July 20, 2001
 
 We attended a “housing summit” set up by Casper Taylor last week that included a number of officials from the Glendenning administration.
 
 Those officials - the Secretary of Planning, Secretary of Housing, and Secretary of Smart Growth - traveled all the way to Allegany College to discuss housing issues in Allegany County.
 
 That sure was nice of them to come all that way, especially since the meeting they attended had no agenda and - from what we could tell - no point.
 
 Mr. Taylor opened the meeting with a few words of introduction, then had local elected officials from each government entity represented (the county, Cumberland, and Frostburg) say a few words.
 
 Lee Fiedler, Cumberland’s illustrious mayor, stood up and claimed that the vast majority of the city’s houses are really old. He then claimed that 40% of all home buyers want newer homes, as opposed to older homes, so the city is “pushed out right away.”
 
 We’re not sure where he got that statistic on home buyers, but if it’s true, it means 60% of home buyers think it would be perfectly acceptable to buy an older home. Hmm.
 
 Mr. Fiedler went on to claim that there is “a growing need for newer construction in the city.” When asked why that construction isn’t taking place if the need exists, he asserted that “economically it’s not feasible for a private investor to come in and build with the things they have to face.”
 
 Like what things? He didn’t say. But he did conclude by announcing that “new housing has got to get started.”
 
 So what does this mean? We’re not sure, but we suspect Mr. Fiedler may have been hinting that the state needs to subsidize upper end home construction a la the Jim Combs subdivision give-away, in which city taxpayers are paying for infrastructure improvements in Mr. Combs’ subdivision that are typically paid for by the developer. This allows Mr. Combs to double his profit, and to keep the cost of the building lots artificially low, thus depressing the cost of lots overall. Great plan, huh?
 
 Seeming to support this bizarre concept, John Robb, a private citizen, also asserted at the meeting that what we really need here in Allegany County is new upper income housing, even though, as he admitted, 3,000 to 4,000 sq. ft. houses in the area are selling for half of what they sold for five years ago.
 
 In most places, that would mean the market for upper end housing is somewhat depressed, but this is Allegany County, so apparently it means just the opposite.
 
 It’s not as though nothing productive took place at the meeting. The county did share some interesting statistics, such as the fact that 11% of the county’s housing stock is currently vacant (the number is 14% in the city of Cumberland), and that we currently have 193 lots available for the construction of new homes in various subdivisions.
 
 Of the elected officials who spoke, John Bambacus, Frostburg’s mayor, made the most sense. He noted that in Frostburg, they’re concentrating on economic and job growth (wow! what a concept!), as opposed to building housing for people who don’t live here.
 
 Mr. Bambacus also stated that “I believe the initiative in creating housing subdivisions has to come from the private sector. We need to work with developers and help them in whatever way we can, but housing must be a private sector initiative.”
 
 Whew. At least someone at the meeting made sense.
 
 But even as Mr. Bambacus made a valid point, Mr. Taylor seized the moment and steered the meeting to yet another weird interlude. “As John said, we must rely on the private sector,” Mr. Taylor intoned. He then introduced Kevin Bell, the developer who wants to build a subsidized apartment complex in South Cumberland off Wempe Drive.
 
 Mr. Bell explained his project, the construction of which is subsidized through a federal tax credit program. Since the government is propping him up, we don’t think Mr. Bell’s effort qualifies as “private sector development,” but what the heck. This is Allegany County, home of the handout, so why not call it private sector development? It’s as close as you’re going to get with this crew in office.
 
 As for the various state officials in attendance, they were all very polite. Probably a little confused, but polite nonetheless. Secretary Skinner said his department would be happy to assist local officials in creating a housing plan, and suggested that a smaller group get together locally to figure out the issues we’re facing before Mr. Taylor convenes another “housing summit,” which he plans to do in October.
 
 We think that was code for “get your act together before you drag us back up here.” We feel your pain, Secretary Skinner.