The message from last fall's election results was unmistakeably loud and clear: Americans are tired of the usual politics that makes ill use of public dollars. This point was made with particular force by the nation's more conservative communities, one of which would certainly be Dundalk.
We wonder, then, how the residents of that east Baltimore County community feel about the proposal by their state delegates to continue the wasteful expense of tax dollars on the shabby and unnecessary District Court in Dundalk.
Dels. John S. Arnick, Joseph J. Minnick and Jacob J. Mohorovic Jr. have introduced House Bill 227, a measure that would rescue the Dundalk District Court from its planned closing in June 1997. This bill violates the spirit of a 1993 compromise struck by the General Assembly, which would have kept open the District Courts in Owings Mills and Dundalk until June 30, 1997, thereafter leaving courts remaining only in Essex, Towson and ,, Catonsville. What's more, HB 227 is bad legislation because it is a blatant political move by Mr. Arnick and company to hang onto a publicly funded facility that simply is not needed.
Advocates for the Dundalk court offer various reasons to keep it going beyond its scheduled closing. However, none of the explanations washes. Proponents say, for example, that Dundalk a distinctive community that deserves a court of its own. Yet many larger communities and towns throughout Maryland don't have one of the state's 35 District Court buildings. The proponents say if the Dundalk facility closed, citizens would be hard-pressed to travel to other court sites. Yet all cases currently heard at Dundalk would be switched to Essex, less than 10 miles from Dundalk; also, both Towson and Catonsville are only about a half-hour from the Eastside via the Beltway.
The main argument made on behalf of the court is that it is crucial to the local economy. It's probably closer to the mark, though, to say the facility may be most crucial to the business of Dundalk politicians with law offices near the District Court.
The existence of the Dundalk court becomes even more questionable when one considers that the three modern District Court buildings at Essex, Towson and Catonsville are underused. Do the people of Dundalk really believe that maintaining the local court facility is a proper use of public funds? They should tell Mr. Arnick and his cohorts to drop their wrong-headed bill and find better ways to spend valuable tax dollars.