Dangerous Acts
I always turn to the Business section first on Monday to read Les Picker's column. As a person who works with and appreciates corporate volunteerism, his Nov. 28 column was especially important.
Unfortunately, one must recognize the risk involved when encouraging employees to "volunteer" in their off hours for same services. While many individuals have unique and special skills -- carpentry, electrical, dry wall, etc. -- some might interpret providing those same services as a volunteer at the encouragement of one's employer as coercion.
As a consultant to the Maryland State Firemen's Association, I am aware of the horrible ripple effect that is devastating the volunteer fire and rescue services within our state and across the nation. I am speaking specifically of an onerous decision by the wage and hour branch of the U.S. Department of Labor.
That decision was, in effect, that a volunteer firefighter in Montgomery County, who also happens to be a career employee of the county Department of Fire and Rescue Services, may no longer serve in his community volunteer fire department.
The result has been a diminution of the fragile relationship between paid and volunteer staff and the requirement that when one volunteers at one's community volunteer fire department, he must be paid at overtime rate for that career position.
The determination was made that the ultimate beneficiary of this service is not the community but the county government. I have attended rallies of firefighters from throughout the mid-Atlantic region protesting this decision before the White House and the U.S. Capitol.
The same decision could be applied to any employer who encourages either actively or passively participation by an employee in corporate community service, where there is no compensation.
I am writing this for the respect I have for corporations, for corporate volunteers. In my opinion, there needs to be reason and balance in application of this 1930 Depression-era U.S. law.
Eileen Cackowski
Baltimore
Terminal Madness
Gov. William Donald Schaefer seems to want to leave office with another memento we really don't need.
I have been on numerous cruises, only one out of Baltimore. It was to Bermuda starting at the Dundalk Marine Terminal. Leaving late in the evening, I remember seeing only a small portion of our bay because of darkness.
It was not until after midnight that we entered the Atlantic Ocean. On return, we re-entered the Chesapeake Bay after 1 a.m. We arrived at the Dundalk Marine Terminal early that morning.
This is, on average, a six-hour trip one way. No one sees the beautiful shores of the bay, since it is at night when the cruise ships travel. Another high cost to the cruise ship operator is the bay pilot. Another cost is that the casino is not allowed to operate while in the harbor area.
It is true that this would bring revenue to Baltimore, but really not at the rate expected after setting up this dockage point. Why is this one place sorted out from many other advantageous points that could be used?
Every port lets the cruise ship fill up with water. At many places they pick up supplies. At most, the ships leave their waste, trash and sewage. Then also consider that these ships need deep water, which means dredging.
Should this be tried, do it on a lease basis. Don't buy good tax-base property that might turn into a white elephant.
I feel the gain is not worth the pain of expense of another William Donald Schaefer memorial.
Roy A. Filbert
Catonsville
Legal Talent
As a Baltimore City taxpayer, I was distressed to read that the city has recently hired a private law firm to serve as lead counsel in the city's planned lawsuit to challenge Maryland's method of funding schools.
The city already employs a fairly large staff of assistant city solicitors (some of whom are compensated as full-time employees and are also permitted to engage in private practice on the side).
Surely, this pool of legal talent, already on the city's payroll, can handle the planned lawsuit.
Susan Somerville-Hawes
Reisterstown
The writer is a Maryland assistant attorney general serving as counsel to Coppin State College.
Too Much O. J.
Everywhere we look, the O. J. Simpson trial is shoved into our faces by the bloodthirsty media. The trial has yet to begin, and the majority of Americans have formed their own opinion on whether the accused is guilty.
There was non-stop coverage of pre-trial events, which aren't even designed to prove guilt. Judge Lance Ito curbed the media explosion by banning cameras from the jury selection process, so the media slapped on their reliable old First Amendment badges in defiance of Judge Ito's decree.
I agree with the press that they have the right to view the trial. Since it is being held in a California court (which is equipped with cameras anyway), and Judge Ito didn't gag the trial, the public should not be limited to the space within the courtroom.
The camera allows an unlimited number of people to watch the trial, which is their right as Americans.
However, it is also easy to see how the use of cameras has made it much more difficult for Mr. Simpson to have the fair trial promised by the Constitution. So, why not a compromise?
Ban the cameras for all pre-trial proceedings so that the public will not know all the facts too early.
Once the trial has begun, allow the media to blitz the trial and show everything they want.
The jurors will be cut off from their grasp and remain impartial, and the media will be able to show everything they are able to squeeze out of the courtroom proceedings.
Justin Plowman
Baltimore
Development Chief Defends Agency Record
A Dec. 11 Sun article on economic development in Baltimore reflected a gross misunderstanding and lack of knowledge of the mission and accomplishments of the Baltimore Development Corporation.
The mission of the Baltimore Development Corporation is to make this the best city in the world for business. As a military leader cannot use the tactics, assumptions and realities of the last war to fight the next war, Baltimore cannot rely on the strategies of the 1980s to build our business economy in the 1990s and beyond.
We are a city in transition. Our population is smaller -- down by 200,000 since 1970. Urban Development Action Grants and other federal programs which funded much of the Inner Harbor from the '60s through the '80s no longer exist. Federal revenue-sharing (which amounted to $29 million in 1973) is also gone, and Community Development Block Grants have been cut dramatically.
The point is not that the road to economic development in Baltimore is blocked because our federal partners have dropped out of the picture but that we must take a different road and form new partnerships. That is what the Baltimore Development Corporation is doing under Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke's leadership.
This year, Baltimore was named one of the 50 best cities in the world for business by Fortune magazine. Over the past several years, Baltimore has been recognized nationally and internationally by consultants and publications as an excellent place in which to do business.
Baltimore is producing jobs (approximately 1,500 new jobs attracted in the last year), luring high-tech and life sciences companies (attracting more than 10 new or expanded firms, with approximately 275 jobs), building on its strengths and attracting billions of dollars in private investment.
Baltimore has greatly expanded opportunities for minority-owned businesses, women-owned businesses and small businesses. Baltimore is enhancing its role in the international market place. The Baltimore Development Corporation is leading the city through a period of major growth and change, as traditional industries and federal support give way to health sciences, high technology, financial services, and public-private partnerships -- all competing in a global marketplace.
Development projects recently completed, under way or on the drawing board represent an investment of more than $4.5 billion -- more than double the investment in the Inner Harbor through the 1970s and 1980s.
BDC has played a central role in several well-known projects, including the Christopher Columbus Center, built on land donated by the city, which created 2,100 construction jobs and at least 200 permanent jobs; the Maryland Bioprocessing Center, for which the city is providing land and infrastructure at a site in East Baltimore and the new Convention Center which is expected to create 6,000 permanent jobs across a broad spectrum of the service industry.
Additionally, there will soon be a new world-class children's museum and a major revitalization of Howard Street. The $300 million Inner Harbor East project near Little Italy is creating 2,000 permanent jobs, and is producing a new urban neighborhood where people will live, work, shop and play.
The Baltimore Development Corporation does not operate solely for the purpose of making sure that large headline producing projects are funded and completed. BDC serves the broad spectrum of Baltimore's business community.
In the last year alone, it assisted more than 450 businesses. It has solved problems, negotiated transactions, provided information, served as an advocate on behalf of businesses dealing with city agencies, offered public financing when necessary, marketed the city's advantages to outside businesses and made it economically possible for businesses that are here to stay here.
Companies which have recently moved to Baltimore with BDC's financing, site selection, zoning or other assistance include TENAX, an Italian company that makes fencing and netting; Cell-Sci, a biotech company; the Casey Foundation, which is the largest foundation serving children exclusively; Checkers, which will build 25 restaurants and employ 1,500 people; Home Depot (150 new jobs); PTP/MEDO, which will occupy the vacant 600,000-square-foot Montgomery Ward warehouse; and the Baltimore CFL football team.
Also in the last year BDC has helped dozens of companies stay in the city, accounting for over 2,000 jobs. One of those companies is Waverly, a company that The Sun recently reported was dissatisfied with the service it received from BDC.
The Waverly negotiations were long, difficult and raised intense competing interests. The challenge was not only to help Waverly but also to protect the city's taxpayers. We achieved that balance -- not by waving a magic wand or relying on federal dollars but by hard work and keeping in mind clearly defined goals.
Most of the projects BDC works on are not as difficult as Waverly. In the vast majority of cases, BDC has earned high marks from the businesses served.
Nevertheless, BDC listens and strongly desires to maintain a high level of confidence in Baltimore's business community. After all, the business community is our customer and that customer must be served.
While BDC reviews its staffing needs and procedures on an ongoing basis, outside criticism and challenge is healthy and stimulating.
It can and will be used to ensure that the taxpayers of Baltimore continue to have the best managed and most effective development agency in the country.
Baltimore's best days are ahead. We are going to grow and prosper and BDC will be there to make sure that no opportunity is missed.
Honora Morrissey Freeman
Baltimore
The writer is president, Baltimore Development Corporation.