BMORENEWS.com

Doni Glover and Tank

(OWINGS MILLS - January 7, 2009) - I don’t know where to start with the entire issue of Baltimore County’s first black Councilman, Ken Oliver, who was recently indicted on charges of writing himself and his wife checks and a few other charges as reported by The Daily Record.

As a friend, I am not engrossed with attacking his tenure. He is, innately and from my best estimation, a good man. He, like so many of us, got hemmed up into some financial straights. FYI, this is the worst American economy ever thanks to George Bush.

Consequently, Councilman Oliver, well on his way to a Councilmanic Chairmanship that would have likely led to even more progress for Greater Baltimore’s strongest black community, made a bad decision.

I think he should not be entirely judged by his mistake. I just believe in redemption. He should be judged, I think, by his accomplishments, including Windsor Mills Middle School where my daughter attends. I think he should be judged by the attention he put on Deer Park Middle School where my son attends.

If it were not for him, these schools would be terribly less relevant to an otherwise majority white council.

Personally, I am grateful for a man like him who had the intestinal fortitude to speak truth to power and who helped County Executive Jim Smith decide that such an edifice as Windsor Middle School was indeed necessary and good for the community.   

What I am interested in, now that his political career is in a bad way, is what the good people of that councilmanic district will do now.

As most readers of The Glover Report know, I am a resident of Baltimore City: Sandtown proper. At the same time, most of my family resides in Baltimore County – out the Liberty Road corridor: Lochearn, Randallstown, Woodlawn, Owings Mills and Pikesville. Consequently, I spend an inordinate amount of time out there trying to help for the better. One thing I have done for 6 months is edit the Northwest Voice newspaper, a publication by Kenny Brown that serves the northwest part of the county.

Mortgages are high as hell out there. Yet, they have foxes and deer in their backyards. For a city cat like me, it is – to say the least - quite refreshing for me to see. The county is quite an upgrade from the rats and pit bull dogs and cats on the corners I get to see on a daily.

No, I am not financially ready for such a monthly county bill, but I enjoy seeing my friends and family doing the damn thing.

I must say, however, that history instantly comes to mind. Back in the days of segregation, most black people lived in the ‘hood: Pennsylvania Avenue, Orleans Street, Myrtle Avenue. These were our streets, our experiences.

Today, names like Offut and Meadowbrook and Winans quench our memories.

The question – the real question is whether or not we have forgotten where we came from and what we did to stick together. For if we didn’t forget, we would be in-tune with our situation … and our neighbor’s situation.

We would not be so disconnected. We would know who our neighbors are, what they needed, and when they needed it. Ken is and will remain my neighbor, no matter where he lives.

I am not affiliated with any effort to strip him of who he is nor what he has. When he helped run Development Credit Fund, for instance, he did what he knew to help people. And that’s all you can ask of a person. He followed, to the best of his abilities I am sure, banking regulations.

Have you ever been a banker? Even more, have you ever been a black banker trying to help black folks?

Question: Of all the people out Liberty Road with money, are you telling me that Ken had nobody to go to for help? Two $2,000 checks - plus a few other small checks?

People: What does this say about us?

We couldn’t be there for him? He felt, possibly, he could not tell somebody he needed some help around Christmas time?

If that is the case, I am embarrassed. This is our first black councilman. And yes, we will elect others. But, are you telling me our level of trust, now that we have arrived and integrated into a place we often cannot afford and reside with the daily stress of being one paycheck away from poverty for the sake of matching the Joneses, is so low that we have forsaken our responsibility of looking out for our brother?

Tags: baltimore county, Politics