I'm confused. Kiefaber has worked just about his whole life for that Theater, but even after many ups and downs, he sadly was unable to keep it. I would think he'd be proud of it being made an historical landmark. Can anybody add some clarity?

Yes, the Senator is private property. Private preservationists are well equipped to design, develop and implement sustainable investments; however, the private sector generally is not keen on public-authorities potentially controlling their intentions. Thus, often in circumstances such as this, the best outcome is not attainable. We the people are capable of determining what is best for ourselves and our communities. Mr. Kiefaber has tirelessly attempted to introduce the private preservationist perspective into the process but the BDC, by its actions and inactions, has sent the message, that it will do what it wants, regardless of the private sector's objections and opinions.

I don't know about the details of the bill Kiefaber is questioning but Yea for him speaking out about the culture of corruption that exists in City government.

Neversure, you can be exhausting. Mr. Kiefaber has been advocating this since 2007 prior to the Senator's First Mariner loan default. Mr. Kiefaber "beef" is that the process that was dictated by BDC, CHAP et al. was, by every measure, flawed; and its flaws and inconsistencies continue to mount as the new owner's tenure commences. The marginal and direct impacts (and potential impacts) of the legislation are many.

Kiefaber was wrong. This was not an honorable thing to do nor did it have anything to do with the First Amendment right to free speech. Basically he became unhinged. Once that happened, he lost the argument. Young handled the situation well.

p. s. Good spot news coverage, Adam. The Patch papers should be winning some prizes for their coverage I would think.

the owner fought tooth and nail to save the theatre. With Baltimore city's high property tax rate, humungous water bills, other permits, fines and fees the city enforced on you it was almost impossible to keep. When O'malley imposed yet another tax on our md business's like the 8.5% corporate tax in 2008, Md has lost more than 3000 businesses.. We rank #4 highest taxed state in America. We rate last place for job growth, We rate 2nd worst for food stamp fraud thanks to "illegal aliens frauding welfare and its freebies using fake/stolen ids".. O'malley wants to impose another $1.00 gal gas hike during his secret special session in sept. He wants to raise toll hikes. The truckers now pay $18.00 to cross the bay bridge. In 2012 they will pay $60.00 to cross it. Think about higher food prices etc. Omalley signed the Dream act for illegal alien children that is a disaster to taxpayers. In Md, taxpayers pay an estimated $2billion a year for "illegal aliens" who work our jobs while on welfare. Cont.

$1billion a year goes to educate the children of illegal aliens from kindergarten to grade 12. Now they want taxpayers to subsidize their college education costing us Millions more a year. How much can we sustain while our elected officials are having a blast with their high salaries, full pensions, trips, gas, cell phones and hotel parties enjoy the thievery they are doing to us. Why would omalley take a mega country trip and bring 65 friends with him while Md is in a recession? Why doesn't omalley tell you the young black americans unemployment rate is now at 15 %? The man that promised no new taxes during his campaign has lied folks. We have to stand up like this gentleman did and demand they stop their bs spending. We can't afford this any longer. The democrats vote the same ole thieves back in office and the republicans bi#@$ about it and don't vote.

Some readers have expressed confusion about why Tom Kiefaber did what he did yesterday evening. I'm in the process of putting together a piece that will better explain the back story.

Great! Thanks Adam. As evidenced by the Pew Study , the majority of the local news coverage during the senators auction (over 95% I think) was provided by government sources only. Our local news outlets were only reporting what they were told to report. Locals and those directly involved were ignored, cyber bullied and cyber stalked whenever they tried to correct information being reported. No local media would report what was really happening.
The city officials, etc have a powerful way to 'handle' people who speak up and speak out. The Senator situation with mr. kiefaber is only one small example. We don't know about all the others b/c they haven't done what mr. kiefaber has done. Keep speaking up and speaking out. And for those who think what he did was inapropriate, or an outrage or whatever.........well you just don't know the whole story or you certainly wouldn't be passing such judments.

Exactly! Let's finally hear what all the "fuss" has been about. It;s high time the real story comes out. Way to go Adam! And Mr. Kiefaber too!

Dysfunction junction, what’s your function? Leaders? or Jokers? I'm not impressed with our City Council. Baltimore can do better. We are the city that bleeds.

By George, they're starting to get it.

The focus should shift now from what I did on Monday nite, to what I SAID, on the record, transcribed from the tapes. The're not afraid of me physically, that's nonsense and they know it. They are afraid that what I said up there will finally get reported and investigated. Scratch below this thin surface in an election year and it really reeks. I've gotten to know a bunch of them on the council for over 25 years. or more of this kind of nonsense.

My observation and interaction with this sorry mess of a city government over the years gave me unique perch to experience our city's imbedded culture of corruption and concealment, first-hand. That's the way things work in The Banana Republic of Baltimore. The relentless retribution from the BDC and Embry at Abell took ten years and it's been an eventually devastating boat anchor, ever since we turned the tide for the Superblock's preservation in 2001 by running that expose documentary before each and every show "Baltimore's West Side Story". as noted by the NYTimes. The end result back then was the MOU agreement that they are now back in ring over Re: the "Superblock" at the BDC, blowing off preservationists in the process, as they just did with this bill. The Senator is no longer in a position to mold public opinion over anything. That channel has been shut down and rebel base overrun. It's The Wire/ Live in Charm City, and my performance-art, work-in-progress appearance on the council dais/alter to corruption, was an unappreciated sneak preview before the premiere! Shoulda banged the prez's gavel hard a few times and strutted and shouted Attica! Attica!! from up there. That too would have gone right past them all, and our humorless, stressed out media as well. .
Reply

Neversure. Time to hop down to one side of the fence on this through educating yourself as to what's coming down. The city is the theatre's owner after the "taking" through a sham auction process undermined by Mr Embry by proposing the unprecedented CHAP legislation, never before done in the State of MD, before The Senator's auction, when there was no legit reason to do so. The actions by Embry were clearly intended to send my potential equity partners packing that we were in negotiations with, and it unfortunately worked like a charm.. Embry's a monstrous weirdo head case, but the CIA does not recruit dummies. Now they are [were...] quietly shoving this heavily flawed sham legislation through a shrouded, secretive process without alerting anyone form the preservation community as to what was occurring. No interactions with preservationists, as too often happens here in Baltimore. Now this misguided seismic shift to exert control over private property interiors at will is set to become law. If they tried this crap in some states and cities the place would be packed with open carry protesters. It's a big fat sham lie process. What's now NOT taking place at The Senator is simply an expensive tragic farce. Check the grosses. The Rotunda's been eating their lunch on the very same films for while now.. Go figure. and follow the money...

What exactly was wrong about what Mr. Kiefaber did? He showed great courage and honor in the face (s) of some very dishonarable people. Unhinged? Naw. More like pulling back the iron curtain...

It's more like a force field, kept in place by fear and tradition. Tell ya one thing about the experience down there Monday night, , it's surreal up there. Not just because I was a protesting interloper, the physical setup is real strange with the height and all lights on ya. The setup is like those court movies where the defendant can't even see the judge. I have serious regrets of course. Why I didn't hop in the Prez's lifted up Mr. Potter chair and bang that gavel a few times accompanied by "I'm mad as hell and not going to take it anymore" a la Beale, I will never know. When Bernie freaked and split, he left an open chair and [drumroll] the GAVAL. On the other hand, I tried to not get to weird up there though. I was definitely not looking to trigger a SWAT response or a trip to central booking. To my credit here, I did manage to stifle a "Don't Taze Me Bro!!!" outburst, because I knew the officer a bit. A good guy, and the allusion may have also be misinterpreted as possibly offensive, to those unaware of the cultural meme. Also on my short list of regrets includes announcing a run for City Council President. If I had known he did earlier that day, I would have. Once you get used to it it feels goooood up there Holmes. Imagine running things as a Balmer despot, like Jaba the Hut. Bernard can then play Salacious Crumb!

Darn it! No audio? Aren't these public meetings taped by the city? Will it run on the mayor's cable network? I wonder what the other folks in the room were seen, but not heard talking about? How was the elevator conversation?

I got audio Hon.

There is a sense of entitlement among those who feel government is not doing what they want and often these people become unruly and potential lawbreakers when voicing their opinions. They not only believe they must be heard, but that what they demand must be adhered to. We saw it with the Tea Partiers. We are seeing it in Baltimore County with the destruction of speed cameras. We saw a bit of it last night at the City Council meeting. These people don't understand that their opinions are just that - their opinions. There are a million other valid opinions out there.

Like I said. A jackass

Mr. Kiefaber, you have proven yourself to be unreasonable and unable to discuss issues in a civil manner.
I stand by my statement that you have become unhinged.

Tully, Many of our elected officials are NOT LISTENING TO THE PEOPLE.. they listen more to their partners in crime and their campaign supporters. Political favors called Corruption..Corruption = political favors done with tax $$.. etc. I am a proud member of the bi-partisan Tea party. An organization of all race color creed sex and religion. An organization that demands our elected official pay attention to the voice of the people. Have you ever thought that maybe mr. Kiefaber had controlled his opinion for years and was ignored? After a while, drastic measures are taken like he did.. I had to go to court for a simple tenant landlord disupute. We were not allowed to voice our opinions. e judge Gordon was very abrupt and demanding without regard to what we were saying.. Cont>

Cont:They put on the robe and think they rule the earth but in all reality, they are just miserable low life people who demand they be worshipped. Many of our laws/rules in balto. city are a joke. Many of our councilmen,legislatures etc have no clue on how to run a city. The justice should be voting every single one of them out of office. They have destroyed our city. Our state isn't in any better shape either. Yet the same ole politicians keep getting elected. Maryland is one of the worst states in the country. Yet omalley was named Governor of the year according to his rockville editor friend who put it on a magazine cover. Welfare in md is at 30% fraud because of the many fake and stolen ids that are used. In Annapolis this year, 2 similar bills were proposed called the "legit id act".. *such a shame we need a bill to force people to use a legit id*.. but all they said was that whenever anyone applies for "welfare, state jobs .. a voters card or drivers license etc" you must provide a legit id. Do you know that it was voted down by our very liberal loser elected officials? Casa de crook Md, Catholic and episcopal church was opposed to it also saying we have no right to force this issue on "illegal undocumented aliens" in md. I'm sure the pathetic elected officials that voted against it, will be rewarded with deeper pockets and votes since voter fraud is extremely high in md.

Corruption seems to rule. When these public officials lie on record,/under oath, are provided with MANY 'perks' financial and otherwise and mislead the public-the citizens, what and who do we turn to?
And with this being a public meeting, I'm wondering who the lady was that was trying to prevent the video from being shown.
Does anyone know who that person is and why she would do this in a public meeting?

Anna, The woman who covered the Sunpaper reporter's lens was just freaking out Anna. They did'nt know what to do when I started broadcasting basic truths as i see them from the dais in the actual city council chamber. I note that once I slowly walked [not bounded!] up to the dais, and began speaking all hell broke loose. Lots of hiding, freaking and scurrying, like suddenly flipping on a bright light in a crack house kitchen.

I note that Bill Cole and Warren Branch both sat right there. When I asked them both later why they stayed put and so many of their colleagues like Bill Henry and The Council President and most others bolted for the exits. They both told me directly, "I wanted to hear what you had to say". Those two are also the only members of the council or the mayor's senior staff who have had the courtesy to return my low key calls. They both seem to me to be "keepers" for the upcoming delete/reinstall, throw-the-bums-out election. We'll see.

Wow! It sorta sounds like those who ran out had good reason for not wanting to hear what you had to say.
Please note: I unfortunately live in Mr. Henry's district. Been to plenty of community meetings, etc. I've even attended several meetings in the same night. Wish I'd recorded them as his commentary, etc. changed from one meeting to the next.
From what I understand, Mr. Henry has plenty of reasons to flee a room when people speak up. I wish he'd flee my district. I'm so sorry to say Mr. Kiefaber that I have never in my 40 plus years of living where I live, have ever seen The Senator looking so terribly neglected. I volunteered at your theatre with my kids a few years ago and recently stopped by/contacted them to inquire again about volunteering. (cleaning the place up, helping to clean the outside of the building, replace bulbs)They're not interested at all. My family and I enjoyed many many years at your theatre and want to thank you! Again, we are so sorry that you've had to go through such and ugly political process, but your honesty and passion and bravery were quite evident at this meeting. Makes me think of a classic film (actually two) that we enjoyed at your theatre. "Spartacus" and "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington".

Thank you for your compliments Anna. I also agree that what is happening to The Senator and all the wonderful folks who were once associated with the theatre who have been devastated by Baltimore's culture of corruption. They know it didi not occur over a 4 year period because i don't pay my bills. They wanted my property and me gone. And that's just what they didi. Took a while, but it's mission accomplished for these absolute fools. They lived it with me and my family. In a town so worked over and apathetic like Baltimore's citizens, most have simply given up. I get that as I have come very close to simply saying screw the city of Baltimore and truckin' onto some normal city that is not set up with a BDC type agency that's such a corrupt "work" to steal and misuse. HUD money for 40 years. . They should call it Scamtown.

But then I remember that I love the people of Baltimore, and it's rich history. It's these monstrous powerbroker daemons screwing the people Like Riobert C. Embry and MJ Brodie who are also really running the city apart from city hall. That's the real problem. Most of Baltimore's politicians are scared, non leaders to just say yes when instructed. That's why I will be soon filing to run for Jack Young's seat, and I now fully expect that after a long hot summer and primary right after a debacle of a car race Race blows up in their face, to be elected as the next radical reformer President of the City Council of the once great City of Baltimore. Baltimore has such enormous upside potential. Will you vote early and often for me?

" filing to run for Jack Young's seat"
Looking forward to it Mr. Kiefaber.

I've said often enough over the years, watching what's been taking place downtown that there should be more 'working class citizens' filling the seats down there. There must be a cleaning of the house down there. I just can't understand why these folks are permitted to continue to hold office. We can say that the citizens are the ones who vote these folks in, but even the mayor wasn't elected. I think a number of the folks simply got shifted around after Ms. Dixon. Still yet, with so many other factors controlling things downtown, I'm not entirely sure I (or any of us) could really trust the voting process.
There's a fantastic article in the current issue of The Urbanite. I'll have to find and post the actual text, but it mentions how the (true) artists and visionaries could throw a wrench into the elections this year.
Can I even begin to imagine a group of REAL individuals coming together...artist, visionaries, people who are genuinely passionate about the city and it's people. It's truly the artists and visionaries (I'm not referring to the development interest visionaries- those folks envison dollar signs only) that make up the true heart and soul of the city we live in and it's their voices, their talents and their passions that benefit us all. Certainly not those currently in office. What's the saying.... "If it's broke, fix it!"

Mair, Does that mean I may get your vote, if I run? Today Rodricks would simply not take my call on an, open topic hour on Midday, The kid who answered when I called back after I was put on hold and then hung up on said, "Dan does not want you on the air. So Dan does not want me on the air. This was before the halfway mark. Even when he got down to almost begging for calls or emails, nada. Kiefaber does not get on the air on Rodricks show apparently. Why is that. It's like he's scared of something. He can't be scared of just words, because he will cut off an offensive talker or ranter with out compunction, and we all appreciate that. So what's Dan Roderick's scared of coming form me? Perhaps a truth or two that I may utter on the air about the power elite circles concentrated in North Baltimore that he shills for so often? maybe that's it. Is he afraid I may say that every citizen of Baltimore now lives in "Greater Homewood". whether they know it or like it or not or not? Or talk about our deeply dysfunctional, city council. Or mayor's office intrigue. The upcoming car race perhaps and what's really going on there with the concessioners contracts ? Whatever it is, hopefully if I file and run for City Council President, some of these issues can be civilly discussed during my allotted hour on WYPR'sDan's Midday show as a viable candidate for our city's second highest office. Dan's censor snub today may have been just what I needed to take the plunge. Some public radio!

Mr. Kiefaber, you are absolutely correct that the city and our elected officials are completely off track but it is how you went about voicing your concerns that were the problem. Why don't you just run for City Council President and let's have the debate? I for one am all ears...but don't shout at me or take the mic hostage.

Know something? He defriended me too! 'd posted comments here and there on some various topics. But at one point an interesting exchange was happening. I apparently went too far. He defriended me, then sent me a mgs. I was actually just looking for it and found it.
I'd heard numerous things about him from folks who worked with him, for him, friends of his. But it wasn't until he sent me that msg directly that I actually was a bit weirded out by it.
Freedom of speech is an interesting thing.
Many years ago, Dan accused me of being a racist. It was in the paper and it was horrible. Though he certainly had the right to say this, it was absolutely untrue and very very hurtful.
Enough said on that...

Dan Rodricks is a very strong liberal and friend of Illegal aliens and casa de fraud md. He also called me a racist because i'm a strong activist against tax $$ for Illegal aliens..

No way! Really?

Hey Anna, and Sean, Voila, we have found common ground! Dan wrote me up as a racist too. in the Sun. he was proven totally wrong, and so I sent a letter to the editor at The Sun. They printed it, but it was selectively changed in wording to imply a racial insensitivity to me. I called them on it and they verified, that it had been changed. and the person that did it [guess who???] could not be specifically traced because a password was used that was known by more than one person. The change was made surreptitiously right before press time on a odd terminal and the culprit could not be proven as Dan. I threatened to sue, and they quickly did something they told me was never done before in Sun's long history. They ran the letter again, and acknowledged in the smallest type imaginable that my original letter had been tampered with in a way that changed it's meaning and was therefor being published this time in it's accurate entirety. The brass clearly suspected it was Danny boy for sure, off his meds, but never called him out for it like they should have. He's now one of their stars down there. Can you imagine?

Unfortunately..... I can imagine this happening. Off and on over the years I'd feel 'empowered' by way of submitting letters to the editor (to the sun) Rarely did anything ever make it to print. And on those few occassions when it did go to print I'd soon realize that what I'd written was not exactly what was printed.
I suppose if the letters we are sending are "to the editor" then this basically means they are able to edit them prior to printing???
Well gosh darn! If someone like Dan Oddricks can have his way in print as well as on the radio waves, well I would like to think, or imagine that someone like Mr. Kiefaber (who obviously has a lot to say about Baltimore-past present and future- could potentially have his own radio show!