership of his 30-person transition team, which includes his own brother, Art Helton and wife, four failed city council candidates, a former city mayor, a former Havre de Grace police chief and a handful of annexation opponents.

The group, which convened Tuesday night in City Hall and will operate under the control of Helton, has until mid-January to report back to Bennett with information about the failures in city government operation and function.

In forming his team, Bennett was apparently looking for a broad cross section of folks that represented talent in various areas as well as a population diversity representing a cross section of Aberdeen’s citizenry, according to Helton.

Evidently, there are a few names yet to be added to the list once confirmed by Bennett. Any guesses? Continue reading An Army of One

Artfully Done: How To Win An Election The Wrong Way

Like cigarettes, booze or Russian Roulette, it is almost assured that too much of a bad thing will kill you.

At least that’s the hope of Art Helton - political dinosaur, Democratic kingmaker and frequent target of opponents looking to tank the campaigns of candidates with whom he is associated.

Over the weekend, Helton was again the main character in the latest in a string of negative advertisements and vicious smear campaign tactics targeting the candidates he and the New Harford Democratic Club are supporting in the Nov. 6 Aberdeen municipal election. Continue reading Artfully Done: How To Win An Election The Wrong Way

Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off

As of 9 o’clock this morning life is officially back to normal in Aberdeen.

Well, as normal as can be expected in a city where the gun-toting, airplane-flying mayor is being taken on by a 19-year-old college student, the best source of potable water is straight from the Bay and a Hall of Fame baseball player has nearly bankrupt the place.

Ignoring the advice of his lawyer and legal counsel, who still believe his case to be winnable, Steve Johnson, the would-be city council candidate who may or may not live in Aberdeen, has decided to officially abandon his quest to appear on the Nov. 6 election ballot.

That’s right, I said Nov. 6. Because of Johnson’s decision to withdraw his injunction, he believes the election can proceed as originally planned instead of being postponed until February 2008 or later.

“More important than my candidacy is for this election to go off on time,” Johnson said in an interview Sunday afternoon. Continue reading Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off

Show Me The Money

The 13 Aberdeen candidates for mayor and city council have raised more than $40,000 among them, but more than two-thirds of those funds are found in the campaign war chests of just two people – Mayor S. Fred Simmons and incumbent councilman David Yensan.

The duo, which campaigned together two years ago when they were both elected for the first time, has raised more than twice as much money as the other 11 candidates for mayor and city council combined.

Unsurprisingly, Simmons and Yensan, who have been joined at the hip both politically and in their city voting records, share nearly identical campaign finance reports, which show thousands of dollars being donated by entities and individuals with vested interests in the mayor and his right-hand man staying on board for another term.

Get familiar with some of these campaign contributors and political donors. Their names will pop up time and time again. Just like the Matrix (hey, whatever happened to the city’s infamous Matrix anyway?!), the longer you stare at these lists, the better you’ll be able to see the true alignment of the candidates. More so than the color of a T-shirt or which side of the aisle they sit on in city hall, nothing tells the story of an election more than where the money is coming from. Continue reading Show Me The Money

The Day the Election Stood Still (updated)

Experts say the most important thing to remember in a hostage situation is to not attempt to negotiate or argue with the hostage taker.

They also recommend against making threats, demands or personal attacks as a means to diffuse the situation.

On Thursday, the Aberdeen City Council got about half the guidelines right – avoiding direct confrontation with the man holding its future hostage, but at the same time laying into him with a savage display of public repugnance.

You see, as of Wednesday afternoon, would-be council candidate Steve Johnson and his team of lawyers and political advisors effectively took the Aberdeen election hostage. Continue reading The Day the Election Stood Still (updated)

Thanks for the Memories

Some field notes I scribbled down during Wednesday night’s candidate’s forum in Aberdeen:

The Master of Ceremonies mistakenly skipped over and forgot to announce the name of city council candidate Bernard DeWitt. Then, as the catcalls picked up in intensity and he recognized his mistake, the MC had to back up, bend over and look at DeWitt’s name tag before finally saying his name over the sound system.

As much as we all want to love, embrace her and support the idea of her dark horse candidacy, why oh why, did the first 5 words out of 19-year-old mayoral candidate Nicole Burlew’s mouth have to literally be “I don’t really know anything…”?

I was surprised to see every mayoral and city council candidate in attendance Wednesday and I mean EVERY – Steve Johnson, wearing a nice sports jacket, was seated on the periphery with the rest of us who will not be appearing on the Nov. 6 ballot. Recently invalidated as a candidate because he doesn’t reside within the municipal limits of Aberdeen, Johnson, according to the rules of the forum, wasn’t even permitted to submit a question for his one-time fellow candidates. I wonder what he might have asked? Continue reading Thanks for the Memories

In Atlas We Trust

As one Dagger reader in attendance described it, last night’s Aberdeen FOP candidates forum was “pretty vanilla.” That it was. There were no meaningful outbursts from the crowd, and only glimmers of passion from the candidates. Even the powerful Redshirts showed up in their new, more subdued blue shirts. The questions, written down by attendees and apparently selected for mildness by FOP officials, were beach balls. But some of what went down before – and after – the forum was a bit more interesting.

Before things got started, as 19-year-old mayoral candidate Nicole Burlew (who could make national news with her campaign if she sharpens her act just a bit) stood for a TV interview, we at the Dagger hung out in the background at Festival Park, booting a soccer ball around. Mayor Simmons stopped by, and it was only a matter of minutes before he’d removed his suit jacket and was bearing his right bicep, showing off fresh ink. Flew the guy up from Florida to do the job, Fred said, explaining that he’d been to famous tattoo shops in Vegas and South Beach, but could never find an “artist” qualified to give him his only tattoo: that of Atlas. Anyone who’s been in the War Room at City Hall might have noticed a statue of the Greek Titan, a revelatory symbol of Fred’s guiding philosophy; the same, still red from the etching now holds up a bluish sphere on the mayor’s arm. Just as the conversation turned to how clean the park looked, a homeless woman approached to ask Fred why he doesn’t put out ashtrays. Continue reading In Atlas We Trust

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