The Day Music Dies The Drifters, Roberta Flack, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Clyde McPhatter, Ben E. King and Wilson Pickett are all names that most Baltimoreans are familiar with. They are probably less familiar with the man who created the record label that made those artists household names in America.

I am writing from Istanbul, Turkey this week where I attended the funeral of one of Turkey’s favorite sons, who was also the man who changed American music forever. Though he grew up in Washington DC, the Turkish born Ahmet Ertegun, was probably unknown to most Baltimoreans. Ertegun, who died last week at the age of 83 after sustaining a head injury when he fell backstage at a Rolling Stones concert, was a towering figure in the world of soul and rock and roll. A founder of Atlantic Records, and enshrined in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Ertegun will be familiar to those Baltimoreans who saw the movie “Ray” as the music mogul who identified and brought Ray Charles into the mainstream of American music.

Ertegun also had a Baltimore connection. It could be that the entrepreneurial spirit that led him to found the Atlantic Record label was first evidenced in Baltimore. Ertegun once told me that as a teenager growing up in Washington, he had a passion for horse racing and used to make his way to Baltimore for races at Pimlico and Timonium where he created and sold his own racing forms at the Timonium track.

Ironically, as a Turk, Ertegun had a profound impact on racial equality in America. When Ertegun created the Atlantic label in the late 1940’s, not only was America segregated and so was its music. Black musicians played in black clubs, mostly out of sight of white Americans. Ertegun, who came to segregated Washington as a teenager as the son of the Turkish Ambassador to the US, frequented DC’s jazz clubs where he befriended black musicians. Since many of these musicians had no place to practice or jam, Ertegun often invited them to the Turkish Embassy to play.

Apparently, the sight of blacks in segregated Washington entering the front door of the Turkish Embassy on Massachusetts Avenue was too much for one southern senator who wrote the Turkish Ambassador saying the it had come to his attention that “Negroes” were entering through the front door of the Turkish Embassy. Ertegun’s father wrote the senator and, according to what Ertegun told me last summer, replied “ Dear Senator: It is my custom to invite my friends through the front door of my residence. But if you prefer, you are welcome to enter through the back door.”

Ertegun’s passion for the music that he heard black artists play in out of the way night clubs in Washington and across the south led him to create a record company that helped bring black musicians to the forefront of American culture and music. That’s why, in the words of Aretha Franklin, Ahmet Ertegun deserves the R-E-S-P-E-C-T of all Americans.

Labels: Ahmet Ertegun, Aretha Franklin, Atlantic Record label, Istanbul, Turkey

  4:31 PM •  0 Comments • Links to this post

The Confusion of Disaster - A local response to the Iraq Study Group Despite their best intentions, it remains to be seen whether a new Iraq policy will emerge now that the Democrats are in control of Congress. Democrats themselves aren’t clear on what to do. The long awaited Iraq Study Group’s report is headed for the discount table at Barnes & Noble, its major contribution being to publicly acknowledge what most people in America already know - that we are losing the war. And, its prescriptions, like calling for training more Iraqi troops are more of what we have already heard. Remember, “We will stand down when they stand up”? The reality is that there is no functioning central Iraq government or even an idea to stand up for.

While politicians in Washington dither, fuss and fume about what to do next, American soldiers and marines continue to die in Iraq. Senators obsequiously congratulated the new Defense Secretary for his candor, but acknowledgement of reality is a long way from having a new policy. The real

Labels: Democrats, Iraq

  4:32 PM •  0 Comments • Links to this post

Something Fishy at DBED The Baltimore Sun reported this past weekend that Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED) made a $500,000 grant – not a loan or investment – to a company that is owned by a social friend of Secretary Aris Melissaratos. The DBED secretary gave the sketchy justification that it was to help a local business grow. It was bad enough the company had no experience in managing a port. The Sun revealed that the company receiving the grant had been eliminated from the bidding process to acquire the port services well before the grant was awarded. This port deal smells fishy and Melissaratos’ explanation just doesn’t hold water. Regardless of the support for his reappointment as secretary by the likes of Senate President Mike Miller and Rep. Dutch Ruppersburger, it is clear that Gov. Elect O’Malley needs to find someone else to run DBED.

The broader question that the new Governor should consider is how government can best help business in the state to grow. By many measures, Maryland’s economy is doing quite well. Jobs growth javascript:void(0)
Publishis solid and unemployment is a relatively low 4%. In a recent survey by DBED, a majority of companies expect employment growth in 2007 while today, 20% of Maryland companies reported labor shortages. And, surprising to critics of Maryland’s business climate, the survey showed that more than 70% of firms think the state is a good place to do business.

These positive developments mask the big challenge that business, especially small and start-up companies, face today – access and cost of health care. In the last legislative session, the “Wal Mart Fair Share Bill” was the legislature’s attempt to address this problem. But in narrowly targeting Wal Mart, they neglected a far bigger problem: the cost of health care for small businesses. A recent NY Times article noted that premiums for small businesses rose at faster pace than for companies with more than 200 employees. The same article pointed out that small businesses spend a median of 18.7% of gross revenues on health insurance compared to 2.3% of the larger companies. Health insurance is one of the biggest costs that small businesses face and one of the biggest impediments to their growth. To get by, many small businesses and start-ups don’t offer health insurance to employees at all.

Instead of granting funds to its business cronies, DBED should focus on helping small business solve their health care problem. Want to attract businesses to Maryland? Find a solution to control or reduce health care costs to small businesses, solve the problem of the uninsured and don’t worry, they will come.

Labels: DBED

  4:20 PM •  1 Comments • Links to this post

Modernizing Maryland's Elections Compared to how the primary elections were conducted, the general elections in November were a breeze. From all reports, the new electronic voting machines performed pretty well. Despite concerns that had a large number of voters request absentee ballots, I found the voting machines easy to use and a big improvement over other systems.

The focus now will be on creating a paper trail or some form of redundancy that enables an audit of the results. With financial institutions keeping track of billions of dollars that move electronically around the world on a daily basis, it seems like keeping track of elections results should be pretty simple.

But maybe not.

The malfunctions and incompetence that characterized the primary elections signify a more fundamental problem with the way elections are managed in Maryland. The system is broken and has undermined voter confidence.

Maryland’s system is a hodgepodge of 24 local election boards and election heads appointed by the Governor, local administrators chosen by those boards, and a state-widestatewide election board. Election administration is too de-centralized; accountability is too diffuse. Administrative procedures are not uniform. There is no uniformity of record keeping. Voter files are managed differently. There is no way to get a single statewide voter list electronically. The opportunity for political shenanigans is too great.

This is no way to run the business of elections.

It should be obvious that we need uniform systems, modernized databases, simpler procedures, and reliability. The way elections are administered in Maryland needs fundamental reform. How to get there is the question. We can start by vesting accountability for managing the state’s elections in a professional election official.

It must be taken out of the realm of politics and accountability must be vested with one person. Maryland is far behind other states in having an election system that provides accountability. For example, currently, forty states make their Secretary of State responsible for being the chief election official for the state. Unlike Maryland where there is no accountability to the voters, the Secretary of State in these forty states is an elected official who is directly accountable to the voters. If he or she messes up this system has the benefit of making the head of elections accountable to the voters. At election time, voters will know whom to throw out of office the next time.

Alternatively, the bi-partisan National Commission on Election Reform chaired by Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford recommended a professional election official appointed by the Governor and confirmed by a super-majority of the state legislature. This would follow the model of many countries where the administration of elections is somewhat removed from the political process.

Restoring voter confidence in our election system is not optional, it is a necessary pre-requisite for a functioning democracy. With just two years before the critical 2008 presidential elections, there is no time to waste. Modernizing how elections are managed in Maryland should be high on the list of reforms for the new Governor and General Assembly.  10:16 AM •  0 Comments • Links to this post