One week after Don Praisner announced his candidacy for the District 4 County Council seat backed by the County Executive and four council members, Nancy Navarro responded with an announcement of her own.
Navarro’s campaign kicked off at the Good Hope Community Center at 11 this morning. Supporters in attendance included Council Member Valerie Ervin, Casa de Maryland leader Gustavo Torres, District 20 Delegate Tom Hucker, several members of the school board, representatives from MCEA and SEIU Local 500 and scores of district residents. Navarro read this statement:
My name is Nancy Navarro. I am the President of the Montgomery County Board of Education, a wife and a parent of two amazing daughters who could not be with us because they are in school. Earlier today, I filed as a candidate for the District 4 Council seat.
Three things stood out about this announcement to your blogger:
This candidacy was not in my plans. It came about after a sad and unexpected death of a woman who dedicated her life to service. I have learned that many honorable endeavors usually are not planned and that is why it is so important to be ready. And I can say with absolute resolve that I am ready for this seat and I am willing to represent all the residents of District 4 and this County.
Yesterday, I visited with over 100 residents of this neighborhood at the Good Hope United Methodist Church. They came together to demand a renovation of this center and other centers located in mostly low-income communities of color. This community came out to be heard, to be supported and to indicate their presence in this District.
In the last three weeks, I have heard that the only issues that people in this District care about are land use, the ICC, traffic and the environment. Indeed these are very important issues to all of us, but let’s not forget all the other issues that we all face everyday: the need for quality education, jobs, affordable housing, access to affordable child care, access to affordable health care, business development, enhanced transportation services and many more.
These are the issues that we must grapple with as a District and as a County. In these difficult economic times, we will not be able to solve everything. But it sure helps to have someone who has been in elected office, who has presided over an elected body and who is not afraid to exercise her independence while making very difficult decisions. I do believe in the politics of possibilities. I do believe that Montgomery County with its ever-changing face can and will continue to preserve its quality of life.
I pledge to seek consensus whenever possible, to promote civil discourse and to always make decisions based on what is in the best interest of District 4 and the County. Please come out to vote on April 15. District 4 deserves a leader that is here for the long haul, one that has been tried and tested, one that reflects the hopes and dreams of all its residents.
1. The campaign showed off an extremely diverse group of supporters for the event. Just look at the picture below:
Blacks, whites, Latinos, Asians, seniors, kids, union people, community activists and many others were present in abundance. As Council Member Valerie Ervin said, “When we talk about the new Montgomery County, this is what it looks like.” More importantly, the gathering resembled a district in which no one demographic group commands a majority.
2. Special elections depend on turnout and this one will be no exception. The fact that MCEA, SEIU and Casa de Maryland activists have all pledged to support Navarro gives her a ground game that her opponents must match. They should all beware of the fist-pumping declaration delivered by Gustavo Torres: “We are going to fight to make sure immigrants vote in this election!”
3. Mr. Praisner is effectively the incumbent in the race. Nevertheless, there was immense confidence among Navarro’s supporters. (Perhaps the Good Hope Community Center was aptly named for today’s event.) They truly believe that they will outwork the Praisner campaign and bring change to the district.
This race is compelling because District 4 has not seen a truly competitive contest since it was created in 1990. That year Marilyn Praisner, coming off service on the school board, ran as the candidate of change and defeated three-term council incumbent Mike Gudis. Is Nancy Navarro the 2008 model of Mrs. Praisner? We’ll find out in less than five weeks.
Disclosure: The author is the Assistant to the General President of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. The union’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Council has endorsed Navarro.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Nancy Navarro's Show of Force
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Great piece on the press conference. I did want to make one clarifying point. CASA de Maryland is a non-profit and does not make candidate endorsements. Its ED, Gustavo Torres, was endorsing Nancy in his personal capacity.
Kim Propeack is correct. Torres referred to himself as a District 4 resident and made no commitments on behalf of Casa de Maryland. As a matter of fact, I don't recall him mentioning Casa at all in his remarks. I referred to his occupation as identifying information only. Furthermore, I mentioned that Navarro's supporters included "Casa de Maryland activists" and not the organization itself.
Robert P. Patton has announced that he plans to file with the Montgomery County Board of Election to run for the Republican nomination to serve District 4 on the Montgomery County Council.
Patton, 33, is a lifelong resident of the Cloverly/ Spencerville area where he presently works as an athletic field specialist for his family owned business. Patton’s campaign for the council will offer pragmatic legislative initiatives designed to bring long-term savings for Montgomery County in the areas of education and healthcare, as well as promote revenue generating economic development in Montgomery County.
Patton graduated from the University of Delaware where earned a BA degree in Latin American Studies with a Concentration in Economics while also starting as a defenseman for the varsity ice hockey team. Patton is presently completing a Master of Arts degree in International Management at the University of Maryland at College Park.
Between June of 1999 and May of 2001, Robert Patton served in the United States Peace Corps and volunteered as a Water and Sanitation Technician in Honduras. After great success at creating 14 potable water systems serving 19 communities in Honduras, Patton was offered an opportunity to work for The Salvation Army World Service Office as a Project Manager assisting earthquake and hurricane victims in El Salvador. In El Salvador, Patton co-authored a successful $3.5 million USAID proposal for continued reconstruction and development programs in rural El Salvador.
Now Patton plans to bring his experiences and expertise to serve his community here in Montgomery County. Having served as a volunteer and having worked in private industry, Patton promises to bring a different perspective to county government. Patton is fluent in Spanish and he promises to address the needs of Montgomery County’s growing Latino community. Patton knows what the council needs to do in order to create jobs which will generate revenue without having to raise taxes and how to better use that revenue to serve the community.
Patton says that Montgomery County residents may be tired of hearing recycled rhetoric from politicians about “slow growth” and hollow promises of ever elusive spending cuts which never materialize. Instead, Patton plans to preserve open-space and Montgomery County’s rural heritage by changing zoning laws in order to allow small, agriculturally based businesses to operate in residentially zoned land more easily. Furthermore, Patton says, bringing consistency and fairness to Montgomery County’s Special Exception process will encourage entrepreneurship in the county. Everyone knows stories of bureaucratic nightmares encountered when businesses, churches, and homeowners try to build or renovate a structure in Montgomery County and Patton plans to ease such restrictions. Patton understands that additional tax revenues will be generated by bringing fairness to the Special Exception process.
If elected to the Montgomery County Council, Patton will propose a $1,200 property tax credit to families of school aged children who choose to enroll their sons or daughters in private schools. This tax credit initiative will ease overcrowding in Montgomery County’s public schools and eventually encourage churches and other nongovernmental organizations to found more private and charter schools in our communities. Additional private schools will reduce the need for new capital construction projects for our public schools. The capital savings will allow the county to continue to increase teacher salaries and further the implementation of classroom technologies.
On the health front, Patton will organize functional smoking cessation program in conjunction with Montgomery County’s legislative delegation in Annapolis. The program would return cigarette tax revenue to those who are most in need of the money: Montgomery County residents who are tying to quit smoking. Thanks to the big pharmaceutical companies, useful stop-smoking aids such as nicotine gum and the patch literally costs twice the money cigarettes cost. Patton will propose a voucher system where qualified residents who are tying to quit could receive a voucher, paid for by the cigarette tax revenues, to pay for various stop-smoking aids.
Robert Patton also thinks that it is time to consider abolishing the Department of Liquor Control which Patton says is a relic of the Prohibition Era. Montgomery County maintains the argument that government control of beverage alcohol is warranted “because of the unique social risks and public costs of its abuse,” (Montgomery County Website). However, this “moral imperative” argument could also be made against the county’s role as a direct distributor of alcoholic beverages entirely. Furthermore, profits from the Department of Liquor Control sales of alcoholic beverages constitute a remarkably small 0.054 percent of Montgomery County’s annual revenues, thus, receipts from licensing liquor distribution to private industry would likely exceed the reported $18 million profit generated presently by the Department of Liquor Control.
Generally, Patton thinks that Montgomery County should balance its budget by creating new policies need which contribute to economic growth and increase county revenues rather than trying to decrease the rate of the salaries of county employees. Patton says that his moderately libertarian approach to government will bring economic growth while simultaneously preserving open space. Patton feels that that Montgomery County Council needs policies which will change the perception—and realities—that Montgomery County is an overly regulatory jurisdiction in order to be competitive in the a recessionary economic environment.
Just what we need. Another politician using the school board as a stepping stone to promote their own personal ambitions. What about the children?
Post a Comment