Baker and PG political elite to take to media to push Question 7

The leadership of Prince George’s County today will take to their bully pulpit in the hopes of swaying weary county residents about the need to support Question 7 that has struggled in recent polls.

Prince George’s County Executive, County Council Members, Senators, Delegates and Municipal Leaders to Hold Press Conference on Question 7

Upper Marlboro, MD – Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker. III, will be joined by over 20 elected officials from Prince George’s County including  County Council Members, County Members of the Maryland House of Delegates and State Senate, along with municipal leaders from around the County to discuss Question 7, the expansion of gaming in Maryland ballot referendum today Thursday, October 11, at 6:00 p.m. at the Prince George’s County Administration Building (CAB) in the County Executive’s Office.

WHAT:                 Press conference on Question 7

WHO:                   Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker, III, Members of the Prince George’s County Council, Members of the House of Delegates from Prince George’s County, Members of the State Senate from Prince George’s County, Prince George’s County Municipal Leaders

WHEN:                 Thursday, October 11, 6:00 p.m.

WHERE:               Prince George’s County Administration Building

County Executive Office, 5^th Floor 14741 Governor Oden Bowie Drive Upper Marlboro, MD

 

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New regular feature, The People’s Advocate

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This week the Prince George’s County Council comes back into session with Andrea Harrison (D-Springdale) at the helm for a Board of Appeals meeting.

The Prince George’s County Board of Education also is back in session this week with the same chair Verjeana Jacobs (D-Bowie) but a new Vice Chair Peggy Higgins (D-Hyattsville).

Later this month the Maryland General Assembly will also go back into session for 90 days with pretty much the same leadership from last year.

With government getting back to work we are proud to announce our new “The People’s Advocate” feature.

The People’s Advocate will be a regular feature in our blog written by three former staffers who have worked at different levels of government. Our three “experts” have experience as staffers in municipal, county, state, and federal government. One of our experts has worked in all four venues.

So how does this work?

1- Submit your question or concern in our The People’s Advocate Form.

2- The Advocates will review all submissions, research the answer, and write a weekly post to answer selected submissions.

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Where They Stand, Who thinks Leslie Johnson should step down?

Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker and County Council Vice-Chair Eric Olson are two of the first leaders to call for District 6 Councilwoman Leslie Johnson to step down after pleading guilty to corruption charges today in federal court. Under Maryland law she is able to remain on the council until she is sentenced on October 13th. Her almost $8,000 a month salary means she will be paid about $24,000 in taxpayer dollars in the meantime.

One of the main complaints against all of the county’s leaders has been the silence on the issue of corruption since the arrests of Jack and Leslie Johnson last year. That continued after Jack Johnson pleaded guilty earlier this year and for the most part today as well. So we wanted to see just how many county leaders are ready to break that silence and speak out by asking all of the county council members, school board members, members of the Democratic and Republican central committees, and local leaders in her district if they thought she should step down before October. We will keep track of those responses here as they come in.

County Executive Rushern Baker

County Council Vice-Chair Eric Olson who called for her not to be sworn in last December

County Councilman Will Campos who refused to call for her not to take her seat in December

County Councilman Mel Franklin who also called for her not to be sworn in last December with Eric Olson

County Councilwoman Mary Lehman says she is frustrated with federal prosecutors for not forcing Johnson to step down in plea arrangement. She calls for her to step down at once.

Democratic Central Committeeman Salome Peters

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Happening This Week, June 27th

Monday, June 27, 2011

• The Prince George’s County Council and Executive will be in Ocean City for the Annual MML Conference and all meetings have been cancelled for the week.
• The Prince George’s County Board of Education will meet in special session today to consider a number of charter school proposals as well as celebrate the end of Student Board Member Jonathan Harris’ term and the start of incoming Student Board Member Faith Jackson’s term. Jackson will take office on July 1st.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

• The Prince George’s County Chamber of Commerce will host their Annual Membership Celebration & Inaugural Reception. For more information visit their website at http://pgcoc.org/ from 6:00PM – 9:00PM.

• County Councilman Mel Franklin will host his monthly District 9 Community Advisory Meeting at the Surratts-Clinton Public Library from 7-9:00PM. For more information on the agenda visit our Community Calendar.

• The County Council will meet as the Board of Appeals at 6:00PM in the County Administration Building Room 2190. Click here for the agenda.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

• The Prince George’s County Redistricting Workgroup chaired by Delegate Aisha Braveboy will host a public meeting at Largo High School from 6:00 – 8:00PM. For information on their agenda visit our Community Calendar section.
• Also on Thursday County Councilwoman Leslie Johnson is expected to plead guilty to obstruction of justice charges. Should she decide to take the plea Johnson will be forced to step down from the council.

Friday, July 1, 2011

• Executive Rushern Baker will take questions on the WTOP Politics Program starting at 10:00AM.

Don’t forget to visit to also go to this post and get involved in our 1st Annual Outstanding Browser contest for local governments.

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It’s municipal…technology and those who use it best, 2011 Outstanding Browser

If you live in Greenbelt do you know who is responsible for your roads? How about your local property taxes? Guess what it is not the county or even the state (unless they are state or county roads).

Starting today the publisher and editorial board of The Real Prince George’s will begin looking for the municipality in Prince George’s who use their website and social media networks to interact best with the public. We want to find that municipality who goes above and beyond to inform their citizens on events, programs, and other government actions. In today’s day and age where people are more busy than ever before, people are getting their news in a variety of ways including online and through social media.

How can you get involved? Go to http://www.ballotbin.com/voterReg.php?b=24128 and register to be an official voter. The balloting will begin June 28th through July 31st. Go to our Our Municipalities Page for links to websites and social networks.

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It’s municipal, the 2011 elections

Yeah it is true that 2011 won’t have all the attention and fame a state or national election year brings, but that doesn’t mean that there won’t be elections in the county. A lot of local municipalities will be electing their local leaders and that requires your attention.

Check out our It’s Municipal page to see if your town is having elections this year.

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Turner beat out for At-Large vacancy by former rival

Delegate-elect Geraldine Valentino-Smith

District 3 Bowie Councilman Todd Turner was dealt a major blow this weekend after his colleagues on the Bowie City Council rejected his bid to be appointed to the vacant At-Large seat left by Geraldine Valentino-Smith’s resignation to take her seat in the House of Delegates. Turner who was elected to the council in 2005 and reelected in 2007 after beating the man who beat him out for the at-large vacancy Henry Gardner, had been expected to be a shoe-in for the at-large post until more than twenty-two other candidates all filed their intentions to seek the seat. Turner is a close ally to Valentino-Smith having served as chair of the slate she ran on with State Senator Douglas JJ Peters in the primary last year.

Gardner will be sworn in on January 18th and stand for election to the post along with the rest of the council in November.

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Battle for Valentino’s Council Seat

Bowie City Councilman Todd Turner

A current councilman, former Chamber of Commerce leader and a member of the Democratic Central Committee all top the list of more than twenty-five people who hope to replace now-former Bowie City Councilwoman Geraldine Valentino-Smith. Smith who was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates last month stepped down from her seat on the council to prepare for her new role in Annapolis. Those bidding to replace her are pretty much a who’s who in Bowie making for no clear front-runner in the bid to replace the at-large council-member.

In looking at the more than two dozen citizens who threw their hat in the ring there may not be a clear favorite but there are a few out front of the rest;

District 3 Council-member Todd Turner- First elected to the Bowie City Council in 2005, Turner was reelected in 2007 and 2009. Professionally he works for the Prince George’s County Council no one should be surprised to see him be promoted to a position in the Baker administration after being charged with coordinating their primary-election day campaign in the Bowie area. The question on this issue is why would Turner, a current member of the council, want to be appointed to the At-Large vacancy? Rumor is that Turner could be planning for a future run for either Mayor, Delegate in the 23^rd district, or even the County Council after Ingrid Turner is termed out in four years.

Craig Muckle- Known by some as the man who is everywhere, Craig Muckle works full-time as the Director of Public Affairs and Government Relations for Safeway’s Eastern Division. Apart from his work at Safeway Muckle is the former chair of the Prince George’s County Chamber of Commerce and 2^nd Vice Chair of the Greater Washington Urban League.

Ronald Skotz- Ronald Skotz works for the Central Maryland Regional Transit and until recently was a member of the Prince George’s County Democratic Central Committee. Close to the 23^rd district team like Turner, Skotz was recently re-appointed to another term on the Bowie Planning Committee.

The task to replace Valentino-Smith will be no little one at all. The person appointed to the seat will have to run to keep it in just months when the city holds their bi-annual elections in 2011. The Mayor and Council will meet on December 13^th to hear from all of the applicants before making their final decision probably in January.

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