O'Malley Supports Red Line Plan to Destroy Canton

This is days late, but stupid work and stupid soccer practices kept me away.

Martin O'Malley pimped himself for a photo-op to announce his support for the Red Line light-rail proposal this week. Expecting a jubilant and supportive audience, he was greeted with jeers and shouts from the people that will be directly affected by the proposal.

Rather than running another subway line through Baltimore and under Canton, O'Malley's plan is to bore a crater into Boston Street that will be the entrance\exit hole for the rail line. Additionally, Boston Street will be reduced from a scenic thoroughfare into the city into a 2-lane side-street barricaded on one side by the rail line.

O'Malley demanded that this be done as soon as possible in order get federal funding. This is the best way to move Baltimore forward. Forward of what? The Baltimore Sun gleefully printed his letter to the editor where he supported his rhetoric with more elegant rhetoric.

Outspoken residents vehemently cried that the rail line will destroy what makes Canton popular - it's quick access to the water. I equate O'Malley's plan to divide Canton in half to New York City's Shore Parkway which deprives Brooklyn's residents access to New York harbor. "Screw you" is the common sentimentality declared from Annapolis and Baltimore's City Hall. You can see it from the road, but no one that lives there can get to it. O'Malley continues to show a disinterest in the opinions and views of the people he supposedly represents.

One resident stated that the light rail line will also devalue their property values. O'Malley arrogantly dismissed this claim with the statement that having the loud clanging of a light rail train running through their front yard and cutting access to the water will actually increase their property values. He supported this statement by saying that his studies have proven this. Let's see that data, Mr. Leprechaun.

One of my friends pointed out that he is probably trying to use the DC Metro as an example. This is flawed logic on O'Malley's part because the DC Metro is an integrated metro system that can connect you all over the city. The Baltimore rail system will do nothing of the sort.

During this same rally, amidst the boos, Congressman Cummings was obviously frustrated with people using their free speech and protesting the plan. He angrily demanded that they accept it because if they don't it won't get done. Uh…….

Meanwhile, Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon, who's again under federal indictment, stood silently to the side with that confused look on her face. I suspect the MoM crew told her to keep it quiet.

The best hope at this point for the residents of the Edmonson Avenue corridor and Canton is the rejection of federal funding for the project. This plan is inconsiderate to the concerns of the residents of the communities that are affected for the sake of saving some money.

Elected officials in Baltimore and Maryland are forgetting that they are trying to recruit the middle-class white people back into the city to increase the tax base. Introducing a barrier to the biggest selling point of Canton (the access to the waterfront) will destroy the draw and return Canton to the poverty-ridden ghetto that it was until the late 1980's.

Transportation projects should be considered for the long-term, but O'Malley continues to think in the short-term. Despite its catastrophic flaws, if the Red Line project is approved, O'Malley will use it as another bullet point on his resume to higher office. God help us.