The Coalition of Asian Pacific American Democrats (CAPAD) has endorsed David Blair for County Executive. Their endorsement statement emphasizes economic issues, including the need to “support minority small businesses.” The county has thousands of businesses owned by people of East Asian and South Asian descent. We reprint Blair’s email below.
The Metro Washington AFL-CIO has announced endorsements in local races in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties. They have previously endorsed Marc Elrich for County Executive. Following is their press release.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 22, 2018
Contact: David Dzidzienyo, ddzidzienyo@dclabor.org
Metro Washington AFL-CIO Endorses in DC, Montgomery and Prince George’s Primaries
“With the Supreme Court ruling on Janus vs. AFSCME expected any day, political engagement by union voters is more important than ever,” said Metro Washington Council president Jackie Jeter in announcing endorsements in upcoming local primaries. “These candidates have proven their commitment to the issues that affect the working men and women of our communities and deserve the full support of the local labor movement.”
The Metro Council released endorsements in the following races: DC Mayor, Council and Attorney General; Montgomery County Council, Prince George’s County Council and Prince George’s County Board of Education.
The Metro Council also endorses Cynthia Collins (SEIU 400) for the PG Democratic Central Committee (At-Large) and Initiative 77 in the District.
District of Columbia
Mayor: Muriel Bowser
District of Columbia City Council – Chairman Candidate: Phil Mendelson
District of Columbia – Attorney General Candidate: Karl Racine
District of Columbia City Council – At-Large Candidate: Anita Bonds
District of Columbia City Council – Ward 1 Candidate: Brianne Nadeau
District of Columbia City Council – Ward 5 Candidate: Kenyon McDuffie
District of Columbia City Council – Ward 6 Candidate: Charles Allen
Prince George’s/Montgomery County
Montgomery County Council At-Large: No Recommendation
Montgomery County Council At-Large: Brandy Brooks
Montgomery County Council At-Large: Danielle Metiv
Montgomery County Council At-Large: Chris Wilhelm
Montgomery County District 001: Jim McGee
Montgomery County District 003: Ben Snyder
Montgomery County District 004: Nancy Navarro
Montgomery County District 005: Tom Hucker
Prince George’s County Council At-Large
Prince George’s County Council At-Large: Gerron Levi
Prince George’s County Council At-Large: Karen Toles
Prince George’s County District 001: Tom Dernoga
Prince George’s County District 002: Deni Tavaras
Prince George’s County District 005: No Recommendation
Prince George’s County District 006: No Recommendation
Prince George’s County District 007: No Recommendation
Prince George’s County District 008: Tony Knotts
Prince George’s County District 009: Sidney Harris
Prince George’s County Board of Education
Prince George’s County District 002: Joshua M. Thomas
Prince George’s County District 003: Juwan Blocker
Prince George’s County District 006: Pat Fletcher
Prince George’s County District 009: Arun Puracken
By Adam Pagnucco.
Congressman John Delaney has endorsed Council At-Large candidate Bill Conway. We are not aware of Delaney endorsing other county-level candidates. We reprint the Conway campaign’s press release below.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday April 30, 2018
Congressman John Delaney Endorses Bill Conway for County Council
Bill Conway, candidate for County Council At Large, announced today that he has been endorsed by Congressman John Delaney of Maryland’s Sixth Congressional District.
“I am proud to endorse Democrat Bill Conway for an At Large seat on the Montgomery County Council,” Congressman Delaney said. “Bill would bring policy and business experience to the County Council. He is a consensus builder who combines progressive values and a deep commitment to social justice with clear-eyed practicality and fiscal prudence. We need Bill’s leadership on the Council to grow our tax base with new jobs, control our choking traffic problems, and reduce the performance gap in our schools,” Delaney added.
“John Delaney is one of the most thoughtful and innovative leaders in Congress. He has served the people of the Sixth District with distinction and would lead our country wisely if elected to the Presidency. I am honored to receive his endorsement,” Conway said.
By Adam Rosenberg, Executive Director, and Joyce Lombardi, Director of Government Relations, Baltimore Child Abuse Center.
For the past several years, the Baltimore Child Abuse Center has been advocating for a new law that will allow misdemeanor charges against front-line professionals who deliberately chose not to report child abuse.
Sounds like an easy sell, but it isn’t. Not in Maryland. Or, at least not in Maryland’s House Judiciary Committee. The bill (SB132 this year) has already unanimously sailed through the Senate two years in a row thanks to Senator Susan Lee and Senator Robert Zirkin. But, despite the efforts of Delegate Carlo Sanchez, State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks and several Democrats and Republicans, HB500 is still stalled in the House Judiciary Committee.
Why? Partially it’s because leadership there questions the need for yet another law, and partially because many people rightfully struggle with the idea of putting “jail” and “teacher” or “nurse” in the same sentence.
But many of the dozens and dozens of people we’ve been talking with – which includes social workers, pediatricians and elected officials in Annapolis – instantly picture who this law is talking about: not your average teacher or nurse, but instead the people who knew but chose to protect themselves or their institutions. “Right!” they say, “like at USA Gymnastics or Penn State.” Yes, bingo. The enablers.
Former Penn State administrators Tim Curley, left, and Gary Schultz (Centre County Correctional Facility, AP)
Still, others struggle. Instead of seeing the egregious enablers, they see their friends, their kid’s soccer coach, their homeroom teacher, their family doctor. They see themselves. They can picture the predators, sure, the eerily bland face of Larry Nasser or maybe even the bulldog mug of Harvey Weinstein. But they can’t see the quiet cadre of adults standing just behind the predators, the ones who are always there, desperately denying the crimes of the colleague or friend or beloved in their midst. They might see the good doctor who isn’t sure the head trauma was abuse and doesn’t report, or they might see a teacher who didn’t report that a girl felt uncomfortable on her colleague’s lap. They see nuance. They see negligence at best.
Professionals in Maryland all have a duty to report SUSPECTED abuse, but this bill, HB 500, isn’t criminalizing negligence. Instead, it targets those rare but persistent cases when a mandatory reporter “KNOWS” about the abuse and STILL doesn’t act. Think Morgan State University, USA Gymnastics, and think Penn State. Think about the horror of seeing a naked boy in a shower sexually assaulted by a grown man. Think about several girls coming forward to say their doctor’s hands inside them “didn’t feel right,” “felt wrong,” or “he was aroused.”
There is a a running list of professionals in Maryland who chose not to report, for example: cigarette burns on a girl’s arm; a 5-year old boy disclosing that “daddy kisses my wee wee and makes it big; ”a distressed tween disclosing that her grandfather takes her to the basement and puts his hand under her dress; lacerations and scars on an 8-year old; a 3-year old with visible bruises who said he gets hit with a belt, numerous 5th graders disclosing that a volunteer school aide was making boys do “nasty stuff.”
Also, let’s clarify what has been proposed: a misdemeanor with a max of 6 months in jail or a $1,000 fine. That’s the same penalty you get in Maryland if you board someone’s boat for a second time without permission or if you install an air conditioner without a license ((Crim. Law 6-403; Bus. Reg. 9A-501).
Secondly, every other state in the country has a penalty of some sort and most make it a misdemeanor for deliberately failing to report SUSPECTED abuse – except Wyoming and Maryland. In Maryland, after years and years of wrangling and compromise with various legislators and professional associations for doctors, nurses, therapists, etc., this law would only target the worst of the worst: those who ignored KNOWN abuse. The proposed law (HB500) has an “actual knowledge” standard, an extremely high bar to reach, and one that reaches felony status elsewhere. The bar is so high that, for the first time, it has gained support from some professional associations and censure from some activists.
Leadership in the House Judiciary Committee questions why we need a new law when there are two on the books that get little use: a fairly new one, sponsored by Delegate Kathleen Dumais in 2015, which provides notice to a licensing board or employer for a failure to report, and an older one that criminalizes anyone who obstructs a report. Our answer is simply that this law, HB500, fills in the gap between the two. Saying more than that sounds like an attack on the current laws and their sponsors. It isn’t meant to be an attack. It’s a plea for another way. It’s an “And,” not an “Or.”
We all agree that child abuse needs to be reported, we just respectfully disagree whether Maryland needs a new law to help make that happen. After years of research and experience in the field, we believe that it does and HB500 is that law.
If you agree that Maryland’s children deserve better protections too, call the Maryland House Judiciary Committee at 301-858-3488 or 410-841-3488 to share your support for HB500.
Today, Seventh State is pleased to present a guest post by Gabe Albornoz.
Not long after the final results were announced in the 2016 Presidential cycle a sense of frustration and sadness spread through our county and country. There was a documented increase in reported hate crimes. Not even Montgomery County was immune to the hate and bigotry that was spreading across the country. In response to the tension inflicting our community, County Executive Leggett appointed a team of senior officials from his administration to produce an event that reaffirmed Montgomery County values. I was honored to have been appointed to that committee and serve as the emcee for an event that would be called the The Montgomery Way.
The event took place a few weeks after the election on a cold November day on Veterans Plaza. The elements did not stop over a thousand residents from hearing messages of love, tolerance and peace from elected officials, public officials, inter-faith leaders, and students. The Montgomery Way celebrates our diversity and inclusion; promotes economic prosperity for all; ensures the best possible education for all children; and establishes a high quality of life for its residents, especially those most vulnerable. The event reaffirmed everything I love about Montgomery County and played a big role in my decision to run for Elected Office.
I have deep Montgomery County roots as a lifelong resident, a graduate of MCPS and have lived in Gaithersburg, Bethesda, Silver Spring, and now in Kensington with my wife Catherine, also a native of Montgomery County, and our four young children. My parents immigrated from Chile and Ecuador; both attended Montgomery College and instilled in me the value of hard work and to treat everyone with dignity and respect. It is a gift to have been raised here. I believe it is my responsibility, elected or not, to pass its opportunities on to all of our children and future generations.
I have dedicated my career to public service and fighting for just social policies through my work in the non-profit sector and more recently as a member of County Executive Ike Leggett’s cabinet. I have always considered my work as Director of the Department of Recreation, Chair of the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee and service in other public sector roles to be a privilege.
I have worked to improve the quality of life for County residents by growing our recreational programs, addressing the opportunity gaps among our children through expanded after-school programs, and leading efforts to keep our senior citizens in their homes and active in the community. I have learned much from my hands-on experiences working collaboratively with diverse communities and constituencies and have the skill, passion and perspective to promote respectful engagement and unity in our County.
Maintaining the greatness and opportunity of our County will require commitment and effort, which is why I am running for County Council. We are facing difficult challenges including aging infrastructure, a fast-growing school system, a stretched safety-net struggling to keep pace with the complex needs of our more vulnerable residents, growing economic disparity among communities, difficult traffic challenges and unmet affordable housing needs.
These challenges come as financial support from federal and state governments are at significant risk of being cut and our local fiscal options to respond are limited. What is not limited is this county’s ability to be imaginative, thoughtful and determined in efforts to address our challenges justly, creatively and effectively. I will bring experienced, inclusive and bold leadership to the next County Council as it carries out its role in charting our county’s future.
I believe that elected office is a noble profession and provides a clear and tangible opportunity to impact social change and serve as a bridge between communities and sectors. I intend to work closely with other key public stakeholders including the Board of Education, Planning Board, Executive Branch, State Delegation, Montgomery College and others along with leaders in the Non-profit, Business, LGBTQ, Labor, Faith, Health and Civic Communities to collaboratively address the known and unknown challenges ahead. I humbly seek this office knowing I will follow many other political leaders, among them my current boss, Ike Leggett.
I want to thank my friends, family and especially my wife Catherine and our kids for their incredible support. For the next year, I will meet with residents across the County to better understand your interests, aspirations, and concerns. I invite you to join me on this journey. To learn more, please visit my website www.gabeforcouncil.com.
Gabe Albornoz is running for Montgomery County Council At-Large.
By Adam Pagnucco.
Delegate Ana Sol Gutierrez, who has served District 18 since 2002, has created a public financing account for a run in Council District 1. While Ana is known for running up big vote totals in Wheaton, she actually lives in Chevy Chase and is eligible to run in the increasingly jam-packed D1 race. Ana is known for her passionate work on behalf of immigrants and her enthusiastic support for the Purple Line, the latter being unusual among District 18 state legislators. Her run for council will have a huge impact on both the District 1 and District 18 races, subjects on which David Lublin and I will have plenty to say in the near future.
Edward Fischman of Our Revolution Montgomery County responds to yesterday’s post:
Adam Pagnucco wrote a piece here in The Seventh State that starts with a legal conclusion that isn’t clear. It accuses Brandy Brooks’ campaign of breaking the law. Ms. Brooks has discussed the matter with the State Board of Elections and has obtained definitive guidance on how to achieve the charitable goals she set out to accomplish with her Power 100 promotion.
I am writing because Mr. Pagnucco’s piece curiously dragged me into the matter, because I shared her promotion in a post on social media (editor’s note: posted above). We are in a strange era where the act of sharing a post on Facebook post becomes news in itself. So be it.
After I posted in a Facebook group to share Ms. Brooks well-intended fundraising effort to facilitate charitable donation by her supporters, one councilmember helpfully raised a concern to me about it. That accomplished two things. First, it forced me to look at what I’d written and realize that I’d badly mischaracterized Ms. Brooks’ own promotion of this effort. I corrected that within an hour of the original posting — and noted that I was correcting my own error.
The other thing that this councilmember’s outreach achieved was it spurred me to find a way to connect with Ms. Brooks campaign to raise that councilmember’s concerns about whether Ms. Brooks’ page adequately explained the program in a way that would be one hundred percent kosher. By the end of the day, I had managed to make contact and share the concern. The next day — Saturday — I also sought the candidate at a public event over the weekend, to make sure she understood why I thought it was important for them to speak to the State Board of Elections to make certain the effort was conducted consistently with state financing laws and regulations.
I am impressed with Brandy Brooks’ candidacy. I have no role with the campaign, and certainly do not represent her. Mr. Pagnucco wrote it was “unclear” if I am connected with the campaign. There’s an unspoken implication that i might be. Whatever his role in writing on this site, Mr. Pagnucco has worked in journalism and should know better. He could have asked me — or asked the Brooks campaign — about whether I was connected to the campaign, and about the nature of my post. I would have told him that I did not know Brandy Brooks 2 months ago and before this and interacted with her less than an handful of times. Also, I could have pointed out to him that I had revised my Facebook pose, to correct my error in describing the Power 100 effort.
My description was a mistake, but it is no way newsworthy. I was deeply concerned when I realized what I’d mistakenly described the campaign’s proposal for the donations — but thought I’d done very little harm, as it received one “Like,” before I corrected it. Finding my error reposted at the Seventh State is…both surprising and embarrassing, but my reputation is not my aim in writing here. I do not want my error to reflect badly on Brandy Brooks’ campaign.
After the piece was published, Brandy reached out to me to tell me not to worry about any of this — and thanked for me trying to be helpful in sharing information about the opportunity to support her campaign and charities she felt worthy. She has explained to me what steps she is taking to remain compliant with Maryland’s campaign financing laws.
By Adam Pagnucco.
Eight Maryland state legislators comprising the General Assembly’s Asian Caucus are applauding the removal of the statehouse’s Roger Taney statue and calling for changing Maryland’s disgraceful state song. Their statement appears below.
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Maryland Asian Caucus Members Applaud Removal of Taney Statue and Call for Changing State Song
As members of Maryland’s Asian American Pacific Islander Caucus, we applaud the recent decision to remove the statue of Supreme Court Justice Roger Taney from the State House grounds and further call on the General Assembly to revise or replace our state song.
The Taney statue and the state song celebrate aspects of Maryland history in which we take no pride. The Confederate and Nazi themed white nationalist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia have reopened wounds from our nation’s history of slavery, segregation, and racial inequality. There are other ways to educate the public about this painful history without glorifying one of the worst rulings in American jurisprudence.
The State House grounds has room for only two large statues. Maryland has but one state song. Let us use these three unique opportunities to highlight a Maryland history that makes our entire population proud. Let us relegate the more sordid aspects of the past to museums, history books, and other formats more appropriate for conveying the divisive evolution Maryland has witnessed over the decades. The threat of backtracking on America’s progress on race relations make this a more timely history lesson now than ever before.
Senator Susan Lee
Delegate Kriselda Valderrama
Delegate Aruna Miller
Delegate Clarence Lam
Delegate Mark S Chang
Delegate David Moon
Delegate Kumar Barve
Delegate Jay Jalisi
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In an piece for The Monkey Cage, Bernard Fraga, present new estimates from Catalist of changes in turnout by race from 2012 to 2016.
Nationally, African-American turnout declined by 4.7%. In contrast, white turnout was up 2.4%, Asian-American turnout increased by 3.0%, and Latino turnout rose by 3.8%. In Maryland, white turnout rates increased by 1.8%, while black turnout fell by 3.3%. Data for other groups were unavailable.
The blog post suggests that Clinton might have won if she had been able to keep black turnout as high as 2012 by taking Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, albeit the latter two by razor thin margins. Of course, it was never likely that she would inspire as high an African-American turnout as the first black president.
