Nancy Moran
Independent Prisoner Advocate
550 Saint Mary Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21201

November 1, 1999

FAX TRANSMISSION

TO: G. Lawrence Franklin
Assistant Secretary of Public Safety
f410-339-5076

RE: Why I don't have any handouts anymore

You asked at the last budget hearing if I had any handouts. I'm fed up with coming up with handouts. Every time I come up with a new handout format, Fiscal Services and/or the Department of Management and Budget duplicates it within two fiscal years. To wit:

  • In 1991, I got to Senators Lapides and Smelser about preserving the South Wing of the Penitentiary for historic reasons. What was the building you eventually wound up with?

  • In 1992, I was kvetching about the new prison in Cumberland. In what year was the thing finally authorized?

  • In 1992, I put out the "Outline for Inmate Population Reduction" for Delegate Maloney, later to show up in the Sentencing Commission bill in 1999 as a direct response of my monitoring of "parallel" efforts by the University of Maryland.

  • In 1992, I was corresponding with Bishop Robinson about the OBSCIS system, wherein he arranged to add in existing security levels at existing facilities. Wasn't there a new information system authorized sometime about this time as well?

  • In 1993, I put out a profile of offenses for released prisoners, among other things. Check out Volume IX of the Legislative Handout Series.

  • In 1993, I reported to Delegate Howard Rawlings a shortfall of $38,186,192 for the Department in the FY 1994 Budget Book. I seem to remember I made you and Mr. Robinson very happy for that fiscal year.

  • As early as 1994, I was dividing the Department into regionalized subtotals with regional breakdowns, now they are doing it statewide and in the Budget Book.

  • As early as 1994, I was producing a handbook of statistics at least for the Judiciary Committee. Now it turns up as Book IX of the Legislative Handout series. Similarly, as early as 1994, I was providing a cost per inmate.

  • In 1994, I did a whole analysis of recidivism statistics. I've been quoted ever since.

  • In 1995, I did a Personnel Detail Analysis of the Department and, to this day, personnel positions in DBM's budget book have never been the same (compare 1995 with 1997). Incidently, they are now using letter codes in place of number codes to boot.

    I hope to be the one to have made the Budget Book available in spreadsheet format over the Internet in RTF as it was in non-spreadsheet format this year, but you never know who is paying attention.

    Incidently, millions could be saved if everyone at DPS and DOC Headquarters would be fired except you.

    By the way, all of this has been totally volunteer as well as a short form of my activities on behalf of the Department over the years. Please consider that I am a low income person and could use paying work if not paid recognition sometime down the line.

    Please check my website http://www.geocities.com/advocate611/ for updates and past histories not having to do with Legislative Services or the Department of Budget and Management.

    Sincerely,


    Nancy Moran
    nm
    (to accompany proposed Phase III Reorganization Plan)
    9 other sheets to follow

    Nancy Moran
    Independent Prisoner Advocate

    Email address: advocate611@yahoo.com


    Return to top