Politics & Opinion

By Patrick Weadon

Maryland governors who win second terms often discover that their reelection allows them to ignore political expediency in favor of doing what is right. Our state’s current chief executive is currently faced with just such an opportunity.

On the gay marriage issue, the governor’s most recent agenda seeks to ensure that gay citizens in our state have the same rights as their heterosexual counterparts. It’s no secret that many deeply religious citizens of our state fervently believe that gay marriage is an abomination. They are entitled to those beliefs. What they are not entitled to is to insist that their metaphysical concept of marriage in our state be enshrined in secular law. Maryland is not a theocracy. Those who abhor gay marriage are free to never marry a member of their own sex. In short, common human decency demands that we extend the right of contract to marry in our state to same-sex couples.

On the issue of taxes, recent proposals seek to raise revenue through a slight increase in the state sales tax, increased taxes on the wealthy, and a 15-cent levy on gasoline. These initiatives are sure to bring out the usual whining and caterwauling over tax increases, but the truth is that both are needed to keep our state’s transportation systems and current financial status (AAA) in good shape.

Having written for the Voice for close to a decade, I know that many loyal readers of the paper are disdainful of the idea of gay marriage and even less enamored of tax increases. However, even those of you who have a visceral hatred for Governor O’Malley should cheer the fact he intends to ask the legislature for $372 million to build and remodel schools.

Unless you have been living in a cave, you probably know that this proposal has the potential to help our community finally get a new high school. The citizens of Severna Park should recall that it was not too long ago thatSeverna Park High narrowly escaped losing its accreditation, not because of academics but because the building was falling apart. Thankfully, the state is finally doing for our community what our county leaders have never been able to accomplish.

Our current county executive appears to be more interested in “shopping” at the mall and ridiculing SuperintendentKevin Maxwell than he is in giving our children the education they deserve. For years the school system has suffered from a billion-dollar maintenance backlog. The last time we built a new high school in this county, Ronald Reagan was in the White House. In the meantime, counties such as Montgomery and Howard are taking action to shore up their school systems. While Leopold pinches his pennies, our children are being left behind.

Recently the brilliant New York Times columnist Tom Friedman noted that “in the past, workers with average skills, doing an average job, could earn an average lifestyle. But, today being average just won’t earn you what it used to. Average is over.” He is so right. And, the only way that our kids will ever escape mediocrity is to get a good education.

So, you may not like parts of the recent gubernatorial agenda. That’s your right. In this great country of ours you’re entitled to believe that gays are second-class citizens and that taxes are legalized theft, but all of us should be in touch with reality enough to understand that education is the key to success. For this reason, the governor’s latest educational initiatives for school construction should be lauded. Primum prima.