For than a week, I have remained shaken by the hostage-taking at a synagogue in Colleyville, outside Dallas, Texas. Anti-semitic acts are becoming increasingly common in our country and Europe.

Jews have always been the targets of hateful violence and bigotry. Nothing illustrates this horrendous fact more than the Holocaust engineered by Adolf Hitler during the 1930s and 1940s. Six million Jews lost their lives as Hitler destroyed an ethnic group to motivate Germans to consider themselves superior and gain dominance over the Western World.

He used age-old bias toward Jews to deceive otherwise well-meaning people into thinking that only they could and should rule; subjugating and murdering an accomplished group of people somehow seemed the way to arouse pride and confidence. It was sickeningly effective.

It was madness. It took scapegoating to a level of malice never seen before in the world.

Fast forward to Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022, when a mentally unbalanced man from Great Britain held hostage four men, including the rabbi, in a synagogue that welcomed him. He wanted the release of a woman, his “sister,” who was being held in a federal jail in Dallas for firing at U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.

Through clear thinking and calm behavior, the rabbi and two congregants escaped unharmed, and the gunman was killed by the police. The fourth man, frail and elderly, had been released earlier.

Is it any wonder that the haunting legacy of the Holocaust is not forgotten by Jews, who felt their supposedly secure and assimilated lives upended by the murder three-and-a-half years ago of 11 congregants at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pa.?

Jews live continually on the precipice of senseless death by crazed people who feel empowered to vent their frustrations on a group of people singled out malevolently for thousands of years for being considered different. Accused now of controlling the media, banks and academia, they wear invisible targets on their backs.

Though assimilated in America, where their loyalty to, and love of our country is unquestioned, they confront periodic reminders of how their lives are under constant threat driven by bigotry and villainization.

So, what should synagogues in big and small communities do to protect their congregants? They cannot be naive. They cannot minimize the possibility of armed violence.

They must act, as many have done. I would suggest armed security daily, not just High Holidays. I would suggest training as the rabbi and congregants did in Texas. I would recommend vigilance on the part of all members in the congregation; while paranoia is unhealthy, intelligent watchfulness is sensible.

Of course, local law enforcement must be sensitive to potential acts of horror at a synagogue. Houses of worship are fair game for people bent on inflicting harm on people viewed different than they.

On a macro level, Jewish leaders must be vocal in their demands for protection and useful intelligence-gathering. They cannot be shy. Too much is at stake.

Anti-semitism is alive and well in our world. Bigotry is innate.

Though Hitler’s Holocaust may never recur, smaller versions of deadly actions against Jews are de rigueur, unavoidable for inexplicable reasons. Religious bias permeates our planet. It pollutes our discourse.

Good people cannot be quiet; evil forces perceive that silence as acquiescence, a stimulant for wretched wrongdoers.

Images of synagogue assaults burrow deeply into my soul. They prompt horror and sorrow.

The lone gunman, distraught over the perceived slights and imbued with a heightened sense of victimization, inflicts his or her poisonous venom without regard for human life.

Jews should not feel blessed by an inherent ability to live and thrive. They should view themselves as worthy, respected citizens of the world. They deserve to live without fear. They must understand, however, that unwarranted hate plagues their being.

Tomorrow will be a big day for unapologetic Annapolis watchers as Gov. Larry Hogan unveils Maryland’s fiscal year 2023 budget. While that might seem ho-hum to most residents of the Old Line State, trade, interest and constituent groups will be anxiously awaiting the budget figures, particularly the divvying up of a $4.6 billion surplus.

As hopeful motion picture Oscar winners sit mesmerized by the prospect of an incalculable boost in their artistic careers, so will non-profit leaders be transfixed by digitized budget books that hold answers to their financial dreams.

Mid-Shore non-profits will be like children on Christmas hoping that Santa Claus considers them worthy of budgetary support. Disappointment over the sums ladled out by the governor are all too frequent. The process is agonizing.

Gov. Hogan has his priorities, such as tax cuts for retirees and military veterans. He also will try to beef up pandemic support for health care professionals. Transportation and school projects are always large-money consumers.

Legislative leaders already have signaled their intent to help the poor and appropriate one-time project expenditures. They can only cut, not increase the state budget under state law. The state budget must be balanced.

Fiscal wrestling during the 90-day session between the executive and legislative branches is commonplace.

Bargaining is the coin of the realm. Compromise might be another apt term.

Unmistakable undercurrents will influence the 2022 legislative session. In his last year as governor after nearly two terms and possibly interested in running for national office, Hogan will look for political advantage helpful to his next campaign. He is a savvy politician. He understands the value of legacy.

Meanwhile, General Assembly members will be running for re-election in 2022. They too will seek budgetary goodies for their constituents as well as legislation favorable to the folks back home. They do not wish to anger their constituents and voters. Upcoming elections prompt vivid memories for voters.

An election year and a huge surplus are a combustible mix. Requests for slices of the state largesse are voluminous. The money tree will be laden with ornaments bearing names on them for hundreds and hundreds of special interest groups connected to every corner of our small but well-populated state.

As a caveat, a huge surplus is a double-edged sword for our governor and legislators. In some ways, being strapped for money makes life easier in judging the merits of spreading the wealth, or lack thereof. Though politicians are reluctant to say no to constituents, constrained resources provide cover and rationale for them in cash-starved times.

Every year at this time, I typically urge readers to direct their attention—not all of it, mind you—to the Maryland General Assembly session. Bills passed and signed affect all our lives in ways big and small. The state budget determines the policy direction to be taken by state government in fulfilling constituent needs.

Though just a week-old, the legislative session begins in many ways tomorrow as vigorous budget battles will commence with release of the state’s financial blueprint.

I will watch with great interest. The sport of governing and legislating, while discouraging at times, is fascinating.

Columnist Howard Freedlander retired in 2011 as Deputy State Treasurer of the State of Maryland. Previously, he was the executive officer of the Maryland National Guard. He also served as community editor for Chesapeake Publishing, lastly at the Queen Anne’s Record-Observer. In retirement, Howard serves on the boards of several non-profits on the Eastern Shore, Annapolis and Philadelphia.

As I envision the residential and commercial development of Easton Point, a plan that I support as an inevitable adjunct to Easton, I regret the closing of Gay’s Seaford at 896 Port Street due to the sale of this valuable waterfront property after 107 years of ownership by the same family.

Operated by Rennie Gay since 1998, the seafood business, quaintly shabby but comfortable, is iconic. With its sale of “local” crabs, as well as other delicacies, Gay’s represents the type of “crab shacks” that once populated the Shore. Once upon a time, Poore’s Seafood in St. Michael’s offered the same down-home service, sprinkled with decidedly obvious Eastern Shore dialects among those who served customers.

Rennie Gay epitomizes a Talbot County native, friendly and proud. He runs a bustling retail and wholesale business from his location on the Tred Avon River. His trucks were often seen on Route 50 on the way to the Western Shore. He lives across the parking lot in a comfortable rancher, his grandchildren’s toys scattered on the property.

Gay was quoted in The Star Democrat saying that increasing age prompted him to sell the property to Paul Prager. I understand his desire to step away from a longtime family business. He also led hunting parties. His gracious daughter Heather also worked in the business.

Even after we moved to Annapolis, we would be sure to buy our steamed crabs at Gay’s during our visits during late spring, summer and early fall. The quality was good. The prices were far lower than in the Annapolis area. A prospective on the crab supply was always available.

Though Prager neither needs nor wants my advice, I would suggest that a seafood emporium would be appropriate. Consistent with Prager’s first-class restaurants and stores, a retail and wholesale seafood business would add a notable touch of local ambience to the redevelopment of Easton Point.

It could carry the name Gay’s. A nice local touch.

Some years ago, when my wife and I were visiting a friend in Maine, we waited in line for 45 minutes in the rain for a memorable lobster roll at the renown Red’s Eats in Wiscasset. It was not fancy. Its reputation, however, drew visitors who wanted to consume an iconic and delicious lobster roll—and did not mind lingering in line.

While the current Gay’s offered no sandwiches, no restaurant venue, just steamed crabs, soft crabs, clams and oyster, its reincarnation could become not only a conveyor of carryout seafood but an informal restaurant similar to the popular Candler’s Riverside Inn in Annapolis.

Easton Point could become a destination for condominiums as well as food endemic to the Mid Shore. I would hate to give up buying “local” crabs at Gay’s Seafood. A new reality could force me to change my ways, reluctantly so.

I twice have placed quotation marks around the word “local.” Why? Whether you called Gay’s in early May or late October to place an order, the voice at other end would always assure my wife or me that the hard-shell crabs were local. We always laughed, knowing that most crabs sold in Maryland in late spring come from Louisiana and possibly the Carolina waters.

Maybe global warming has made Shore rivers more hospitable earlier in the season. I doubt it.

I guess the crabs were local somewhere. It just seemed to us that the Miles River and Wye River crabs, available in the season, were the tastiest. We just had to be patient.

A newer version of Easton Point would hark back to history, bearing the mark of a Talbot County family dedicated to the natural delicacies of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.

Columnist Howard Freedlander retired in 2011 as Deputy State Treasurer of the State of Maryland. Previously, he was the executive officer of the Maryland National Guard. He also served as community editor for Chesapeake Publishing, lastly at the Queen Anne’s Record-Observer. In retirement, Howard serves on the boards of several non-profits on the Eastern Shore, Annapolis and Philadelphia.

In two days, on Jan. 6, we will mourn the anniversary of an assault on our nation’s capital by a well-organized group of domestic terrorists incited by a pernicious president who for hours watched this heinous scene from the Oval Office, ignoring pleas to calm the forces of evil that he had ignited.

Trump considered the defeat of his re-election effort on Nov. 3, 2020, illegitimate and rigged. He could not acknowledge his ineptitude as president. He encouraged his ardent supporters to attack our citadel of democracy. He thought it possible to overturn the election by threatening members of Congress.

He cared not at all about the court-backed democratic process.

Trump aside, our future as a vibrant democracy is in danger. My military background is coloring my opinion.

Particularly bothersome on Jan. 6 was the presence of military veterans and active, Guard and Reserve soldiers who considered extremism more important than the protection of our republic from renegades such as themselves. The beginning of 2021 began with despair and depression.

Three retired US generals predict that this extremism, if unchecked, would lead to a civil war should Trump or one of his disciples run again for president and lose. This possibility is frightening to behold.

According to the three retired general officers, more than one in ten of the 727 people charged in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol had a service record. This is an alarming fact. Granted that our military forces comprise men and women of all political and philosophical persuasions, they all swear, however, to uphold the U.S. Constitution and cherish our democracy—regardless of who is elected president.

“The potential for a total breakdown of the chain of command along partisan lines—from the top of the chain to squad leader—is significant should another insurrection occur. The idea of rogue units organizing among themselves to support the ‘rightful’ commander in chief cannot be dismissed,” the three generals wrote in a Washington Post op-ed on Dec. 17, 2021.

While some may consider this viewpoint apoplectic, I do not, sadly. It would be foolhardy to overlook the Trumpian acolytes who feel threatened by minority groups ascending the ladder of success and power. The Democratic Party, with its wide tent of disparate constituents, is a target of discontent and anger.

Anyone watching the Jan. 6 assault on TV saw very few Black participants. Whiteness was the common denominator. In full, unvarnished view were the fissures in our fragile country. Trust in our government is at its nadir.

Like the three general officers, I too am troubled by a potential viral strain of extremism permeating our military ranks. Our civilian and military leadership must pay attention to any ripples of extremist thought and actions without trampling on the 1st Amendment guaranteeing free speech.

As I watched the domestic terrorists climb walls and overcome obstacles, I harbored a sickening feeling that the renegades seemed well-trained, wll-motivated and well-disciplined. They used their skillset to commit criminal behavior.

I mourn Jan. 6, 2021, as a day when a building that symbolizes our messy democratic process became a target for violent frustration. I mourn the depth to which men and women, believing themselves to be patriots, were anything but. I mourn the alienation felt by both ends of the political spectrum.

I hope that 2022 brings reconciliation among our socioeconomic tribes. I hope we can arrive at a point where we understand and value each other. I prefer optimism over pessimism. I understand that stark reality mitigates optimism.

In 2021, talk continued incessantly about Covid, particularly the latest Omicron variant, the political dysfunction in Washington and  a return to normal (briefly). Tornadoes tore through the south. Mass shootings remained a deadly force. Space flights resumed, thanks to billionaire explorers.

Another phenomenon enveloped everyday lives: shortages of skilled workers in nearly every economic sector in our unsettled country. Americans were resigning their jobs in droves. They wanted more pay, benefits and respect.

They were unwilling to work in stressful situations without better compensation—and recognition that they mattered, whether they were flipping burgers at McDonald’s, or serving food in a restaurant populated by demanding customers.

Our America is hurting for lack of workers. Shortages have serious consequences. Business owners and managers are straining to fill empty job slots.

The Cheese Shop, an iconic sandwich shop in Colonial Williamsburg’s Merchant Square. stopped serving sandwiches two weeks ago due to a shortage of workers willing to prepare 1,500 sandwiches daily. According to an article in the Washington Post, this bustling small business, which also includes the Wine Cellar and the Fat Canary restaurant, normally employs 80 workers during the holiday season; it has 49.

This story struck a nerve. The Cheese Shop has been a welcome respite from the Colonial Williamsburg  historical immersion, including the vintage taverns long on heritage and short of quality food. Its clientele has included not only tourists, but also local business folks and College of William and Mary professors.

The Cheese Shop’s inability to offer its vibrant sandwich service, an obvious profit center, epitomizes for me the country’s current shortage of workers. It illustrated an employment trough bedeviling small businesses dependent on loyal employees and grateful consumers.

The Cheese Shop owners, two sisters and a brother, said they pay their employees from $12 to $35 an hour. That sounds generous, though a minimum of $15 per hour would be preferable. What I always observed was caring management.

One of the causes of the stress on Cheese Shop is, of course, Covid-related. Long confined to their homes, people are flocking to eateries to return to the old normal. The demand for sandwiches outweighs the ability of the owners and staff to fulfill consumers’ hungry requests.

The result would have seemed unlikely: close down the crux of the business through inability to serve it efficiently. Customers are angry either way.

At BayWoods of Annapolis, a continuing care retirement community, the health center, which offers assisted living and skilled nursing, cannot accept patients due to an alarming lack of health care workers. The result is awful; prospective patients are turned away. Families must scour the medical landscape.

If that’s happening at hospitals because of scarcity of nurses, medical care is suffering. I am concerned.

Access to scrumptious sandwiches pales in comparison to impaired medical care affected by a nursing deficit. Nurses provide the glue that offer a lifeline to patients treated, but not coddled by preoccupied doctors. They fill in the medical voids.

They are invaluable, as they have been for years. Yet, they cannot provided capable attention when understaffed.

As I end my last column of 2021, I  must cite another grave shortage in our fragile union. That is the dearth of compromise. It is crippling our body politic, especially so the governing process in Washington.

It has nothing to do with our supply chain. It has everything to do with our diminished supply of understanding of, and empathy for our fellow citizens and their political viewpoints. We all are suspect of close-mindedness.

 As I write my final Spy words of 2021, I thank Dave Wheelan, editor-publisher, for the weekly platform and the Out and About (Sort of) readers for your attention and comments. You have no shortage of savvy insight, perspective and patience.

 Happy and Hopeful New Year to Spy aficionados and all those who support this community asset through partnerships and donations. A shortage of journalistic outlets diminishes our democracy.

Columnist Howard Freedlander retired in 2011 as Deputy State Treasurer of the State of Maryland. Previously, he was the executive officer of the Maryland National Guard. He also served as community editor for Chesapeake Publishing, lastly at the Queen Anne’s Record-Observer. In retirement, Howard serves on the boards of several non-profits on the Eastern Shore, Annapolis and Philadelphia.

Well, the 1st Congressional District has changed, an outcome that Rep. Andy Harris probably expected, though with some despair. Lawsuits, if filed as promised, will very likely not delay implementation of the new map for the 2022 election.

The newly configured district will be a toss-up between Republican Harris and a Democrat, either Heather Mizeur or David Harden or Jennifer Pingkey. Not a slam-dunk for one of the latter, though the northern portion of Harford County and parts of Baltimore and Carroll counties have been deleted in favor of 200,000 new voters in the central part of Anne Arundel County.

Inclusion of parts of Anne Arundel County in the 1st District is not a radical change. When Wayne Gilchrest represented the 1st from 1991 to 2009, the district included parts of Annapolis.

Though now a self-exile in Annapolis after 44 years in Easton, I believe that the newly mapped 1st District is a more democratic (small “d”) than the one represented by Harris for the past 12 years. Frankly, I felt disenfranchised by the presence of an extremist Republican who has suffered no elective punishment for his far-right views and questionable behavior (carrying a gun into the Capitol).

His re-election was assured. His base seemed unbothered by his offensive statements and actions.

His political life now has changed.

Gerrymandering is good or evil in the jaundiced eye of the beholder. The political process of drawing congressional district is inherently unfair to the members of the party relegated to second-class status as citizens. You either suck it up or move to a district that favors your political perspective.

To me, the 2021 version of the 1st Congressional District, to be tested in 2022, is more balanced, enabling Republican and Democratic voters to have a voice. In other words, the newly elected representative will have to cater to partisans in both camps, not just those in his or her political tribe.

If re-elected, Harris will have to travel the middle road, unless he simply will be unable to change his ultra-conservative stripes. In that case, he may have only one additional term to serve. His job tenure will be precarious.

To no one’s surprise, I find nothing to admire about Rep. Harris. I have long hoped that he would return full-time as an anesthesiologist and treat patients far more humanely than he ministered to the residents of the 1st District.

His supporters would bemoan his absence. They would welcome anyone who opposes Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the powerful Speaker of the House who is a prime target of derision and disdain among most Republican members of Congress.

Ironically, the homes of Harris and Harden are not in the altered 1st District. It does not matter. They only must live in the state. But it does seem strange in the context of representative government.

Some believe that gerrymandering—the act of manipulating boundaries favoring one political party over another—is a major cause of our nation’s toxic polarization. They are right. The 1st District exemplified that dysfunction. Harris has occupied a safe seat that has demanded no compromise or second thoughts on his part. The same could be said of the seven other congressional districts represented by Democrats.

It would be ironic if the First District became more balanced than the others, one that values moderation over extremism. It might be a showcase for representative government and democracy.

And I may be dreaming.

Seven states have non-political congressional redistricting commissions. On the surface. They would symbolize good government. I am skeptical, however, about the selection process: are commission members truly independent? Is it possible to escape political pressure?

The every-decade redistricting, originated to reflect population changes, is blatantly political in Maryland. Gov. Larry Hogan appointed a non-partisan commission to draw up a new statewide congressional redistricting map. The Democratic-dominated General Assembly ignored the supposedly un-gerrymandered map. Instead, it designed its own. The governor vetoed it.

The legislature overturned the veto as if it were swatting away a fly. Lawsuits may follow. They likely will have no impact.

While overjoyed at the prospect of a truly competitive race between Andy Harris and his Democratic rival, I cannot overlook the overtly partisan effort to block him from winning re-election as effortlessly as he has for six terms. Gerrymandering can reward or punish.

Unfortunately, the redistricting has no impact on me. Annapolis remains untouched by the 1st District. I will have no chance to offer Rep. Harris a non-political career choice. For what it is worth, I will be a highly interested observer.

Columnist Howard Freedlander retired in 2011 as Deputy State Treasurer of the State of Maryland. Previously, he was the executive officer of the Maryland National Guard. He also served as community editor for Chesapeake Publishing, lastly at the Queen Anne’s Record-Observer. In retirement, Howard serves on the boards of several non-profits on the Eastern Shore, Annapolis and Philadelphia.

In the 1996 presidential election when Bill Clinton was seeking re-election against Republican Senator Robert Dole, I crossed party lines to cast my inconsequential vote for the Kansas senator. Clinton was highly favored. He also disgraced the Office of President through his sexual escapades with Monica Lewinsky, an intern.

I chose the prudent, not the prurient course. Though armed with a sardonic wit, Dole epitomized honor and integrity. He was everything the sitting president was not. He suffered crippling wounds during the assault on Anzio in Italy at the end of World War II. Clinton cleverly avoided service during the Vietnam War.

Clinton was slick and selfish. Dole was blunt and patriotic.

I could not support Clinton. I am still unenthusiastic about him. His behavior tainted the presidency.

After I read numerous articles about Dole following his death on Dec. 5 at the age of 98 and listened to eulogies during his funeral service on Dec. 10 at the National Cathedral, an Episcopal landmark in Washington, D.C., I realized my throwaway vote in 1996 was right. I voted for probity.

Dole’s political opponents, paying due attention to his toughness and undoubted Republican perspective, spoke sincerely about his willingness to compromise and his humanity. He valued friendship and extended it to all his colleagues regardless of their political views.

Former Democratic Minority Leader Tom Daschle talked about his first and last days as a U.S. Senator when Dole welcomed him, as well as offered him a job in his law firm when Daschle had lost re-election. Such genuine friendship would be hard to imagine in today’s ultra-partisan environment in our nasty nation’s capital.

President Joe Biden too acknowledged Bob Dole’s ability to reach political consensus in legislative battles. Dole thought first about the country’s needs, not political advantage that would translate to campaign funds and elective leverage. Dole was a pragmatist who preferred achievement over a stalemate that might please the obstructionist base but do nothing to serve the general good.

Biden told a story about a bill to fund Amtrak. The Delaware senator would commute daily to and from Washington. To promote the bill’s passage, Dole dryly suggested that it was necessary to ensure that Biden went home every day and caused no more harm in Congress—until the next day.

In recent years when President George H.W. Bush, Senator John McCain and General Colin Powell died, the words spoken by national leaders and written by pundits seemed eerily similar. These men bespoke integrity, honesty, character, and humor. They treated others with respect. They loved their country. Though political and military gladiators, they were willing to seek compromise and comity.

Justifiable criticism of current policy leaders may be muted during somber funeral services. But it hovers over the proceedings like an ominous cloud. Spoken and written eulogies portray the deceased as honorable, decent individuals whose attributes are shared by very few in today’s political arena.

When I listen and watch these services, enveloped in the majestic, rarefied splendor of the National Cathedral, I feel sad for our nation.

Are there any Bob Dole’s roaming the corridors of power, willing to compromise and avoid destructive stalemates?

Was President Bush a rarity in his gentlemanly treatment of others?

Was John McCain’s inner and physical strength something that few of us could have summoned under similarly severely punitive conditions in a North Vietnamese prison?

Was Colin Powell, a superb military leader and equally first-rate statesman, an anomaly as a selfless public servant?

A tactical master of the U.S. Senate like Dole, Sen. Mitch McConnell sorely lacks the Kansas senator’s affinity for compromise and consideration. McConnell simply wants to achieve and retain power. If he has a sense of humor, he hides it well.

Funerals for statesmen like Bush, McCain, Powell and Dole provide a respite from rancor. But only very briefly. A sense of shared grief for the deceased and our desperately stricken nation is illusory. The nation’s Capital bears little resemblance to the soothing ambience of the National Cathedral.

My vote in 1996 for Sen. Bob Dole was one in recognition of character and honor in a person gravely wounded during World War II. The eulogies for Dole confirmed my decision. They also illustrated a loss of civility in our fractious country.

Despite the odds, we can only hope for a better America. Bob Dole’s legacy of patriotism and pragmatism provide a guiding light. If we open our eyes, minds and hearts.

It seems appropriate to conclude, as in a common refrain during the Great Litany of prayers in an Episcopal service, “Have mercy upon us.”

Columnist Howard Freedlander retired in 2011 as Deputy State Treasurer of the State of Maryland. Previously, he was the executive officer of the Maryland National Guard. He also served as community editor for Chesapeake Publishing, lastly at the Queen Anne’s Record-Observer. In retirement, Howard serves on the boards of several non-profits on the Eastern Shore, Annapolis and Philadelphia.

Someone once said to me many years ago that it was regrettable that the Rockefellers did not buy Annapolis as they did Williamsburg, Va. Though the speaker was being facetious, the underlying meaning was clear:

Annapolis would have become a mecca of historical tourism comparable to the unparalleled attraction of Williamsburg as a living history venue, a place where the ambitious and bright Thomas Jefferson studied law under the renowned George Wythe. Other dignitaries like George Washington and James Madison left their footprints on the original capital of Virginia.

Through the leadership of Historic Annapolis, whose founder, Anne St. Clair Wright, almost single-handedly preserved the historic district from becoming a non-descript commercial enclave amid the splendor of the state capital and site of the U.S. Naval Academy, the city is a repository of rich American history accessible to the public and scholars. 

Historic Annapolis was founded in 1952. Its preservation efforts culminated in the designation of the colonial historic area in 1965 as a National Historic Landmark.

The city on the Chesapeake Bay deserves greater recognition for its role in our nation’s short but complicated history. That acclaim is happening. 

Most notably, the newly restored Old Senate Chamber in the Maryland State House will forever be known as the place where General Washington resigned his commission, thus institutionalizing the primacy of civilian authority over the military. This resignation event has had long-term national security implications. 

I have always loved our state and its illustrious history. This heritage provides a sense of place. Though we did not produce four American presidents, unlike Virginia, we can point with pride to the continued existence of four homes in Annapolis belonging to our signers of the Declaration of Independence: Thomas Stone, Samuel Chase, William Paca and George Carroll of Carrollton. Their descendants still roam the Old Line State.

And, of course, we produced a disgraced U.S. Vice President, Spiro Agnew, who viewed his political positions as Baltimore County‘s county executive, governor and VP as an opportunity to earn money by trading favors. He played by old rules that considered ethics a foreign concept.

His forced resignation was a significant event during the ill-fated Nixon Administration. His successor, Gerald Ford, eventual president, pardoned Nixon, another earthshaking occasion in American history.

Every community has its rogues.

A new exhibit organized by Historic Annapolis (I sit on the board), “Annapolis: An American Story, shines a spotlight on a city that has hosted an impressive record of achievements. No longer is it hiding its historical light under a bushel of crabs. Instead, it is telling the world that Annapolis and its bountiful history and colonial homes are open for public scrutiny and insight.

A point of constant pride is the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA), situated in Annapolis on the Severn River and founded in 1845. Annapolitans, many of them USNA graduates, embrace the Naval Academy as their beloved hometown school. Former President Jimmy Carter and the late John McCain are graduates of this premier leadership academy.

St. John’s College, known for its Great Books curriculum and independent study and founded in 1695 as Prince William’s School, seems to draw glancing attention from Annapolis residents. One of the most highly regarded liberal arts schools in our country, St. John’s stands out publicly and superficially for its scruffy looking students in comparison with the uniform-wearing, short-haired midshipman. I suspect that the “Johnnies” and the future Navy and Marine Corps officers have more in common than is readily apparent.

One of the homes that has always caught my attention is the all- wood Sands residence owned by the same family for 237 years. The son of the mariner-owner, whose name Sands still marks the house, served as part of the Maryland 400, which fought to protect General Washington’s retreat across East River during the disastrous Battle of Long Island on August 27, 1776, during the Revolutionary War. William Sands was one of 250 Marylanders who died in Brooklyn.

This long-overlooked battle allowed Washington and his troops to fight another day. William Sands and his fellow soldiers fought heroically against the better-trained and-equipped British forces.

Annapolis’ strong ties to our national history are undeniable. 

As the Civil War was ripping apart our young country, the Maryland General Assembly met in Frederick in 1861 to decide whether to secede from the Union. The governor considered the anti-Union so strong in Annapolis he chose to meet in Frederick; he knew that Annapolitans were outraged that President Lincoln had deployed federal troops to the state capital, because he feared the secession of a state abutting the nation’s capital.

Truly a border state with highly charged mixed sentiments, Maryland drew urgent attention from Lincoln, who remembered the assault in April 1861 on Massachusetts soldiers as they marched to a Baltimore train station, now Camden Yards. This skirmish was one of the first during the Civil War.

Annapolis also was the site of one of the oldest newspapers in the country, The Maryland Gazette, founded in 1727. It exists now in the form of the Capital Gazette (or just The Capital), a daily paper sadly diminished in its news content due to its ownership by Alden Capital Fund, a hedge fund proficient in eviscerating its newspapers.

Back to The Gazette (I seem to be digressing a fair amount in this column) and its early years. Its second owner-editor-publisher was Jonas Green, a protege of the inestimable Ben Franklin, my hero. Green assumed ownership in 1734. After he died in 1767, his wife, Anne Catherine Hoof Green, took control, becoming the second woman in the colonies to operate a newspaper. 

Like her husband, Anne Green was unafraid to tweak the British governor of Maryland by railing against the Stamp Act and other punitive measures imposed by our British overlords.

As readers know, my wife and I are newcomers to Annapolis after 44 wonderful years in Easton and Talbot County. After 13 months here, we are still learning about a city with a long heritage linked to events of national importance. Our allegiance to the Shore will never waver.

Yet, we are adapting to a city with more traffic lights, more traffic, more emergency-vehicle sirens and more delays. Amid the challenges of living in a city more than twice the size of Easton, I feel comforted and energized by the consequential history of our state capital.

Did you know that thoroughbred horse racing in America began in Annapolis? Grist for another column.

Columnist Howard Freedlander retired in 2011 as Deputy State Treasurer of the State of Maryland. Previously, he was the executive officer of the Maryland National Guard. He also served as community editor for Chesapeake Publishing, lastly at the Queen Anne’s Record-Observer. In retirement, Howard serves on the boards of several non-profits on the Eastern Shore, Annapolis and Philadelphia.

Change is in the air. A new era is imminent. And all is good as longtime leaders with tremendous legacies are moving on with their lives. Sadly inevitable.

After 31 years as the founding executive director/president of the highly respected Eastern Shore Land Conservancy (ESLC), Rob Etgen will retire at the end of December. Under his leadership, 65,000 acres of land in Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne’s, Caroline, Talbot and Dorchester counties have been preserved for perpetuity.

Kelly Griffith

This alone would be an eye-catching achievement. Working with the board of directors (I am a member), Etgen also oversaw the incredible rehabilitation of the McCord’s Laundry as the Eastern Shore Conservation Center (ESCC).The transformation of this industrial laundry building is amazing.

Now one of the former Phillips Packing Company plants in Cambridge is undergoing a renovation that will parallel the vision and utility of ESSC. The repurposing of this large building could be a boon to Cambridge, capturing part of its past glory when Phillips was a major employer and canning company and charting a new economic development future.

Etgen is leaving a legacy rich in its preservation of the Eastern Shore’s special quality of life. Thousands of conservation easements attest to his tenacity and people skills.

My former boss, Maryland State Treasurer Nancy Kopp, is retiring also at the end of December after 50 years of public service, including 19 as the highest ranking woman in Annapolis. She is an extraordinary person who dealt with contentious issues with calm, intellect and common sense. She eschews headline-grabbing; she seeks little or no credit.

Though the State Treasurer’s Office is considered the state’s banker—and in fact manages three major banking relationships—the State Treasurer is known primarily as serving with the governor and comptroller on the powerful Board of Public Works (BPW).

Often viewed as the voice of reason on the BPW, Kopp also has faced criticism for not being strident or argumentative enough on a board that annually approves billions of dollars of state contracts. Having served as Kopp’s liaison on the BPW, I observed that her level-headed approach worked effectively. She declined to make noise for the sake of media attention.

Nancy Kopp will be missed. She ran an efficient state agency. She treated people with respect. She asked tough questions. She always did her homework.

At the end of June, Kelly Griffith, superintendent of Talbot County Public Schools, will retire after 39 years as educator. Though I dealt with Griffith for just a short time when I served briefly on the Talbot County Public School Education Foundation (TCPSEF), I quickly realized that she was a dynamic, no-nonsense school superintendent.

Griffith knew the county’s public school system as superintendent for nearly nine years and in leadership positions since 1988. She established the TCPSEF to raise private funds for enrichment programs and internet connection fees for families unable to afford them, particularly evident during the Covid closures. This creative approach by a public school system yields money targeted at specific needs.

Superintendent Griffith is a doer intent on upgrading the educational standards in Talbot County. She has set a high mark for a successor to meet and exceed.

The director of Horn Point Lab (HPL) a marine science research facility in Cambridge under the auspices of University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science in Cambridge, Mike Roman is retiring at the end of June 2022 after 20 years at the helm of a well-respected source of objective information about the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.

A Ph. D professor of biological oceanography, Roman has been a scientist for 30 years. As HPL director, managing talented scientists and guiding graduate students, he has raised the visibility of a lab formerly little known, but one that Mid-Shore residents and political officials in Annapolis have discovered as a producer of reliable, science-driven data.

Roman is a down-to-earth scientist who impresses people not only with his knowledge, but also his low-key demeanor. He was my wife’s boss for 10 years. He favors modesty over braggadocio despite the accomplishments of his scientists, as well as his own oceanographic pursuits in the international arena.

Though disruptive, change is healthy and necessary. Those who follow exceptional leaders often fail. They find replacing “legends” dauntingly difficult. This phenomenon is all too commonplace in the private and non-private sectors.

A combination of staff, board and community acceptance and support; understanding of the expectations and culture; an adaptable but determined personality; patience; staff development; ability to produce a few quick wins and just pure luck lead to a productive transition.

Failure is an undesirable option. Success is achievable with a plan—and acknowledgement of a predecessor’s strengths— and a willingness to learn under pressure, while displaying a large dosage of humility and humor.

Much is at stake. Innumerable constituents are intently watching and hopefully helping. Success is a group effort.

Columnist Howard Freedlander retired in 2011 as Deputy State Treasurer of the State of Maryland. Previously, he was the executive officer of the Maryland National Guard. He also served as community editor for Chesapeake Publishing, lastly at the Queen Anne’s Record-Observer. In retirement, Howard serves on the boards of several non-profits on the Eastern Shore, Annapolis and Philadelphia.

The announcement last week by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, meeting in Baltimore, that it would make no judgment about the laity’s position on social issues such as abortion was a wise one. In other words, President Joe Biden and other politicians supporting pro-choice would not face prohibition from taking communion from the Roman Catholic Church for views considered sacred and inviolate.

News accounts of the conference revealed there was bountiful prayer and acceptance of the Holy Eucharist as a unifying sacrament, not a flash point of discord.

My reaction is two-fold: So, what? And overreaching conservative bishops hellbent in June to punish Biden had little choice after the President confessed after meeting with Pope Francis in October that the Holy Father considered him a ‘good Catholic.’

As I wrote in June when the group of conservative bishops signaled it might vote to forbid Biden, a weekly churchgoer, from taking the Holy Eucharist, I was appalled. But not entirely surprised. The Catholic Church has an unrealistically elevated view of itself at a time when attendance at its weekly services is down appreciably.

Its bow to modernity is limited. To some, such deference is sacrilegious. To me, the church’s staunch positions on social issues are ridiculous.

Parishioners are disgusted with the church’s rigid views about abortion, gay marriages and women priests. Add to this alienation the widespread sexual abuse by priests and the church’s efforts to cover up this despicable behavior—and you have a dysfunctional church facing a bankruptcy of decency.

This roiling mix of opinions also includes distrust and dislike of Pope Francis by conservative bishops. The Pope prefers to concentrate on conditions of the poor, racism and a disastrous future affected by inattention to climate change and global warming.

His opponents reside mostly in the United States. That too is not entirely bewildering. Perhaps the divides in Roman Catholicism reflect the political schisms in our country. The potential politicization of the sacrament of Eucharist exemplifies a divisive stance that a more reasonable approach nullified.

When I commented five months ago, a reader wrote that I did not understand or appreciate Catholic doctrine and rules. He is right. With its worldwide reach and awesome religious power, I respect the Roman Catholic Church. I listen to a Pope speak before thousands and thousands of devoted followers and marvel at his power to influence socioeconomic issues.

World leaders yearn for an audience at the Vatican as if it were a blessing from a revered figure. The optics are invaluable to leaders of the Free World. The Pope symbolizes ultimate moral authority.

However, I view the focus by U. S. bishops on abortion and gay marriage a sad waste of time. While I realize that the life of every person, even when unborn, is a premise above all else in Christianity, as defined by the Catholic Church—regardless of a woman’s choice—it strikes me as unfairly strict and unforgiving. The unwillingness to view the love between people of the same gender as real and genuine is inexcusable, if not hurtful.

My opinions will be unwelcomed by many readers. Their beliefs are heartfelt, ingrained in their souls. Yet, the mindset that Catholic politicians must accept unquestionably Church doctrine and apply it to their political decision-making ignores reality. Calls from the pulpit for strict allegiance to pro-life dictums sorely weaken the credibility of the Roman Catholic Church.

Pope Francis said, “This is important: to get to know people, listen, expand the circle of ideas. The world is crisscrossed by roads that come closer together and move apart, but the important thing is that they lead towards the Good.”

These simple words evoke a forgiving, open-minded church, one that does not require politicians to espouse ideas that adhere to Catholic doctrine. Unity and forgiveness represent the best attributes of the Roman Catholic Church, as well as every house of worship. Politics surely is part of the earthly realm; it belongs in the noisy public arena.