From the Editor-in-Chief: Peggy Higgins comes out against Burroughs, plays age card against Murray and Ahmed

They did it two years ago and with Ms. Higgins they are planning to do it again.

In today’s Gazette Peggy Higgins, who owes her Vice-Chairmanship to the vote of Edward Burroughs, today endorsed the anyone but Edward proposition. Why? Well it is not because he has not represented the voices of the 8th district well, it is not that he hasn’t been an advocate for teachers and students, it is also not that he has not been able to understand the information presented to the board, her sole reason for being against Board Member Burroughs is he is too young.

Remember when Steve Morris played this card in 2010 against Edward Burroughs? The voters in the 8th district showed their contempt for that type of dismissal of a young man who has been on the board twice as long as Higgins by electing him with over 58% of the vote or 3,710 votes more than the older, more mature, Morris. Actually if you look at the numbers the only candidates who won their seats with more votes were Higgins, Jacobs, Boston, and Beck. Burroughs did better than Johnson, Waller, Armwood, and Eubanks. We say this to say, the people in his district have examined his age and ruled it doesn’t matter. He has the experience and judgement they wanted.

The craziest thing the Vice-Chair says in this attack on Burroughs as well as candidates David Murray (District 1) and Ahmed (District 2) is that;

Board members who have not had self-supporting jobs and have not paid taxes and mortgages are not able to bring knowledgeable perspective when taking action on taxpayer dollars.

Want to know why this is crazy? The board has nine elected members, only three of them have jobs and only four own homes. Is she saying that the other members who are retired or on unemployment should be booted from the board? How about the one that rents a home or rents a trailer?

Last December when Ms. Higgins took her seat as Vice-Chair some in the county said for a community overwhelmingly black, it was wrong to have a white person in the vice-chair seat. When she was elected in 2010 some said in a deeply social conservative county like Prince George’s her being gay should deprive her the right to serve on the board. The people who said both of those things were wrong. Had they decided to vote against her because she would become a rubber stamp for the superintendent, they might have a point. Had they said she would lack the backbone to stand up for teachers and students who weren’t being served well in schools in her own district, that might be a valid point. Since they only opposed her election to these offices because of her race and sexual orientation they were wrong. She is wrong for opposing these fine upstanding citizens, not because of their positions on the issues, but solely on their age.

Peggy Higgins should be a more thoughtful leader for the county, that she is not makes one question her readiness to lead. You really have to question how she will be able to “form consensus” with Burroughs and Murray should they both be elected in November. God bless her should Ahmed be successful at knocking off Jacobs and joining them.

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Our Endorsements

For the Prince George’s County Board of Education

District 1

David Murray is clearly the most experienced and connected candidate for the vacant seat being left by Rosalind Johnson. Two years ago Murray came close to defeating Johnson in her reelection bid and since that time has remained connected and in touch with the community he wants to represent. His drive and vision for a system that aggressively pursues innovation as a way to improve student achievement is what the Board of Education needs. Additionally he will join a board that has failed to hold senior administrators accountable and deliver on a real reform package everyone says they want. Prince George’s needs new energy as well as new ideas and David Murray is the best chance we have to do that in the 1^st District.

District 4

None of the candidates in the race for this seat currently held by Patricia Eubanks brings the experience or vision we believe is necessary to improve Prince George’s County Public Schools. However, one of them is at least more prepared than the others, Micah Watson. As the former Vice Mayor of Cheverly and member of the Democratic Central Committee, Watson does come with a wealth of budget experience unmatched by the other contenders. While Dennis Smith also served as a member of the Glenarden City Council in the past, during his time as a leader in the city he never distinguished himself in fiscal or program matters. Watson played instrumental roles in developing and passing the Cheverly budget as Vice Mayor and a councilman. What concerns us is a disturbingly detached community outreach strategy and real educational experience.

District 5

For the last five years Verjeana Jacobs has been the chair of the Board of Education and should be reelected. None of the candidates running against her have been able to layout a clear vision of why she should be replaced or what they would do better. Jacobs has made a lot of mistakes in her two terms on the school board, but as chair she has been able to bring a diverse group of people together that has done a lot of good. Jacobs has not been as tough on Dr. Hite as she could have been but she has been effective.

District 7

No Endorsement

District 8

Edward Burroughs has been the most outspoken and passionate member of the school board on issues of community involvement, transparency, and most importantly accountability. He has been criticized for not voting the party line and often being the lone voice of dissent but we recommend is reelection. The problem has not been that Burroughs votes no on things like changes to the popular Reading Recovery Program, a budget that grows class sizes, or retaining a lawyer making millions of dollars who donated to the reelection of another board member, the problem is that not enough of his colleagues are joining him. That will change when he is joined by people like his best friend David Murray.

United States House of Representatives

District 4

We support Rep. Donna Edwards for re-nomination to the United States Congress as a Democrat.

No Endorsement in the Republican nomination race.

District 5

We support Rep. Steny Hoyer for re-nomination to the United States Congress as a Democrat.

We believe Delegate Tony O’Donnell has the best chance to give Rep. Hoyer a run for his money. We therefore support his nomination in the Republican Primary.

United States Senate

State Senator C. Anthony Muse (Democrat)

Ben Cardin has been in Washington for over two decades. In that time the support this county has received from the federal government, including the six years he’s been in the Senate has been poor. His casework for the county has been almost as equal to his presence in the county, non-existent. About six years ago Cardin was handed his hat by fmr. Representative Kwesi Mfume by voters in Prince George’s County, but after beating Mfume statewide the best any county resident has seen of their junior senator was likely in their church this year now that he is up for reelection. Senator Muse is not an excellent candidate but he is a better candidate more in touch with the needs of county residents. A strong vote for Muse, even if he does lose to Cardin, will send the message that we as a county are dissatisfied with our representation and we demand more.

Republican Primary (No Endorsement)

For President of the United States of America

Democratic Primary

We support the re-nomination of President Barack Obama

Republican Primary

We support fmr. Governor Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination

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FROM THE EDITORIAL BOARD–Gay Marriage, a matter to be settled at the ballot box

When the gays attack, it might just be over for you in Democratic politics, or maybe not. It might be worth noticing that the platform of the Democratic National Convention does not call for gay marriage. In fact the 2008 platform doesn’t mention gay or lesbian couples at all. That might be in stark contrast to some liberals who profess that gay marriage is a key party principal.

This week the Maryland House of Delegates voted to advance gay marriage in a bill that after a brief stop in the Senate, and on the Governor’s desk, is destined for a public vote, possibly as soon as this November. With knowledge of these facts a few delegates, Aisha Braveboy and Tiffany Alston of Prince George’s, Sam Arora of Montgomery County and others, pushed to end the debate, pass the bill, but send it directly to a public ballot. NO, was the answer they got from the uncompromising liberal wing of the party that on far too much legislation, dominates Annapolis. That maybe the mistake they can’t overcome in just a few weeks.

“I just cannot understand why, if you know a matter is going to the ballot, we don’t just send it ourselves,” said a senior Democrat in the House of Delegates who voted no on final passage. “We knew that if we passed a slots package, it would likely go to the ballot, but we know that this bill will be sent to the voters and what we could do is stop the guessing game and do it ourselves.” That idea was outright rejected by house leaders and gay marriage supporters saying that just like civil rights of blacks, these rights should not be put up for a public vote. Problem is they will, we know they will, and adding that amendment to this bill would have likely boosted the number of Yea votes among representatives from the communities that will determine if the historic legislation stands the test of time, or is just a temporary celebration doomed for defeat.

Gay Marriage advocates play dangerous game of blacklisting

Delegate Sam Arora

Last year after the gay marriage legislation unsuspectingly went down on the floor of the House of Delegates, leaders in the movement reacted in the way that everyone expected. Equality Maryland, the leading gay rights group in the state at the time, was overruled on strategy by the national outside group the Human Rights Campaign. The decision to pull the bill from the floor before it went down in defeat caused so much drama at Equality Maryland that half of the Board of Directors resigned, the Executive Director was fired, and before the end of the year the entire organization was being reorganized. Leaders of the movement in the house such as Delegate Heather Mizeur and First Lady Katie O’Malley lashed out at black church leaders and delegates from Prince George’s County, and this year has been no different.

Once the vote count was clear supporters of gay marriage didn’t turn their attention to how they would defend the legislation from a public that appears split on the issue, they instead focused like a laser on defeating Delegate Sam Arora of Montgomery County as punishment for his nay vote. Arora, who is not up for reelection until 2014, two full years after the measure might meet defeat this November, is the only delegate from the county to vote against gay marriage. Arora’s sudden opposition to gay marriage does have to come as a shock to the more liberal (not necessarily progressive) Montgomery County but the backlash has many throughout the state thinking it only plays into the storyline about the out-of-control liberals who are much less interested in building consensus around social change than they are at forcing it on a population not ready or willing to accept it.

Clearly gay marriage is coming to America, the timing on when it and how it comes is the debate the people are having today. This generation, much unlike the generation of the civil rights movement, has many very democratic tools to stall this social change and like it or not, government officials should stop trying to prevent the usage of those tools. This sense of direct democracy is promoted by the Democratic Party on when they desire, like the recall of GOP governor Scott Walker in Wisconsin, but rejected on issues they hold close. It is time we all stop trying to have our cake and eat it too. This is a time for advocates on both sides, for gay marriage and against it, to reach out to voters throughout Maryland and make their case. Legislators cannot continue to ask for public input and involvement but reject it on the issues where the public might disagree with them. This is a matter for the ballot box.

That is our opinion, let us know what you think! Take our poll, add your comment below, facebook or tweet us.

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We’re expanding, Join our team

Over the last few years this site has worked hard to bring you news about Prince George’s County, from residents of Prince George’s County, and now we are expanding.

We want to make sure that we are covering as much of what is going on in our county as possible. If you have an interest in all things Prince George’s and want to bring your perspective to our blog, apply to be one of our contributors today!

Contributors

Must be a resident of Prince George’s County

Should have past writing/blogging experience (encouraged but not required)

Should be able to commit to writing at least one blog post a month

If you’re interested apply today here.

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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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New project for the New Year

On December 4, 2010 we launched our new blog, The Real Prince George’s. We wanted to write about politics in this county by people who lived, worked, and played in this county. Since we created our blog we have had great success. This year the members of our Editorial Board decided we wanted to do the same thing in DC. After weeks of working with a group of vibrant, interesting, well-connected young people in DC we launched “DMV Political Niggaz”. The blog we understand has a name that could be toxic for some but it was developed by the people who would be writing the blog themselves. This group of young people of color will cover politics in DC from their view-point under the supervision of this editorial board. We will stay mostly focused on our work here in Prince George’s as we expect you all will too, but we do hope you will stop by to visit them everyone once in a while.

Check out the website at dmvniggazpolitics.wordpress.com or stay up dated with the posts on facebook or twitter.

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Merry Christmas!

This past year we have worked hard to bring you the important news that concerns the residents of Prince George’s County. Going into the new year we look forward to continuing that service.

Be sure to add us on both twitter and facebook to stay connected with all late breaking news and reviews in the future.

FROM THE EDITORIAL BOARD- Let’s Be Clear, District 6 Race is Between Two Candidates

With fourteen candidates in the race for the Democratic nomination to fill the empty District 6 council manic seat it is easy to get confused about just who are the real contenders of the race are. In fact one group in particular seems to be going out of their way to project this race between their candidate Mark Polk and the odds-on frontrunner Derrick Leon Davis. That is false.

despite what groups like People for Change and the various campaigns wish to make you believe, the real race to replace Leslie Johnson as the District 6 Council member after she resigned this summer is between Arthur Turner and Derrick Leon Davis, as it should be.

Only one of these gentlemen will win the party nomination later this month on election day and then almost surely go on and win the seat in the general election but both of them actually have the skills and talents to be great members of the council.

Arthur Turner until last year was a member of the Democratic Central Committee and served as the first vice-chair. He has also been the longtime chairman of the United Communities Against Poverty (UCAP) and president of the Coalition of Central Prince George’s Community Organizations. For over two decades Arthur Turner has been a loud voice for the type of development that many Prince Georgian’s have demanded for a long time and in some respect he has delivered. The problem with Turner is that he will have to fight off the image that he is apart of the old tired politics that some in the county say it is time to do away with and the endorsement from Sam Dean may not be helpful in that respect. Sam Dean as a member of the council walked lockstep in line with others like Marilyn Bland and Camille Exum to back many of the bad planning policies then-Executive Johnson supported. This shouldn’t be seen  corruption as Dean was never tied to any illegal activity but it surely wasn’t all above-board. Turner will also have to make the case to voters that if he is elected, he’ll be able to work with Rushern Baker, the popular new executive, and the rest of the council, many whom have supported his challenger. We also think that Turner needs to explain his opposition to the swift (sorta) action taken by the council to restrict the powers of Leslie Johnson before she plead guilty this summer. Despite what it was, what it looked like was someone who failed to understand the need to sideline this councilwoman who didn’t have the respect for her community to step aside before it became too much of a distraction. Instead of doing so last December and allowing the community to move forward, Johnson used her seat as a bargaining chip (even though she got none) and drew this process out for almost a year.

Derrick Leon Davis became the youngest and first African-American to chair the Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund after he was appointed a trustee by Governor Martin O’Malley in 2007. The fund which provides insurance for drivers who can’t get regular insurance because of credit or driving history manages a budget of overt half a billion dollars. Before taking on this leadership role statewide Davis spent decades as an employee of the Prince George’s County Public Schools first expanding universal full day kindergarten throughout the county and then as a coordinator in the Title I office. Of all of the candidates in the race Davis has the widest breadth of knowledge about the most expensive part of the county budget, the school system. The problem with the county approach to education has been one that the council and executive always seem late to the table on this issue and two that no one really has the real working knowledge into how the system works. Davis on this issue will be ready to be a leader on the council in an area that is badly needed. With so much in his favor Davis will have to try very hard to distance himself from Rushern Baker where necessary and be the independent voice that his community needs. Baker has been pushing a very expensive Economic Development Corporation (EDC) fund that the council has asked the right questions and done the right about of work to ensure not only long-term stability but accountability, but Davis has campaign on the need to make this fund a reality which some can see as a promised vote for what Baker wants. Davis has close relationships with many of his soon to be peers like Will Campos, Mel, Franklin and Andrea Harrison but he should make sure that his community benefits as a result of it. The ties he has with people like Governor O’Malley and others like Justin Ross have to mean something to the people in Capitol Heights or else he risks just being one of the club. The youthfulness and energy Davis brings to this race is his best quality because it combined with being a lifelong resident of the county adds hope for the future.

With less than fourteen days left until the September Democratic Primary the race for the future of not only this council district but the county as whole requires an educated and informed judgement and that judgment is one of these two gentlemen to move onto the general election.

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Summer break but get connected with us easier

Our editorial staff and team will be taking a break for the next few weeks to recharge our batteries and enjoy the summer. We will however post should any major breaking news hit in the county or region.

With our break is the best time to get connected with The Real Prince George’s easier.

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FROM THE EDITORIAL BOARD- Johnson case is a test in leadership for the council

Council Chairwoman Ingrid Turner who has not called for Leslie Johnson to resign.

Regular readers of this blog will know it is not common for us to engage in much editorial or opinion writing. It is true we write stories that may carry our personal bias but we don’t write simply off of our opinion, until today.

When Jack and Leslie Johnson were first both arrested for charges of corruption last year many in Prince George’s, including a good number of us, felt the media was focusing too much attention on casting a much too wide net and not placing enough blame on those at the heart of the issue. Editorials last year blasted our elected officials for their near unified silence on the issue. Yes it is true the top priority for this government should be to create jobs, grow our economy, fully fund our schools, and keep the streets clean, but to put our heads down in the sand and ignore the elephant in the room is just too much.

Last December we didn’t join the calls for Leslie Johnson not to take office. Some of the members of our editorial board felt she shouldn’t be sworn in but we understood the law and even held out some higher belief in the constitution that she was innocent until proven (or she plead) guilty. She has done that and now is the time to step down and should she decide not to then her colleagues on the council should help her make that decision. Putting it simply it should be made clear that her continued service on the council would not be acceptable nor comfortable. This is a moment for leadership and that is just what Chairwoman Ingrid Turner and others can provide immediately.

Yesterday just hours after Johnson plead guilty Executive Rushern Baker said, “I believe the process of healing should not be delayed or deferred”. He was right. He also said, “It is in the best interest of Prince George’s County that Council Member Leslie Johnson resigns from the County Council.” He is right again. That is the same message her friend, sorority sister, and colleague Ms. Turner should send. It is also the message her other colleagues Ms. Toles, Mr. Patterson, Mrs. Harrison, Ms. Lehman who also have not called on her to resign should send. They can start as soon as their next meeting by passing a resolution of no-confidence and calling on Mrs. Johnson to resign. Yes it is a purely ceremonial but it will let Johnson know clearly where the legislative body of Prince George’s County stands. Ms. Turner can go even further. We know that Ms. Turner had been advised that the council has wide latitude to strip Johnson of other discretionary privileges such as a staff budget. The Washington Post is reporting Johnson has a number of events coming up such as a business card exchange. Turner and the council should strip the funding for those programs as well as any support for them.

The decision of if or when Leslie Johnson will resign before October 13^th is totally up to Johnson alone. The acts she committed her for Johnson to atone for alone. However allowing Johnson to remain an active member of the council for three more months taking in $28,000 in taxpayer dollars after being the reason the county will already be forced hundreds of thousands of dollars in a special election is about leadership. Ms. Turner your time to step up is now.

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