As Mark Polk focuses on jobs his allies focus on attacks and distortion

Two days ago the self described citizen watchdog group People for Change released a scathing email to their supporters blasting the front runner for the County Council in the District 6 Special Election Derrick Leon Davis, and accusing his campaign of pay to play politics in a reference to former councilwoman Leslie Johnson who resigned after pleading guilty to corruption charges. The email also takes to task three people who would be Polk’s colleagues if he is elected. “If Polk is going to be serious about projecting an image that he will be able to hit the ground running on day one and work well with the other members to serve his district, he will have to send a clear message to this group to tone it down,” said a member of the Prince George’s County Democratic Central Committee from the 6th district.

The email which was sent to the more than 30,000 homes People for Change claim to represent bashed Davis for accepting campaign donations from employee unions (who People for Change call “special interest”) and endorsements from political leaders like Rushern Baker, Del. Justin Ross, and more. “Maybe someone should ask if Mark Polk had been offered these endorsements would he had turned them down, he did accept their endorsement and the majority of the group don’t live in District 6,” the same Democratic Central Committee member said. The email also blasts council members Will Campos, Mel Franklin, and Andrea Harrison. The attacks on Franklin ignited passionate responses from supporters of Franklin who condemned the attacks from People for Change on listserves, twitter, and facebook. “One of the biggest problems we have in this county is people thinking they are going to do something and don’t need to work with other people. Endorsements by leaders of a body you plan to work with are very important. The member from District 6 can’t get anything done with votes from at least four of his peers. This is just another example of the extremes that this group promotes and why Polk, if he wants to be seen as a serious candidate, should put them in their place,” a member of Polk’s HOA Board (where he is president) who is leaning toward voting for Arthur Turner said.

Mark Polk is running for the vacated seat on the Prince George’s County Council from District 6 on September 20th against fourteen other candidates including Derrick Leon Davis and Arthur Turner.

_____________________________________________________________

Read the full People for Change email below and let us know either in the comments or on Twitter and Facebook about your thoughts.

THERE IS A CANDIDATE IN THE RACE WHO IS BOUGHT AND PAID FOR. (See attachments on his campaign finance reports — it will be a shocker!)

We can not  talk about ethics and accountability and allow our County officials to be involved in this District 6 race.  THIS IS NOT THEIR SEAT!  IT BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE!

 So why did three council people give $1,000 each to a candidate in the District 6 race?  Ask Andrea Harrison, Will Campos, and Mel Franklin!

Why are outside interests coming into our county trying to buy a candidate? (see attachments)

Why are our state legislators trying to buy this candidate?   One legislator donated $62,500 to the Progressive Alliance slate.  The other delegate donated $11,338. (see attachments)

THIS CANDIDATE  DOES NOT HAVE TO ANSWER TO THE PEOPLE.  WHY? BECAUSE WE ALLOW THIS.  WE CAN NOT CONTINUE TO VOTE SOMEONE IN OFFICE WHO IS BOUGHT AND PAID FOR.  WE DESERVE BETTER IN PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY!

To learn about this candidate visit: http://www.coalitionforchangepgc.org/DavisPaytoPlay.asp

Sandy Pruitt

Leader, People for Change

www.pfcpgc.org

301-808-1492

Follow The Real Prince George’s on Facebook and Twitter. Also get the latest in your inbox by subscribing on the right side of the page.

People for Change Endorses Mark Polk

Putting to rest rumors we heard that People for Change was gearing up to endorse former Democratic Central Committee Vice-Chair Arthur Turner, today People for Change announced they would make the same decision they made last year and instead back Mark Polk, President of the Prince George’s County Library Board. Polk ran for the County Council in 2010 against Leslie Johnson, Derrick Leon Davis, Arthur Turner, Venus Bethea, and Abdul Abdullah where he finished 5th with 900 votes behind Johnson, Davis, Turner and even Bethea who wasn’t included in the People for Change candidate’s forum.

Full Press Release from Sandy Pruitt

Hello All,

The District 6 Coalition and People for Change had a vetting process in which we interviewed the top three candidates.  In addition, we held a candidate debate and looked at campaign finance reports as well as public records on the candidates.

After this process, Mark Polk was selected by the group to represent the constituents of District 6 which covers (South Bowie, Upper Marlboro, Mitchellville, Largo, Kettering, District Heights, Forestville, and Capitol Heights).   Attached is a link to the endorsement.

We look forward to supporting Mark Polk and, if you are interested in helping with the District 6 campaign, please contact me.  Also, visit our website for more information on the District 6 Race. 

Sandy Pruitt

Leader, People for Change

www.pfcppgc.org

www.coalitionforchangepgc.org

301-808-1492

Follow The Real Prince George’s on Facebook and Twitter. Also get the latest in your inbox by subscribing on the right side of the page.

 

Who watches the political watch dog? Is People for Change guilty of what they charge others with?

Last week the community activist and political watch dog group People for Change announced that a group of their members had met in secret to interview the candidates running to replace fmr. County Councilwoman Leslie Johnson in a special election later this fall. The announcement noted that from those interviews they had selected the top three who would be invited to the debate. People for Change who had blasted this type of backroom dealing from other political groups and leaders opened the door charges of cronyism and corruption, things they are more use to throwing at their opponents than receiving.

The Endorsement and Charges of Vote tampering with the Straw Poll Results

Later today People for Change is scheduled to announce their endorsement in the race to replace Leslie Johnson who resigned last month after pleading guilty to charges of corruption. There are 15 candidates in the race to succeed her on the County Council from District 6. According to a press release sent out by the group leader Sandy Pruitt, the endorsement will follow the results of a straw poll taken at last weeks debate, but some residents in the district who attended the debate are challenging the results. “If on election day election officials took the ballots and held them for days out of the view of the public and then just announced a winner would People for Change say it was a fair vote? They’d be out on the court-house steps demanding the resignation of somebody. I mean where have the ballots been for these last few days? How do we know everybody who wanted to vote and voted got their vote counted? Are we supposed to just believe it because they say so?,” said a senior member of one of the campaigns who did participate in the debate.

Challengers Open Fire on People for Change

When we contacted the campaigns of those excluded from the debate they held back little of their fire on the organization that touts itself as being of the people.

Lynwood Leach called his exclusion a travesty and claimed that People for Change in fliers about the event had billed it as a farewell to Leslie Johnson who Sandy Pruitt said should not had been forced to step down before she is sentenced in October.

Christine Osei who did attend the debate and despite not being invited by People for Change sat in a seat and required them to allow her to participate blasted the group for “being out to destroy Derrick Davis” and create their own political machine. In another blog about the event it was noted that upon entering the room guests found an unflattering flier on their chairs attacking Derrick Leon Davis for taking union and pac money to fund his campaign. The blog PGC Blog also noted that the moderator and leader Sandy Pruitt read the flier and attacked Derrick Leon Davis from the podium after she noted he had informed her he would not be attending the forum because of a previous engagement. “I mean how dare she attack him for not attending the event after she didn’t even invite all the candidates,” an attendee of the event noted.

Wanda McKnight said while she understood that with so many candidates in the race it might be hard to present a forum with all of them, she felt that organizations could hold an event that had one group of candidates one day and another group another day. She pointed out that this decision was made from the start as she had never received any communication from People for Change to either interview or attend the forum.

Sherine Taylor called it a missed opportunity and stressed that she hoped the voters would join her and the other candidates in one of the other more inclusive forums being organized.

Does People for Change engage in the crime they Charge Others For?

In our research for this article we discovered that a lot of elected officials and community leaders had opened their minds to People for Change for a variety of reasons but became turned off after the group showed it was not about representative democracy but creating the type of political structure they often attack. One member of the county council said the group often appears to bash it for backroom dealing but no one can explain how their leadership is decided or who gets to vote on the People for Change leaders. His comment was echoed by a member of the House of Delegates who said she personally was aware of “members” of People for Change who point out that the issues they support or oppose aren’t decided by the “members” but by the “leaders” who no one is aware of but Sandy Pruitt. “I mean is that the type of democratic process we want”?

As People for Change gears up to enter the special election with their endorsed candidate one challenger pointed out to us that in 2010 none of the endorsed candidates the group supported who were not incumbents even came close to winning. As they noted “this is a group that is more about smoke than they are about fire.” Rumors are already leaking out that the leadership had decided as far back as three weeks ago to back Arthur Turner for the vacant seat which could be why Derrick Leon Davis skipped the event. Turner who formerly served as Vice-Chair of the Democratic Central Committee has had his share of run-ins with People for Change so this would be a very surprising development.

Follow The Real Prince George’s on Facebook and Twitter. Also get the latest in your inbox by subscribing on the right side of the page.

People for Change Leader among minority calling for Johnson not to step down

People for Change Leader Sandy Pruitt who refused to call for Leslie Johnson to resign from office before October.

After School Board Member Donna Beck called their leader a black bitch they called for her to resign. In 2007 they blasted Jack Johnson for appointing Leslie Johnson to a grants board. They called out Melony Griffith, Jack Johnson, and Bishop C. Anthony Muse for supporting a new stadium to be built, and then called for the resignations of council members Sam Dean and Marilyn Bland for walking out of a meeting. However today just hours before Leslie Johnson announced her resignation from the Prince George’s County Council for federal corruption charges, the leader of People for Change Sandy Pruitt told the Washington Examiner she was not looking for a speedy resignation by the leader.

Sandy Pruitt and People for Change have built their name for “holding” elected officials to account however some of their critics say it has always been about the power they didn’t have and the power they wanted. In 20101 Pruitt’s group fielded a slate they called for change in which all of their non-incumbent candidates were defeated by huge numbers. “That tells you their anger and hate mixed with false truths doesn’t hold well in this county,” said a member of the county council. Today’s decision not to join the rest of the community in calling for Johnson’s resignation has shocked some supporters of the group but not so many of their critics. “This is People for Change, uneven, not balanced or totally honest. To call for Beck’s resignation for calling their leader a bitch but saying she’s not ready to see the county move forward without Leslie after she has admitted guilt makes them the joke I always thought they were,” the council member went on to say.

Councilwoman Leslie Johnson plead guilty last week to federal charges of evidence and witness tampering and faces upwards of a year behind bars. She submitted her letter of resignation today with an effective date of July 31st just before the rest of the council stripped her of her staff, county car, cell phone, and parking space.

Follow The Real Prince George’s on Facebook and Twitter. Also get the latest in your inbox by subscribing on the right side of the page.