S’Long Max Davidson, We Hardly Knew Ye

Faux-Democrat Max Davidson, who jumped in to primary incumbent Sen. Kathy Klausmeier (D-8) at the last moment, has now issued a lengthy “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina” statement withdrawing from the race:

I have been slandered, insulted and had my name dragged through the mud because I challenged the Annapolis establishments preferred candidate. I was called a plant, a fake Democrat among many other things. What’s more, the Democratic Senate Caucus spent untold dollars on advertisements calling me a Republican plant. This is completely absurd and wrong. These allegations have made it impossible for me to have a fair shot at running for office currently.

Davidson’s claims that he has been “slandered” and that he is a progressive Democrat even as he scurries back into his hole remain untrue. He gave far more money to right-wing Republicans than Democrats and doth protested too much in his response after I pointed them out. He still has yet to deny any connection with Republican Christian Miele.

If anyone has been slandered, it is the Seventh State. If “untold dollars” were directed by the Annapolis establishment to attack Max, I sure didn’t see any of them. I have never held any Annapolis job nor received a dime in payment from the Democratic Senate Caucus or any member of the General Assembly.

Meanwhile, more evidence has emerged that Max is a right-wing kook. After learning from a fellow journalist that Davidson was running for office, Charles Daye shared with me concrete evidence from Facebook of Max’s true political sympathies:

Attacking the decline of English dominance, transgender Americans and defending Milo sure doesn’t sound like standard progressive talking points. Trying to trash someone for not earning enough is also not the acme of class.

This approach is more commonly found among people who appear on FOX and Friends. In short, there is more evidence to support rumors that Max is a Black Lives Matter-hating, Trump-supporting sort of guy than a “Berniecrat.”

So long, Max. We hardly knew you. But what we did was more than enough.

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MoCo Establishment Growth is Almost Last in the Region

By Adam Pagnucco.

Recently, we published an astonishing statistic: the State Department of Assessments and Taxation processed just nineteen new business filings in Montgomery County in FY16.  In the year before, there were 57 new business filings in the county.  We were skeptical of this statistic because it only applied to two years, thereby making it subject to flukiness.  It is also conceptually incomplete.  For example, a business headquartered in another Maryland county and opening a new location in MoCo would not be captured in new filings for the county.  So we checked data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and confirmed a grim fact: MoCo’s growth in establishments is almost dead last in the Washington region.

BLS tracks net growth in establishments for states and counties.  BLS uses this definition for an establishment:

The physical location of a certain economic activity—for example, a factory, mine, store, or office. A single establishment generally produces a single good or provides a single service. An enterprise (a private firm, government, or nonprofit organization) can consist of a single establishment or multiple establishments. All establishments in an enterprise may be classified in one industry (e.g., a chain), or they may be classified in different industries (e.g., a conglomerate).

BLS has establishment data for states and counties going back to 2001 on its website.  The screenshot below shows establishment data for MoCo from 2001 through 2016, the last complete year for which BLS has data.  It shows a pattern of slow establishment growth that stopped in 2007 and has basically flat-lined since.

In comparison with the 24 jurisdictions that comprise the Washington metro area, MoCo ranks second-to-last in rate of establishment growth from 2001 through 2016.  Only tiny Falls Church City was worse.  The county’s rate of growth over the period (10%) was about one-third the region’s rate (32%) and Fairfax County’s rate (30%).

There is one other difference between MoCo and most of its competitors in the region.  Starting around 2011, the region began to recover from the Great Recession and most jurisdictions started growing their establishment count again.  Between 2011 and 2016, the region’s 24 local jurisdictions collectively recorded a net gain of 13,939 establishments.  D.C. and Fairfax County added more than 3,000 each.  MoCo had a net gain of 6.  Not 600 or 60.  SIX.

2011 was the first full calendar year that the county’s FY11 doubling of the energy tax was in effect.  Is that a factor in what has happened since then?

The establishment data aligns with other data we have published on employment and income, the recent budget shortfall, the county’s increasing reliance on corporate welfare to attract and retain employers, the lack of new business filings and the impact of the liquor monopoly on the restaurant industry.  The county has great assets, including its educated workforce, its superior schools and college, a large federal presence, low crime, high wealth in some of its zip codes and almost no public corruption.  But we are underachieving economically and that is going to come back to haunt us sooner rather than later.  Revitalizing the economy must be a key issue in the upcoming election.

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Casa in Action Announces New Endorsements

By Adam Pagnucco.

Immigrant rights group Casa in Action has announced a second wave of endorsements.  We included their first wave in MoCo in our endorsement summary of March 9.  The full list of earlier endorsements appears here.  We reprint Casa in Action’s press release below.

*****

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT

FERNANDA DURAND, CASA in Action fdurand@casainaction.org

JOSSIE FLOR SAPUNAR, CASA in Action jsapunar@casainaction.org

CASA in Action Endorses Local and State Candidates in Maryland

LANGLEY PARK, MD. (WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28, 2018) – The Mid-Atlantic’s premier pro-immigrant electoral organization CASA in Action announced endorsements for the Maryland General Assembly and local council seats ahead of the June 26 Maryland primary. This second series of endorsements took place Sunday after the CASA in Action board interviewed and voted in favor of candidates that support a pro-immigrant agenda benefitting working families. The first series of endorsements can be found at this link.

“Amidst the xenophobia that plagues the national discourse, our community should, now more than ever, be represented by candidates that recognize that immigrant and working families strengthen the fabric of our nation,” said Gustavo Torres, President of CASA in Action. “Uplifting candidates that will champion our issues despite efforts to bring us down will ultimately help all Marylanders. This year we will fight harder than ever to elect a slate of candidates that will provide the social and economic opportunities our community desperately needs.”

Whereas some endorsements went to incumbent officials, many were in support of new leaders that are shaking up the world of politics.

Longtime local activist Krystal Oriadha has advocated for access to health care and quality education for the families that need it most.

Spurred to run for office after witnessing President Trump’s hateful rhetoric, Hamza Khan, former president of the Muslim Democratic Club of Montgomery County, fiercely supports the Maryland TRUST Act and a $15 minimum wage for the working families that call Maryland home.

After leaving a lucrative corporate job to become a computer science teacher in Montgomery County Public Schools, Samir Paul decided to further serve his community by seeking public office, where he will pursue progressive policies as delegate.

Decorated combat veteran Marlin Jenkins is a labor union attorney that relentlessly fought for workplace benefits for federal employees.

A fierce advocate who has dedicated her life to social justice, Brandy Brooks is a progressive activist and organizer determined to expand opportunities in Montgomery County.

Will Jawando is a civil rights attorney and community activist who worked on education and workforce policy at the federal level.

“Whether phone-banking, door-knocking, or registering voters, our members are excited to replicate the electoral victories we secured for our nine candidates in Virginia,” said Yaheiry Mora, Director of CASA in Action. “Many of the Maryland candidates we endorsed are mettle-tested warriors in the fight for equity and justice. Their longstanding history of activism will energize our members to help turn out the vote for candidates that will fight for working families.”

CASA in Action is spearheading a voter mobilization campaign that ensures progressive, pro-immigrant candidates are elected into office at the local, state, and national levels.

 

Endorsements

Prince George’s County – County Council Elections

District 7: Krystal Oriadha

District 9: Tamara Davis Brown

 

House of Delegates and State Senate

 

District 11 House of Delegates

Amy Blank

Shelly Hettleman

Dana Stein

 

District 14 House of Delegates

Anne Kaiser

 

District 15 House of Delegates

Kathleen Dumais

David Hidalgo Fraser

Hamza Khan

 

District 16 House of Delegates

Ariana Kelly

Marc Korman

Samir Paul

 

District 17 House of Delegates

Jim Gilchrist

 

District 18 House of Delegates

Emily Shetty

Jared Solomon

 

District 19 House of Delegates

Bonnie Cullison

Marlin Jenkins

 

District 21 House of Delegates

Mary Lehman

 

District 24 House of Delegates

LaTasha R. Ward for House of Delegates

Erek Barron for House of Delegates

 

District 25 House of Delegates

Darryl Barnes

 

District 39 House of Delegates

Shane Robinson

 

District 40 House of Delegates

Nick Mosby

 

District 43 House of Delegates

Curt Anderson

Maggie McIntosh

 

District 44B House of Delegates

Charles Sydnor

 

District 47

Malcolm Augustine for State Senate

Diana Fennell for House 47A

Jimmy Tarlau for House 47A

 

Montgomery County Council At-Large

Gabe Albornoz

Brandy Brooks

Will Jawando

Hans Riemer

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Unelected Beyer Over Claims, Saying She “Passed” Legislation.


Dana Beyer, candidate for the open District 18 Senate seat, is not the first in this election season to claim that they “passed” legislation despite not serving in the legislature. People who don’t serve in legislative bodies do not pass bills. Heck, even individual legislators don’t pass bills.

No doubt she is referring at least partly to the anti-transgender discrimination bills passed by Montgomery County and the General Assembly. During the former, she was a legislative aide to Councilmember Duchy Trachtenberg. In these situations, the well-understand rule is that credit accrues to the legislator–not the aide. It would fine if Beyer would simply claim that she was proud to have worked on the bill instead of over claiming that she “passed” it.

Beyer was the Executive Director of Gender Rights Maryland during the battle for the state anti-discrimination bill but incumbent Sen. Rich Madaleno was the chief sponsor of the state anti-discrimination legislation and indefatigably fought for it for many years. U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, then a state senator, was also strongly supportive in the General Assembly.

While Beyer lobbied for the bill, she also stormed out of a hearing because she was not on the first panel to testify. Gender Rights Maryland also chose not participate in the broad coalition organized by Equality Maryland Executive Director Carrie Evans, who also spent many years working hard on the bill.

In short, non-legislators don’t pass bills and these fights are invariably team efforts. There are ways for candidates to advertise their past public service efforts and even gild the lily a wee bit without claiming you “passed” bills when not in elective office.

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Leventhal Poll Shows Wide Open Executive Race

By Adam Pagnucco.

Council Member George Leventhal, who is running for County Executive, has released an internal poll from Celinda Lake’s firm showing a wide open race.  The poll surveyed 400 likely voters with a margin of error of 4.9 points.  We reprint the three-page polling memo below and have a few comments following.

 

So what can be gleaned from this?

First, voters aren’t paying attention yet.  No candidate draws more than 11% support in the first run of questions and undecided gets 58%.

Second, the margin of error (4.9 points) matters.  In the first run, that means there is no statistically significant difference between the six candidates.  For example, Bill Frick polls at 2% but, with the margin of error, could be at 6.9%.  Marc Elrich polls at 11% but, with the margin of error, could be at 6.1%.  In effect, no one is leading.

Third, even with the “engaged communications” part of the poll, Leventhal is still within the margin of error against Elrich.  As for the “final ballot” that shows Leventhal blowing out the rest of the field, it appears to depend on giving respondents additional information on Leventhal and not on the other candidates.  It “simulates Leventhal having a resources and communications advantage” that does not exist.  At the moment, he will be fifth in cash on hand once the latest public matching funds are disbursed.

Could Leventhal win?  Sure, it’s possible.  He is a four-term incumbent, a former chair of the county Democratic Party, has a geographically diverse base of small contributions and is working as hard as any candidate in the county.

But the simulations showing Leventhal leading the field right now reek of spin.  Voters aren’t fully engaged yet and no one other than David Blair has started mailing regularly and going on television.  We believe the poll’s real message, which is that no one has wrapped up this election quite yet.

Disclosure: the author is a publicly-listed supporter of Roger Berliner.

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Lacefield Responds on County Stormwater Plans

By Patrick Lacefield.

Sorry, but Seventh State’s take on the County’s changes in stormwater management was off the mark in some ways – but interestingly enough it was right on the mark in making our case for the change.

First, stormwater management (not the most exciting or high profile issue) has long been a focus of the County Executive, going back to his Council days. He has long had a track record of moving the County toward arduous environmental goals that have made the County a leader in this arena.

Second, the reason he has proposed changes is because the current approach to completing the State-required environmental stormwater management has proven to be inefficient and costly. The design and construction of projects to treat the stormwater was taking several years longer than orignally planned.  The contracting approach was not focused on getting maximum performance.

As Seventh State correctly pointed out, costs to taxpayers have increased. The initial fee for this program was approximately $8 per household. It is now over $100 per household; and if we maintain the status quo, it would rise another $10 to $15 per year for the next 3 or 4 years. That is unacceptable.

Third, the County has already restored 5,000 acres of impervious surface under MS4 permits over the last 10 years. This is more acreage than any other jurisdiction in the state of Maryland has accomplished. It is also important to note that the MS4 permit program has never been done before. No jurisdiction in the State, nor even the State itself, has had experience with setting requirements or determining how the requirements would be met. We were the pioneers.

Also, there was no lawsuit or “series of lawsuits” over the County’s consent decree with the State. The County entered into a consent decree with the State because it fell short in meeting the impervious surface restoration piece of the permit. All other requirements of the 2010 permit have been met. The consent decree gives the County until December 31, 2020 to meet the terms. However, it is anticipated that pending State approval, the County will meet the impervious acre restoration requirements of the 2010 permit by the end of this year – well ahead of time.

Again, there is no “privatization” here. All of the stormwater construction work is already being done by private contractors. The County does not build nor maintain stormwater management facilities. We oversee, authorize, and ensure compliance with environmental regulations; and that does not change.

Under our new contracting method, the permittee will always be the County, so the responsibility to ensure the permit requirements will remain with the County. This allows companies that do this work as their primary and only function to assume the risk for costs and completion. It’s called performance-based contracting. DEP can then be left to do what it does best: regulate, monitor and inspect. We are simply removing the layers of contracts that bog down and complicate the work.

County staff will continue their work to develop other MS4 permit requirements including  watershed implementation plans and pollution prevention plans; identifying the target areas for the most effective Total Maximum Daily Load reduction location; increasing education and outreach as well as public involvement and participation; maintaining an illicit discharge detection and elimination program; continuing inspections and maintenance of an ever-increasing stormwater management facilities program. That will not change.

Patrick Lacefield is Montgomery County’s Director of Public Information.

Pagnucco’s Response

Patrick Lacefield says we are “off the mark,” but two of his claims are refuted by the draft consent decree itself.

First, he says that there was no lawsuit or “series of lawsuits.”  In fact, the consent decree describes prior litigation on page 4, which we reprint below.

Second, he says, “The County entered into a consent decree with the State because it fell short in meeting the impervious surface restoration piece of the permit. All other requirements of the 2010 permit have been met.”  But the consent decree lists a host of additional reporting violations on pages 5, 6 and 7 which we reprint below.

Now to the broader point.  Perhaps the Executive Branch is right that there is a more cost efficient way to meet its stormwater obligations.  In this post, Lacefield calls it “performance-based contracting” whereas the County Executive’s memo calls it a “public-private partnership contracting vehicle” (P3).  The Executive correctly points out that Prince George’s County has already entered into a P3, although it might be too new to fully judge its performance.  Whatever the exact nature of the Executive’s proposal, maybe it’s worth talking about, especially since – as Lacefield says – the water quality protection charge is forecast to rise by 17% between FY20 and FY23.  Let the public discussion begin.

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McIntosh All In for Conway

Del. Maggie McIntosh, Chair of the Appropriations Committee and the most influential member of the House of Delegates after Speaker Mike Busch, is all in for incumbent Sen. Joan Carter Conway’s effort to secure a sixth full term.

Both represent District 43 in Baltimore City, where Conway faces a strong challenge from two-term Del. Mary Washington. Washington is running hard, heavily emphasizing her efforts to protect residents from losing their homes over water bills, and represents the strongest challenge Conway has faced.

However, Conway has won reelection despite past scandals and has a large war chest. The emphatic public backing of McIntosh surely will also help her campaign. While Conway mused publicly about retirement, she now is in it to win it.

The one downside for McIntosh, even if Conway wins, is that younger members of the House are increasingly restive regarding opportunities for advancement–notwithstanding the deserved promotion of Del. Anne Kaiser to head of Ways and Means. Protecting Conway reinforces that perception. On the other hand, it confirms McIntosh’s reputation as a loyal ally.

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Krasnow to Pass Leventhal in Cash Balance

By Adam Pagnucco.

Tracking fundraising for publicly financed candidates is challenging because it is a moving target.  Unlike traditional candidates, who file according to the state’s regular reporting schedule, publicly financed candidates report whenever they ask for public contributions in addition to scheduled filings.  So at any one time, the latest tabulations are snapshots taken at different dates.  With all of that said, the latest reports for County Executive candidates show two things.  First, Council Members Marc Elrich and George Leventhal, both of whom have been involved in local politics for decades, have done very well in public financing.  But second, former Rockville Mayor and planning staffer Rose Krasnow, who started much later than either of them, is about to pass Leventhal in cash balance.

In explaining the above statement, let’s review how to read campaign finance reports.  Candidates in the traditional system report the equivalent of a cash flow statement.  They list a starting cash balance, money coming in, money going out and an ending cash balance.  That’s it.  Publicly financed candidates list those things too, but they also report the amount of new public contributions they are requesting.  Those contributions have not been received and are thus not part of the ending cash balance.  They might show up on the next statement, provided that the state approves the requested contribution and does not change the amount.  (In fact, the state can and does change requested public contributions after reviewing them and even sometimes disqualifies them.)

On March 6, Krasnow reported a cash balance of $41,668 and had two outstanding requests for public contributions totaling $245,794.  If those requests are met, her cash balance will be $287,462 (minus any future spending).  On March 20, Leventhal reported a cash balance of $198,585 and had two outstanding requests for public contributions totaling $53,500.  If those requests are met, his cash balance will be $252,085 (minus any future spending).  In other words, Krasnow is on pace to have roughly $35,000 more in the bank than Leventhal.

We show the latest financial standings for all seven Executive candidates below.  Note the differences in last date filed.

There are two reasons why Krasnow is about to pass Leventhal in cash balance.  First, she qualified for public funds in 109 days, much faster than either Leventhal (278 days) or Elrich (209 days).  Second, she has not started to spend serious money yet.  Her burn rate (total spent divided by total raised) is just 9%.  Leventhal’s burn rate is 48%, meaning that he has spent almost half the money he has raised.  Leventhal has raised more money than Krasnow and has a much more geographically diverse base of support.  But his decision to spend big early has allowed Krasnow to vault past him in just five months.

Meanwhile, Marc Elrich keeps chugging along.  He is dominating in small contributions from the critical Democratic Crescent area and is cleaning up on progressive endorsements.  He has a base of supporters among progressives, people who oppose development and Downcounty residents who will never abandon him.  So Elrich must be delighted that he is running against five capable candidates who have so far not been able to knock each other out of the race.  As long as all five remain viable, Elrich won’t have to add a lot to his existing base to win.

Disclosure: The author is a publicly-listed supporter of Roger Berliner for Executive.

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Rosapepe a Barrier to Metro Reform?


Metro Reform Bill Passes House of Delegates

The Governor and both houses of the General Assembly are behind bills to create dedicated funding for Metro sponsored by Dels. Erek Barron, Marc Korman, and Sen. Brian Feldman. However,  I’m hearing from Annapolis-land that parallel legislation designed to heighten scrutiny of how WMATA spends the money are having trouble in the Senate.

Specifically, Sen. Jim Rosapepe is philosophically opposed to the creation of an strengthening of the inspector general. I suspect voters and taxpayers have stronger objections to handing over large sums to Metro on a repeat basis without the slightest increase in oversight despite repeated problems not just before but also in the wake of SafeTrack. Federal reports on the tracks and work done have been damning.

Time to get past philosophy and on to practicality in this case.

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Democratic Central Committee Candidate Endorses Republicans

By Adam Pagnucco.

Jordan Cooper, who is running for a seat on the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee (MCDCC), has endorsed five Republican candidates for office.  That’s an interesting choice given that the entire job of MCDCC is to promote the Democratic Party’s agenda and candidates.

Cooper ran unsuccessfully for Delegate from District 16 in 2014.  He is running for that seat again while simultaneously running for a seat on MCDCC.  Cooper blasted the county Democratic Party as “corrupt” for passing a rule barring candidates from running for party office and government office at the same time.  But as the links above plainly show, he is not covered by the rule since he had filed for the two offices before the rule was passed and it was not retroactive.

Since then, Cooper sent out a questionnaire to other candidates for the purpose of endorsing them.  In defending his “endorsement process,” Cooper said he intended to endorse Republicans.  He spoke the truth.  His Public Interest Podcast endorsed 88 candidates for office, of whom five were Republicans.

The endorsed Republicans include:

Robert Drozd, State Senate, District 14

George Hernandez, Delegate, District 17

Joe Norman, Delegate, District 8

Doug Rathell, Delegate, District 30A

Anjali Reed Phukan, Comptroller

Other endorsed candidates who are not Democrats include:

Jon Cook, Delegate, District 18 (Green)

Nathan Feldman, Delegate, District 11 (Green)

David Jeang, State Senate, District 19 (Green)

Ray Ranker, Delegate, District 21 (Unaffiliated)

Ian Schlakman, Governor (Green)

As a private citizen, Cooper can support anyone for office he wants.  But he is running for a seat on the governing body of the county Democratic Party.  Article II of MCDCC’s by-laws state, “It shall be the responsibility of this organization to promote, establish and conduct political campaigns in Montgomery County, Maryland for the nominees of the Democratic Party and to act as spokesman for the Democratic Party in this County on all questions of public policy.”  In other words, one of the prime reasons for MCDCC’s existence is to elect Democrats in Montgomery County.  Of Cooper’s endorsees, six – Republicans Drozd, Hernandez and Phukan and Green Party members Cook, Jeang and Schlakman – are running against Democrats for offices representing Montgomery County.

Is it too much to ask someone who wants a seat on the county’s Democratic Central Committee to support the party’s candidates for office?

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