An audit of the state controlled Baltimore City Liquor License Board was completed in 2013. That scathing report documented the Liquor License Board's gross incompetence and failure to even come close to performing its mission. In 2014, the then governor tasked Judge Thomas Ward to straighten out the mess. Your paper has documented the shock of bar operators and licensees now required to meet legal requirements; of inspectors who were awarded patronage jobs now having to put in a full day's work ("Liquor board inspectors object to working at night," March 27); and the community now having a better opportunity to be heard. Old, elapsed, invalid (zombie) licenses are no longer allowed to be used, and operators are being held to the standards established by law, some being fined and some also being shut down for various periods of time. The liquor lobby has not been happy.
Judge Ward had, from the start, declared his intention to leave the post this June, and interviews are now being conducted to select his replacement. Judge Ward, in a recent interview, expressed his concerns over the Hogan administration's overt push to undo the reforms that were enacted and restoring the past ills. The closing of some bars are being treated as an anti-business act, putting people out of work.
I am a member of a multi-neighborhood association Liquor Advisory Committee tasked to protect the interests of our residents and small businesses. In that capacity, in the past year I have attended or viewed on TV most Baltimore City Liquor License Board hearings. Without exception, whenever an establishment was shut down it was because of conduct so egregious that failure to do so would be reprehensible. I challenge the Hogan administration to find and list any closing that was not merited.
The Hogan administration argument that shutting down bars puts people out of work and, therefore, should never be done is an irrational red herring. One may as well argue that we should back off from shutting down illicit drug operations since that would put people out of work. Such a policy would, of course, be ridiculous as the modicum of social utility provided by employing people would be overwhelmed by the evils of the drug trade. The same rationale is applicable to the issue of shutting down bars that facilitate drug sales/usage and/or routinely sell to minors and/or promote gambling, and/or allow prostitution, and/or terrorize neighboring residents and businesses etc., etc. People who work in such establishments should recognize the tenuousness of their position and the enabling role they play.
The action to replace Judge Ward opens a window to us as to how the Hogan administration will govern the State of Maryland, and it ain't pretty. The administration appears bereft of any solid ideas, goals, plans or analytical capability. It is, instead, driven by political slogans, superficial thinking, special interest groups and run-amok staffers.
For example, the interview process that the Hogan administration is using rewards the candidate who panders the most to the liquor lobby.
On a more personal note, I must add that I think that the Hogan staffers working the selection process for the Liquor License Board Chair aren't fit to shine Judge Ward's shoes.
H. Valeri, Baltimore