AT $35 a piece, the 7,200 copies of the 1994-1995 Maryland
Manual are, pound for pound and dollar for dollar, the biggest waste of money by the state.
Less than a month after publication, this 971-page volume of state government offices and officials was hopelessly out of date. Even worse, the editors of this vital handbook knew this would happen -- and yet they went ahead and published this tome that lavishes generous praise on the Schaefer administration.
The problem is that the state was so late in putting out the updated version that when it was finally available, it was almost time for the November elections. Consequently, the entire section on the legislature -- 101 pages -- is now ancient history. Worse, the entire section on the Schaefer administration will be antiquated by the middle of next month when the Glendening administration takes over the executive branch. That part of the manual constitutes 469 pages.
Budget cuts were the primary culprits in postponing this volume far beyond its initial publication date -- mid-1993. One approach would have been to put out a bare-bones interim manual at that time. That, at least, would have updated the official record of state government. Instead, there will forever be a gap in Maryland's official history: the 1991-1992 manual has been succeeded by the 1994-1995 manual. What happened to 1993?
At least there are plans for a new edition next summer to rectify part of this problem. But for historians and those who turn to the Maryland Manual for information and illumination, the state's black hole of 1993 will never be recovered.
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MARYLAND'S governor-elect plans to continue the unorthodox style of occupants of the Governor's Mansion. Parris Glendening won't live there year-round. Until his son graduates from high school in three years, he'll be an occasional user.
The Glendenings will live in Annapolis during summer vacation and possibly winter and spring school breaks. The rest of the time, the mansion will serve as a place for the governor to take a break, freshen up and host social events.
Under the current governor, William Donald Schaefer, the mansion is home for Mr. Schaefer's longtime companion, Hilda Mae Snoops, and occasional home to the governor himself -- when he's not bunking in at his residences in Baltimore, Severna Park or Ocean City.
One unanswered question is the decorating plans of Frances Glendening. Will she denigrate the restoration work done by Ms. Snoops, and re-do the rooms? That's what happened 8 years ago after Harry and Pat Hughes left. More likely is a quiet make-over, along the lines of what occurred in 1979 when the Hugheses were moving in -- and the Marvin Mandels were moving out with every stick of furniture that wasn't nailed down.