March 28, 2024
Annapolis, US 50 F

He Said, She Said. Dirty Politics? You Decide.

Well, this is more of a she said-she said, but we will put it out there for discussion.  Eye On Annapolis received an email from Stephanie Hodges, a candidate for the House of Delegates in the Linthicum area (District 32).

Stephanie Hodges, Republican Candidate for MD House of Delegates in District 32

Tomorrow is the annual Linthicum parade and fair. I participated in the parade last year as a candidate. This year I have been banned from participating in the Linthicum parade, because I am only a “candidate”.

When I explained to the Chair of the Parade Committee Sandy Hartzell that I was in the parade the previous year, she said it was a mistake and it was brought to her attention by the elected official that candidates are not allowed to walk in the parades.

Even after pointing out to Ms. Hartzell that I spoke with Anne Arundel County Licensing and permits in regards to the parade, they assured me that a “parade” means a public procession and that as a condition of issuing a license you can not infringe upon the freedom of the right to assemble.   See County Code :11-11-101.  Parades.

Ms Hartzell stated, “under no circumstance is my campaign allowed to participate in the parade and I am unwelcome even in the vicinity of the parade.” Unfortunately she could not prevent me from going to the fair.

In addition to being banned from the parade there are several instances of elected official using undue influence, In one case Pam Beidle (incumbent Delegate) went to the home of a Linthicum resident with my signs in their yard. She stated that she has been their Nationwide agent for 20 years and asked why they didn’t have her sign in their yard. To avoid further conflict the resident removed my sign from her yard.

In another case, I had been given permission to place signs on several of Lenny Atmen’s properties, in and around the Glen Burnie area.  All of my signs where removed from Atmen’s properties. When confronted, Atmen stated, “Ted asked me to remove the signs.”

I am just amazed at the blatant abuse of power, now I will admit this is the first time I have run for office, so is this what they call “Chicago Politics”?

Welcome to the world of politics Stephanie.  We tried to contact Pam Beidle, Ted Sophocleus, and Sandy Hartzell and Delegate beidle was the only one to return an email or a phone call.

Pamela Beidle, D_Maryland House of Delegates in District 32

In her statement, Pam offers the following:

I can personally give you a little background about the Linthicum Parade.  Twelve years ago when I first ran for County Council I was not permitted to walk or ride in the parade, and it is my hometown.  Four years ago, Richard Forgo, who was president of our Linthicum Shipley Improvement Association, was not allowed to ride in the parade when he was a candidate.  So Sandy is just enforcing the rule that has been the rule for as long as I have known.  I have no influence on this committee and I have not attempted to have influence.

I noticed that Stephanie has added an accusation that I told someone to remove her sign because I was their Nationwide agent.  I can assure you that this NEVER happened and would be happy to confront the person that stated this.  To my knowledge, I do not have any Nationwide Clients in Linthicum with my sign.  I have asked people to add my sign to a yard where signs we currently displayed. But would NEVER asked for a another candidate’s sign to be removed.

It is a shame that Candidate Hodges does not have enough good things to say about herself, so she has to say negative things about other candidates.  I really do not have enough hours in the day to worry about other candidates.

We are still waiting on a response from Delegate Sophocleus and Sandy Hartzell.

We spoke with several residents in the area and they did confirm that they had never seen any political candidates in any of the parades in years past; but none of them were aware of any rule or regulation banning them.

What do you think? Please leave a comment!

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