Maryland is getting more corrupt under one-party Democratic rule. “Maryland’s new House speaker gives shoutout to convicted Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh in inaugural speech,” reports the liberal Baltimore Sun. “In her inaugural remarks Tuesday as speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates, Democrat Joseline Peña-Melnyk singled out” Catherine Pugh, a fellow Democrat, for recognition. The Sun notes that Pugh
was mayor of Baltimore from 2016 to 2019, when she resigned amid a growing scandal…Pugh was later convicted of fraud charges and served time in federal prison.
In remarks, Peña-Melnyk recognized Pugh, who was among the onlookers, as “a former senator, who we conspired [with] so many times in this House…former mayor of Baltimore, Catherine Pugh.”
Political analysts told The Baltimore Sun this could have been a risky move for a newly elected speaker — aligning herself with someone seen to have abused her own public office….
Flavio Hickel, who teaches political science at Washington College, said voters could have a “negative impression” upon learning of Peña-Melnyk and Pugh’s closeness.
“Voters may not be overly familiar with this,” Hickel said. “So just reading a headline that the speaker is celebrating a former mayor that was convicted is going to rub people the wrong.”
In other news, growing numbers of homes in Maryland are being taken over by squatters — even homes in prosperous suburban neighborhoods — due to how difficult Maryland makes it to evict squatters:
A $2.3 million home in one of Maryland’s wealthiest neighborhoods has become the latest test of the state’s ability to respond to squatting, exposing how legal gaps, slow court processes and limited enforcement can leave communities waiting for action — even when ownership is clear and criminal complaints are filed.
The Bethesda case, now winding through Montgomery County courts, mirrors a pattern Spotlight on Maryland has documented statewide:.. a growing squatting crisis across the state….That investigation has now led to Burning Tree Road in Bethesda, where residents of a tightly knit neighborhood say the $2.3 million home has become the latest flashpoint in a statewide pattern.
“We heard about squatters in the news but never thought it would be next door to where we all grew up,” said James, who has lived for years in the wealthy Bethesda community….He is one of nearly an entire block of residents who contacted Spotlight on Maryland after recognizing familiar warning signs from the investigative team’s prior reporting.
