Hypocrisy, thy name is O'Malley.

An entry-level position that pays $73,309? AND Maddalone had no degree or experience? How do I sign up for this sweet deal?

It took the Post two days to come up with that? The case was posted at www.omalleywatch.com last night! The Post put in background material regarding firings under Ehrlich, but why was there no background on firings under O'Malley? Including the firings of two pregnant women and a terminally ill cancer patient who was out on medical leave getting chemotherapy? Will we see a full story on this? The Post conveniently ignored all of the recent political firings until giving this a brief mention here in the Maryland Moment.

Here is the link to the full ruling since the Post couldn't find this, but several of us have been discussing it on the Baltimore Sun's forums:
http://www.omalleywatch.com/gmadd.pdf

Here is the link to the full ruling since the Post couldn't find this, but several of us have been discussing it on the Baltimore Sun's forums:
http://www.omalleywatch.com/gmadd.pdf

The reason it took so long to get this story out is because there must have been some mulling over how to stick a fork in the GOP's eye while still reporting the truth about O'Malley. This stuff doesn't just flow off the tongue you know.

A shirt that reads "you're fired"? Maybe he was a "the Apprentice" fan. Who knows? It probably took all day for the Post to figure out he had no college degree. Great investigative reporting. It totally absolves O'Malley-not.

Somethings-Rotten, as a MD tax-payer, I'd have to agree - the judge should decide fairly, but lets be real. Maddalone was a professional ice-dancer...whatever that means...with no emergency management experience. What other Erlich hiring surprises are we about to uncover. No one should be fired if they are the best person for the job...however, if Erlich-fans wnat scrutiny of this situation, they should be prepared for the ugly truth (if there is any) and not just an opportunity to bash an early-term governor. Let's see what the boy can do. The next election is not far away.

Whhhhaaaaaaaaa. We want our jobs firing democrats back!!

I have a Masters Degree and work as a teacher and I only make in the high 50s.

How in the world does an ice skater, without any degree, make so much money doing nothing but causing trouble for Ehrlich opponents?

Sounds vintage Bush Administration to me.

Good point about teaching salaries and O'Malley should have that on his agenda...to improve teacher salaries and benefits. My extended family includes a teacher, a police officer and a fire- fighter (another state though) and they are all severely underpaid. Perhaps they should have taken up ice-dancing. Thats what America needs - more ice dancers and fewer police/firefighters/teachers. JEEZ!

well, this judgement sounds right. it is completely out of line to fire someone based without regard to that person's background, job performance, or qualifications. it was illegal when ehrlich did it and still illegal today. that said, i hope this judgement doesn't stop the transportation secretary from doing a quick but thorough review of the ice dancer's qualifications (probably none) and throw his butt back out the door. let's get qualified people in these positions, not bootlickers.

If the republican hatchet man must be rehired, do so then stick his butt in a broom closet for 4 years.

Let's see, that 1 confirmed illegal firing for O'Malley and Zero confirmed illegal firings for Ehrlich.

And we didn't even have to spend a million buck to prove it!

Well, I understand that the state may ahve to rehire this fellow, but he should have to perform and earn his taxpayer dollars. The fact is that O'Malley inherited a budget deficit from Erlich...savings must be found. I dunno how much of Erlich's campaign buddies we can pay to stay in that broom closet, but I suppose measures will have to be taken. The next hurdle will be slots and the $3 billion ICC. One generates revenue, the other sinks MD into debt for years to come. Some say neither is worthy of Maryland's attention.

rufus, this is from the article above:

"Among other things, the report said the firing of Maryland Environmental Service project manager Vincent Gardina "was based on his political activities in violation of [state law] and his constitutional rights." Gardina, a Democrat on the Baltimore County Council, received a $100,000 court settlement from the Republican administration."

at the least, the score is 1-1, and you still got it for free.

It's amazing how the Post can spin even a negative article on O'Malley so that the mindless left leaning Kool-Aid drinking lap dogs start pointing their fingers at Ehrlich or Bush or Oren Hatch. Well done!

Regardless of his qualifications or his lack of a college degree, Maddalone was rated "Far Exceeds Standards" in 2005 and "Exceeds Standards" in 2006 on his performance appraisals. How does one go from exceeds standards to surplus to requirements in 6 months?

To the teacher with the Masters Degree making an annual salary in the high 50's, you knew what you were getting into. Furthermore, you can always take that Masters Degree into another field to make more money if you desired. The fact is that you only work 9 months out of the year-which is perfectly fine...but you're in that job for a reason and $ ain't it.

John,
Thanks for the heads up on the O'Malley watch site. I've attached the full opinion to the blog item above

So what makes people with college degrees think they are so special? Just look at the losers who DO have college degrees! I know a woman with a Master's who used to teach school, but is an alcoholic, gets an annuity from her mother's will, and can't find any work except tending bar once in a while. Another acquaintance has 2 Master's degrees and works as a secretary. Another with a Masters, a ditsy airhead, can barely carry on a conversation. I work in an office full of lawyers with college degrees up the whazoo and you won't find a bigger bunch of scum.

Granted, it's hard to find an entry level position in the State Gov't without a degree, but starting at $70,000+? Good grief. Sounds like the State Human Resources Dept. needs an overhaul.

Education and intelligence are two different things.

FWIW, O'Malley just gave BG&E a 50% hike in in its rates, which means people on limited incomes (elderly, low income) will be paying 50% more for electricity this summer. If they don't pay, their power gets cut off. No refrigerators, no fans, no A/C, no lights, no water. God help any who have to be on oxygen or medical connections run by electricity. One of his campaign pledges was to not raise rates.

Without taking sides for or against the new Governor, the question in each firing case should be: Is the person qualified for the job OR were they hired because of loyal campaign work? We've ALL seen the catastrophic results when a campaign loyalist is placed in charge of a critical mission they were not qualified to hold. This Maddalone seems to have been a ice-skater with no emergency management experience, but didd his job description require him to prepare or manage emergency situations? From my experience (in military and civilian life), its an easy call. Critical missions should NOT be fooled with NOR taken lightly. We pay taxes mostly to ensure public safety in our state...we should not tolerate some situation like Mike Brown at FEMA. The Governor should take his responsibility seriously...and it appears he does, but he must be fair also.

Actually, we can count O'Malley's early victories beginnging with his influence in reducing the BGE 75% rate hike that Erlich supported down to the 50% rate hike they eventually insisted on. In other words, he's already saved MD tax-payers money. Again, Erlich had a full term, he was judged the lesser and lost the election. Lets see what O'Malley can accomplish...I am no O'Malley fan, and if he can't perform, he's out next election day. Should he not be given the chance to undo the damage done by he last Governor? Obviously, Erlich disappointed me (and others), so Baltimore heritage is no guarantee of success, but I'd liek to see Maryland prosper no matter who is governor. Erlich/Steele fans - don't lose heart - we have elections to switch leadership - thats not been taken away - yet. However, I would say give O'Malley a chance...each Governor needs the support of the state - if he fumbles that support, the reprecussions are predictable. Devisive partisanship will not help MD right now. Thanks.

Jerry:

You have got it wrong on the rate hikes. O'Malley did not only approve a 50% rate hike. The original rate hike of 15% hit us last year with a deferral plan that costs me interest even though I wanted to pay the entire increase instead of financing it. Now there is an additional 50% hike that he said he would stop in his campaign. Now if you take the 15% last year and the 50% this year, you come up with 72.5% increase over 2 years. O'Malley did nothing to save Marylanders money. Get your facts straight!

Have we learned nothing over the past seven years? We need competent people in office, not political hacks, regardless of party affiliation.

Jeez, just like the Bush Administration, hiring incompetent, unqualified political cronies.

So all you Rethugs defending this clown are for government waste and inefficiency? That's not very conservative!

Jerry, it seems that you make a noble attempt at being fair in your comments but you don't appear to have your facts straight. Ehrlich did not "support" any rate increase whatsoever. His AND O'Malley's hands are tied by failed legislation from the Glendenning era. The difference between Ehrlich and O'Malley is that at least Ehrlich was up front and honest and gave you the option to pay now or pay more later where as O'Malley somehow tried to make a connection between Ehrlich, Bush and big business being to blame for this. All that rhetoric worked well to gain O'Malley the office of governor but it's not serving the people of Maryland very well now. By the way, his new Public Service Commission is no more qualified than Maddalone in the DOT.

When you say that divisive partisanship doesn't help MD, I agree. But when O'Malley makes statements to PG County voters like: "You were so critically important, essential, in the vanguard, of turning this state away from the George-Bush like neo-conservative detour that the governor who shall remain nameless had taken us on" ( See: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/annapolis/2007/06/eggs_and_drama_in_prince_georg.html#comments ) ...he not only shows that he has no class by referring to Ehrlich as "nameless" but he also has a bitter hatred for anyone who doesn't think like him. Partisanship is O'Malley's business. It's that simple. No more bitter partisan could head the MD Democrats.

To be honest, I think former-Govt. Ehrlich abandoned any chance for respect when he shipped homeless people in from Philly to hand out patently misleading campaign literature in PG County touting him as a "Democrat" and falsely claiming black leaders supported him. He is unworthy of any respect whatsoever after that sleazy stunt.

Sounds like a screwup on the democrats part. The question is whether they try to hide it like the republicans did or whether they come out and admit their mistakes. When will they all learn that admitting a mistake is mush less painful than tellng the truth? Probably never. And the slimy GOP's celebration is just another example of the simpleton minds they have.

While I appreciate the pursuit of accurate numbers, I seriously question the cooked numbers introduced earlier by the anonymous Erlich-fan regarding the BGE rate hike. The bottom like is that O'Malley campaigned to take a forceful stance against the power brokers - Erlich was in bed with them. At the beginning of Erlich's term, we had no idea he was in bed with them...same with the slot machine lobbyists. It just turned out that way and MD voters threw him out. If O'Malley is as smart as I hope he is, he will learn from Erlich's mistakes. Sure he is a Dem and Erlich was GOP, but they are both just humans with power. So, we can disagree about how much worse the BGE rate-hike would have been if Erlich had won (I strongly disagree with your numbers - they do not make sense), but I think we can both agree on why O'Malley was elected. If he cannot produce - he will not be re-elected. Enough said. TGIF.

Regardless of the merits of this particular case, Judge Susan Sinrod is very bright and thorough. It is doubtful that any decision of hers would be overturned on appeal.

Regardless of the merits of this particular case, Judge Susan Sinrod is very bright and thorough. It is doubtful that any decision of hers would be overturned on appeal.

I'm not questioning the judge, but I think the merits of each case MUST be regarded. No case, appeal or hearing should be determined by any judge's reputation (no matter how exemplary). With all due respect to you, Robin Ficker, I hope you do not presume to discount the facts and merits of this case. It sounds like politics and familiarity mixing with the justice system. I am sure you did not mean it in that tone. In any case, the ruling is being examined. If this fellow gets his job back, I hope they see fit to train him to actually perform the functions for which he's been assigned - the state cannot afford to waste money on useless campaign workers.

Jerry:

Go back and read the stories about the rate hike and you will see the numbers are correct. Maybe the Post moderators can give a link to the stories showing these calculations. O'Malley campaigned on a promise he couldn't keep, and criticized Ehrlich for having a PSC with people who had energy experience. His PSC has no one with energy experience and blames the prior admin for the current year rate hike that he (O'Malley) promised to stop. Also, Ehrlich was not in bed with the slots lobby, He was trying to save my job and at least 600 others that work at the tracks and the thousands of people and acres dedicated to horse racing. The same lobby gave money to the O'Malley campaign for the same reasons. You really need to look at reality and not what you infer from the situation.

Haven't you people ever heard of patronage? It's been going on since Day 1. It means any elected official can choose or 'appoint' anyone to fill any job he/she chooses. What about JFK naming his own brother as Attorney General? With each new administration, thousands of campaign contributors and brown-nosers come out of the woodwork looking for jobs. And each new administration has the right to clean house and replace anybody in high level positins he/she chooses. That's why heads roll in the higher positions. The lower level drones have Government jobs for life. I don't know where in the great scheme of things a $70,000+ person is but he should look at his employment contract, if there is one. If it says a new Governor can kick him out, so be it. If it doesn't, then maybe he has a case.

SoMd. Republican,
He is an "at will" worker, which means the governor can kick him out for no reason, but not for the wrong reason (e.g. race, religion or, in this case, politics)

Here is the calculation:

2006 rate hike 15%, if your bill was $100 it went to $115.
2007 rate hike 50%, you bill is now $115 and will increase by $57.50 to $172.50
$172.50 - $100 = 72.50
That is a total 72.5% increase. Do the math before you say my numbers are not correct.

By the way, I am a registered Dem in MD. The numbers are not cooked, and I am not an Ehrlich fan, just a concerned citizen who sees reality.

Thanks Hank...I still don't agree with those numbers, but it seems you and I are not that far apart on things politically. I want to move on from the last administration and try to ensure the state has the best fighting chance possible...which to me means supporting this guy O'Malley when he tries to do right and letting him know when he is mistaken. Good luck on the slots thing...I actually think the gaming industry is going in a different direction, and that other nearby states have beaten us to the punch. The industry is lobbying hard though. Again, the plus for it is that it seemingly creates revenue during a time of budget deficit, but its got a tough road ahead. We are not done with the power rates...all that is in the past is in the past. If these power companies are ever going to treat consumers fairly, it will be because of strong government support with pressure from voters...we need O'Malley to listen to us and keep up the pressure (or from your point of view - he needs to turn up the pressure - way beyond where it is currently). BGE is clearly taking advantage of the situation and they seem have learned from Enron's mistakes...they will be sneakier.

Yes, he was an ice dancer. He also got consistently high reviews, so ice dancer or not, he was good at his job. Which makes his being an ice dancer irrelevant.

Einstein was a clerk. Guess you Dems would not have hired him for your nuclear bomb project.

And O'Malley will be re-elected, sans indictment. He's a Dem, Marylanders vote Dem when they turn out, so just don`t go out of your way to tick off PG and you`ll be OK. I think they should not even bother with debates, because people only care about party, not issues, and it pre-empts popular entertainment programming. The Dem candidate could come out for indentured servitude, and he would still carry 80% of the PG vote.

Hank: That still means that someone on low income or Social Security is paying 72.5% more for the basic necessity than they did in 2005. If they paid $100 in 2005 and only make $800 a month on Soc. Sec. then that $72.50 is a tremendous bite out of their income. It could have gone to medicine or rent or food. We're going to see older people either sacrificing meds for electricity, or electricity for meds. How long will they live if one is cut off? Could the Governor, or any of us, live on $800 a month?

Plus the gasoline price hike and those friendly tax increases that some people want so badly that they are willing to talk about a special session to enact them, less than a year after the last election where they did't talk about the tax increases.

I am really stoked to see other really cool progressives posting here and questioning authority instead of accepting the propoganda of the corporate controlled media. The progressives know that O'Malley is really cool and that is why whatever he does is OK by us. What isn't cool, is the jingoistic flag-waving by corporate controlled media sources like the WaPo or Baltimore Sun. You need to come to the Baltimore Sun bulletin board and find me. Ask for Scott (or Kenect2 or My Two Cents or MithrilKnight, or Frodo or a slew of other names I use there).

"O'Money" is going to spend the state of Maryland into oblivion. I wouldn't mind if he were just a corrupt, worthless punk. But he is causing real damage to our future.

"O'Money" is going to spend the state of Maryland into oblivion. I wouldn't mind if he were just a corrupt, worthless punk. But he is causing real damage to our future.

"O'Money" is going to spend the state of Maryland into oblivion. I wouldn't mind if he were just a corrupt, worthless punk. But he is causing real damage to our future.

O'Money...that might be fitting...the only way O'Malley can avoid this nickname would be to kill the $3 billion ICC. Anyone second that?

Mike Miller advocated increasing the gasoline tax and state income and sales taxes on the Mark Plotkin show this week. Bet he didn't advocate same in his campaign literature seven months ago.

Mike Miller advocated increasing the gasoline tax and state income and sales taxes on the Mark Plotkin show this week. Bet he didn't advocate same in his campaign literature seven months ago.

The Ice Dancer got high review from his boss who was also a Ehrlich Bootlicker. Geez, think buddy.

I pay my fair share of taxes and do not want to pay one nano of a penny to this BOZO - Maddelone. Why doesn't Ehrlich hire him, he is some partner in a law firm or PR firm or whatever, right?

Let all of them go and save my money - thank you very much!

I posted yesterday that I had a MS and only made in the 50s.

Please do not insult those of us to labor long hours at night so that we can go to school and study all day to get a degree. I am proud to be the first college grad in my family.

If you want to be a HS grad who dresses up in sequins and shakes it on the ice rink, that is fine. Don't put me down though because I work with kids who have mental retardation.

Educator with a MS, no one is insulting you or your efforts or your occupation.

The fact of the matter is that some are able to circumvent the formal education process and end up in highly skilled, highly paid positions. Some through cronyism but the majority through relevant experience in a particular field. The former does not make that person any less of a person or any less qualified than someone with a degree. There are many people out there with degrees that cannot find a decent job.

I submit to you and all of those out there that think they're somehow smarter or even better than someone without a degree, that the person in a high paying job without a degree is the smart one. They usually have more work related experience, have to work harder to prove themselves and also didn't spend their parents retirement money on four years of partying punctuated by an exam here and there. They're the intelligent ones.

Good point BG From PG. You point is especially relevant to this article, because the Erlich campaign worker who was recently fired had "NO relevant experience" in the field of emergency management at SHA. This guy should be treated fairly, but only if he is qualified and has contributed to the mission. Everyone has to make a living, but it seems lives may depend on this fellow performing one day - will he come through or not. If there is someone more qualified for a high paying job in emergency management, perhaps a recent Iraq veteran, they should have that job. Ice-skating pro experience may be more relevant to Maryland Park and Planning Division. They run several ice-rinks and provide lessons. No one should be picked on just because of politics, but no one's job should be saved just because of it either.

it was learned Maddalone gave himself the raise. gee, he gave himself excellent reviews. I guess he did a "hellava job" lining up people to fire.

Appointed employees who serve at the pleasure of an elected, partisan office holder should stop whining. If you live by the sword, you die by the sword. "Appointed" and "serving at the pleasure" are just that. The travesty is that there are a plethura of such positions in State government.

Do tax payers have any recourse if this judge makes MD SHA rehire the ice dancer?