Page 11 - Port of Baltimore Magazine - July/August 2013
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July/August 2013
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The Port of Baltimore
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Among those in attendance
for President Obama’s
Baltimore visit were, left,
Sen. Barbara Mikulski and,
above from left, U.S. Rep.
Elijah Cummings, Maryland
Attorney General Doug
Gansler and U.S. Deputy
Secretary of Transportation
John Porcari.
PORT
SOUNDINGS
KATHY BERGREN SMITH
KATHY BERGREN SMITH
NEWSMAKERS
Smith Leads Maryland’s
Transportation Department Forward
IN MEMORIAM
Krach Spent Nearly
20 Years with MPA
A
former general counsel for the
Maryland Port Administration
(MPA), Donald A. Krach died May
4 due to complications from pancreatic
cancer. He was 80.
Born in Baltimore, Krach began his legal
career practicing maritime and commercial
law for Niles, Barton & Wilmer until 1987. At
that time, he became a Maryland assistant
attorney general working for Attorney
General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. as a general
counsel to the MPA.
MPA Executive Director James J. White
recalled Krach’s “big personality” and how
he served as “a real cheerleader for our
port.” … “He really worked hard with our
clients to put more business through here.”
After his retirement in 2006, the
Timonium resident was a volunteer at Stella
Maris Hospice in Timonium. The Korean War
veteran was also a member of the American
Legion in Parkville and the Veterans of
Foreign Wars.
J
ames T. Smith, Jr., a former Baltimore
County Executive and judge with a
self-described passion for “serving
the public and working on public policy,” is
Maryland’s new Transportation Secretary.
Gov. Martin O’Malley announced the
appointment in late May, at which time Smith said
in a prepared statement that he is committed to
working with “all the counties and municipalities
across Maryland to turn this State’s vision of our
future transportation network into a reality that
creates good, family-supporting jobs and quality of
life for all Marylanders.”
While managing the 10,000-employee
Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT),
Smith directly supervises the Port of Baltimore;
the State’s highway, transit and rail network;
and the Baltimore/Washington International
Thurgood Marshall Airport. He is also Chairman
of the Maryland Transportation Authority
(MdTA), which is responsible for financing new
revenue-producing transportation projects,
among other duties.
Gov. O’Malley said of Smith, “I am confident
that his
leadership
will help us
build the
21st-century
transportation
network that
will spur economic development and turn our
investments into real projects that make a real
difference for all Marylanders.”
Calling Smith “a true statesman and public
servant,“ Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-
Blake added, “As Baltimore County executive,
Jim Smith always understood the importance
of working with the City as a regional partner
to address many issues. … I look forward to
working closely with him.”
Smith, 71, worked for 16 years as a judge
and is a former member of the Advisory Council
for Port Land-Use Development. He was elected
to the Baltimore County Council in 1978,
appointed associate judge of the Circuit Court
in 1985 and served as County Executive from
2002 to 2010.
who we are as Americans.”
Hosting the President
of the United States was
no small undertaking,
according to Bowe.
“It is your best dream
and worst nightmare all at
the same time,” he said.
Dozens of Secret Service
agents and Baltimore
Police SWAT team
members descended on
the facility in preparation
for the visit. “They turned
the place upside down.”
In the end, the event went
off without a hitch, Bowe
said.
