Labor Day

I'm jumping the gun a little bit but I wanted to say thank you to Labor for all that you have provided us over the years.

Thank you for the weekend.

Thank you for eight hour work days.

Thank you for jobs that let working-class folks climb up into the middle class.

Thank you for doing the jobs that make civilized life comfortable.

I'm proud to be endorsed by the Maryland State & D.C. AFL-CIO and United Transportation Union, Maryland State Legislative Board and I look forward to working for Maryland's working families.

Definition of Success

I'm running for the House of Delegates to Protect the Future.



What the heck does that mean? How will the voters be able to tell if I've protected the future in four years? How am I going to define success as a Delegate?

Ask any politician ever if they have been successful during their term and they will say "Yes." Because nobody wants to admit that they've been a failure. Even if they campaigned on position A and position B gets passed, they will define that as a success. That's why politicians get such a lousy reputation.

I'm not naive enough to think that I can go down to Annapolis and pass my specific wish list of legislation. I do hope that I can be more successful than our current delegate who has a perfect .000 batting average for getting legislation passed.

First Goal: Pass a bill.

Many of the items on my legislative wish list involve expanding freedoms to the good people of Maryland. We all do better, the economy does better, when more people have more freedom. The reverse of this position is that a lot of bad legislation gets proposed and passed which limits freedom. I hope to help defeat those bills.

Second Goal: That you have more freedoms available to you in four years than you do now.

A good economy depends on good government. Wise tax policy can help boost the economy. The hard choices we will have to make in the next couple years will have an impact on the economy. Everyone is talking about job creation, including me. We need smart government to help create jobs.

Third Goal: That you have a job and more money in your pocket in four years than you do now.

I want to empower the people of Maryland. Electricity provider competition has given the average family the power to vote against BGE. Alternate energy sources, like solar and wind, give people the power to control their own, well, power. Wise farming policies give people the power to control their own food supplies. We are all stewards of our environment. We all have the power to protect ourselves from crime.

Fourth Goal: That you, the people, have the power to control your fate instead of being left to the whims of the government or big business.

I hope you give me the chance to be your delegate this fall. And I hope you measure me against these four goal. And I hope that I pass!

Protect the Future: Vote Chiappelli.

Local Creeks

I'm a big fan of clean water. I look forward to the day when I can go swim in my local creek and not have to worry about toxins or diseases. I want to be able to stand in the water up to my waist and see my feet in clear water. I want to catch the large fish and large oysters (the size of dinner plates!) that Captain Smith bragged about when he first visited the Chesapeake Bay in the 1600’s.

Take a look at the map of the fighting 31st. Clean water is the environmental issue locally.

Delegate Kipke raised awareness about a year ago about the poor conditions of Marley and Furnace Creeks. Recently Redmond and Dwyer held a public meeting about the poor conditions of Rock Creek.

What concerns me about these awareness campaigns is that everyone is still playing the blame game. Whose fault is it that the local waterways are still dirty?

Some blame private landowners with leaky septic tanks, others blame government for letting the pumping station infrastructure decline. The unpleasant truth is that we’re all to blame. Every one of us contributes a little bit to the run-off and pollution going into the waterways. And every one of us needs to accept responsibility to clean it up.

True, the single biggest thing that the government can do is to upgrade the pumping stations to prevent untreated sewage from flowing into the creeks. That's been a huge problem. Some money has been allocated. The notorious Cox Creek Wastewater Treatment plant is finally scheduled to get some much needed (and expensive) upgrades.

The next crusade will be in dealing with stormwater runoff. A major storm, like we’ve seen frequently this summer, can undo years worth of progress on cleaning the waterways.

When the environmental movement first took off in the 1970’s, rivers were literally catching on fire, fish were choking on trash and industry pumped raw untreated wastes into the creeks through big pipes. Things have changed for the better. Nobody is afraid that Rock Creek is going to catch fire. Not only is it illegal to throw your trash into the water, but it’s unseemly and rude as well. Major industries have to comply with the Clean Water Act.

But the population of the watersheds keep growing. As we solve one problem, a new problem comes along to replace it. As we removed lead from gasoline and increased fuel economy, more people started to drive farther. We have to keep running just to stay in place.

Clean water should not be a political issue. President Richard Nixon recognized as much when he signed the Clean Water Act. We need to stop playing the blame game. There is plenty of blame to go around. We need to work towards solutions.

Mandatory Foreclosure Mediation

This past week I completed advanced training in foreclosure defense. The recent statistics are ridiculous. Since April 2008, there have been approximately 250,000 foreclosure filings in the State of Maryland. Odds are that you know somebody who has gone through a foreclosure or is about to go through a foreclosure.

It’s going to get worse. The foreclosures are affecting the middle class and “good” loans. Commercial real estate is about to take a hit. And, if you remember two years ago, the foreclosure crisis managed to bring the entire global economy into a recession.

Some homes can be saved. Others cannot. The wisdom is determining which is which.

It seems like a no-brainer. The banks want their money back and the homeowners want to stay in the house. If the homeowners can afford anything reasonable, the banks are better off reducing their profits by modifying the loan and getting some income rather than spending huge sums on the foreclosure process and ending up with a damaged property when the angry homeowner rips the sink off the wall before they are evicted.

From my experiences, the most frustrating part about foreclosure defense is trying to get someone from the bank on the phone who can talk about a loan modification or even negotiate a deal. That’s why I’m very pleased with the new mandatory foreclosure mediation passed by this year’s General Assembly. It forces the banks to come to the same table as the homeowner to discuss options. It doesn’t violate anyone’s right to contract or their right to private property. It simply forces them to talk for two hours, even if no agreement is reached.

That’s all my clients and I want!

A large Democratic majority voted for the bill. Delegates Kipke and Schuh also voted for it and I thank them for it. The third member of our delegation voted against it.

The good news from the recent training was the large number of attorneys who have stepped forward in this crisis to take on pro bono clients and go to bat for the little guys. It’s stuff like this that makes me proud to be a lawyer.

Do I have any solutions at the governmental level to the foreclosure crisis? I have a few suggestions, mostly procedural tweaks to the current system.

Do I have any solutions at the individual level? Yes. Deal with the situation as early as possible. Take a realistic look at your finances. Is your mortgage payment 35% or less of your gross monthly income? If yes, you’re probably okay. If not, look into getting a cheaper house. Squirrel away at least two months worth of mortgage payments for a rainy day. And banks, I’m embarrassed even to have to tell you this: a positive cash-flow is better than a negative cash-flow. Talk to the people, they want to pay you.

Protect your future. Vote Chiappelli.