Maryland Politics Watch: December 2007

Monday, December 31, 2007

The Best of 2007

The central committee of Maryland Politics Watch has voted. The most popular posts of 2007 are:

Long Ago and Far Away by Adam Pagnucco

Who the Frick is Bill??? by Kevin Gillogly

Town of Chevy Chase Sold by David Lublin

Apologies to Del. Bill Frick for turning his name into an expletive in the manner of "frack" on Battlestar Galactica. However, these three posts caused the most buzz and reaction of any in the past year. The one that just fell short of making it into the top three was probably the one which compared the votes of senators and senators on slots.

Many thanks to Adam Pagnucco, Paul Gordon, and Kevin Gillogly for their many contributions throughout the year. They've added a tremendous amount to MPW

Happy New Year to all. David

Duchy Pulls Controversial Press Release

Presidential politics has caused a kerfluffle in Montgomery County politics. A minor mistake by Councilwoman Duchy Trachtenberg's part appears to have become a full scale tempest in a teapot. Trachtenberg supports Hillary Clinton while Dan Clements, the attorney who called attention to Trachtenberg's action, supports Barack Obama.

The Gazette reported:

Councilwoman Duchy Trachtenberg faced questions about using public resources to distribute news of her personal political activities from The Gazette and an Annapolis attorney.

The Dec. 21 release described her plans to travel to Iowa to campaign for New York Sen. Hillary Clinton in advance of the Jan. 3 caucuses.

Now, posting activities of a primarily political nature with no relation to council business was probably a bad call. However, the expense involved was minor--computer resources are cheap. I imagine one could also question the amount of time county employees spent on this release which could have been focused on county business but it is still hard to get excited about it.

Still, Duchy magnified the attention by first defending her decision as generally appropriate before pulling the press release:

On Wednesday, she called the release reasonable.

‘‘I think it’s legitimate to present information to the general public on the activities that council members are engaged in,” said Trachtenberg, a first-term councilwoman. ‘‘I certainly didn’t see this as anything inappropriate.”

Except that one tends to think that the county website is not just a taxpayer-funded version of Twitter, designed to advertise all activities on the part of members of the Council, but intended to focus on information related to the County. Nonetheless, I can see how this is a debatable question subject to interpretation.

Duchy's real gaffe was giving a disingenuous justification for the press release:

She justified the item, saying her trip to Iowa would involve NOW forums, not Clinton campaign events.

Trachtenberg said the announcement was similar to council members describing their out-of-town speaking engagements.

‘‘Council members do have schedules outside the council building,” she said.

But the six-paragraph statement puts the emphasis on the political elements of the trip. The main headline reads: ‘‘Councilmember Duchy Trachtenberg Heads to Iowa to Help Clinton Campaign.” A smaller headline reads: ‘‘Montgomery County Legislator Has Been Asked to Speak About the Candidate with NOW Activists.”

It's always bad when the headline of your own press release contradicts your statements to the media. And one suspects that a past president of Maryland NOW might not feel the same way if a pro-life councilman used the Council's website to trumpet their out-of-state activities to promote pro-life candidates.

It's never the original action but the cover-up that gets politicians every time. This rather minor judgment call might never have appeared on the front page of the Gazette of Politics and Business if Duchy had simply said it was a mistake and pulled the press release without defending or justifying it in ways easily disproved. If she had simply pulled the press release or stuck to her defense of this sort of press release as common, it is hard to imagine this story gaining much traction.

Duchy's final strategic error was to look afraid of the media:

Trachtenberg (D-At large) of North Bethesda did not return a call seeking comment Thursday.

The Gazette is the widely distributed newspaper which covers Montgomery County politics closely. They also are not known for slice-and-dice reporting, so one should keep on good terms with its reporters and return their calls.

Like I said, a real tempest in a teapot. But also not the type of a press a councilmember completing her first year in office likes to attract.

Sunday, December 30, 2007

The Next Generation of State Leadership From Montgomery County

MPW is pleased to welcome Marc Korman. Marc is a law student at the University of Maryland and one of District 16's members on the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee. He worked as a policy advisor and legislative assistant on Capitol Hill for five years. He has previously served as president of the Montgomery County Young Democrats.

In Montgomery County, the past year and a half has brought a generational shift in our county's legislative delegation. November of 2006 saw the election of Jeff Waldstreicher (28), Saqib Ali (32), Craig Rice (35), Heather Mizeur (35), and Tom Hucker (40), and the reelection of Rob Garagiola (35) and Anne Kaiser (39).* Recent vacancies have led to the appointment of Kirill Reznik (33) and Bill Frick (33). When the legislative session opens in January of 2008, nine of Montgomery County's 32 state legislators will be 40 and under. 19 of 32 will be 50 and under. The average age of Montgomery County's Delegation has dropped from 56 years of age in 2006 to 48 years at the beginning of 2008.

Experience and seniority are important traits in state legislators. With experience can come an increased ability to navigate the legislature, pass bills, and achieve results. With seniority can come increased power in a legislative body such as committee chairmanships and leadership roles. However, it is also important that new and young individuals are brought into the legislature to ensure strong leadership not just next year, but in the years and decades to come. Younger legislators also bring new perspectives on education, homeownership, and a host of other policy issues our legislature must grapple with.

Many of these younger legislators have already taken on leadership roles. For example, Senator Garagiola is a Deputy Majority Leader in the Senate. Delegate Heather Mizeur spearheaded passage of a major healthcare reform bill requiring insurance companies to issue coverage for domestic partners and dependent children up to 25 years old. But perhaps more important is the potential these legislators have to represent Montgomery County in Annapolis for years and decades to come.

In 2006, 13 of our legislators were 60 and over. Today, we only have 6. Montgomery County is lucky to have seasoned legislative veterans like Senator Brian Frosh and Delegate Sheila Hixson representing us in Annapolis. But we are also lucky to have younger legislators in Annapolis to keep Montgomery County well represented when our veterans retire.

Montgomery County Legislators 50 and Under:

Jeff Waldstreicher (28)
Saqib Ali (32)
Bill Frick (33)
Kirill Reznik (33)
Craig Rice (35)
Heather Mizeur (35)
Rob Garagiola (35)
Anne Kaiser (39)
Tom Hucker (40)
Herman Taylor (41)
Roger Manno (41)
Jim Gilchrist (42)
Richard Madaleno (42)
Mike Lenett (45)
Jamie Raskin (45)
Brian Feldman (46)
Kathleen Dumais (49)
Kumar Barve (49)
Ben Kramer (50)

*Ages listed are the ages of each individual at the beginning of 2008

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Republican Follies at the Court of Appeals

Remember all those Republican posters from the 2000 election which said "Sore-Loserman". Republicans endlessly moaned that going to court was a failure to accept the will of the people. Not to mention bad sportsmanship.

Times have changed.

The GOP now embraces Sen. Joe Lieberman (no longer D but not quite R-CT). They also think going to court is now just a grand idea. Having lost in the legislature, Maryland Republicans are now going to court to overturn the results of the special session.

No, they don't dispute something important--like if the votes were accurately counted. Instead, the lawsuit relies on one of those legal technicalities which Republicans like to decry. The heart of the lawsuit is that the Senate unlawfully adjourned for more than three days without the consent of the House of Delegates.

Of course, one doesn't exactly recall a cry rising up from the Republican benches of the General Assembly at the time. However, as reported in the Baltimore Sun, they now they see fit to take up the time of the Maryland court system with this lawsuit which would have no real impact even if the GOP managed to win:

But Dan Friedman, author of a book on the Maryland Constitution, said courts are historically loath to probe the provenance of legislative records. "Under the separation of powers, they don't dig in," he said. "Courts will presume in these procedures that the legislature is following the rules."

Even if there were procedural irregularities involving the adjournment's consent, Friedman predicted the courts would not allow the plaintiffs to exploit them to reverse major legislation.

And they wonder why the people of Maryland turfed them out in 2006.

Legislative Vacancies: Amendment Being Drafted

It appears that the serious flaws in Maryland’s system for filling state legislative vacancies (see my December 13 post on the topic) will be discussed during the upcoming session of the General Assembly.

Senator Rich Madaleno has formally requested that legislation be drafted that would amend the Maryland constitution to democratize the process. Specifically, it would mandate a special election during the midterm to allow voters in a district to elect a replacement for the rest of the term.

The cost of a special election should not be high: Since the midterm for state legislators is always a presidential election year, every election board in the state is already putting on an election.

Even if the amendment is passed by the General Assembly in the upcoming session and approved by the voters in November, the first midterm where it could come into play would not be until 2012. So there is no rush: We’ll get the same result even if the amendment doesn’t pass until 2010.

That gives Madaleno and his allies three regular sessions to build support for this reform in Annapolis.

And, according to Madaleno, we may need that time.

That’s because many legislators may see this as “just a Montgomery County problem.” Given our county’s numerous unexpected legislative vacancies within the first year of the four-year term, we clearly see the need for reform. But other parts of the state have not seen such a high level of unexpected turnover so early in the term. Consequently, voters outside of Montgomery County are not demanding change. Madaleno is concerned that many legislators in Annapolis, seeing this as a Montgomery County problem, will have little incentive to change the status quo.

Madaleno sees a parallel with another electoral problem that applies statewide but which is generally categorized (and ignored) as a Montgomery County problem: the constitutional provision for adopting local charter amendments. Enacted in 1916, it establishes the minimum number of signatures needed to get a charter amendment on the ballot: At least 20% of the registered voters in the jurisdiction, but no more than 10,000 people. Back in 1916, Baltimore was the only chartered locality, had a much smaller population than today, and severely limited the right to vote, so the no more than 10,000 provision might have made sense.

But today, there are more chartered localities, and some have much larger voting populations — like Montgomery County. 10,000 signatures would represent a mere 2.5% of the county’s almost 400,000 registered voters.

That’s why Montgomery County frequently has a number of charter amendments on the ballot — amendments that do not necessarily have substantial popular support or probablity of passing.

According to Madaleno, efforts in Annapolis for a constitutional amendment to update the anachronistic 1916 provision have always run into opposition. Why? Because it’s seen as a Montgomery County problem. With its large population, Montgomery County is impacted by the no more than 10,000 people provision far more than most other parts of the state.

Similarly, the constitution’s legislative vacancy provisions may be seen as a Montgomery County problem by much of the General Assembly. And that means it could take time for the issue to get significant attention.

With that in mind, Madaleno sees the drafting of a constitutional amendment as an opportunity to start the discussion with his colleagues.

It will be interesting to see how recent events in District 35A will affect the discussion.

Legislative Vacancies: Harford County

Del. Barry Glassman (District 35A) was recently selected by the Harford County Republican Central Committee to replace Sen. J. Robert Hooper, who announced after the special session that he is stepping down for health reasons. And just last weekend, the Central Committee unanimously selected one of its own members — Howard Wayne Norman — to replace Glassman in the House of Delegates.

Another Central Committee member, Theresa Reilly was also a candidate. According to the Dagger Press blog, neither Norman nor Reilly cast a vote, nor did they participate in the Committee’s interviews of other candidates.

Norman’s selection occurred less than a week ago. Once the holidays are over and the General Assembly is in session, we shall see if there are any repercussions from the Central Committee’s decision to elevate one of its own.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Photos of Jane Lawton

I thought Jane's many friends my like to see this nice photo album of pictures of Jane in the General Assembly which Del. Bill Bronrott put together. Many of these photos are also posted at the photo tribute on the Montgomery Delegation website.

Marie Garber and Mary Rodgers

The conduct of elections and election officials have come in for a lot of scrutiny and much criticism since the 2000 election. So it is nice to see the Washington Post recognize two people, Marie Garber and Mary Rodgers, who improved our election system:

MARIE M. GARBER of Montgomery County and Mary S. Rodgers of the District were two conscientious elections administrators who knew how to get results when it mattered most in their jurisdictions. They held their posts over the same period and -- as fate would have it -- died within a fortnight of each other. At one critical point in the District's chaotic introduction to voting for local self-government, Mrs. Garber and Mrs. Rodgers even teamed up to reorganize the city office and end a string of nightmarish electoral calamities: computer cards that jammed in counting machines, malfunctioning machines that once delayed tallies for 12 days and ballot boxes that fell off the back of a truck on the way to being counted.

In Montgomery, Mrs. Garber -- one of the most knowledgeable elections experts in the country -- led an effort to modernize the county's electoral system, introducing computerized registration and vote-counting methods and making the election office a national model of efficiency. In 1987, when incoming Gov. William Donald Schaefer foolishly replaced her with a political crony, Mrs. Garber went on to become an elections consultant, helping to set up voting systems around the world. "She was years ahead of her time," said former Montgomery County executive Douglas M. Duncan, who worked in Mrs. Garber's office in the 1970s. "She ran one of the best election shops in the country."

Mrs. Rodgers had to endure the mismanagement of several predecessors before she finally was promoted from longtime staffer to acting administrator and eventually to administrator. Her patience, steady hand, sense of humor and in-office popularity proved just the tonic. She knew where the glitches were and wasted no time righting the system along with an energetic new executive director, Emmett Fremaux Jr., who purged the voter rolls of thousands of dead or transplanted voters, commingled with bum addresses. Soon gone were the voting horrors that had been so singularly embarrassing to residents who had fought so long for a measure of self-government. Their hard-won franchise remains precarious, but the Election Day guffaws and growls in Congress have subsided over the years.

Mrs. Garber, who died at 83, and Mrs. Rodgers, who was 82, were exceptional public servants who shared a most treasured belief. Each valued deeply the importance of the vote and of the need to ensure its integrity. And each contributed mightily to the strength of the region.

Hat tip to Del. Bill Bronrott (D-16).

Friday, December 21, 2007

How MoCo Does Special Elections

Montgomery County Council vacancies are filled by special elections. So why shouldn’t we do the same for state legislator vacancies?

Here’s how the county process works. When a council vacancy occurs, a special election must be held if the vacancy “occurs before December 1 of the year before a year in which a quadrennial state election will be held.” (County code, Chapter 16, Sec. 16-17(a)(4)) So, if a county council member stepped down on 11/30/09, a special election would have to be held. But if a council member stepped down on 12/2/09, the rest of the council would appoint a replacement who would serve out the rest of the term (County charter, Sec. 106).

When a special election is held, it “must be conducted in a manner consistent with provisions of state law that govern special elections to fill vacancies in the office of representative in Congress.” (County code, Chapter 16, Sec. 16-17(c)(1)) The council must adopt a resolution that sets the dates of both the special primary and the special general election.

However, “if the Council vacancy occurs during the period beginning 120 days before the next regular or special primary or general election conducted in the County under state law and ending 40 days before that election, the special primary election provided for by this Section must be held on the same date as the other election. If a second regular or special primary or general election conducted in the County under state law is held more than 30 but less than 60 days after the special primary election referred to in the preceding sentence, the special general election held under this Section must be held on the same date as the second other election.” (County code, Chapter 16, Sec. 16-17(d)(2))

So by using the same dates as other elections, the cost of special elections can be reduced and turnout can be elevated.

The last time a county council vacancy occurred was when District 5 council member Derick Berlage stepped down in June 2002 to become the county’s Planning Chairman. As the date was too late to trigger the special election requirement, the county council appointed Donnell Peterman to serve out the remaining months of Berlage’s term. Peterman was appointed on the condition that he not leverage his appointed incumbency to seek office that year. Peterman honored that commitment in 2002, choosing instead to run (unsuccessfully) for an at-large seat in 2006.

Now doesn’t this sound a lot better than the appointment process for state legislators, which brought us this and this and this?

The excuses for why we should not hold special elections for state vacancies are rapidly disappearing.

Council and MCEA Set for New Round of Budget Clashes? Perhaps Not.

It's a lot easier to govern when economic times are good and the revenue flows into the treasury. In good times, officials can increase spending and sometimes even throw in a tax cut at the same time. Lean times make for tougher choices and unhappy voters as spending cuts are often combined with tax increases as the special sessions showed at the State level.

Although cuts made to the counties in the special session were smaller than feared, and Montgomery did well compared to other major jurisdictions, Montgomery County still faces a sizable budget deficit. According to the Gazette, the deficit is almost 10%:

Montgomery, with a $4.1 billion fiscal 2008 operating budget faces a $401 million deficit for fiscal 2009.

Will this lead to new clashes over spending between MCEA which wants to see increases in salaries, the bulk of the sizable school budget, and the County Council, which has to balance the budget?

There are lots of reasons to think so. In the Washington Post, Councilman Phil Andrews said that the deficit is due to high spending rather than slack revenues:

A record $401 million deficit predicted in Montgomery "is not a revenue problem," said County Council Vice President Phil Andrews (D-Gaithersburg-Rockville). "Our revenues are solid and strong. It's primarily the rate of spending at an unsustainable level that reveals itself when the economy slows down."

The same article links the spending increases, and thus the deficit, to pay agreements:

Montgomery, which unlike Virginia localities can impose an income tax, derives only 33 percent of its operating revenue through property taxes. This year, it negotiated labor agreements that give some workers cost-of-living increases totaling 17 percent over the next three years in addition to annual step increases of 3.5 percent, one reason why spending has grown an average of 7.8 percent annually since 2001. The accord was finalized this spring by County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) but is largely the legacy of his predecessor, Douglas M. Duncan (D).

Understandably, School Superintendent Jerry Weast has proposed the smallest year-on-year increase in spending since 1997:

Weast said county officials guided him to cap new spending at $110 million, or about 5.6 percent of the $1.99 billion budgeted for the county this fiscal year.

Nevertheless, one wonders where the County will find the money. The rate of increase is still several points above the rate of inflation. And it's not like the school system is a small part of the County budget. Based on the figures in the paper, the schools are roughly one-half of the County budget. Even if the rate of increase in spending is relatively low, the County may just not have the money.

Does this set a showdown between the Council and MCEA over the rate of increase in school spending?

Perhaps not.

County Executive Ike Leggett seemed happy with the budget request:

Leggett applauded the school system for proposing a budget plan that is "significantly below the rate of growth we've had in the budgets these last few years." The operating budget has nearly doubled in size under Weast's tenure, with yearly increases averaging 8 percent.

"This is closer to the range I would hope to be at," Leggett said of Weast's request, although he would not guarantee that the County Council would approve the entire amount. The spending request goes to the council for action in May.

Moreover, if the Council remains united, admittedly a big if, my guess is that MCEA will not be tempted to go to the wall unless the increases are unacceptably low. MCEA certainly showed great influence in the 2006 elections but even MCEA would not be a rush to try and dethrone the entire Council at once. County Executive Ike Leggett's satisfaction with the budget increase indicates that the proposed budget may be in range of the possible. The Council may trim but perhaps the outcome will be one MCEA, the Council, and the voters can accept.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

You Can Call Him Delegate Al

Delegate Alfred Carr was sworn in as the most junior member of the House of Delegates by Speaker Michael Busch. Barrie, his wife, held the Bible as Al took the oath. His mother and aunt traveled from Ohio to watch and join the crowd of well wishers.

A number of politicians attended the ceremony and publicly welcomed Al, including Comptroller Peter Franchot, Senator Rich Madaleno, Labor Secretary Tom Perez, and Garrett Park Mayor Carolyn Shawaker. Montgomery Democratic Central Committee Chair Karen Britto and Member Tracey Terrell as well as former District 18 Caucus Chair Sheldon Fishman also attended the ceremony and reception afterward at Harry Browne's sponsored by the Town of Kensington.

I don't remember much about the speeches except that Al Carr made a gracious reference to his predecessor, Jane Lawton, and thanked all of his supporters. Tom Perez said that Al had been the "go to guy in Kensington". I teased Kensington Mayor Peter Fosselman, a friend and strong supporter of Al, that maybe he could be the new go to guy now that Al is in the House.

Hoisted from the Comments: Nancy Floreen Responds

Here is Councilmember Nancy Floreen's Response to the post below highlighting recent articles in the Gazette on growth policy:

Actually, I wasn't "attacking" anyone. I merely pointed out a fact that I believe people should know - our budget is premised on some amount of growth - this year, over 150 million dollars worth. That is not peanuts. I hadn't expected our fiscal numbers to look so bad so early, according to Ike's release right after we voted. Less growth means less revenue and more budget impact.

I never said the vote single handedly would bring our economy to a standstill - but I did say that I believe that it will contribute to shifting costs more directly to the shoulders of current residents. We'll see if I am right, but I think voters want us to worry about things like that. These debates we have are often bundled in lots of concerns, some, rather impenetrable, as Adam has pointed out. And the press rarely picks this stuff up, so if we want to make a point, we sometimes have to do it on our own.

Growth policy debates are rarely conducted in a budget environment, but this was a good opportunity to identify the relationship between decisions in one context, and their possibly unintended, un-noted consequences in the fiscal world.

I think it is useful to recognize the real life costs of our work as we proceed. What is the tipping point? we don't really know, but it is worth worrying about.

I believe us elected officials owe the public full, frank and reasoned explanations of why we do what we do and a recognition of the implications of our actions. Read Max Bronstein's piece in the Gazette as well for another take.

My reply:

Nancy, Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts.

The comment says: "Actually, I wasn't 'attacking anyone'. . ." In my earlier comment, I said you "attacked the policy" which still seems reasonable to me. Your column was entitled "County's dirty little secret", referred to "all the political spin", and is negative on the policy. Perhaps "attack" was a little strong on my part--and I apologize for making it sound like a more confrontational situation than it is--but there is clearly a clash of views.

The comment also says: "I never said the vote single handedly would bring our economy to a standstill - but I did say that I believe that it will contribute to shifting costs more directly to the shoulders of current residents." I agree. The post says: "Last week, Councilmember Nancy Floreen argued that the new controls are going to undermine the County's currently fragile economy and thus County revenues" which sounds--at least to my ears--like a paraphrase of what you said. Perhaps you are disagreeing with the column written by your colleagues on the Council and not myself?

I did later say: "it will be interesting to see if attitudes in the County shift if the economy slips into recession and growth grinds to a complete halt." After all, recessions can happen regardless of growth policy but negative growth (a key part of a recession) with the resulting impact on employment, salaries, revenues, and services can make many desire higher rates of growth--which I believe is not at odds with the point you make.

I would like to understand more clearly why you think the higher fees shift costs to county residents that they didn't pay before. After all, if the money to pay from infrastructure and its maintenance doesn't come from the fees, it has to come from taxes. I'm no expert so maybe you can help unscramble this for us growth policy novices.

Thanks again for the comment. I've always appreciated your willingness to explain and discuss your views in a forthright manner.

Raskin Leads Voting Rights Fight for 17-Year Olds

Sen. Jamie Raskin's effort to restore the right of 17-year olds to vote in primaries if they will be 18 by the date of the general election appears to have succeeded. As reported in the Washington Post, Attorney General Doug Gansler has reversed a decision of his staff interpreting a recent Court of Appeals decision in a contrary manner.

AG Gansler made the right call. Although the government has the right to regulate selected activities of political parties, the right to freedom of association in the First Amendment protects the right of parties to determine most aspects of their own activities (unless they conflict with protections elsewhere in the Constitution, particularly those on discrimination). Both Democrats and Republicans wanted to include 17-year olds who would turn 18 by Election Day, and the government has no compelling reason to overrule them.

However, don't expect a massive increase in voter turnout as a result.

According to the Washington Post article:

Deputy Elections Administrator Ross Goldstein said that 2,308 17-year-olds voted in the 2004 Maryland primary and that 3,800 have registered to vote this year.

Remember that turnout in primaries is small and people are more likely to vote as they age. Still, even if the turnout is small, I don't see any harm in letting 17-year olds vote in the primary if they'll be 18 by the general election. Indeed, many democratic nations engage in efforts to make sure that every eligible citizen is on the voting rolls without imposing a registration requirement.

Sen. Jamie Raskin was a guest on the Kojo Nnamdi show. You can listen to the recording of the broadcast to learn more about the controversy.

Apologies for Blog Tech Problems

Sorry for the problems that left only the first paragraph of the blog unreadable to many. The problems did not appear in Firefox (my usual browser) but showed up when I attempted to access it in Explorer. I'm still getting the hang of expandable posts.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Council Acrimony Over Growth Policy Moves to the Papers

While I doubt they will ever beat out The Biggest Loser or Survivor, ratings for television broadcasts of County Council meetings could rise above zero to measurable levels if the tension in the Council on display in the papers moves to their public meetings.

After a tough debate, the Montgomery County Council adopted changes to the County's growth policy. However, the Council has not been able to move on from the issue. Indeed, Councilmembers are now taking their debate out of the Council and attacking each other in the Gazette.

Last week, Councilmember Nancy Floreen argued that the new controls are going to undermine the County's currently fragile economy and thus County revenues:

Market forces have now achieved what 20 years of arbitrary regulations could not — the reduction of growth to a crawl. And the new growth policy will only worsen our fiscal situation.
By establishing impossible-to-meet growth controls, it will discourage private sector investment and the creation of new jobs, new housing and tax revenue. Unless government picks up the check, at most we will only see more of the luxury housing, chain retail and huge corporations that can pay the price. So much for the economic and social diversity that Montgomery County has cherished.

Councilmember Valerie Ervin largely agrees:

County Executive Isiah Leggett is on record as stating that the ‘‘charges imposed on residential development are ultimately reflected, in whole or in part, in the pricing of homes and care must be taken so that homes are not priced even further out of the reach of residents of moderate income.” I agree. Limiting new development makes our county a more exclusive and expensive place to live. Once housing prices get out of reach for most average people, individuals who work in the county will be forced to look for housing in other jurisdictions.
I have serious concerns about limiting growth in areas where the county has a history of encouraging development, such as near Metro stations. This is not my idea of smart growth. Some claim that theses areas are where robust development is taking place, but data show that 80 percent of commercial rentals are occurring outside these areas.

This week, Councilmembers Phil Andrews, Marc Elrich, Marilyn Praisner, and Duchy Trachtenberg fired back, arguing that their colleague got it wrong:

First, the effect of the growth policy won’t be felt immediately. Development already approved will continue to move forward. That approved development includes 31,616 housing units (projected timeline for build-out: six years), and 32,210,095 square feet of commercial space (projected timeline for build-out: 11 years). If the county experiences a slowdown in the coming months or year, it will be due to economic forces, not the newly adopted growth policy. A national recession that affected this entire country caused the funding shortfall the county experienced in the early 1990s, not a restrictive growth policy.
Second, Ms. Floreen’s contention that the growth policy will amplify the recent weakness in the housing market is also off base. Growth in housing and commercial development always ebbs and flows due to national economic forces. It is not something the county controls. What we can affect through the growth policy is the obligations on new growth, and who pays for it. Many of the county’s current budget problems have been caused by trying to catch up with infrastructure needs caused by past growth.
Thirdly, growth does not always pay for itself. New housing requires new roads, schools, recreation centers, parks, libraries and other infrastructure. Providing this new infrastructure costs money. With that in mind, the new growth policy included impact taxes to assure that new growth helps pay for itself, so that the burden of new growth does not fall solely on our current residents.

The Council quad is certainly right that many projects are already approved. Many projects already in the planning pipeline are on hold or going more slowly due to the economic slowdown rather than to the changes in the county growth policy.

My impression in the southern part of the County is that residents will welcome a bit of a breather. In Bethesda and Silver Spring, the slower pace merely means that growth will proceed at a steady, albeit slower, pace instead if the pell-mell fever which has gripped the area in recent years with white development signs sprouting like daisies in urban centers.

And let's not forget BRACasaurus. The expansion of the Naval Medical Center--not to mention the growth of NIH across the street--promises to place incredible new stresses on the already burdened Wisconsin Ave./Rockville Pike corridor and the Beltway. Neither the County, the State, or the Feds are willing (or able?) to contribute the significant sums needed to address this serious issue as Adam Pagnucco has pointed out.

Still, it will be interesting to see if attitudes in the County shift if the economy slips into recession and growth grinds to a complete halt. Many years ago, voters in Fairfax County elected a team of Democrats on anti-growth Democrats and tossed them out in favor of pro-growth Republicans when the County went into recession.

Chris Van Hollen's Eulogy for Jane Lawton

Chris Van Hollen's office has received a lot of requests for a copy of his eulogy for Jane Lawton at her memorial service on December 2nd. I'm happy to post a copy here:

“Hey darling, how you doing?” Jane would ask in her endearing drawl. The first time I heard that accent, about twenty years ago, I thought it was southern. No, she informed me, it was a voice straight from the American heartland. It was the voice of a daughter of Oklahoma. Jane had first come to Washington to work for Speaker of the House Carl Albert. She never forgot her roots. In a political world filled with too much posturing and too many pretensions, Jane was authentic and down to earth. And how she made us smile. Her full Oklahoma laugh was infectious.

She left us at the top of her game – making her mark though her many important achievements in the Maryland legislature, her job protecting the interest of consumers as Cable Administrator and, most of all, as everyone knows, delighting in the talents and accomplishments of her wonderful daughters – Kathleen and Stephanie. She was so proud of you two.

To all of us, Jane was a friend, and what a friend she was. “It will be fun!” Jane would say, no matter where she was going – whether it was going to a long hearing, the eighth meeting of the day, or a party. Whatever it was, every step along Jane’s journey was a moment of adventure. And with Jane, no matter where you were, it WAS fun and her enthusiasm swept you along with her. And of course she was a complete nut case when watching football games – Redskins, University of Oklahoma – yelling at the teams through the television.

Jane had a long and very distinguished resume, but that is not the measure of who she was. She was caring, compassionate, directed – always trying to help others. She tackled the big issues important to the entire community, but with equal vigor she would take on an issue of great moment to just one constituent. If it was important to a constituent, it was important to Jane. She extended a helping hand to all. Her own needs were at the bottom of the list – if you needed something as an individual, as a group, or as a community, Jane was there to help. Sometimes she helped by passing a bill. Sometimes she helped by bringing fresh flowers and warm pumpkin bread to a friend in need.

So many people from all parts of our community and, indeed, from around the nation, have placed moving reminiscences and tributes on Jane’s website. They all have one theme – Jane made an important difference in their lives. Whether it was as a member of the General Assembly, in her professional life in the cable communications world, as Mayor of the Town of Chevy Chase, as Special Assistant to former County Executive Neal Potter, as a leader in the PTA, as a mentor to women and students, as a cousin or family member, or as a friend to turn to in tough times – Jane touched each one of us. She encouraged and inspired us and cheered us all on.

Like many gathered here whom she helped along the way, I will always be grateful to Jane for being on the front lines of my campaigns for the Maryland legislature and the U.S. Congress. You just could not go wrong with Jane Lawton on your side. No one could say “no” to Jane. And we were all thrilled when she decided to run for the State legislature in her own right. There is a great story in one of the entries on Jane Lawton’s website that beautifully captures her irrepressible and irresistible style. It is from Adam Pagnucco. It reads:

Jane did not mention she was running for office the first time I met her. It’s not that she was shy. I think she just forgot. But the second time I met her she definitely did mention it. It was the Taste of Wheaton day and there was a huge crowd. Jane saw me, gave me that big Oklahoma laugh of hers and cried out, “Hey! It’s Adam the carpenter!” And then she slapped me right on the chest. Whap! I looked down and saw that she had planted a “Lawton for Delegate” sticker on my shirt. She turned on that irresistible grin and said, “Now I’ll bet you really wanted one of those, didn’t you?” If another politician had done that, I would have found it to be very presumptuous. But this was just how Jane was and it was really funny. After all, how could someone shoot the breeze with Jane for ten minutes and not want a “Lawton for Delegate” sticker? That made sense to Jane, and it made sense to me too. What a way to get drafted as a Lawton supporter!

It is no wonder that Jane Lawton won that election by a large margin. Then she took Annapolis by storm. Sometimes when elected officials get to Annapolis they have an air of reserve, of excessive formality. Not Jane. She couldn’t help but yuk it up with everyone she met. “Hey, Charlie!” “Hey, Mike!” “Hey, Maggie!” she would call out. And not everyone knew what to make of her. But once they saw her in action, with her brilliant, unassuming and incredibly effective style, they knew that she was something special. Something extraordinary. She got it done, and they quickly knew what she was all about.

Jane’s time here with us was way too short, but she accomplished so much. She also had a great faith in the future and each of us here has an obligation to keep faith with Jane by carrying on the many good works she began. We must make her work our work and re-dedicate ourselves to making our community and state an even better place to live, work and play.

To Steve, to Kathleen and Andy, and to Stephanie – you know Jane was extraordinary. You know how much she loved her family. Thank you for sharing her with us all these years. She was one-of-a-kind, and we will miss her enormously. We hope that you will each be comforted by her amazing legacy and by the many people whose lives she touched. We are each privileged to have known her and to have counted her as a friend.

So, when we hear Jane’s voice calling down from heaven, asking: “Hey darling, how you doing?,” we have an answer.

“Jane, we are not doing well without you right now, we miss you dearly; but our lives are so much better for having known you and the world is a better place because you were here.”

That's Nice, But Where Are You Getting the Money?

Lt. Governor Anthony Brown is promising billions to pay for BRAC projects. But not so fast.

At an event marking the release of Maryland’s Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) report, Brown announced an ambitious plan to pay billions for education and transportation needs. The money is needed to adjust the state’s infrastructure to accommodate thousands of new jobs created by the military’s shifting of more capacity into Maryland. Brown’s proposal includes $1.6 billion for 26 transportation projects, with half the money due for projects to commence next year.

But wait – where is the money coming from? In the recent special session, the General Assembly turned down a proposal from the Governor to raise the gas tax. Instead, they chose to devote a portion of the sales tax increase to transportation. Of the estimated $400 million in annual funds generated by the legislature, roughly $250 million would go to maintenance of existing capacity. That leaves $150 million for new projects, or about the cost of one interchange project per year. That’s right – one interchange. In the entire state. Per year. That prompted some Montgomery County politicians to float the idea of a local gas tax for transportation.

No one denies Maryland’s transportation needs. The BRAC projects are another addition to a long list including Baltimore’s Red Line, Montgomery County’s Purple Line and Corridor Cities Transitway, and countless much-beloved little projects. But in the aftermath of the special session, the General Assembly may have little appetite for more tax hikes. So where are they getting the money for BRAC?

Transportation funding is a huge budgetary issue that is not going away. Stay tuned.

Analysis of Progressivity of Special Session

The Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute (.pdf) views the results of the special session as regressive but says that Maryland still does better than other states.

Some of the key conclusions are:

Most of the revenue in the special session’s package comes from increasing the sales tax. This affects all consumers alike if their buying patterns are the same. But they aren’t. Lower-income taxpayers expend more of their income on purchases than higher income taxpayers do (they save less). And they spend more of their income on goods, which are generally subject to the sales tax, compared with services, which are generally not taxed. The Department of Legislative Services estimates that a poverty-level taxpayer pays almost twice the share of her income in sales tax as a household making $100,000. . . .

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that the overall effect of the tax package is regressive.5 The poorest 1/5 of taxpayers will pay nearly 0.8% more of their income in taxes. The middle 1/5 will pay half that percentage: just over 0.4%. The wealthiest 1/5 will pay between 0.3% and 0.5% of their incomes in increased taxes. This overall regressive distribution occurs because the regressive nature of the sales tax rate increase overwhelms the progressive features of the income tax changes. . . .

Maryland’s tax system does more than most states to spare citizens living in poverty. The very poor are protected from paying state income tax. For example, for a two-parent family of four, no tax is due in incomes below $31,000. Only six states have higher tax thresholds. For working families, Maryland provides a refundable earned income tax credit (EITC). As a result, a family of four with wage earnings and the poverty level of income would actually receive a $423tax refund to supplement their earnings.

Maryland relies more on income tax revenue than most states: 42% versus the national average of 35%. The flip side of this fact is that Maryland relies less on the general sales tax: 23% versus the national average of 32%. Since the sales tax is less responsive to incomes, it hits lower-income families harder. Maryland’s revenue system draws less from this regressive tax than most other states.

Our New Look

Maryland Politics Watch is going through some growing pains

I've added expandable posts so more can fit on the "front page". Just click on "Read more. . ." to see the full post and "Summary only. . ." to collapse the post.

I've also changed the template of the blog from "harbor" to "stretch denim".

Feel free to let us know what you think in the comments.

In order to add expandable posts, I had to upgrade to a new Blogger format. Unfortunately, the old :"harbor" template, originally chosen because the tower looks vaguely like the cupola on the State Capitol, looks ungainly in its "upgraded" version.

Suggestions for a better subtitle are also welcome. I dumped the old one ("Inside the Beltway but Outside Washington") because most of Montgomery is, after all, outside the Beltway.

Is MoCo a Giant ATM?

Reflecting the wrestling over taxes which characterized the recent special session of the General Assembly, Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett and Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown had a slight disagreement at the Committee for Montgomery breakfast last week.

During his short but effective address, Ike Leggett proclaimed that Montgomery is not an ATM for the rest of the State. Keynote Speaker Anthony Brown began his talk by taking his ATM card out of his wallet and unsuccessfully attempting to retrieve funds from the podium.

Congratulations to Chevy Chase Mayor Linna Barnes for organizing a successful event and, even more amazingly, getting an array of political luminaries to actually stick to the time limit so people could get to work. No wonder she was asked to run it again this year.

Purple Line Perestroika?

Departing from its policy of releasing information to the public strictly on its own timetable and a need-to-know basis, MTA will release information to the public. Plunging straight into the deep end of the pool, MTA will even respond to questions and information requests. Could posting all of this information to the web be next?

Apparently, I am not the only one who thinks MTA needs to open up and subject its conclusions to public scrutiny as members of the Purple Line Advisory Committee raised the same issue last night. At that meeting, Tom Autrey said he would pass along requests from committee members to MTA which would then provide data and answers. When Mier Wolf raised the question of whether a FOIA request would be needed to obtain information, Tom Autrey assured him that this was not the case.

Kudos to the Committee for demanding that MTA be far more forthcoming. Let's hope MTA is generous with data and gives complete, responsive answers.

On Political Pulse

Maryland Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown will be on the Political Pulse TV Show on:

Thursday, December 20th at 9 p.m.
Tuesday, December 25th at 9:30 p.m.
Thursday, December 27th at 9:00 p.m. and
Tuesday, January 1st at 9:30 p.m.

Topics that will be discussed include the BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) Report recently released by the Maryland sub-cabinet group chaired by the Lieutenant Governor. BRAC will result in tens of thousands of new jobs in Maryland and the Lieutenant Governor will talk about what the State is doing to get ready for the influx of jobs and people. A substantial number of jobs created by BRAC will be coming to the Bethesda Naval Hospital in Montgomery County and the Lieutenant Governor addresses that issue and many other topics as well.

Political Pulse is on Channel 16 TV in Montgomery County.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

The 411 on 911

From Sally Hand:

Sunday evening I received and email saying that 911 services had been restored. This worried me a bit since I had never received any notice that the 911 system had been down. Today in the Washington Post, I read that the service was down for 3 hours and the police where not aware because no one had called the police to say that the 911 service was not working. What is wrong here – I can't call 911 because it is down, yet I need to call 911 to tell them the system is down?

We live in a world of computers – it is easy to set up a program that will alert the police that 911 is not working – no one should need to call. This is the second time in three months that the 911 system has gone down. Who is in charge of making it work? As the center of our civil defense system the 911 system should be one of the highest priorities. This system is surely needed daily for fires and accidents, but what if a terrorist decided to set off a bomb or a crazy sniper rears his head again? President Bush keeps telling us we are at war; local officials aren't acting like they have anything to worry about. Homeland Security – please send MoCo money to get a 911 system that really works. We don't need wire tapping – we need infrastructure.

Racial Diversity in Montgomery's State Legislative Delegation

	Population					State Legislators
District	White	Black	Asian	Latino		White	Black	Asian	Latino
14	58.9	19.6	13.6	6.2		3	1	0	0
15	65.0	8.5	18.0	7.0		3	1	0	0
16	75.8	4.4	10.9	7.0		3	0	1	0
17	49.2	12.8	17.7	19.0		3	0	1	0
18	50.5	14.3	10.8	21.9		2	1	0	1
19	51.5	18.2	13.6	15.3		4	0	0	0
20	32.7	33.5	11.8	23.1		4	0	0	0
39	50.4	17.2	16.3	14.2		3	0	1	0
ALL	54.9	15.9	13.3	13.8		25	3	3	1

Much of the discussion over state legislative vacancies was dominated by the need to increase the share of women and the racial diversity of the County's delegation. Today, I take a quick look at the current level of racial diversity among state legislators from Montgomery and the relation to the racial composition of legislative districts.

Whites form just under 54.9% of the County's population but 78.1% of the County's state legislative delegation. Blacks, Asians, and Latinos form 15.9%, 13.3%, and 13.8% of the population, respectively, but only 9.4%, 9.4%, and 3.1% of the legislative delegation.

Asians would need just one more legislative seat to achieve parity with population. African Americans would require two more seats to reach parity. Latinos have the largest gap between share in the population and the delegation. High rates of non-citizenship among Latinos account for a portion, though not all, of this gap.

Interestingly, there is little relationship between the racial composition of a legislative district and the share of minority legislators. The correlation between these two factors is actually negative (r = -0.36) indicating that one is more likely to find minority legislators in districts with relatively few minority residents.

Districts 19 and 20 help explain this surprising outcome. Although District 20 is the only district in the County in which whites form significantly less than one-half of the population, all of the its state legislators are white. Four districts (Districts 17, 18, 19, and 39) are roughly one-half white. District 19 has no minority state legislators while Districts 17 and 39 have one. District 18 has two due to the recent appointment of Delegate Al Carr.

In contrast, the three districts with clear white majorities (Districts 14, 15, and 16) all have one minority member of their legislative delegations. Put another way, the whitest districts in the County have as much or more minority representation than every other district except District 18. Notably, they each have more minority representation than the County's single district in which minority groups form a sizable majority of the population.

This presence of minority legislators but the lack of a strict relationship between district racial composition and where minority legislators serve may be a good thing. If character and quality matter more than fitting into the right box, one would expect at least some disjuncture between racial composition and the race of legislators.

Does anyone want to seriously suggest that Del. Craig Rice somehow becomes less eligible or less capable of representing District 15 because he is an African-American man but African Americans comprise under 9% of his constituents?

On the other hand, the table also suggests where further gains in minority representation are most likely to occur: Districts 19 and 20. Neither district has any minority state legislators though both are home to relatively high minority populations.

Despite its strong liberal tradition and pride in its urban diversity, the City Council of Takoma Park does not provide a fertile ground for recruitment of future minority legislators in District 20. As a member of the County Council pointed out to me, Takoma Park does not have a single minority person on the City Council. According to the 2000 Census, Takoma Park was 48.8% white, 34.0% black, 14.4% Latino, and 4.4% Asian.

Note: The left side of the table shows the percentage of the population falling into different racial groups according to the most recent edition of The Almanac of State Legislative Elections for the state legislative districts and the 2006 U.S. Census estimates for the county as a whole. The right side of the table shows the number of state legislators falling in each of the same racial categories.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Rumor du Jour

Reggie Oldak and Don Mooers are planning to run a slate for the House of Delegates in 2010 and are currently looking for a third person. Both competed unsuccessfully for the recent vacancy caused by Del. Marilyn Goldwater's resignation which went to Del. Bill Frick. Oldak was endorsed by the Washington Post and came in a strong fourth for the House in 2006. After the election, she took a job as an aide to newly-elected County Councilmember Roger Berliner. Don Mooers, an attorney, ran for Congress unsuccessfully against then Rep. Connie Morella.

If the rumor is true, it would make for the most interesting race in District 16 in years. Oldak and Mooers would both be strong candidates. In contrast, the incumbents have not faced strong challenges, running on full incumbent slates. Like Bill Frick, Del. Susan Lee also arrived in the legislature by appointment in 2002. Del. Bill Bronrott also has not faced a strong challenge since he won the seat vacated by Del. Gilbert Genn in 1998. Bronrott won at least partly because of a backlash against Genn's attempt to give the seat to a friend by announcing his retirement from the House after the filing deadline for candidates and has also not faced a strong challenge.

Rez-Ticked

What if you could cast one vote for yourself and become a state legislator? And you could do that without having to raise a single dollar or knock on a single door? Would you do it?

That’s what Kirill Reznik did.

Regular readers of this blog are acquainted with the selection process for state legislative vacancies by now. Kevin Gillogly, in his now-legendary “Who the Frick is Bill?” post, described how Kirill Reznik, a Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee (MCDCC) member, cast the deciding vote to make himself District 39’s next state delegate a few months ago. Never mind the fact that his opponent, Hugh Bailey, had earned 1,451 votes from District 39 residents when he ran for an at-large County Council seat the year before. Never mind the fact that Bailey earned 1,451 more votes than Reznik, who had never run for office, ever did. Reznik, as an MCDCC member, was entitled to vote for himself and Bailey, not an MCDCC member, was not. Do you think that Hugh ever had a chance?

Now I’m sure Kirill Reznik kisses babies, loves dogs, eats apple pie, collects Norman Rockwell artwork and buys American. Lots of politicians – and aspiring politicians – do. And he’s not the first Central Committee member to vote for himself. But since he appeared in Kevin’s excellent “Who the Frick is Bill?” piece, he’s the poster child for this column.

Recently, I ran into a man who was an MCDCC member many years ago. He told me, “Back in the old days, there was no Rezniking. We had a rule that MCDCC members could not be appointed as legislators.”

I asked, “What happened to that rule?”

He replied, “It was never written down. It was just the ethics of the time.”

“The ethics of the time.” Sheesh. How quaint. Does this guy still watch black-and-white TV?

I tried to explain this to my neighbors. They just shrugged and said, “Hey, it’s corrupt back-room politics. Of course they’re going to appoint each other. That’s what we expect out of politicians.”

Is this the relationship the MCDCC wants with bucket-carrying, lawn-mower-pushing Democrats? Do you really want us to believe that the only reason you join MCDCC is to sit around, waiting to get lucky for a legislator to leave so you can vote yourself into office? Don’t you want Democratic voters to find out the good things you do and participate in them? What do you know that your “ethics of the time” predecessors did not?

Even though I heckled them with such terms as “Baroness,” I’ll give credit to the MCDCC for some recent improvements to their process. In their latest selection for District 18 delegate, three of them posted their reasons for voting on this blog. They junked secret votes. They posted applications and recommendations on their website. They allowed camera-toting Kevin Gillogly to crawl all over their selection meeting. And I hear a few of them even laughed about that “Baroness” bit. Hey, anyone that can tolerate my sense of humor can’t be all that bad. Just ask my wife.

But I tell you, a lot of us Democrats – yeah, activists like me that contribute money, bang on doors, spend our entire careers working for progressive organizations, fight in every civic battle in our neighborhoods and vote Democratic in every election – are getting Rez-ticked that you can and do vote yourselves into office. Show us that you’re better than Crony-Hall-of-Fame members Harriet Miers, Alberto Gonzalez and Mike Brown. Live up to the term “Democrats.” Return to your honorable traditions of the past and once again forbid MCDCC members from running for appointments.

Or Lord help you when you run for re-election.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Analyzing Purple Line Cost Effectiveness

Table 1

	Ridership Estimate		Cost Estimate ($million)		Cost/Rider
TSM	18000		105		5833
Low BRT	32000		485		15156
Med BRT	39500		700		17722
High BRT	43500		1255		28851
Low LRT	39500		1245		31519
Med LRT	43500		1260		28966
High LRT	45500		1685		37033

TSM = Enhanced-Regular Bus, BRT = Rapid-Bus, LRT = Light-Rail

Table 1 shows the ridership, cost, and cost per rider for enhanced regular-bus service and the various rapid-bus and light-rail Purple Line proposals. Remember that ridership is the number of trips. If we assume that most people make a roundtrip on the Purple Line, then the number of people riding it is only 50% of the numbers here (e.g. a ridership of 40,000 is equivalent to 20,000 people making roundtrips).

Enhanced regular bus is by far the cheapest option. I wonder how many more riders would show up if the enhanced-regular bus option were expanded further. While it would clearly carry fewer people, it would also cost much less than the other options in terms of both total cost and cost per rider. The cost per rider for rapid-bus is around 3 to 5 times higher. The cost per rider of light rail is 5 to 6 times higher.

Table 2

	Operating & Maintenance Costs ($million)	O&M Costs/Rider
TSM	7	389
Low BRT	9	281
Med BRT	9	228
High BRT	8	184
Low LRT	20	506
Med LRT	18	414
High LRT	17	374

Table 2 shows the operating and maintenance costs for each option. Enhanced-regular bus has the cheapest total costs but it is more expensive per rider than any of the rapid-bus options. However, the difference is small enough that enhanced-regular bus still is more cost efficient. Even after 25 years of operation, enhanced-regular bus would still be more than 50% cheaper after taking into account operating and maintenance costs.

Tables 1 and 2 also make clear that rapid-bus transit is clearly more cost effective than light-rail transit. The initial investment required for every light-rail option is more expensive than every rapid-bus option is terms of cost per rider. The comparison becomes even more favorable to rapid-bus if one takes into account operating and maintenance costs in terms of either total expenditures or cost per rider.

No wonder MTA Project Leader Mike Madden, a promoter of the light-rail system, is now playing down cost effectiveness in terms of choosing a plan to submit to the federal government for funding after having previously emphasized competitiveness. The cost effectiveness numbers favor rapid bus over light rail.

Table 3

	Ridership Above TSM	Cost Above TSM	Marginal Cost/Rider Above TSM
Low BRT	14000	380	27143
Med BRT	21500	595	27674
High BRT	25500	1150	45098
Low LRT	21500	1140	53023
Med LRT	25500	1155	45294
High LRT	27500	1580	57455

As shown in table 3, the various Purple Line alternatives attract around 7000 and 13,750 additional people making roundtrips (the equivalent to the 14,000-27,500 ridership numbers in the table) above TSM/enhanced-regular bus. Table 3 also presents the marginal cost of capturing ridership above enhanced-regular bus service.

Put another way, this is the cost of getting the people who would not ride enhanced-regular buses to get on one of the rapid-bus or light-rail transit options. From this perspective, the cost per rider is far higher than enhanced-regular bus. Attracting the people who would not get on the enhanced-regular bus studied by MTA would cost around 5 to 10 times more per trip than each trip on enhanced-regular bus.

The public could not make these calculations for itself at the recent Purple Line open houses because the ridership for TSM (enhanced-regular bus) was listed as "N/A" (see my photograph taken at the open house from the B-CC High School). I got the 18,000 figure for TSM ridership by asking MTA's ridership expert at the meeting what is TSM and what is the estimated ridership.

Remember that these numbers are from MTA and that the data behind the numbers has yet to be revealed to the public or subject to public scrutiny by either supporters or opponents of the various options.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Metro Wants More from Me: What I Want from Metro

The following is by Sally Hand who is new to MPW. A law librarian for the past 25 years working in private, governmental and educational settings, Sally is also the Community Outreach Coordinator for Delegate Saqib Ali (D-39). Of course, the views presented here are her own. She and her dog Ginger Jar are residents of Germantown. Welcome!

With the announcement of the new Metro fare hikes on Dec 13th my cost to get to work just went up $1.95 a day, or $39 a month, or $468 a year. I am a middle-class working women who can rearrange my budget to cover this increase and will but it is now cheaper for me to drive into DC, park in DC and drive home than it is to use Metro. I believe that others might give up using the Metro since it is so expensive and the service is erratic.

Since Metro wants so much of my paycheck this is what I would like from Metro:

* Ample parking – either at Metro Stations or at a Park & Rides with frequent bus service
* Buses that travel to the Park & Rides as long as Metro is open (currently the last 124 bus leaves Shady Grove at 8pm – I often have to work late and have to cab it to the Park & Ride)
* Clear announcements that give information
* Train drivers that look before they close the car doors
* Emails that explain the disruption not just say it is cleared

I encourage ridership of the Metro and the ride on buses as the Green way to get to work. There are costs to the environment that Metro can assist healing. My carbon footprint is much smaller using public transportation than if I drove to work everyday. If Metro really wants to be a service to the entire community than they need to look at ways to encourage riders so that there are less cars on the roads these fare increases without service upgrades are just a way to lose ridership ergo losing more money.

P.S. Metro was shocked at the low turnout for the public forum in Reston about the fare increases. Hello, the hearing was not Metro accessible.

Discrimination Alleged by Democrats

"Beyer drops bid to replace Maryland delegate: Activist blames ‘trans phobia’ for withdrawal" was printed in today's Washington Blade:

“It was clear to me that I wasn’t going to be selected,” she told the Blade. “I work in political circles. Word gets around. It’s not hard to discern.”
Beyer said she was “not really free to say” what she learned or was told to indicate the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee would not choose her to replace Lawton.
But some observers said Beyer, who works for Montgomery County Councilmember Duchy Trachtenberg and helped pass a measure last month that bars discrimination against transgender people, was hindered by her distinction as a transgender woman.
“I think it’s hard to deny that there isn’t at least some component of trans phobia in this situation,” said Scott Davenport, president of Equality Montgomery County.
Davenport said the Central Committee has a “very clear” preference for candidates that are “least likely to make waves.” If appointed, Beyer would have been the nation’s first transgender state lawmaker.
“I don’t believe this is 100 percent about trans phobia,” he said, “but I do believe this is about lack of political courage.”
Milton Minneman, a Central Committee spokesperson, said the organization was not concerned that Beyer is transgender.
“The Central Committee as a whole is certainly supportive of any gender designation and has no biases against anybody who is GLBT,” he said. “We have no reason why someone who is GLBT should not be elected to any body or government.” . . .
Beyer, who last week told the Blade that her distinction as a transgender woman “isn’t an issue and it shouldn’t be an issue” in the race, said she still faced an uphill battle.
“Being the first at anything is difficult,” she said. “This is a recurrent motif in American politics.”
Beyer said she was highly qualified for the seat because she’s a retired physician and has policy experience, but “the fact that I have an unusual gender history still ranks high in people’s minds.”
“When people finally accept me as an older female physician with political skills and leadership skills, then I will have accomplished my goal,” she said. “That day is obviously not today, but it might not be too far in the future.”
Beyer noted that she still considers herself eligible for Maryland’s next legislative election in 2010.
“You really can’t plan that far ahead because life can change drastically in a second,” she said. “So it’s hard to be precise on this, but it’s not a stretch to say I’m not going anywhere and I will stay in the mix.”

Interestingly, this article had no quote from either of the district's two most prominent openly gay elected officials, Sen. Rich Madaleno and Kensington Mayor Pete Fosselman. Mayor Fosselman backed Al Carr, a Kensington councilman, very strongly from the start. Sen. Madaleno issued a public letter in support for Al Carr before the Central Committee voted.

New Military Policy: Do Tell, Go Back to Work?

Is the shortage of soldiers making it harder to get kicked out of the military for homosexuality?

After leaving Iraq, he says he started receiving anonymous emails warning him about his openness that suggested he was being watched, so he went to his commander to head off an investigation he felt was coming.

"I didn’t know how else to do it,” he tells Stahl, acknowledging that he initiated an investigation of himself by violating the policy. “I felt more comfortable being the one to say, ‘This is what is real,'" Manzella says.

He then says his commander reported him, as he was obliged to do, and then “I had to go see my battalion commander, who read me my rights,” he tells 60 Minutes.

He turned over pictures of him and his boyfriend, including video of a passionate kiss, to aid the investigation.

But he tells Stahl he was surprised by the outcome.

"I was told to go back to work. There was no evidence of homosexuality," Manzella says.

"'You’re not gay,'" he says his superiors told him.

Randy Shilts wrote in Conduct Unbecoming that discharges for homosexuality commonly decline in wartime. This war is no exception with discharges down 50 percent since 2001. Another theory is that, like other Americans, soldiers have become more tolerant and just think this is a dumb policy.

Who’s Got the Biggest War Chests in MoCo?

If you have not done this already, go visit the UMBC Maryland Campaign Finance website. It’s a fun research tool and you’ll learn things about politicians you won’t believe. For example: who’s got money and who’s broke?

We here at MPW are, as always, dedicated to our growing legions of devoted readers. As usual, WE will do the work so that YOU – the informed political consumers who know enough to visit us every day – can draw your own conclusions. So, let’s go to the data!

Broadly speaking, candidate finances are reported in five categories: receipts, expenditures, cash/account balance, in-kinds and outstanding obligations. Think of the difference between account balance and outstanding obligations as a political balance sheet. High balances with no obligations can be liquidated as political ammo immediately. Outstanding obligations are almost always loans that candidates make to themselves. With every dollar they spend, candidates with high outstanding obligations are deciding whether to keep running for office or replenish their depleted nest eggs. These being politicians, most will decide to buy that extra campaign sign.

The last financial reports came in as of 1/17/07. The next batch should be in around Valentine’s Day – fitting, don’t you think? Of course, a lot has happened over the last year but fret not – we will update you.

So which MoCo state legislators have the most money? Measured by campaign account balance, the three best-financed MoCo Senators were Jennie Forehand (D17 - $64,092), Brian Frosh (D16 - $41,667) and Rob Garagiola (D15 - $31,024). The three poorest MoCo Senators were Jamie Raskin (D20 - $4,821), Mike Lenett (D19 - $7,518) and Nancy King (D39 - $8,875). To be fair to King, she was only recently appointed to the Senate.

Among the MoCo Delegates, the three best-financed were Susan Lee (D16 - $66,027), Heather Mizeur (D20 - $38,869) and Jeff Waldstreicher (D18 - $32,158). The three poorest were Al Carr (D18 - $280), Brian Feldman (D15 - $338) and Saqib Ali (D39 - $391). To be fair to Carr, he was not a Delegate at the time of his last report.

It’s not just about account balance though. Remember those pesky outstanding obligations? Sometimes they’re not merely pesky – they’re absolutely colossal. I know it’s shocking, but some politicians will spend lots of their own money to win. The only three MoCo Senators who reported outstanding obligations were Mike Lenett (D19 - $160,000), Jamie Raskin (D20 - $20,000) and Rob Garagiola (D15 - $10,000). All had contested races and all of these obligations were loans to their own campaigns.

The Delegates who reported the largest outstanding obligations were Ben Kramer (D19 - $114,450), Roger Manno (D19 - $70,000) and Jeff Waldstreicher (D18 - $42,417). Again, all had seriously contested races and all of their obligations were loans to themselves. So dear reader, if you had to put in $100,000 of your own money to just have a shot at winning office, would you do it?

Now here’s the interesting part. Subtract outstanding obligations from account balances and which incumbents were the most solvent? Among MoCo Senators, the leaders were Jennie Forehand (D17 - $64,092), Brian Frosh (D16 - $41,667) and Rob Garagiola (D15 - $21,024). No surprises there. But two Senators actually had negative net assets – Mike Lenett (D19 – negative $152,482) and Jamie Raskin (D20 – negative $15,179).

Among the delegates, the leaders in net assets were Susan Lee (D16 - $66,027), Heather Mizeur (D20 - $38,869) and House Majority Leader Kumar Barve (D17 - $30,843). The worst off were Ben Kramer (D19 – negative $113,252), Roger Manno (D19 – negative $67,611) and Al Carr (D18 – negative $19,370). Seeing as how Kramer and Manno serve in the same district, they would be wise to run together on a slate to avoid bankrupting each other.

One note of caution. Many of these candidates have joint slate accounts that pay for multi-candidate signs and mailings. Those who stick together on slates and collect the Apple Ballot need less money to win (and almost always do win). So monetary weakness does not always equal political weakness.

What about potential Delegate challengers? Jean Cryor (D15), Joan Stern (D39), Aaron Klein (D20), appointment candidate Hugh Bailey (D39) and Ryan Spiegel (D17) all finished with positive account balances, though Bailey and Spiegel had very little money left. Regina Oldak (D16), Paul Griffin (D19), Alec Stone (D19) and Dana Beyer (D18) all finished with five-digit outstanding loans to themselves. Beyer’s outstanding loan total – $75,000 – was only exceeded by Lenett and Kramer. These four candidates will probably have to choose between running for office again or making a down payment on that Eastern Shore beach cabin we all want. Crab-loving hedonist that I am, I’d take the beach cabin.

Woodmont East II, Round II

Councilman Roger Berliner's office tells me that the developers of Woodmont East II are back with a new plan:

Back in September, Councilmember Berliner organized a public roundtable to discuss the Woodmont East development proposal. Over 100 people attended the meeting and many raised concerns about the project. After continued criticisms about the project by the community, Councilmember Berliner, and the Montgomery County Planning Board, the developers withdrew the proposal.

The development team has now made changes to their design and will make these plans available to the public. Councilmember Berliner is convening another public roundtable on Tuesday January 8th to allow members of the community to view the plans and ask questions.

The meeting will be from 7-9pm on January 8th at the Bethesda Chevy Chase Regional Services Center located at 4805 Edgemoor Lane in Bethesda. There is a big parking lot under the building or you can Metro or Ride-On there.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Should the MoCo Dem Central Committee Be Expanded?

There is a proposal to do just that and the hearing is tonight. It is part of a series of local bills being heard by the County Affairs Committee of our MoCo Delegation. Betta you didn't know that our General Assembly folks have their own web site. Worth a look.

Back to the bill, Sen. Nancy King and Del. Charles Barkley -- both of District 39 (Montgomery Village, portions of Germantown, Derwood and unincorporated Gaithersburg) -- want to expand the MCDCC from 23 members (2 members from each of the 8 districts and 7 at large members) to 27 members. The MCDCC is opposed. Click here to learn more.

The hearing for this bill and 17 others will begin tonight at the Stella Werner Building (MoCo County Council Building) at 7:00 P.M. The public is welcome.

Other bills of interest are: Delegate Susan Lee (District 16 -- Chevy Chase, Bethesda) is submitting a bill on behalf of Councilman Phil Andrews (District 3 -- Rockville, Gaithersburg, Darnestown) to regulate campaign finance for races in MoCo. The offices that would be affected are: the MoCo Executive, State's Attorney and the nine members of the County Council. They might be more but I guess don't the details all that well. But I do know that the races for the MD GA will not be covered. Click here for more.

Finally Charles Barkley is proposing that cell phone towers at MoCo Elementary and JR High Schools be banned. Since that is a big money maker for the School Board, guess who is against it: The Superintendent of the Schools, Jerry Weast, the School Board and the MCEA. Click here for more.

Donna Edwards To Open Her MoCo Office

Donna Edwards will have the grand opening of her new office in Montgomery County. This will be on Saturday December 15 from 9:30 to 11:30 pm. Location: Rock Creek Village Center, 5540 Norbeck Road, Rockville, MD 20853 (corner of Nobeck Road and Bauer Drive).

She will outline plans for the final two months of the campaign. All are welcome.

Disclaimer: This comes from the Donna Edwards campaign. As always all candidates are welcome to share their announcements here. So please send your campaign announcements to us and we will post. Still looking for more videos from the campaign trail.

The MPW bloggers agreed that we will not post requests for donations. But we will post newsworthy events. I wish I could outline completely what constitutes "newsworthy" but just like the Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said on another important matter "I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced . . . [b]ut I know it when I see it . . . "

Say how about this: if each campaign -- there are now six candidates -- have each campaign designate a guest blogger. Let's make this the place to be the best news on the CD 4 race. We are the largest political blog in MoCo. And this will be the largest local race on the ballot come primary day.

Looking for Bloggers

We're looking for more people who would like to join the Maryland Politics Watch team. Virtually all of us live in District 18, so we are especially interested in people from other parts of Montgomery County so we can expand our geographic coverage. Diversity is always welcome with one exception: you have to be a Democrat. Of course, Democrats are often an eclectic, fractious bunch so a range of views is welcome.

One key goal of MPW has been to provide original coverage of events from official meetings of municipal and county government to Democratic political events to Purple Line open houses. Another has been to provide a public forum for Democrats to present their ideas and to communicate with each other. Finally, we try to take a slightly more analytical approach. Want to explain what is great or awful about the County's growth policy? the State's recent special session? This is the place.

Finally, I can enjoy a good snarky quip as much as the next person but there is a tremendous amount of snark on the internet already. Still, a good sense of humor helps.

It's a lot easier than you think. Guest blogs are also welcome. If you're interested, contact me at lublin.david at gmail.com. Thanks.

Legislative Vacancies: Non-Constitutional Reform

There are several measures that can be taken to improve the current vacancy-appointment process while we work for a constitutional amendment. We can’t get a real election without an amendment; we’re stuck with the Central Committee. But the Constitution does not specify how the Central Committee should make its selection. Nothing stops it from adopting internal reforms. The Central Committee is perfectly free to establish a process to determine — and even to bind itself to — the will of the people of the district in question.

I invite comment from my fellow Marylanders on just what these reforms should be. Possibilties include:

The Central Committee would be bound to select whichever candidate the district party structure selects. (Yes, this means that District 18 would never have enjoyed having Jane Lawton representing us in Annapolis. In 2005, the Central Committee overruled District 18’s recommendation that Sam Statland replace retiring Del. John Hurson.). The district-level decision could be made:

by vote of the precinct chairs and vice-chairs; or
in a district-wide caucus open to all party members in the district.

The Central Committee would have a free vote, but Central Committee members:

would be barred from voting for themselves; or
would be barred from running altogether

The Central Committee would have a free vote, but members living in the district whose legislator is being selected would have their votes weighed more heavily

I’m sure there are plenty of other ideas out there, too. The more people talk about this, the better ideas we’ll all come up with.

Legislative Vacancies: Constitutional Reform

The deed is done, ~~the people have spoken~~, and District 18 has its new delegate.

Well, the people of D-18 haven’t really spoken. It was the Central Committee who picked our delegate.

As I noted in an earlier post, only one year into the four-year term, almost 40% of Montgomery County residents now have as one of our General Assembly delegates someone who we had no role whatsoever in electing. The process for replacing legislators is seriously flawed for a number of reasons:

The overwhelming majority of those making the selection do not live in the district whose delegate they are choosing;

Citizens who are not registered to the same party as the legislator being replaced have no voice at all in electing the body that is making the selection for them;

Even most rank-and-file members of the party in question don’t have a clue what a party central committee does and who the candidates are when we see them on the primary ballot; and

Although we will be having elections throughout the state in 2008, voters with unelected legislators selected by outside party officials will be denied the opportunity to democratically elect someone to fill out the rest of the term.

This process is inconsistent with the basic principles of electoral democracy.

It is not acceptable.

It must change.

The Maryland Constitution sets out the provisions for filling a legislative vacancy, generally giving the party Central Committee the right to fill a vacancy (or at least to recommend a name to the governor). And the vacancy is filled for the rest of the term. So if we want the voice of the people to be heard through an election, we must amend the Maryland Constitution.

At Sunday’s D-18 candidate forum, several candidates, including Al Carr, expressed support for the right of the people of a district to vote on a permanent replacement legislator during the midterm elections (i.e., presidential election years). I will be strongly lobbying all of my representatives to support a constitutional amendment to make that possible. Based on his statements at the forum, I expect Del. Carr will not need any persuading on this matter.

One potential drawback: Party primaries in presidential election years occur months earlier than they do in General Assembly election years. For instance, while the 2006 primaries were in September, the 2008 primaries are in February. This would spell trouble for a temporarily-appointed legislator seeking election to his appointed position, since he would be in session in the weeks leading up to the primary, with no time to campaign and a legal prohibition against fundraising. It also would mean that a vacancy occurring as early February could not be filled by election in November because the vacancy occurred after the primaries.

For that reason, we could eliminate party primaries for special elections and instead have all interested candidates run regardless of party in one general election, with the possibility of a runoff in case no one gets a majority. Alternatively, we could have a fall primary just in the districts in question.

There may be other problems I have not thought of. As we approach the 2008 session of the General Assembly, now is the time to hash these problems out.

Unfortunately for the people of Districts 16, 18, and 39, even if a constitutional amendment passes during the upcoming legislative session and is approved by the voters in November 2008, that will be too late for us to get our 2008 midterm vote on a candidate. But amending the constitution will protect Marylanders in the future.

My next post will discuss reforms that Central Committees can adopt in the meantime to democratize the process.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Mike Madden and His Purple Crayon

Mike Madden (pictured left) and the Purple Line Roadshow came to B-CC High School last night. No presentation just lots of posters and a grab bag of experts. I spoke with a number of consultants on hand. Some gave excellent and informative answers--once you could find the right person who knew about the topic which concerned. Others were, um, less impressive.

Let's start with the information. The ridership numbers are up though the data behind them still haven't been released so no one can really assess the quality of the estimates. Apparently, the data will remain a state secret until Spring. A photo of the ridership estimates (click on it for a more readable verson) is below though you can also see them over at the Silver Spring Penguin.

If you look closely, you can see that the estimate for Alternative 2: TSM is "N/A". In case you took Spanish or French in high school instead of MTA, "Alternative 2: TSM" is code for enhanced regular bus service. While these estimates were not presented, the ridership estimates for simply amped up bus service are around 18,000 according to the MTA expert. The capital investment is also much lower--just 6 to 9% of the cost of light rail according to MTA's own numbers.

Light rail would carry more people, between 38,000 and 47,000 more depending on the version according to the numbers released by MTA. This is an improvement of 20,000 to 29,000 over enhanced regular bus but at a substantially higher cost. Real questions remain as to whether the substantial investment in light-rail is justified by the cost improvement.

As I've reported before, the numbers give much stronger traction to the rapid-bus option. When pressed, Mike Madden grudgingly admitted that rapid-bus was the most "cost efficient" option. In a shift from previous meetings at which he constantly emphasized the importance of presenting the a competitive proposal, he said that presenting a competitive proposal was only one factor in deciding which option to present to the feds.

Other MTA experts were more forthcoming and stated without reservation that rapid-bus was clearly the superior option from a cost perspective. I'm still curious to know if supporters of the light-rail like the Action Committee for Transit would be willing to get behind rapid-bus since it seems like a clearly more cost efficient alternative. (Webb Smedley never replied when I asked this question in response to a comment he posted here.) While rapid-bus is also far more expensive than enhanced regular bus service (4 to 13 times more expensive), the gap is not as large as for light-rail (11 to 17 times more expensive).

I spoke with one MTA expert who said he played a major role in determining the location of the stops. He told me that a good share of the ridership was driven by people traveling relatively short distances within "wedges". In other words, many people are expected to use it to travel from one Silver Spring stop to another--or the equivalent within another wedge. Of course, others will travel between wedges.

Now for the aggravating part of the evening. Near the slide show of light-rail systems around the world stood the "I don't know" woman who gave that response to a great majority of the questions I saw asked. While candid about her knowledge gaps, this expert didn't appear pleased when one woman asked acidly "where are the houses in the pictures?" referring to the close proximity of some homes to the proposed route.

The same woman didn't know whether any of their examples were of light-rail systems linking separate urban hubs. Most of the existing light-rail systems which I've ridden connect people within dense urban areas. Another woman chimed in that St. Louis has a great one to the airport but that doesn't seem too relevant to the Purple Line. However, another consultant stated that this was definitely a unique sort of project--something between Metro and conventional light rail.

After I left the meeting, Mike Madden was overheard making the risible claim that the light-rail system would not undermine the property values of a "single home". While I suspect most homes would not see a decline in value, surely the presence of a light-rail system in one's backyard is less desirable than a trail lined with trees. Not a credible claim.

Meanwhile, I remained amazed that the posters presented at the session had not been placed on the web which would easy to do. When I queried one set of MTA presenters, they repeated the MTA canards that the data are "preliminary", there have been many meetings showing the information, and people can respond based on what they see.

The incomplete ridership information is totally new so it has not been presented at repeated meetings. Moreover, the idea that people can give better feedback on this complex topic spontaneously rather than with some thought is ludicrous. I couldn't help imagining applying this approach to college education. "Now students, please don't do any reading. You'll learn much better if you haven't given this topic any thought whatsoever."

However, that's MTA's story and they're sticking to it. One imagines that the final estimates might be more accurate if preliminary estimates are subjected to criticism from all sides. I've heard claims by both supporters and opponents that the numbers are off. Let's hope that MTA is more forthcoming and holds another round of meetings where more meaningful consultation can occur before they finalize the information and are unwilling to make further changes. I've been told that the presentation will go up on the web when this round of meetings is done. Let's hope so.

Both supporters of the current trail (above right) and of the light-rail system (left) set up booths outside the hall. No doubt the conversation and the debate will continue.

Politics of Race in the D18 Race

Apparently, the politics were not just black v. Latino v. white. The Gazette reports that Roz Pelles was pressured to drop out to prevent division in the African-American vote:

Rosalyn W. Pelles of Silver Spring, said she was being urged by some African American members of the county’s Democratic Central Committee to withdraw.
Pelles, the AFL-CIO’s national director of civil, human, and women’s rights and former executive director of the National Rainbow Coalition, said she would not drop out.
‘‘There’s a lot of concern in the community about making sure that we continue to bring people of color into the House of Delegates,” she said. ‘‘I think people wanted to maximize the opportunity to get a person of color in office.”
Pelles said the concerns were ‘‘coming from various corridors” but declined to say from whom.
‘‘I believe that it’s from the lack of looking at a bigger picture,” said her son Hugh Bailey, a former Montgomery County Council candidate. ‘‘I believe part of the pressure my mother is receiving is the age-old argument: concern about splitting the vote for a candidate of color.”
Pelles and Kensington Town Councilman Alfred C. Carr Jr., another candidate for the seat, are both African American.
Bailey equated the pressure on his mother to his own council campaign last year. Bailey was one of four African American men in a field of about 15 candidates vying for the Democratic nomination for four council seats.
‘‘I got a lot of pressure from people saying that there were too many black people in the race. ... I don’t think that the county and communities of color should be over concerned about having people of color secure the seats that they should dissuade people of color who are qualified candidates for running. It’s counter productive.”
County Councilwoman Valerie Ervin, a Pelles supporter, had also heard about pressure being placed on Pelles to drop out.
“This is indicative of a time past when a handful of African Americans could dictate what leaders were given an opportunity for political positions,“ said Ervin (D-Dist. 5) of Silver Spring. “Those times have passed. I don't understand the notion that we can have 'only one.' ... I applaud her courage for remaining as a candidate.“

I don't understand the pressure on Roz myself. Since the election took place according to a runoff system, the supporters of Roz could always go to Al or vice-versa on a second ballot. While I supported Al, I thought the race was richer for Roz's presence if only because candidates had to flesh out their position and work for support. Moreover, many people clearly thought highly of her, including the family of Del. Jane Lawton, whose sudden passing caused the vacancy.

A Short Strange Trip

If Deadheads ever were to become political junkies then they would have loved last night's gathering. Come early. Stay late. Party on. Ignore laws. The only thing missing were the $2 PB&Js. I came early -- getting to MCDCC HQs at 6:50 for the 7:30 performance. Sadly, there 15 people ahead of me. I stayed late -- making visits to two post campaign gatherings. The MoCo Democratic Party was on -- as in most of the insiders were crammed inside party HQ.

This is the view from the cheap seats.

Truckin' the classic song from the Grateful Dead, which became a national treasure in 1997, talks of a long strange trip. This trip was anything but long and, more importantly, it was legal -- well if one ignores County occupancy laws. Twelve days removed from Jane Lawton's death we gathered to select her replacement. I got the same vibe as David did that the pre-vote momentum was all Al. It showed in how many of the District 18 activists had lined up behind him, first at the forum on Sunday and those that came early to see the proceedings.

Looking at the people who came a mere 15 minutes early.

I was hoping to blog from the site but my signal was too weak even after several fruitless tries. Something for the future. I was going to tell you that the pre-vote support for Rick Kessler was stronger than I had initially suspected. I still had a first ballot win. But I had really felt that Roz Pelles was going to be the more serious challenger to eventual winner Al Carr. By mid-day yesterday my internal numbers for Rick were higher than for Roz. Both Rick and Roz were hampered by the compressed election cycle and if either had a few more weeks the results might have been different. But it was the strength of familiarity that triumphed all others. And familiarity resided with the Councilman from Kensington.

A Little Bit About the Process
The MCDCC returned to open ballots. Something resident historian and MCDCC member, Elliot Chabot, told me has happened in the past. I think opening up the voting process did two things. It allowed for tracking of votes by outsiders better. It also encouraged finding consensus as early as possible.

Each of the five candidates got five minutes for opening statements followed by the lightning round of 8 questions. (Try answering what you'd change from the special session in 45 seconds.) Closing statements were a minute. Fortunately, the candidates and the actual voters (the 23 member MCDCC) did this two nights ago in front of the District 18 Caucus. So it was more than a single night oral examination for the five aspirants.

Opening Statements
This is where a candidate gets their best time to outline their platform. Al Carr pointed out his experience as both an elected official and as a candidate in both 2005 and 2006. Fred Cooper pointed out how he had worked on issues 20 years ago in Silver Spring that just got completed in 2006. George English wanted everyone to know that the special session was a sell out to the racing industry. He also used examples of problems in Baltimore when he was running for office in downcounty MoCo. Interesting. Rick Kessler claimed the experience of working in federal and state legislatures for over 20 years. He claimed that this experience of working with a wide range of personalities is the best training. (As a former Hill staffer, I had to agree.) Roz Pelles was running to preserve the legacy of Jane Lawton and how she was the change agent among the candidates.

Foreground, right: Roz Pelles' son Malcom Pelles; Middle ground, Rick Kessler's wife, Cindy Schwartz and their son, Matty Kessler; Background: Delegate Tom Hucker (20)

What I Learn From These Forums
To me, it is insightful not so much what they say but how they say it. And in the rapid fire questions, where you are asked almost anything and have 45 seconds to master it shows how quickly one can think on one's feet. It also shows how much they know about the issues and the district.

The first two questions were what have you done for the district. It put all but Al Carr on the defensive. I thought Roz Pelles did an excellent job of pointing out that her work on women's issues and labor issues across the state and the country had a direct impact on the district.

As MCDCC member Marc Korman mentioned in his post. He asked a question on the Purple Line and Gas Tax. Forty five seconds to answer. Two candidates completely punted on the gas tax portion. They both said "it needs more study". But like Marc wrote, Al showed a knowledge of divide in LD18 on the Purple Line -- eastern half "yeah"; western half "nay, if we lose the Capital Crescent Trail" and gave the most reasoned answer.

The best question came from Lindsay Brewer, a student member, who asked about bringing students more into the election process more. All favored more student involvement. Rick Kessler and Roz Pelles both highlighted how they have done that in their work on Capitol Hill and local campaigns respectively. But Al Carr stole the show when he said "as the father of a 5 year old and 2 year old, I am well aware of young people wanting more rights."

Even this blog got mentioned during a question of support from inside District 18.

The Voting
If you were a candidate not named Al Carr, your goals were not to finish last and to make sure that Al did not get to the magic number of 12 -- absolute majority.

As the votes of the MCDCC member were announced it was clear by the middle of the alphabet that Al was going to be the winner. It was only by how much.

Treasuring Our Time Together
Just as Truckin' took almost thirty to be considered a national treasurer by the Library of Congress, many of us took about the same time to realize the treasurer we had in Jane. This short strange trip was fun. Well for winners. But for the challengers I hope they learned more about themselves and the District. That will benefit us all.

Congratulations to Al Carr on winning. Jane, we tried to have fun.

On Political Pulse

Montgomery County Election Board President Sam Statland will be on the 'Political Pulse' TV Show on:

Thursday, December 13th at 9 p.m. and
Tuesday, December 18th at 9:30 p.m.

Topics that will be discussed include Maryland's electronic voting machines and other issues relating to the upcoming primary on February 12, 2008.

Political Pulse is on Channel 16 TV in Montgomery County.

Marc Korman on "Why I Voted for Al Carr"

Given how opaque the central committee process can seem to those who are not on the committee, I thought I would share with you why I chose to vote for Al Carr in last night's election. First, I just want to point out that the sole purpose of the central committee is not to fill vacancies. We are Montgomery County's Democratic Party and we work year in and year out to keep the local party strong to ensure that Democrats keep getting elected to pass and support progressive policies. If you are not already involved in our precinct organization and other activities and would like to be, please contact me.

That said, last night our major task was to nominate an individual to fill Delegate Jane Lawton's seat. This was a task none of us wanted, but the rules dictated that we address it last night all the same. I think we can all agree that there were many good candidates and each would have brought admirable qualities to the job of delegate. I am optimistic that those who did not win will stay as engaged and active as they always have been. For me, who to vote for was not an easy decision and I did not know for certain which candidate I would pick until the ballot was in my hand. This was after attending a portion of the D18 Forum on Sunday (I had to leave early to study for law school exams), meeting for an interview with each candidate on Saturday, hearing the candidates' answer a few questions before we voted, and reading a flood of emails and blog postings about the candidates. I also spoke to a few of the candidates and their supporters on the phone, though not as many as I expected. I know for many of my colleagues, even more work was done in coming to their individual decisions.

Al Carr did not get my vote for any one, specific reason. In fact, many of the reasons I supported him were not qualities unique to him. Al Carr, in my view, offered the best package of the qualities I was looking for. These include progressive values, knowledge of the district and the issues it faces, a history of local community engagement both politically and civically, a willingness to engage in the hard work required of a delegate as shown by his past experience, and the support of many members of the community including people I know and respect.

Just as all the candidates had attractive qualities, none were perfect either. During last night's process, I asked a question about the Purple Line and the gas tax. None of the five candidates gave the answer I would have liked. But Al Carr gave an answer offering a realistic alternative to the gas tax that showed he was knowledgeable about the issues and had thought about them before. With the General Session starting next month, this demonstrated to me that Al Carr could hit the ground running for District 18. Normally, candidates for office have a year long election to learn their communities and the issues facing them. With an appointment, this is not the case so I felt the district would be best served by picking someone who already had that ability. That belief and the qualities listed above convinced me to cast my vote for Al Carr.

Many will poke holes in my specific reasons for supporting Al Carr. Others will say that Al Carr was the pick of this powerful politician, or that powerful politician, and that is why he won (if this were the case, all of these powerful people forgot to call me to try and sway my vote). Others will simply express outrage at the entire appointment process, as opposed to a special election. I cannot, nor do I want, to stop people from expressing their views. All I can say is that for me, my decision was made by myself, sitting in the central committee offices, listening to the candidates and trying to come to the best decision I could. Time will tell if my decision was the right one, but for now I wish Delegate-elect Al Carr good luck in his new position and hope he serves his constituents well.

Thank you,

Marc Korman
District 16
Montgomery County
Democratic Central Committee

What Our New Delegate Thinks

Delegate-to-be Al Carr with Gazette Reporter Audry Dutton

Excerpts from my notes on the Leland Center Forum sponsored by the District 18 Democratic Caucus:

On the Purple Line
I am "only candidate who is an elected official”; I've advocated for mass transit particularly for commuter rail. I am a supporter of East-West transit, and am strong supporter of the Capital Crescent Trail. We need plans that respect neighborhoods, including undergrounding.

Slots
Opposes slots.

Process for Filling Vacancies in the General Assembly
"The Constitution of Maryland is an agreement between the people and the government." Maryland is the only state that does it this way; we should have a special election.

Crossing Georgia
"As a Councilman from Kensington". . . Favors pedestrian improvements and strongly supportive of the tunnel.

Immigration
I support Ike Leggett. We cannot turn our backs on people here; we have to help people.

Same-Sex Marriage
I support "full parity or equal marriage rights." I worked with Kensington Mayor Fosselman on a resolution on this.

First Priority
Energy and the environment. We need to alter the way commercial prop is taxed to reorient to a green future. Should expand homestead tax for affordable housing.

Environment
I worked with delegation in Annapolis on street light upgrades for more efficient ones that actually stay lit and are more attractive. I worked to change street light regulation.

BRAC
We need to rethink how it impacts the Purple Line, and revive the idea of a Purple Line loop. I am concerned about the impact of the additional exit for the beltway.

Rollingwood
Law should be changed so Rollingwood can vote.

The Real Vote in District 18

So the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee has picked the next delegate. Activists are already running wild, yelling, “It’s undemocratic! The people were not able to vote!”

Say what? Of course the people could vote. Right here, on the Maryland Politics Watch Internet poll. Hey, what the state constitution takes away, we give back to you. Maryland Politics Watch is the REAL home of democracy.

So what if the Internet poll was imperfect? So what if we failed to check for legal residency. Or District 18 residency. Or Planet Earth residency. It was a vote! And voting is our civic duty, right? You betcha hanging chads it is!

Here’s a secret: the Internet poll allowed multiple votes from the same computer. It wasn’t supposed to, but it did. How do I know this? I’m not telling. It’s not like I pushed the button more than once.

What was that you said? You only voted once? Heh heh.

I can just imagine the scenes at the competing campaign headquarters. Al Carr, yelling at the other Town of Kensington council members, “Keep pushing those buttons! We’ve gotta stay ahead!” And Hugh Bailey (Roz Pelles’s son) looming over a team of button pushers, bellowing, “We can take those guys! Click faster!” Maybe the reports of those people running up and down Connecticut Avenue looking for extra keyboards and mice are related to all this.

I’ll say one thing for our Internet poll: there were more votes on there than in a “real” District 18 election. And you say we can’t figure out how to boost voter turnout!

Well, the race is over now. The losing candidates are already filing appeals with the Board of Elections. But we here at Maryland Politics Watch are moving on. It’s time to set up a new Internet poll for 2010. It’s never too early to start voting, you know!

I’ll bet we get more Internet poll votes than the entire population of Pennsylvania.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Scenes From The MCDCC Vote

Ok. I was wedged in the back next the file cabinets so the photos are not the best. But here goes.

MCDCC member Vic Weissberg talks to an interested observer.

District 18 activist, Dee Schofield prior to the vote.

MCDCC member Jose Vazquez prior to the vote. Back row: Delegates Reznik (39), Ali (39), and Gutierrez (18), who is partially hidden.

MCDCC Chair Karen Britto and Vice Alan Banov going over the procedure.
Foreground: members of the MCDCC including from left, Oscar Ramirez, Vivian Malloy (in pink), Elly Shaw-Belblidia, Dan Adcock (in suitcoat)

MCDCC members voting
From front to back: Jose Vazquez, Karen Czapanskiy (partially hidden), Beth Siniawsky, Darrell Anderson (handing his ballot), Vic Weissberg, and Arthur Edmunds (back to camera)

Candidates wait as votes are collected
Candidates from right to left are: Roz Pelles, Rick Kessler, George English, Fred Cooper, and Al Carr

Assistant Secretary Marie Wallace stands as she announces the votes.
To her left are candidates Al Carr and Fred Cooper.
Foreground (with backs to camera) are MCDCC members Milt Minneman (left) and Marc Korman.

Long Ago and Far Away

Many centuries ago, in the Kingdom of Mary-Land, a member of the Grand Council of Elders representing the kingdom’s Eighteenth Duchy passed away. The people were in mourning. But soon enough, the Lesser Council of Elders of the Barony of Montgomery met to select a replacement. After all, these decisions could not be made by the peasants, who were too uneducated, ill-fed and unwise to be trusted on matters such as these.

The Baroness of Montgomery, leader of the Lesser Council, convened the meeting at the council’s castle in the Principality of Kensington. After a long feast in the Royal Banquet Hall, the council proceeded to the Order of Business: selecting the next royal representative.

“Bring in the pretenders!” cried the Baroness to the page. Appearing before the royal court were Sir Kessler, Sir Cooper and the slightly wobbly Sir English.

“Sire, these gentlemen report to the council from the House of Blanc,” announced the page.

“The House of Blanc!” growled the Baroness. “But we have given them the last two seats on the Grand Council. They’re being a bit greedy, don’t you think?”

“But your highness,” protested Sir Kessler, “I have cleaned the Royal Stables for twenty years and if you select me, I will dredge the Royal Pond!”

“Silence!” yelled the Baroness. “We tolerate your possession of tongues so long as you use them only with permission. Guards, send them to the dungeon!”

Just then, the Royal Court heard a pounding at the doors. “Your majesty, I believe the peasants are trying to get in!” whispered the page.

The Baroness reached down on her plate and grabbed a crumb. “Here, give them a scrap of the Royal Meatloaf. That should hold them! Who’s next?”

“Your reverence, these are Sir Carr and Lady Pelles. They come to us from the House of Noir, which has not been awarded any seats in ages. Sir Carr has been attempting to install a sidewalk in the Principality of Kensington to protect the peasants on the street.”

“Interesting…” pondered the Baroness. “I have heard that many peasants have been run down by the wagons on Georgia Avenue. But this is none of our concern. We’ll just have to tell them to breed faster!”

“Very good, your highness. And Lady Pelles is also renowned throughout the land.”

“This is taking too long,” muttered the Baroness. “It is almost time for the Royal Back Massage and the Royal Bon Bon. Have them draw lots. Either of them will serve the interests of the empire well enough.”

BOOM! BOOM! “Sire!” screamed the page. “The peasants are about to break through the doors!”

“Oh rot!” sighed the Baroness. “Wheel out the Royal Telly into the courtyard and turn on America’s Top Model. That will placate them well enough!”

The Most Powerful Man You've Never Heard Of

Tim Firestine won’t kiss your baby. He won’t listen to you rant about your pet peeve for fifteen minutes just so he can ask you to put up his campaign sign on your lawn. He won’t watch you scarf down three burgers at Taste of Wheaton Day and ask how you keep the weight off. That’s because he’s not running for office. But make no mistake: Tim Firestine is the most powerful man you’ve never heard of.

Firestine is Montgomery County’s Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) – Ike Leggett’s right-hand man. He runs the county government on a day-to-day basis. While the County Executive steers the ship of state, Firestine snaps the whip over the guys at the oars. Fifty-two county department heads report directly to him. (How does he keep them all straight?) A polished bureaucrat who could easily pass as a Fortune 500 CEO, Firestine’s relaxed demeanor conceals an encyclopedic knowledge of local government and a willingness to get into details that most politicians detest. Smiling thinly, he says, “I know where all the agencies hide their money.”

Firestine spoke to our District 18 breakfast this morning. Most of us were still woozy from the prior night’s delegate candidate forum. The CAO, however, is never woozy and covered more in an hour than most of our speakers can cover in two. A veteran of 28 years in Montgomery County government, Firestine preaches results-based management. He puts it like this: “First we figure out what we want our departments to do. Second, we figure out how to measure those things. Third, we allocate our budgets accordingly. We try to focus on things that produce results.” County-Stat, a government accountability system scheduled for introduction next month, will be one mechanism for this kind of management.

But of course the big news right now is the budget. Montgomery County is facing a $400+ million budget deficit next year, a number that may grow if the state reduces its projected aid. Firestine, as a former Office of Management and Budget staffer and a long-time county Director of Finance, knows this better than anyone. He says, “There’s a gap every year. Everybody wants more, more, more. So we have to manage expectations.”

But isn’t this year different because of the huge size of the deficit? Don’t we need huge tax hikes or spending cuts? On taxes, the CAO states, “We don’t have a lot of places to go to increase taxes. Our income tax is maxed. There is the property tax, but the recordation tax has already been raised.” On spending, Firestine would like to look at vacant employee positions. “We should ask whether we need those positions. What if we don’t?” Optimistically, he wonders whether attrition might account for half the needed savings.

Some county officials blame our state legislators for not doing enough to protect our interests in Annapolis. Not Firestine. “We came out of the special session better than we would have in the past. Our delegation held together as best they can.” He pointed out that Montgomery County benefited by not having the state pass on liabilities associated with teachers retirement. He also cited the Governor’s institution of Geographic Cost of Education Index spending (which provides extra education aid in areas with higher cost of living) as a plus for the county. But he acknowledged, “There may be more hits from the state.”

One of our regulars exclaimed, “I got some money for you!” She advised Firestine to drop the ice rink in Downtown Silver Spring, citing its $10 million cost, and claimed that the existing turf would be a fine use for the space. But the wily CAO would not go there, replying that the ice rink plan included open space.

Another regular asked whether the county could institute its own gas tax to pay for transportation projects. Such a local gas tax would require permission from the state legislature. Firestine replied, “That just is not going to happen. The state is not going to give up its authority to raise the gas tax to a local government. I don’t think anything is going to happen on a local-option gas tax.” The CAO also pointed out that if the county paid for more of its own projects, the state could then move its money somewhere else. This is a fiendish bureaucratic game, but it rings true to this activist.

And then we asked him THE BIG QUESTION. How much money can be cut from the budget without asking the county’s employees to accept compensation increases that are less than called for in their contracts? Firestine said carefully, “Our agreements with our employees are contracts. Our tendency is to honor our labor contracts. And we have a county council that is very supportive of labor contracts. But if there is absolutely no choice, that is an option.”

Hmmm… now that sounds like a snap of the whip over the guys at the oars to me.

Congratulations to Al Carr

I can't quite call him "Delegate Al Carr" because Governor Martin O'Malley still has to formally make the appointment and he has to be sworn in as the most junior member of the House of Delegates. However, congratulations to our new delegate. Al is a fine person, widely respected in the District, and I think he will do his utmost to represent us well in the House of Delegates.

Kudos to the other candidates. It takes guts to put yourself out as a candidate. So let's give a hand to Roz Pelles, Rick Kessler, Fred Cooper, and George English. I heard a lot from supporters of Roz Pelles. She is an impressive speaker with a real passion for public service. Rick Kessler also clearly made a splash. Both garnered real support; I hope all the candidates remain involved in the Democratic Party and District 18.

Detailed results below.

Wild Speculation on District 18 Outcome

I'm still waiting to hear what happened from our man-on-the-ground Kevin Gillogly. Here are some quick thoughts on the outcome.

The open ballot mainly provided transparency only in the sense that the outcome was publicly recorded for each central committee member. Indeed, the open ballot may have provided more pressure to have an arranged outcome ahead of time to avoid potentially embarrassing splits (e.g. all Latinos voting for a Latino candidate, all whites voting for a white candidate and so forth).

I suspect that once it became clear that Al was going to win that some of Roz's supporters may have moved over to support Al to make it a first-ballot victory and to rally around the victor. One suspects that the strong support of Central Committee Chair Karen Britto and State Senator Rich Madaleno were critical to Al Carr's victory. As someone commented to me earlier, it is rare for a candidate favored by the sitting senator to lose.

I've heard that Rick Kessler built some relationships with central committee members before the vacancy and has likely benefited from these connections. Most prominently, he worked hard to support Vic Weissberg who narrowly lost the last vacancy filled by the MCDCC. Rick conducted an insider campaign--he was the only one of the three to get votes who did not have a single letter of support sent to this blog. It didn't seem to hurt him terribly. One is tempted to say that it indicates a ceiling of support. On the other hand, the Central Committee is welcome to appoint whomever it likes so why bother courting the public?

Calls for reform may continue even though the candidate favored by most District 18 activists was ultimately selected.

It's a Carr-ination

Just as I was finishing my last post, Kevin called with the results. Al Carr won on the first ballot with 14 votes. Rick Kessler came in second with 6 votes, and Roz Pelles came in third with 2 votes. One committee member (White) was absent and did not vote.

Here are the votes of individual committee members:

Carr
Atlas
Banov
Britto
Chabot
Edmunds
Korman
Malloy
Miller
Ramirez
Raymond
Shaw-Belblidia
Terrell (by proxy)
Vann
Wallace

Kessler
Anderson
Fisher
Minneman
Siniawski
Vasquez
Weissberg

Pelles
Adcock
Czapanskiy

Next day's reporting at PolitickerMD.

Pre-Vote Call for Democratic Unity

As we saw at the District 18 Democratic Forum on Sunday, we have a selection of excellent candidates. Based on what I am hearing, Al Carr and Roz Pelles are the leading candidate though Rick Kessler may surprise and perform better than expected. I am confident that any of them would serve us well in Annapolis.

Things have gotten rather heated over the last few days. I'm been amazed by the level of interest in the vacancy for one delegate seat in not just District 18 but around the County. Numerous sources have told me that the phone wires have been burning up with calls made to lobby people for one or the other candidates.

Since all of these candidates are Democrats, support is largely determined by personal networks rather than issues. People support one or the other of the candidates because they know them, have worked with them, and respect them. Fortunately, the lobbying effort has been positive for the most part so hopefully any divisions can heal quickly and we can work well with our new delegate. While many people support one candidate, most seem to hold them all in esteem.

That is not to say that the loser (or anyone else) is not welcome to contest the election in 2010. Politicians have to earn their post at every election and any eligible citizen has the right to present them for consideration by the voters. However, the next election is three years away so we should knuckle down to deal with the pressing problems of our community and leave 2010 to the future.

Review of Current MCDCC Process

Kevin Gillogly provided an excellent blow-by-blow account of the process when the last vacancy was filled:

So one hour of candidates giving opening (and closing) statements, followed by zero questions in a room of the connected with outsiders on the outside, we get the first vote. If no one gets a majority on the first ballot then they drop off the lowest people until someone gets a majority.

Once again, the meeting will be held in the too-small room at Democratic HQ in Kensington. MCDCC is doing this to be in compliance with their by-laws. Democratic Central Committee Chair Karen Britto promised me at District 18 Forum that this would truly be the last time this occurs. I encouraged her to try and hold meetings in the district in question if possible though not to put a new straightjacket provision in the by-laws.

The major change which is in place that the voting will occur with an open ballot. This change was heavily promoted by Del. Saqib Ali (D-39) after he lost the appointment for the senate seat vacated by P.J. Hogan to then-Del. Nancy King. The vote of each central committee member will known.

Early Congressional Results

In the First District of Virginia, Republicans will hold their open U.S. House seat by a comfortable margin. With 82% of precincts reporting, the Republican has 63% of the vote. This is exactly the same share received by incumbent Jo Ann Davis in 2006 in this district which cast 60% of its votes for Bush in 2004. The district extends from Faquier and Stafford Counties down the eastern side of Virginia to Newport News.

Only 2% of precincts are reporting so far in the Fifth District of Ohio. The Republican leads with 53% of the vote, less than the 57% received by the incumbent in 2006 and the 61% won by Bush in 2004. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Reporter on the Scene!

MPW Intrepid Reporter Kevin Gillogly is doing his best to wedge his way into the Central Committee room where the MCDCC will pick District 18's new delegate tonight. We'll report results from this and special elections for Congress in Virginia and Ohio as we have news.

The State of the County

Ike Leggett speaks on his first year as Montgomery County Executive and future challenges. Appropriately, the 2007 Montgomery County Resident Survey was released recently too. Most people like living here, though interestingly the ratings for MoCo as a place to retire are much lower. Most county residents are pleased by the quality of county services.

However, concerns remain in some key areas:

The rates of population growth and commercial growth were a concern to most respondents.
♦ Eighty-two percent of the respondents felt that the rate of population growth was “too fast,”
17% said it was the “right amount,” and only 1% said it was “too slow.”
♦ Just over half of the respondents (56%) said that commercial growth was “too fast,” 36%
said it was the “right amount,” and 7% said it was “too slow.” . . .

Land use, planning and zoning; code enforcement; and cable television providers the lowest quality ratings. [Although included in the survey, cable television provided by the County (a fact that was not noted on the questionnaire).]

I don't think anyone will be shocked that cable companies remain unpopular. I'm strongly resisting relaying my Comcast story right now. However, let's just say I don't think I've ever taken quite such pleasure in terminating a company's services. As people who read this blog regularly know, growth remains a subject of exceptional controversy.

Jon Gerson's Father Passed Away

The Montgomery Democrats have sent an email stating that Jon Gerson's father passed away on Sunday. Mr. Gerson will be sitting Shiva at his home through Wednesday.

Hi address is:
3808 Washington Street
Kensington, MD 20895-3445

I'm sure that everyone would like to extend condolences and sympathy to Jon and his family on their loss.

Valerie Ervin for Roz Pelles

To: Montgomery County Central Committee
From: Valerie Ervin, Montgomery County Council District 5
Date: December 10, 2007
RE: Roz Pelles, Candidate for Delegate, District 18

Dear Central Committee Members,

It is with great sorrow and heavy hearts that we mourn the sudden passing of Delegate Jane Lawton. Jane Lawton and Roz Pelles were friends and allies. Roz entered this race for the vacant District 18 seat in the House of Delegats because she wants to honor the legacy of Jane Lawton, a great woman and a great fighter for District 18. Roz Pelles is that rare person who is a combination of her southern roots, growing up in the segregated south, her civil rights activism which began at an early age when she sat down in front of restaurants in Winston Salem, North Carolina to protest the right for black people to sit at lunch counters, her work in organized labor to promote and protect workers rights and the rights of all those who thirst for justice, and her most important job, that of raising three amazing sons. Roz has worked hard and accomplished a great deal in her life but I believe that the work that she has done has prepared her for the task at hand. Roz Pelles has all the qualifications that would make her a great delegate in the tradition of superb representation from District 18 in the House of Delegates in Annapolis. I support Roz Pelles because I believe that she is a great leader with strong values and is a person who will listen to her constituents on issues of importance and then she will lead and not follow. Roz is a woman of great moral conviction who has spent her entire life working to ensure that the promise of democracy is actualized through hard work in the community and by mentoring a new generation of young people to carry on the legacy of democracy and civil rights. Roz was the Executive Director of the National Rainbow Coalition a couple of years before Rev. Jackson made one of his most famous speeches at the Democratic National Convention in 2000. He said, “The lone arm of justice reaches neither for the political left nor the political right, but from the moral center. Vanity asks the question, is it popular? Politics asks the question, would it work? Morality asks the question, is it right? In the end, if it is morally right, politics and popularity has to adjust to the unyielding power of the moral center.” It is in this spirit that I raise my voice along with many others in this community who think that the time is right for a leader like Roz Pelles. Her appointment to the House of Delegates will be historic. She will be the first African American woman to serve in the Montgomery County Delegation.

Rich Madaleno for Al Carr

Dear Central Committee Member:

Tonight you face a significant decision on behalf of the residents of District 18. We are fortunate to have attracted a field of great candidates. However, I believe that one candidate, Al Carr, stands out from the pack. He has the experience and skills to be an outstanding State Delegate. I respectfully request your support for his candidacy.

I have known Al for six years and have witnessed his hard work as a member of the Kensington Town Council during that time. I have also worked with Al on a number of bills before the General Assembly. Working together with Sharon Grosfeld, Jane Lawton, Ana Sol Gutiérrez, Jeff Waldstreicher, and me over the past two years, Al led the fight to end the electric companies’ monopoly control over street lighting in our state. While this issue did not gain flashy headlines, this new law will help local governments gain control over the cost, quality, and efficiency of street lights, a surprisingly large public expenditure. Al led a coalition of municipal and county governments in this fight. He was strong and fair in negotiations with the utilities. He demonstrated the skills I believe are the hallmarks of an effective legislator: diligence, attention to detail, patience, honesty, intelligence, and thoughtfulness.

In the 19 years I have been associated with the General Assembly, I have gained an understanding of who succeeds in Annapolis and why. In the House in particular, success as a Delegate is dependent upon one’s hard work and active participation in committee. Except for a handful of political fault line issues such as taxes, choice, marriage equality, or immigration, the overwhelming majority of bills that pass do so without comment or opposition on the floor. They are refined and amended in committee deliberations. Successful Delegates commit themselves to their committee work. Al Carr intuitively knows this as he is already a member of a legislative body. He understands the legislative process and will be effective in Annapolis for years to come.

Finally, as the Senator for District 18, I can report that more constituents, including our vitally important precinct officials, have taken the time to contact me in support of Al Carr than any other candidate. I think it is indicative of his deep involvement in our district. His appointment will bring stability and continuity to our District. He is worthy of your vote.

In closing, I wish you the best of luck in making this decision. As you can imagine, I wish we were not in this situation. Jane Lawton was a leader in our community who touched and improved the lives of many. She was a colleague, friend, and confidante to me and was known as “Auntie Delegate Jane” in our home. She made our world a better place and will be missed by all.

Sincerely, Rich Madaleno

Dee Schofield for Al Carr

To The Members of MCDCC:

This past Sunday, 18 of you witnessed democracy in action at our District 18 Democratic Caucus Legislative Candidates' Forum. We were heartened that so many of you come out on a cold, rainy Sunday evening to hear the candidates who have decided they want to represent us, the voters of District 18. We thank you for taking the time to attend, and we especially thank those of you who made the effort to ask us what we think and who we support.

The District 18 Caucus members who attended (and many did) take their responsibility to the Democratic voters in their precincts seriously. We precinct officials try to monitor the pulse of our precincts and stay up to date on the local issues and concerns they experience.

So when I tell you that I support Al Carr for our open Delegate seat, I of course am expressing my personal judgment that he's the best person for the job. But I'm also mindful of Democrats in my precinct who know Al and think highly of him, and I'm reflecting their esteem in my endorsement of Al as well.

My experience with the voters of District 18 is long and deep: I've lived here 30 years, and I've been a District 18 precinct coordinator, chair, or vice chair for 20 of those years.

On the basis of that experience, I can state that District 18 voters have a genuine appreciation for the qualities that Al possesses - sound judgment, perseverance, patience, coalition building, careful listening, and substantive accomplishment in public office. Given his record of public service in D18 and his work with the Democratic Party in D18, it's hardly surprising that folks who live here support him.

Our Forum was the District 18 voters' only opportunity to see these candidates, most of whom are not widely known in our District. They are an impressive lot, and we will follow up with those who are not selected this evening to make sure they are brought into the D18 Democratic family.

We must rely on you 23 to represent the interests of District 18 voters. It is a heavy burden to place on MCDCC, and I know you take your responsibility seriously.

But please don't forget the approximately 100 District 18 citizens who also came out on a cold, rainy Sunday, hoping to participate in democracy. Represent us wisely.

Thank you for hearing my views.

Dee Schofield

Silver Spring

Thomas Colbert for Al Carr

Dear MCDCC members,

As the former chair of the Democratic Leadership Team 2006 and D18 precinct chair, I am writing to strongly urge you to vote for Al Carr for D18 Delegate to replace the irreplaceable Jane Lawton. Al has demonstrated his strong progressive roots in elected office in the Kensington Town Council and I know that he will continue the tradition of sponsoring progressive legislation in Annapolis. Please vote for Al Carr for D18 delegate. Thank you.

In Solidarity,

Thomas Colbert, Chair
Precinct 13-27, D18

Alan Banov Replies to Karen Czapanskiy

This is in response to my friend and colleague, Karen Czapanskiy, with whom I agree more than disagree, and in further support of Al Carr.

Karen, I cannot impugn the informed conviction of any supporters of any of the candidates for the District 18 delegate seat.

In the past two factors that I have looked at, in an attempt to be democratic, in voting to fill General Assembly vacancies are:

1) How well has the candidate done in prior primaries?

and

2) How much support does the candidate have from the electorate in her/his district? (I was impressed with Jane when she brought a list of approximately (my recollection) 500 names of District 18 Democrats to us when we selected her to replace John Hurson, and other candidates similarly have brought in such lists.)

Here I do not assume that those speaking out for Al Carr at the District 18 forum Sunday night and in e-mails to the MCDCC do not know him or who his opponents are. Al has run twice before, including once in a primary, and through his campaigning throughout the district and in his public service in District 18, he has informed District 18 Democrats about his qualifications and how he would do in Annapolis.

I decided to vote for Al some time ago, but, if I hadn’t, I would be impressed that I have received endorsements from at least 28 e-mails and several paper letters from individual Democrats throughout the district. That should account for something.

Nor do I assume that our collective grief over Jane's tragic death would have any bearing on Al's support. Rather, I would assume that the District 18 Dems who are writing us know enough about all the candidates to make an intelligent choice. As a long-time resident of District 18, I know how literate our citizens are in politics, as well as how admired Al is. Even if Ms. Pelles had entered the race a week earlier, I don’t think it would have reduced Al’s hard-core support among his fellow District 18 Dems, who know him as a town councilman, Democratic Party precinct official, and District 18 Caucus board member.

Finally, in further support of Al, I think Ms. Pelles has a very good resume for the work she has been doing, but many of us who have labored in District 18 politics for years have not heard of her or seen her contributions IN THIS DISTRICT. Other than being on “the founding Board of the Montgomery County African American Democratic Club,” and its corresponding secretary, I don’t see anything on her resume or bio to indicate that she has run for any office in District 18 or has helped the County Party in District 18 or elsewhere. By contrast, through his campaigning, politicking, and legislative work IN DISTRICT 18 over the years, Al has made a strong positive impression on rank and file Dems in the District. I am certain that if an election were held today in the District, as a pop quiz, without any further campaigning or publicity, Al would easily win a majority of votes over Roz. My hunch is being confirmed by the vote in this blog, which has Al ahead with over 50% of the votes.

Alan Banov, Kensington
speaking for myself, not MCCDC

Karen McManus for Roz Pelles

Dear Central Committee Member:

Tonight you will once again be called upon to fulfill your responsibility as a member of the Central Committee as you vote to select an individual for appointment to a state delegate seat. This time it is the seat of Delegate Jane Lawton, my delegate in District 18 and my dear friend.

Circumstances have required that this selection process be completed just 12 days after Jane’s death. For all of us who knew, worked with and loved Jane, this compressed time frame has made a difficult process that much more difficult. I thank you for your efforts and for your careful, reasoned and objective deliberations as you make this important decision.

Despite the very short time since Jane’s death, a remarkable group of qualified individuals have stepped forward to seek this appointment. Any one of them would bring honor and dedication to the position if they were selected.

However, there is one person who, in my view, stands out as the one best qualified to carry on Jane’s important work. That individual is Roz Pelles.

Roz has an extraordinary background of service to her communities-nationally and at the state, county and local levels. Although Roz is just becoming known by many, her endorsements are numerous and impressive. Adam Yalowitz, former student member of MCDCC, credits Roz with his becoming involved in politics. Steve Jones states that, though he is overworked and busy with two young children, Roz encouraged him to join the process and inspired a generation of young people.

In the letters of support on her behalf, certain phrases are repeated over and over: “consensus builder,” an “inspirational and brilliant leader,” “a listener,” “well-informed on the issues,” “caring and compassionate.” The list of her qualities goes on and on.

In addition to these fine qualifications, two significant factors have caused me to support Roz:

Jane Lawton’s family supports Roz’ succeeding Jane based upon the friendship and working relationships between Jane and Roz, the values that they shared, and the depth of talent and experience that Roz possesses. They are confident that she is the candidate best suited to carry on Jane’s important work.

Jane was greatly concerned about the decrease in women legislators from the Montgomery County delegation. Recently, after the appointment of two men to delegate seats previously held by women, Jane reiterated this concern. Although gender alone is not a valid basis, in my view, for a selection, it is an important consideration when a superbly qualified woman presents herself for selection.

The appointment of Roz Pelles to this District 18 Delegate seat would be historic. Roz would be the very first African – American female delegate in the Montgomery County delegation. What a wonderful way to honor Jane and her life of public service!

Thank you for your time and consideration. I hope you will join me in supporting Roz Pelles.

Sincerely,

Karen C. McManus

Tom Perez for Al Carr

Tom Perez is the Maryland Secretary of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, and a former member of the Montgomery County Council

Dear Members of the Central Committee:

I am writing to express my strong support for Al Carr for the vacancy in District 18. I had the privilege of representing District Five on the County Council from 2002 through 2006. This district includes Kensington, and as a result, I had the good fortune of working with Al on a wide range of issues. I was struck by Al’s intelligence, passion for justice, common sense, and ability to bring together diverse coalitions. Effective leaders are good listeners, and Al is a great listener. He recognizes the importance of ensuring that every voice is heard and that everyone has a seat at the table. He is calm under pressure, and he has a keen understanding of the legislative process. He knows a lot of things about a lot of subjects; yet, he has a humility that is often sorely lacking in elected officials, and a willingness and desire to learn from others.

Perhaps most importantly, Al cares deeply about building a community in which every resident has an opportunity to succeed. I first spoke with Al about District 18 a couple years ago, and the question I asked Al was the question I asked anyone seeking office: why do you want to run? His answer was clear: he wanted to run so that he could make a difference, especially in the lives of those who all too frequently lack a voice in Annapolis. He wanted to run so that he could apply the knowledge and experience gained at the municipal level to the larger stage of Annapolis. Al has a keen awareness of the wide range of issues confronting every corner of District 18. He will hit the ground running, and he will be a voice for everyone.

In short, Al has all the qualities that make for an excellent delegate. Once again, District 18 is blessed with a bumper crop of excellent candidates. For me, Al Carr rises to the top, and I urge you to support him.

Tom Perez

Monday, December 10, 2007

District 18 Vacancy Poll

Students for Roz Pelles

Esteemed Central Committee Members:

It is with heavy hearts tonight that you gather to appoint someone to fill the District 18 delegate seat. Jane Lawton, in addition to being a stellar legislator, was an incredible friend and ally for our county’s students. She worked tirelessly on our behalf, and was always there (with a smile) to lend an ear to our concerns. We knew that, with her, we were just as important as the politicos with the big mouths and the big checkbooks. She helped inspire dozens of young people; we will sorely miss her, her advocacy, her friendship, and her ever-present smile. She is truly irreplaceable.

As you choose the next person to represent District 18, we urge you to consider the candidate who will best carry on Jane’s legacy of student empowerment. That candidate is Roz Pelles.

Roz is not a politician. From her days with CORE to her behind-the-scenes role in so many recent political efforts, Roz has always been content to forgo the recognition and praise she has deserved; her reward was seeing goals actualized and change accomplished. We are thrilled that she is finally ready to take on the leadership position that she has been ready for for so long. We know she will do it with the humility and quiet dignity that we have always appreciated.

We owe so much to Roz; she opened the door to political activism for so many of us and has always been a source of support and guidance. We have benefited not only from her wisdom, but from her caring and soulful approach to politics that, in an age filled with such fear-mongering and divisiveness, is incredibly inspiring.

Roz will not give students a place at the bargaining table; she will give us a seat on the living room couch. She will pour us a cup of coffee and allow us to pour out our ideas and concerns. We know that she will treat us with the same warmth and energy that we always received from Jane.

As young activists, we are often told that we are the future, the leaders of the next generation. We see no reason to wait that long. We want to inherit a community that is safe, healthy, vibrant, and governed by legislators who will champion our issues and allow us to become active parts of the political process. We know Roz will be that legislator.

Sincerely,

Avi Edelman
Immediate Past President, Blair High School Young Democrats

Adam Yalowitz
Immediate Past Student Member, MCDCC

Lea Savard-McNicoll
Immediate Past Student Member, MCDCC

Ben Bazyluk
SGA President, Bethesda Chevy-Chase High School

Freddy Mancia
SGA President, Albert Einstein High School

Molly Martinez
SGA President, Montgomery Blair High School

Sarah Horvitz
Immediate Past Student Member, Montgomery County Board of Education

Sebastian Johnson
Past Student Member, Montgomery County Board of Education

Ben Elkind
President, Montgomery County Region (MCR), Maryland Association of Student Councils

Terence McPherson
Immediate Past President, Montgomery County Region (MCR), Maryland Association of Student Councils

Jonah Zinn
President, Albert Einstein High School Young Democrats

David Fegley and David Meyer
Presidents, Blair Students for Global Responsibility

Sylvia Tognetti Supports Al Carr

I think MCDCC is unable to post letters of candidate support at this point, probably because they are being inundated. There is clearly a lot of passion behind the candidates. I've been doing my best to put up letters in support of candidates so everyone can see them.

Dear Members of the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee,

As a resident of District 18, I am writing to strongly urge you to support of Al Carr for the open delegate seat. I was among those who campaigned for him in the last election, in which he received a good portion of the votes in our district. It was for a good reason. He was then and is now the only person running who has a record of impressive accomplishments as an elected official in our area, and is not afraid to take a stand on difficult issues. He has been a particularly strong advocate on issues related to growth, public transportation and the environment that are important to all of us.

I realize we have another candidate who has impressive credentials, and I hope she will campaign for office at the next available opportunity, during the regular election cycle, so that we can all have the opportunity to get to know her better. I had the opportunity to hear her remarks at the candidates forum, and expect I will campaign for her myself at such time. But as a matter of principle, I cannot support someone unknown in our district, when we have someone well qualified who is familiar with the issues as well as the process, and who has strong support in our district - where I also serve as chair of precinct 13-58. I also find our process of filling vacancies – by a vote of MCDCC members - the majority of whom do not even live in District 18, to be appalling. I hope ask that you not only consider but also give some deference to the views of those of us who will be represented by the new delegate. I recall that Jane Lawton was also appointed in this way, but she had run in the prior election, and like Al, had previously served as an elected official. She earned my greatest respect.

Sincerely,
Sylvia S. Tognetti

Ana Sol Gutiérrez Endorses Roz

A text version appears in the comments.

Karen Czapanskiy Supports Roz

Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee (MCDCC) Member Karen Czapanskiy asked me to post this letter to the other members of the MCDCC:

Tomorrow night we face another tough decision. District 18 has produced a group of terrific candidates, but only one can be named to Jane's seat. I've decided to vote for Roz Pelles.

Roz has a long and distinguished career in national and county politics. She has made a name for herself on issues of justice and fairness for people of color, for women, for members of unions, for new residents and new citizens. Her list of accomplishments is daunting and enough for two careers for most people. She demonstrated her capacity to listen to many views and to express her own views with clarity, wit and compassion during the forum on Tuesday. She inspires listeners to open their hearts and minds to claims of social justice. She's a class act who would bring amazing talents and knowledge to the state legislature. I hope we will jump at the chance to send her there.

I am joined in my high opinion of Roz by many other folks whose opinions we should value. Most notably, the Lawton family identified her, among all the candidates in this very strong field, as the person most worthy of filling the seat Jane filled so well.

All of us have heard from many people in the district, and we share an appropriate concern that our decision should reflect the wishes of those in the district. We've heard the most about Al Carr, a terrific candidate who has much to offer. We should honor those who've contacted us and give their opinions our full consideration. We should keep in mind, however, that the community has had less than 2 weeks to absorb the awful news about Jane's passing and to decide what to say to us about the vacancy. Many of those we've heard from probably heard about our process because they are connected to the party or a candidate who entered the race early. While many good people in any district are connected in those ways, many good people in any district are not. If there were more time for them to learn about our process and contact us, we would probably hear a great deal more about Roz. Indeed, the emails we have been receiving today is showing exactly such an upswell in support. I hope, therefore, that we put the comments we've received in their appropriate context.

NARAL Pro-Choice MD Endorses Roz Pelles

Ariana Kelly, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland, sent in the following:

NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland is proud and honored to endorse Rosalyn Pelles for the District 18 vacancy left by Del. Jane Lawton’s death. Roz has all the characteristics and experience necessary to carry on Jane’s legacy in Annapolis, and to continue her work of moving our state forward on the issues of civil and women’s rights that were so important to Jane, and continue to matter for D18 residents, Montgomery County Democrats, and to NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland members across the state.

Roz Pelles brings decades of experience, established strong relationships, thoughtfulness and creativity. We are confident that Montgomery County Delegation and District 18 will benefit from Roz’s experience across the board on all issues, from the Purple Line, to health care reform.

But for the women’s rights community, Roz’s appointment is critical. She is the leader we need in Annapolis. In 2006, Montgomery County lost a number of extraordinary women leaders to retirement or defeat. After the 2006 elections, the number of women legislators in Maryland dropped by 10%. In 2007, Maryland’s House of Delegates has lost three great women from the Montgomery County Delegation. The Democratic Central Committee selected men to replace Del. Marilyn Goldwater and Former Del. (now Senator) Nancy King. We recognize this is in some cases due to the scarcity of qualified women willing to run. That is certainly not the case in this race.

Roz Pelles is an experienced leader, a great woman, and an exceptional candidate. She would also be the first African American woman ever in Montgomery County’s legislative delegation. And she would undoubtedly stand up for the rights of all women in a male dominated political climate where women’s issues are all too often pushed aside for the “greater good”. The pro-choice community has noticed this trend with the failure of the much needed EC bill in 2005, and the continued shortage of funding for family planning services.

For this and many other reasons, the hemorrhaging of female leadership in Annapolis must stop. I urge the Central Committee to lead the way by appointing Roz Pelles to fill Jane’s vacancy. Women make up 59 % of the registered Democrats in Montgomery county. Women also turn out to vote in general elections at higher rates than men, making up 54% of the actual voters. These women voters want to see more women elected, which is why in Montgomery County, 64% of women who ran for office in 2006 were elected (compared with 43% of men).

For these reasons alone, Montgomery County should be a state leader on electing women. We have been falling behind not because of the will of the voters, but because the Democratic Central Committee has selected men to fill vacancies left by women. Our House delegation is now 29% female, below even the state average of 33%, still nowhere near parity. Thank goodness Roz came forward, willing to dedicate her talents and experience to serve District 18. It would be terribly remiss for the Central Committee to overlook such an exceptionally qualified female candidate when replacing our dear feminist friend Jane.

Support for Roz Pelles

Note: Sharon Dooley was a candidate for the County Council from District 2 (Upcounty) in 2006. She has been involved a range of issues in Montgomery County. Maryland Politics Watch welcomes endorsements and will post them here.

I attended the panel discussion in District 18 last evening and was impressed by many of the candidates. I have reflected on the answers and depth of knowledge of the topics discussed. I also looked at life long participation in the community. I also considered age, race and gender as those issues are also part of who people are and what they bring to any table. As a person who knew Jane fairly well, I would like to see her successor be a person most likely to reflect her views on conservation, housing issues, consumer matters and womens' concerns.

Considering all of the above I support Roz Pelles for the open seat in District 18. She can hit the ground running with her background in legislative and communication skills and she has demonstrated a life long commitment to concerns that bring us together. She will be a person that matters for us in Annapolis. As a resident of the county for more than 20 years, she has a familiarity with the purple line, the ICC and other transportation problems that impact the District and I believe will carefully reflect on the future decisions that need to be made in these areas. I have known her for several years and admired her life's work. Hers is not a loud voice but rather one than quietly demonstrates competence.

Sharon Dooley

Sunday, December 09, 2007

The District 18 Forum

Al Carr, Fred Cooper, George English, Rick Kessler, and Roz Pelles at the District 18 Forum

The Leland Center was packed tonight as people gathered to hear the six candidates who have thrown their hat into the ring for the seat made vacant by the sudden passing of Delegate Jane Lawton. Many central committee members joined community residents to hear from the candidates to fill the vacancy. Fortunately, District 18 is blessed with a wealth of political talent. I went into the Forum undecided but came out convinced that Kensington Councilman Al Carr is the best choice to fill the vacancy. One member of the Central Committee suggested I rank my picks since there is often more than one round of voting. Here you go.

Al Carr repeatedly used his experience as a Kensington councilman to demonstrate not only how he would deal with issues but how has already worked on them. I imagine voters who don't live in municipalities may not like the idea that municipal office is a requirement for serving the General Assembly. However, Al used his experience to demonstrate his firm knowledge of the issues and the district. He spoke with greater authority and confidence than at the forum in 2006. Al is smart, clearly knows the district, and is well-known--and liked--by Democratic activists. I was impressed.

Roz Pelles was the forum's best speaker, showing her long experience of political involvement and an ability to handle issues deftly. Her answer on the Purple Line had something for everyone. She was hardly alone in that respect but Roz's answer was delivered so well that I almost didn't notice. She would be an eloquent advocate in District 18. A woman of her gravitas would provide the district with an strong, moral voice. She would unquestionably be an effective advocate in the fight to promote civil rights for all people not just in the legislature but in the community. Roz's great weakness is that she is not well-known to District 18 Democratic activists. On the other hand, the support of the Lawton family weighs heavily in her favor--at least with me. While Al ultimately gets my support because of strong knowledge of local issues and activists, Roz (pictured standing on the left) would be a very strong second choice and represent the district well.

Rick Kessler spoke well (and would like the folks over at PolitickerMD to know that his wife's name is Cindy, not Mindy). He spoke out especially strongly on the issue of energy deregulation, smartly tapping into unhappiness over rising prices and warning the audience that Maryland faces energy shortages as a result of this policy. While Rick knows the federal level well, he is not well known to district activists. However, I know Vic Weissberg (who is well-known and liked in District 18) thinks highly of him which shouldn't hurt a bit since Vic sits on the Central Committee.

Dana Beyer surprised the audience by withdrawing from the race at the end of the forum. The decision to participate was a mistake if she planned to withdraw. It reduced the time available for community and central committee members to hear from actual candidates. She should have stayed in the race to the end once she did the forum or dropped out sooner. Not a good ending to her third bid for the seat. (Dana Beyer speaking with moderator Charles Duffy on left and Al Carr seated)

Fredric Cooper moved back to Silver Spring just two years ago though served on the Howard County Central Committee in the past. An affable man, his lack of knowledge on local issues showed at times. For example, he wants to take determine the percentage of slots money going to the state, information which is easily available and already in the approved legislation. On gay marriage, Fred said that he is a "supporter of civil rights and this is a civil rights issue" but then proposed that all civil marriages should be civil unions with people going to church if they want to get married. A bad idea and a non-starter.

George English is mad as hell and not going to take it anymore to borrow a phrase. A man of strong opinions, he livened up the event. George referred to the outcome of the special session as "an abortion." On gay rights, George said that the legislature should put it on the ballot "but let's not wave the bloody flag and tie up the legislature." He favors a monorail instead of the Purple Line above the Capital Crescent Trail which might unite trail supporters and purple line proponents since both would view this as a terrible idea.

P.S. Hats off to the District 18 Democratic Caucus, especially Dee Schofield, Charles Duffy, and Chair Arthur Schatzkin, for organizing the event on such short notice. Also thanks to Kevin Gillogly for getting a much better picture of Roz than I did.

District 18 Forum Photos

The audience at the District 18 Forum in the Leland Center

Karen Britto, Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee Chair

Ed Abrahams and Ana Marie Delgato

Roz Pelles, Rick Kessler, Ed Abrahams, and Dana Beyer

Councilmember Lance Hoffman, Carole Brand, and Delegate Brian Feldman

Lawton Family Supports Roz Pelles

I received the following from Steve Lawton:

We were pleased to learn that Roz Pelles has indicated her interest in appointment to the House of Delegates seat held by Jane Lawton until her sudden death last week. Jane and Roz were friends and political allies, having worked closely together on Montgomery Women and on the campaign for Roz' son for county council. Roz and Kathleen worked together at the AFL-CIO.

We believe that Roz' experience as a legislative analyst for the General Assembly and with several civil rights and labor organizations, coupled with her significant service to her community, would make her an effective leader and consensus builder in Annapolis. If selected, Roz would become the first African American woman to serve as a Delegate from Montgomery County.

There are many other well-qualified candidates to serve the remainder of Jane's term--and Jane knew and very much liked and respected several who are seeking the seat--but we hope that the Central Committee will give careful consideration to Roz Pelles when selecting the new Delegate from District 18.

Steve, Kathleen and Stephanie Lawton

Oscar Ramirez is Out

Oscar Ramirez has decided not to move forward any further with his application for the vacancy in District 18. Others are rumored to follow. My impression is that this leaves Al Carr and Roz Pelles as the two most serious contenders for the vacant delegate seat. Oscar writes that he is supporting Al Carr.

The Blowback in the District 18 vacancy

Since the fall, the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee (MCDCC) has selected three members to the MoCo Delegation in Annapolis. That is 3 of the 32 members. On Tuesday it will select its fourth, 12.5% of the entire Delegation. The voters of these districts have selected nada, zip, nothing.

After the last round of closed ballot votes on September 11, I wrote that there needs to a more open and transparent election process. The MCDCC agreed making the vote open but only after all the votes are counted. Good for them.

However, the unintended consequence or blowback of open votes is to drive the 23 member MCDCC to get a person who can win on the first ballot and avoid a public discussion of the candidates prior to the vote on Tuesday. In CIA lingo it is called "blowback".

"Blowback is a CIA term first used in March 1954 in a recently declassified report on the 1953 operation to overthrow the government of Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran. It is a metaphor for the unintended consequences of the US government's international activities that have been kept secret from the American people." (Source: Chalmers Johnson, The Nation, October 15, 2001 issue)

So what is the blowback here? For one, I never seen a campaign for public office where the candidates (some not all) seem to go out of their way to NOT talk to people of the district. Counterintuitive don't you think? Well not really, because the voters of District 18 are not the voters in this race. The winner will represent them for the next three years in Annapolis. But it is the 23 member MCDCC, 20 of whom live outside the district who are enfranchised.

It is blowback because the MCDCC is working feverishly to select a candidate on the first ballot and some members of the Central Committee have been calling candidates and encouraging them to get out of the race. That is something not well known (until now), secret and yes, blowback.

I have not campaigned on behalf of a candidate for this office. Today, I announce my candidate will be any of the members of the MoCo Delegation who will end this awful way of non-electing our elected officials, 12.5% of the entire Delegation is enough. This needs to stop -- now. The MCDCC has selected enough members of the Delegation it is about time to have the voters of the district select their own representatives.

I have not doubt that the eventual winner of Tuesday's vote at the MCDCC HQ will be a qualified and competent Delegate in Annapolis. But this process is for the birds. Could anyone out there imagine a process that takes the people who live in the District out of the process to represent them in a democracy? The CIA could.

So those of you from the MoCo Delegation that have told me privately that you read this blog how about stepping up and changing this process? You just finished the special session where you are trying to change the constitution to the benefit of gamblers now how about amending that sorry part of the MD Constitution that makes us choose a replacement twelve days after the death of Jane Lawton and rush to complete the process without the input from the people the eventual winner will represent.

We can do better. Senators and Delegates from MoCo are you with me?

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Draft BRAC EIS Released

The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process related to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center has been released. It is over 500 pages long. Enjoy.

Must See Viewing

For all District 18 candidates. This comes from the Crossing Georgia folks. This is by far the worst intersection in the District. Crossing Georgia, of which fellow blogger Adam Pagnucco is a key member, is a group of dedicated residents trying to make it safe for all residents to cross Georgia Avenue to get to the Forest Glen Metro. Crossing Georgia showed this 3 minute video to the MoCo Planning Commission and got this response from Commissioner Gene Lynch after viewing our video:

"My mother and I tried to cross it. I had to leave her behind."

So District 18 candidates what is your position on Crossing Georgia?

Two Questions for D-18 Candidates

Although I look forward to the D-18 candidates forum on Sunday, there is unlikely to be be time for all interested voters to ask the many questions that we have. So here are two important questions that I would like to see answered. I invite all the candidates to answer here, on this forum.

1. In the past several months, the Central Committee has selected legislators for Districts 16 and 39, and now 18. As a result, when the 2008 session of the General Assembly begins next month, almost 40% of Montgomery County residents will have as one of their representatives someone they had no voice in selecting.

In addition, the selection is made by a body where almost every one of the decision-makers lives outside the district.

Citizens who are not registered Democrats had no voice at all in electing the body that is making the selection for them. Even most rank-and-file Democrats didn't have a clue who these people were when we saw the Central Committee on the primary ballot.

And, although we will be having elections throughout the state in 2008, voters in these three districts will be denied the opportunity to democratically elect someone to fill out the rest of the term.

Do you support this system, which is not consistent with electoral democracy or the principles of the Democratic Party? If not, then what specific actions will you take to amend the Maryland constitution to change this system?

2. [For candidates who support marriage equality] Some of your future colleagues in Annapolis believe that civil unions are an adequate remedy to the discrimination currently faced by same-sex couples who cannot marry. Others don't even support civil unions. We need these legislators' support for a marriage bill to pass.

What actions will you take during the 2008 session to get these delegates' support for the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act?

Jason Jennings on Education

More from the 4th Congressional District:
Here is Jason Jennings position on education from two recent debates one of which was in front of the Prince George's African American Democratic Club.

Donna Edwards Video on the Mortgage Crisis

As part of the continuing coverage of the 4th Congressional District here is a video from Donna Edwards.

Friday, December 07, 2007

So You Want to Be My Delegate?

by Holly Olson, a District 18 resident from Silver Spring

Soon, residents of District 18 will have a new delegate. This individual will take the spot of our irreplaceable and most beloved Jane Lawton. But do you know how this new delegate will be selected? ‘Why, by a special election’, you might say. And of course, this seems like a most rational and logical answer. After all, our officials are supposed to be elected for the people, by the people. Well, not in this case. Instead, an obscure group will select from among a pool of candidates, most of whom did not run for this seat in the 2006 election cycle.

The people selecting our next delegate are a group called the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee (MCDCC). MCDCC members are either elected from Legislative Districts or At-Large in the Maryland primary election. But unless you are a political junkie, way into local politics, or had a friend that was running, chances are this is one of those races you didn’t bother voting on.

The process for filling a delegate vacancy works something like this. Potential candidates submit an application consisting of a resume and a cover letter. The only candidate requirement is that they be a registered Democrat residing in D18. Next Tuesday, the MCDDC will hold a meeting which delegates are expected to attend. There will be a Q&A session followed by a vote. The nomination then gets submitted to the governor for approval, and that’s it—wam, bam, thank-you mam’—you have a new delegate selected by a group most people have never heard of. The only opportunity for public input will occur this Sunday during a candidate’s forum.

Call me crazy, but I want a politician to work for their seat. I want them to attend the community events, go door-to-door, and check the pulse of the people. Running for office takes blood, sweat, and tears. It means that as a candidate, they have made a commitment to a job that they may not even get a chance to serve in. It means that hopefully, it was a decision that was not taken lightly.

Yet here we are, with a group of candidates, and only two of them ran for the D18 seat in the 2006 cycle. If these candidates were serious about this seat, why didn’t they run in 06? It is easy to earn a special appointment—submit a resume, attend a couple of meetings, and know the right people. It is not easy to run for office.

My intent is not to belittle any of the candidates. Of those that have declared their intentions, the only candidate I have met is Dana Beyer, and that was in passing. I have no idea whether Dana or Al, both of whom ran in 06, will make better legislators that those that did not. I am not ‘for’ or ‘against’ any candidates. I am simply an advocate for a transparent and accountable process.

Without holding a special election, the only comprehensive measures of public sentiment we have are the results from the 06 elections. I would hope that the MCDCC takes that into consideration when they cast their votes.

Another Entrant in District 18

Fredric Cooper has thrown his hat in the ring for the delegate vacancy.

Open Call For Videos of Why You Want To Be the Next District 18 Delegate

All candidates,

I have been trying to get a hold of you privately but in case you have not heard from me here is my open pledge. If you make a video of 3 to5 minutes in length of why you want to be the next District 18 Delegate, upload it to YouTube and we will then embed it like I just did for the Roz Pelles video in support of ENDA.

Again I have not endorsed a candidate -- yet. But I want to make this an open and transparent blog for all residents of District 18.

Blade Profiles Dana Beyer

The Washington Blade ran an article profiling Dana Beyer as potentially the nation's first transgendered state legislator:

“I’d like to think the Central Committee will replace a strong woman with another strong woman,” Beyer said. “I think that’s what Jane would have wanted, but it’s not my call.” . . .
[Dan Furmansky, director of Equality Maryland] said Beyer, an Equality Maryland board member, would bring an important voice to the legislature.

“Dana Beyer is without a doubt an exceptional candidate for the House of Delegates who would bring an advocacy background, county policy experience, and years of practice as a physician to her work in the General Assembly,” he said. “She would be the first statewide transgender elected official in the nation and would completely alter the dialogue about who transgender people are and what they contribute to our communities.”

Valerie Ervin Supports Roz Pelles

Councilmember Valerie Ervin was kind enough to call me back and confirm that she supports Roz Pelles, a longtime friend, for the delegate vacancy in District 18. Roz Pelles was her campaign manager in her successful bid for a seat on the school board in 2004. Councilmember Ervin pointed out that Roz Pelles would be the first African-American woman to represent Montgomery in the state legislature.

Roz Pelles on support for ENDA

Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) in the current (110th) Congress from our friends at YouTube.

Endorsements for Al Carr Come In

Disclaimer: I have not endorsed any candidate for this vacancy. But in the interest of openness and transparency I want to post things of interest for all to see. I have been contacting candidates asking for information about them to post here. So far, only Al Carr and Dana Beyer have done so. Maybe it is because they have run for elected office before and understand the process a bit better. Maybe others have not responded here because they don't know we exist. So if you are a candidate for the District 18 vacancy please leave a message and I will post it or leave your email and I will contact you privately.

Mier Wolf endorses Al Carr
Mier Wolf is a long-time activist in Chevy Chase, a former Mayor of the town, an early supporter of Chris Van Hollen as well as the late Jane Lawton. Here is his letter to the MCDCC on behalf of Al Carr.

Dear Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee,

I urge you to approve the appointment of Al Carr to replace Jane Lawton in the House of Delegates for District 18. This request comes in the midst of our great grief over Jane's untimely death. We all have our stories about working with Jane, a legendary community servant and friend to so many people. For me, we were local government colleagues for 25 years. We worked together on numerous projects including the building of the Leland Community Center and the opening of the Capital Crescent Trail, Georgetown Branch. I followed Jane as Chairman of the Town of Chevy Chase Council and later became our first mayor. Most recently I was chairman of Jane's House of Delegates campaigns in 2002 and 2006.

Since the requirement to replace Jane is upon you I wanted you to know how much I respect Al Carr and believe he should go to Annapolis in the House of Delegates on behalf of District 18. Al's government experience includes serving on the Kensington Council which has given him the opportunity to learn how municipalities are best governed and how those methods might be extended to other county jurisdictions Al is an environmnental advocate who convinced municipalities like ours to look for more efficient energy sources for our public lighting which we have done. Secondly, he is a consistent proponent of nurturing the Capital Crescent Trail. Furthermore, Al has the intellectual firepower to take on any other issue he chooses to pursue or to which he is a assigned to study. Finally, Al is a gentleman who listens to the points of view of others in formulating his positions on issues. His constituents would feel well listened to if Al were representing them in Annapolis.

It is heartbreaking for me to think that Jane will not be in Annapolis serving us, let alone how sad it is for her family and friends to have had her life end so soon. That's why I felt as a matter of conscience I should at least contact you to let you know that Al Carr would serve us with distinction in Annapolis in Jane's stead.

Thank you for your efforts in such an important time for our legislative district.

Sincerely,
Mier Wolf

James Browning Endorses Al Carr
James Browning was a candidate for Delegate in District 18 in 2006. He is a former Executive Director of Maryland Common Cause lobbying in Annapolis on behalf of progressive issues.

I write to express my support for Al Carr as Dist. 18's next Delegate. I had the privilege to run against Al for one of Dist. 18's House seats in 2006 and came away with enormous respect for his intelligence, dedication, and ability to be an effective advocate for all parts of the district.

In particular, I believe Al is the right person to help the District and Montgomery County as a whole with two of its biggest challenges--controlling development and improving public transportation. Al understands how the big picture fits with the minutiae when it comes to offering better transportation solutions. I believe he will also do a great job of recruiting legislators from other parts of the state to support progressive solutions which, due to party and geographic stereotypes in Annapolis, may not seem to be in their best interests, at first. Al is the messenger who will make sure that Dist. 18's message will be heard in Annapolis.

Sincerely,
James Browning

MCDCC Member Alan Banov supports Al Carr
Alan Banov has been a member of the District 18 Caucus since 1989 and a member of the Central Committee for five years. He lives in Kensington and was an active supporter of Al Carr in 2006. He is an employment lawyer in private practice in Silver Spring.

In a phone conversation, Alan told me there are five reasons why he supports Al Carr for Delegate: 1) he has the most relevant experience; 2) he has run for Delegate in the past, which means that he knows how to campaign and that he has already won votes from District 18 Democrats; 3) he has been an effective lobbyist for municipalities in Annapolis; 4) with Jane’s passing, the County Delegation needs another Delegate who understands the issues of local municipalities; and 5) based on his temperament, contacts, and experience, Al will probably work well and effectively with the other legislators in District 18, the County, and the State.

Martha Jones
Activist supporting Rollingwood incorporation

Among the candidates seeking this position, Al Carr is the best one to pick up the gauntlet and be prepared from the beginning. Al's experience is relevant to what is needed by those who are leaders in Annapolis. He has a quiet and effective way of working with people to bring them together to accomplish their goals. As a municipal official, in a district which has so many municipalities, he has experience with working with a constituency, a wide variety of agencies and governments, the Maryland Municipal League and the General Assembly. In addition to his government background, he has served in the precinct organization for the Democrats in District 18.

With a thorough working knowledge in the telecommunications field, Al has the tools to achieve success in his areas of interest more efficiently and effectively. Many of those interests parallel Jane's in promoting the environment, helping the Chesapeake Bay, helping communities become more "Green" and working on ways to reduce domestic violence and assist victims of domestic violence.

New Entrant for District 18 Vacancy

Rosalyn Pelles plans to apply today to for the vacant delegate seat in District 18. I've posted her resume below (any formatting problems are mine). She looks like could be a strong candidate and give Al Carr, the current front runner according to Eric Luedtke over at Free State Politics, a run for the seat. In addition to the activities listed below, many undoubtedly know Roz Pelles as the mother of Hugh Bailey, who unsuccessfully ran for the County Council in 2006 and the recent delegate vacancy in District 39. She is rumored to be supported by County Councilmember Valerie Ervin.

Rosalyn Woodward Pelles
2105 Seminary Road
Silver Spring, MD 20910
301-608-0992
Rpelles@aflcio.org

WORK EXPERIENCE

Director 2005 - present
Civil, Human, and Women’s Rights Department
AFL-CIO

Develop, manage and direct the national civil, human and women’s rights programs of the AFL-CIO; provide assistance to national labor unions and constituency groups affiliated with the AFL-CIO; coordinate the efforts of the Federation with national civil and women’s rights organizations.

Executive Director 2003-2005
Union Community Fund

Managed the operations of UCF, labor organization, including supervision of staff and fiscal oversight; directed organizational program; advised Board of Directors on policy matters; developed training fundraising curriculums; drafted grant proposals; implemented policies of the organization in accordance with organizational mission.

Deputy Director 2000-2003
Union Community Fund

Established local affiliates of the Union Community Funds; designed and conducted national and local UCF fundraising workshops, developed fundraising campaign and organizational materials, coordinated field activities, drafted administrative procedures and policies, and supervised staff.

Labor/Community Coalitions Coordinator 1996-2000
AFL-CIO

Built alliances between labor organizations and civil rights, religious, women’s and community organizations; provided training and assistance in the area of coalition building to Central Labor Councils, State Federations, and AFL-CIO field staff; consultant to international unions on labor/community alliance in union organizing drive; represented the AFL-CIO at conferences and meetings of community and faith-based organizations; designed and conducted training workshops; developed training manual on labor/community alliances; and coordinated national labor projects.

Executive Director and Special Assistant to the President 1994-1996
National Rainbow Coalition

Managed the operations of the organization, including supervision of staff and fiscal oversight; developed national projects – civic participation, employment; coordinated and managed all national programs and projects; planned and implemented merger of the National Rainbow Coalition and Operation PUSH; negotiated agreements with corporations on matters of minority hiring, affirmative action, economic inclusion, and diversity; public representative of the National Rainbow Coalition; advised Board of Directors and Coalition President, Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, on policy matters.

Labor Director 1993-1994
National Rainbow Coalition

Developed organization’s labor priorities and activities; developed strategy for involvement of organization’s members in labor activities; drafted briefing materials, position papers and brochures on labor issues; researched and analyzed labor issues and trends; organized national labor conferences and meetings; and served as organization’s liaison to national and international labor unions and labor organizations.

Executive Director 1992-1993
National Education Association Staff Organization (NEASO)

Managed the operations of NEASO; implemented the policies of the Board of Directors; supervised employees; represented National Education Association (NEA) employees in arbitration hearings; negotiated settlements and collective bargaining agreements and provided assistance to union committees; worked with National Education Association officers to

National Representative 1990-1992
National Treasury Employees Union

Represented federal employees in arbitration and administrative hearings; conducted negotiations; researched and analyzed legal issues and trends; provided assistance to union officials; developed and conducted seminars for union stewards and leaders.

Legislative Analyst 1989-1990
Maryland General Assembly

Drafted legislation for legislative bodies of the state of Maryland in the areas of Employment, Courts and Judicial Proceedings and Family Law; reviewed and drafted regulations; conducted research; provided technical assistance to legislators and legislative committees.

EDUCATION

Juris Doctor 1989
Howard University School of Law, Washington, D.C.

Bachelor of Arts 1986
Psychology
North Carolina Central University, Durham, N.C.

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Board of Directors 2007
Highlander Research and Education Center

Member of the Board of Directors of the Highlander Education Center, an historic adult education center for community workers involved in social and economic justice movements. The mission of the Highlander Center is to provide education and support to people fighting against economic injustice, poverty, prejudice and environmental destruction.

Commissioner 2007
Montgomery County Human Rights Commission

Commissioner appointed by the Montgomery County Executive and confirmed by the County Council. The Commission’s duties mandate that it work to eliminate discrimination, prejudice, intolerance, and bigotry in housing, recreation, education, health, employment, public accommodations, and justice, regardless of race, color, religious creed, ancestry, national origin, sex, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, genetic status, presence of children, or source of income, and promote goodwill, cooperation, understanding and human relations among all County residents. The Commission also handles appeals and hearings for discrimination complaints.

Board of Directors 2005-present
Montgomery Women

Vice president of the Board of Directors of Montgomery Women, a County nonpartisan leadership and political action committee, tasked to promote the leadership of women.

Board of Directors
Interfaith Worker Justice 2004 -present

Member of Board of Directors Interfaith Worker Justice, an organization which educates, organizes, and mobilizes the religious community in the United States on issues and campaigns that improve the wages, benefits and working conditions for workers, especially workers in low-wage jobs. My primary responsibility is chairperson of the public policy committee and member of the executive committee.

President, Board of Directors 2004-present
Greensboro Justice Fund

President of the Board of Directors for Greensboro Justice Fund, a regional foundation that makes grants to community-based organizations that have projects located in the South and focus on social and economic justice in the workplace or community.

Commissioner 1998-2000
Montgomery County Women’s Commission

Commissioner appointed by the Montgomery County Executive and confirmed by the County Council to study and advise the County Council on issues that affect women, and to initiate programs and projects that benefit women in the County. My assignments included legislative and workplace committees.

Coordinating Committee 1993-1997
Metrpolitan Women’s Organizing Project

Member of governing body of the Metropolitan Women’s Organizing Project, an organization in the Washington, D.C. area, dedicated to providing assistance to women facing gender discrimination and to assisting women in low wage jobs who are organizing in the workplace.

Letters and Recs for District 18 Vacancy

The Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee is making the selection process more transparent by posting letters of recommendation as well as applications on its website. So far, there are applications from Dana Beyer, George English, and Rick Kessler. There are letters of support for Al Carr and Oscar Ramirez.

Six people have submitted letters on behalf of Al Carr, including Kensington Councilmember Sharon Scott, Chevy Chase Councilmember Mier Wolf, and former District 18 Candidate James Browning. The endorsement committee of the Montgomery County Democratic Hispanic Club sent a letter in support of its president, Oscar Ramirez.

Rick Kessler has an impressive resume, including experience as Chief of Staff to Rep. John Dingell and representing New Jersey in DC. His major local involvement appears to have been running Sen. Rob Garagiola's (D-15) GOTV campaign. George English has run unsuccessfully for office, including the U.S. Senate; his website has a variety of issue papers. His application touts his participation in Democratic groups and his lack of involvement in "any political coalition."

Have Breakast with Tim Firestine, MoCo's COA

The District 18 Breakfast Club has its monthly meeting this Monday at the downtown Tastee Diner, 8601 Cameron Street, Silver Spring. Firestine is the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of Montgomery County. Event starts at 7:30 A.M. All are welcome.

Thursday, December 06, 2007

What New in the District 18 Vacancy

Here is the latest over at Free State Politics (FSP) from Eric. A quick look at the MCDCC web site has only three officially announced candidates: Dana Beyer, George English and Oscar Ramirez. I called MCDCC HQ about an hour ago and they also had Rick Kessler. But interestingly there was nothing filed by Al Carr. Now Al Carr is in the race. He told me so. Of three people I had rumored to be in the race on Tuesday all three of them are out: Blog-father, David Lublin, and Central Committee Members Vic Weissberg and Alan Banov.

What is interesting is only the 23 members of the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee (MCDCC) have a vote in this and all three District 18 members of the MCDCC is openly committed to a different candidate: Ramirez supports (surprise) himself; Weissberg supports Kessler and Banov supports Carr.

Like my fellow blogger Eric at FSP, there are persistent rumors of "finding" a woman to run, ignoring that Dana Beyer is already in the race. But I have tried to stay out of the rumor (till now) and I hope to only report what is actual. Still I find it an interesting turn of events.

Dana Beyer's Statement of Intent

December 4, 2007

Dear Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee members:

It is with deep and profound sadness, coupled with respect and humility, that I am seeking the recommendation of the MCDCC to fill the vacancy left as a result of the untimely passing of the Honorable Jane E. Lawton. When I ran for Delegate last year, I hoped to serve alongside Jane and Ana, and now it is a devastating blow that we have to fill the vacancy she left behind. While no one can ever replace her, it would be a privilege to be given the opportunity to continue the important work she started.

I’ve lived in Montgomery County for seventeen years, since my retirement from clinical practice, raised my two sons who still live with me in Chevy Chase, and supported the community through my advocacy work. This is a beautiful county, one of the most desirable communities in the country, and I would be honored to represent its residents in Annapolis.

I will be a strong voice on women’s issues, following up on the state level the work I’ve done for Councilmember Trachtenberg this past year on the County Council. I’ve worked to build a Family Justice Center in Rockville, bringing together all the services under one roof needed by victims of domestic violence and their children, and to increase the number of nurses trained to deliver services to rape victims in the County. I’ve also supported comprehensive reproductive services by working with local hospitals, a new Teen Pregnancy Initiative in the Hispanic community, and the expansion of the Mobile Crisis team to round-the-clock service.

My passion is health care and my medical background fills a much needed void. On the county level most recently I assisted in working to ban trans fats, and hope to do the same on the state level if I am given that opportunity. In addition, I helped in educating the members of the Council about a public health model for the county and am awaiting word about a health policy fellowship with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that would create a federally qualified health center in Langley Park. Such a center would expand much needed women's health services.

I have done research on certain pollutants detrimentally affecting humans and wildlife, and if chosen to serve will work to increase funding to reduce our exposure to such pollutants. I have helped increase funding for direct services, including case management, for behavioral health for children and adults, as well as encouraging the development of a brain health program for the elderly. I have networked with non-profits providing services to autistic children and adults, including transition into the workforce, as well as services to the disabled, homeless, mentally ill and addicted. I am fully aware on a daily basis just how critical state funding for services is in our county and I will passionately advocate for an increase in the flow of capital which is desperately needed for our growing county.

If I were given the honor to represent District 18 in Annapolis, I would introduce legislation that mandates outpatient follow-up, planning and treatment of all patients released from state hospitals, in addition to those released from prison with mental health problems. This would be a follow-up to the work I did with the Criminal Justice Behavioral Health Initiative. I hope to introduce legislation which will prevent the use of conscience clauses by providers of health care who choose to discriminate against patients because of their own religious beliefs, following up on my work over the past three years in support of comprehensive sex-education in MCPS.

In D18 I am a strong supporter of the Purple Line and express buses, as well as additional Ride-On service. I believe we need to create an environment in the county where public transportation is safe, reliable and efficient, tying the city and suburbs together in a web available to young and old. I support the expansion of bike lanes and an improvement in pedestrian safety, including the project to build a second Metro entrance on Georgia Ave. in Forest Glen.

I was not a supporter of the ICC, being seriously concerned by the threat to the environment and public health, and recognizing that the road would do nothing to alleviate traffic down county. At this time I would work assiduously to obtain more funding for rebuilding our infrastructure, maintaining and increasing regional support for Metro.

As a public school graduate myself, as well as a parent of children who were educated in the Montgomery County public schools, I am dedicated to maintaining MCPS as the best system in the state, showcasing it as a model for the other counties, working to increase state funding for capital and operating budgets under Thornton including the GCEI, and protecting teacher pensions. I work with the Hispanic community to develop and fund early child development services, and have participated in building support for universal pre-K and school breakfasts. I would also follow up on my work with the nutritionists at MCPS this past year, by introducing Jane’s legislation to allow the school system to purchase locally grown produce.

I’m proud of the campaign I ran in the district last year, honored by the strong public endorsement reflected in the 5000+ votes that I received. The voters that I bring into the process will stay invested in the working of the legislature, following the news and working for results important to the whole delegation. The day after the election, I didn’t miss a beat, canvassing for Governor O’Malley and Senator Cardin. That evening I received a call from Councilmember Trachtenberg, and I have loved every minute of working for her ever since. During this year I have learned the ins and outs of the budget process, taxes, zoning text amendments and growth policy. But, most importantly, I was able to use my expertise to educate the Council members to help pass two major bills unanimously, legislation which will improve the health and welfare of our County’s residents. I will take those skills, experiences and professional judgment to Annapolis to bring the same passion to those issues which most impact the lives of our residents. It does make a difference to have professional diversity in a legislature, because it affects the focus, agenda and willingness to expend capital, political and otherwise, when you have people who are impassioned and knowledgeable about their areas of expertise.

Since the campaign and my work with the County Council, I have earned the respect of my colleagues throughout all levels of government and politics. I have worked tirelessly to respond to the constituents of the County, to improve direct services in health and mental health to those most in need. It has been an incredible experience, one which I could not have managed without the support of my friends and colleagues.

Finally, I would hope that my presence in Annapolis would assist in reducing the bias and prejudice that exists regarding the transgender community. I would attempt to befriend others in the legislature who might otherwise be hostile to such diversity within their ranks and thereby break down another stereotype about a group of people who want to live the same full and productive life as everyone else.

Thank you for taking the time to consider my candidacy.

Assessing the Budget

Kudos to Maryland on My Mind (MOMM) for noticing that the Department of Legislative Services has released its analysis of the impact of the budget bills. Leaving aside the impact of the "sin" taxes on cigarettes and slots, the impact of the other taxes falls primarily on the wealthy:

The net result of the income tax, sales tax and titling tax changes: The $40,000 family pays $7 more per year; the $75,000 family pays $45 more per year; and the $150,000 family pays $196 more. Relatively modest increases. The analysis offers only one example for higher income families. A family earning $750,000 would pay more on all three taxes, totaling $3,613 more a year.

MOMM nonetheless concludes that the overall package is too regressive once one includes the sin taxes. On the other hand, Montgomery did much better than other major jurisdictions in terms of the fiscal impact of the budget:

For major jurisdictions: Anne Arundel County, $43 per capita loss; Baltimore City, $48 per capita loss; Baltimore County, $39 per capita loss; Howard County, $33 per capita loss; Montgomery County, $17 per capita loss; Prince Georges County, $58 per capita loss. Montgomery County came out quite well.

Perhaps this explains Blair Lee, who has long criticized the delegation for failing to fight for Montgomery, gave some grudging credit to the delegation in his latest Gazette column.

You Will be Assimilated

I missed this earlier post on the Politico on Michael Steele's predictions for the 2008 election:

Former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele (R), who narrowly lost his own Senate race last fall, predicted more of the same for GOP candidates and incumbents in 2008.
"Next year is going to be a bloodbath in the United States Senate," Steele told the crowd at the Republican National Lawyers Association earlier today. . . .
"They want Mitch McConnell," Steele said. "It's tit-for-tat" for what Republicans did to Daschle.

In addition, Steele compared Democrats to the Borg, a fictional race of half-human, half-cyborg creatures from "Star Trek: The Next Generation." The Borg were known for rapidly adapting to any tactic used by humans to defeat them, as well as assimilating any new species they encountered for their encountered. The Borg's slogan was this: "We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile."

So here's how Steele thinks Democrats are like the Borg: "In 1994, we killed the Borg, I mean the Democrats. What did they do? They adapted."

Steele added that he wanted the GOP "to focus on defeating the Borg" next year.

Sorry Mike, but "resistance is futile."

For the Walking Man

County Executive Ike Leggett plans to streamline the process for approving sidewalks and street lighting as part of an initiative to improve pedestrian safety.

On Al Carr and Same-Sex Marriage

Paul Gordon's post about the Al Carr's position on same-sex marriage in the 2006 primary reminds me of my own post-debate interaction with Al. I remember watching Al during the debate and thinking that he was a bit shy and awkward but somehow finding it endearing because it was also clear that he was genuine and honest.

However, I also noticed that Al had quietly not committed to support marriage equality and asked him about it after the debate. Al told me that he "still needed to be educated" on this topic and was open to hearing my views. Apparently, based on recent events, his views have evolved and he now promises to promote marriage equality in the House.

I imagine some might view this evolution as expediency even though he had introduced a resolution on this topic to the Kensington Town Council prior to the current vacancy in District 18. Honestly, I don't really care all that much as long as he represents my views well in Annapolis. A person's inner convictions are between him, his conscience, and the Almighty.

However, just for the record, I believe Al's support is not merely the result of political windsurfing. When I spoke with Al, I saw someone wrestling with new ideas. And I respect someone who doesn't misrepresent his position out of political convenience.

I've never seen an iota of intolerance toward gays or anyone else from Al. Indeed, it seems unnecessary (and slightly ridiculous) to defend him on this point because it's just obvious to anyone who met him that he is just simply not that sort of person. And I'll admit to having a soft spot for anyone who picks Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as his political hero during a debate as his vision for America remains the right one.

I haven't mentioned the views of the other candidates. I think it goes without saying that Dana Beyer, who tells me that she was elected Vice President of Equality Maryland last night, will also support marriage equality. I can't say that I know Oscar Ramirez's views but I'd be happy to post them. It is also worth mentioning that Jane Lawton, whose untimely passing caused the vacancy, was a supporter of marriage equality.