The sudden resignation of Gary D. Maynard as secretary of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services has huge implications both immediate as well as a few years down the road ("State public safety and corrections secretary stepping down," Dec. 10).
The immediate impact points to the instability of Mr. Maynard's leadership — or lack of it — as state and federal authorities continue their investigation of an alleged takeover of the Baltimore City Detention Center by the Black Guerrilla Family prison gang.
The long-term implication could be how Mr. Maynard's resignation might taint Gov. Martin O'Malley's expected bid for the Democratic Party's nomination for president in 2016.
All the signs point to how much disarray and dysfunction there is in the political machinations in our state. You couldn't make this stuff up.
If Mr. O'Malley had stayed put in Annapolis rather than tested his name recognition on the political barometers in, say, Fargo, N.D., perhaps he would not be wallowing in the quagmire he now finds himself in.
Patrick R. Lynch, Nottingham
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