How Will Hogan Affect Baltimore? (California, Mayo: 2015, contractors, wages)

[Jermaine88]

Originally Posted by choccity

Wow. I didn't hear that. What about the Purple Line?

I don't know, he's probably against that too. I do remember reading during the election that he was opposed to the transportation projects.

[pwduvall]

Originally Posted by Jermaine88

I don't know, he's probably against that too. I do remember reading during the election that he was opposed to the transportation projects.

Republican governors that take over from democrats tend to propose major expansions in the road networks. That doesn't leave any money for transit.

[North Beach Person]

First thing you're going to see are going to be cuts to close the 1/2 Billion deficit this year as well as the same amount next year. That will hit discretionary spending across the board. I seem to remember that gambling was going to make those kinds of deficits an unpleasant memory. Oh well.

At best for a couple years is status quo on a lot of projects. The gas tax just went up but the revenue from that won't be what was projected (no one counted on gas prices dropping like they have). Remember, when the gas tax was increased the legislation carved out what was supposed to go where from the increase. You might see some nibbling at transit projects but unless the legislation is changed the base amount is pretty much set.

[mapmd]

Originally Posted by Jermaine88

Well he's cutting the Redline. There are many in this state who wish he was around when the lightrail and subway were being planned.

You need to either have a very large system with many lines and several dozen stops or just don't have one at all.

Where does the light rail go? Between the Airport and a medium sized residential area while passes through downtown? It also takes more than an hour. Metro? Ok so you get some traffic from Owings Mills down to the hospital.

If we're going to have it, lets make it effective and useful.

The light rail doesn't even go to Towson University or GBMC which are a huge shame since those service tens of thousands of people for educational and medical needs over the years. It doesn't pass near Johns Hopkins or near Morgan, all of which I think would benefit from the light rail (and from which the light rail would benefit). How about that industrial park up past Cockeysville toward Hunt Valley? Hmmm....come on lets be creative when planning these things out.

Baltimore I think would benefit form a "rail wheel" going around the city like the beltway does, with spokes shooting toward the center and across. Envision the current light rail as simply the top and bottom spokes, and the metro as the west/northwest spoke of the wheel.

But as far as I can tell if you can't get from say Catonsville to Parkville or from Essex to Glen Burnie or from Pasadena to Pikesville then what good is the system for folks out in the burbs? Obviously any system will connect with downtown in multiple ways.

As for getting to the stadiums, well then the rail is just a way of extending/transplanting the parking lots, which I guess is a good thing, but tell me again why any Maryland mass transit system (bus doesn't count, you're still using the same roads as everyone else) doesn't even connect to D.C. or to Annapolis or Frederick? Why not along with Baltimore make one big square between those four cities with an 'X' crossing between them hitting Columbia as the center of the box?

[tcave360]

Originally Posted by choccity

Wow. I didn't hear that. What about the Purple Line?

Probably try to cut that too (don't know how, last I check wasn't the Purple Line completely paid for from both private and state money?) and try to direct funds towards new roads that hardly anyone would use. We'll see though, he may sing a different tune. The Red Line project up in Bmore may be at the most risk of seeing funds cut.

[choccity]

Gov.-elect Larry Hogan eyes revitalizing Baltimore - Baltimore Sun

Interesting article. I have always said small improvements will move the city along as opposed to those big grand projects that burn out or don't work.

[debold4215]

Those who have responded to this question have noted some pretty sophisticated insights and dilemmas as a Republican governor stands to take over the state, and Baltimore, a largely democratic city, struggles to maintain solvency. But why was Hogan chosen over Brown ? Probably because most of the people in Maryland did not see the expected results in Baltimore that had hoped to see as a result of paying taxes to support Baltimore financially. As a whole the people of this state have been generous in their support of Baltimore. But support with out the expected results has led many to feel like they have been taken advantage of and that breeds contempt. There is a fine line between helping somebody and enabling them. Baltimore's crime rate has change very little over the past decade whereas many other large cities have shown significant decreases in violent crime. Also their has been a significant increase in the past few years of people who are dependent upon the city and state for financial support. The city is going to have to make some difficult decisions between supporting large ticket items or their own population. As the election confirmed in this state and nationally the people are tired of the tax and spend mentality of the democrats, particularly if it does not help to change social ills. Baltimore is again experiencing an increase in late teen pregnancies. In essence this means a prolong dependency on the state for support for these families and future crime. I do not believe that it is a coincidence that Baltimore has had three times the national average of teen pregnancies and a high crime rate.

[rudy_d]

Originally Posted by debold4215

Those who have responded to this question have noted some pretty sophisticated insights and dilemmas as a Republican governor stands to take over the state, and Baltimore, a largely democratic city, struggles to maintain solvency. But why was Hogan chosen over Brown ? Probably because most of the people in Maryland did not see the expected results in Baltimore that had hoped to see as a result of paying taxes to support Baltimore financially. As a whole the people of this state have been generous in their support of Baltimore. But support with out the expected results has led many to feel like they have been taken advantage of and that breeds contempt.

Baltimore is hardly struggling to maintain solvency. It's credit rating was recently upgraded to the highest level in 50 years:

Baltimore Sells Debt Rated at 50-Year High: Muni Deals - Bloomberg

I voted for Hogan, but that decision had absolutely nothing to do with the state's support of Baltimore City. Like it or not, Baltimore is a huge economic engine for the state of Maryland. The state should require greater financial accountability for city officials, but it can't let the city fail. Hogan is not an idiot. He obviously recognizes the importance of Baltimore City.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/mar...230-story.html

[pwduvall]

Originally Posted by debold4215

Those who have responded to this question have noted some pretty sophisticated insights and dilemmas as a Republican governor stands to take over the state, and Baltimore, a largely democratic city, struggles to maintain solvency. But why was Hogan chosen over Brown ? Probably because most of the people in Maryland did not see the expected results in Baltimore that had hoped to see as a result of paying taxes to support Baltimore financially. As a whole the people of this state have been generous in their support of Baltimore. But support with out the expected results has led many to feel like they have been taken advantage of and that breeds contempt. There is a fine line between helping somebody and enabling them. Baltimore's crime rate has change very little over the past decade whereas many other large cities have shown significant decreases in violent crime. Also their has been a significant increase in the past few years of people who are dependent upon the city and state for financial support. The city is going to have to make some difficult decisions between supporting large ticket items or their own population. As the election confirmed in this state and nationally the people are tired of the tax and spend mentality of the democrats, particularly if it does not help to change social ills. Baltimore is again experiencing an increase in late teen pregnancies. In essence this means a prolong dependency on the state for support for these families and future crime. I do not believe that it is a coincidence that Baltimore has had three times the national average of teen pregnancies and a high crime rate.

Even though Baltimore City receives the most per capita state aid, Caroline, Wicomico, Somerset, Allegany, and Dorchester Counties receive about the same or even more of their budgets from state aid. This is because the city has much higher tax rates. Unless the new governor can persuade the legislature to fundamentally change the funding formulas, these counties will feel as much or more pain as the city from cuts in state aid. I find it hard to believe that the legislature will perform gymnastics to in order to hold these strongly Republican counties harmless and cut only the city. Why would they do that?

[rudy_d]

I agree wholeheartedly with Dave:

https://medium.com/@davetroy/gov-hog...e-f1b195740121