In a radio interview, Del. Bill Frick made hard-charging remarks regarding former Rockville Mayor Rose Krasnow\u2019s competing campaign for county executive.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had never heard her name before she announced as a candidate,\u201d Frick, 43, said. \u201cShe hadn\u2019t been in public life since the turn of the century. I really had not interacted with her. I\u2019ve been a member of the legislature for 10 years and never encountered her.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
On the same radio show, Bill Frick also said:<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve knocked on a lot of doors in Montgomery County and I\u2019ve never heard someone say whoever\u2019s in charge of the Planning Department should be in charge of the county,\u201d Frick said. \u201cThat is not a sentiment I\u2019ve ever heard.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Krasnow replied by accusing Frick of being dismissive of her campaign and consequently sexist:<\/p>\n
In a statement Krasnow sent to Sherwood that was shared with Bethesda Beat, she suggested, \u201cPerhaps Mr. Frick\u2019s dismissive remarks about me are a reflection of his attitude toward women.\u201d<\/p>\n
She elaborated during an interview Monday with Bethesda Beat. \u201cI assume his comment about the turn of the century was trying to make me look old,\u201d added Krasnow, 66. \u201cI was in office until the end of \u201901. It means I wasn\u2019t an elected official yesterday, that\u2019s definitely true \u2026 .\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Even if one believes that it\u2019s okay for Krasnow to refer frequently to her service as Rockville\u2019s mayor and not for Frick to point out it was some years ago, making her look old would be ageism, not sexism. Ironically, after accusing Frick of sexism, Krasnow then engaged in the exact same dismissive behavior and topped it off with a false claim:<\/p>\n
\u201cI, like many other people, had not heard of Bill Frick until I got into this race,\u201d Krasnow said of Frick, who has served as the delegate from Bethesda-based District 16 since first being selected by the county\u2019s Democratic Central Committee to replace Marilyn Goldwater in 2007. Last year, he was appointed House majority leader.<\/p>\n
She noted she learned more about him from a 2007 blog post titled Who The Frick is Bill. \u201cSo I wouldn\u2019t start talking about name recognition. I believe mine is much higher than his,\u201d she said. \u201cHe has represented a fairly small district in Bethesda while I represented the entire city of Rockville.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frick is one of three delegates who represent District 16, which encompasses an area with a population of about 120,000 residents, while Rockville\u2019s population is about 62,000.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
While I am sure
Adam Pagnucco<\/del>\u00a0Kevin Gillogly is flattered by the reference to his blog post, behaving as if there is one rule for male candidates and another for female candidates is the very definition of sexism. On Monday, Frick responded by describing Krasnow\u2019s allegation as \u201cridiculous and baseless.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cI think that\u2019s out of line,\u201d Frick said. \u201cI\u2019ve been a feminist since I was old enough to pronounce the word. I have a 100 percent voting record and have been a strong leader on women\u2019s issues.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Krasnow could have taken other more effective approaches in her response to Frick. For example, she could have instead pointed out that she is the only candidate with senior executive experience in the public sector \u2013 not just as mayor but at the Planning Board \u2013 and thus turned the biased idea that men are better executives on its head without even mentioning gender.<\/p>\n
She also could have just stuck with the calm, thoughtful claim that voters don\u2019t really know any of the candidates well and she hoped that voters had the opportunities to learn about her through the campaign. She started off with that approach \u2013 one that would have made her look experienced and judicious \u2013 but then shifted to the weak-beer sexism allegation.<\/p>\n
As has been rightly discussed much of late, sexism is alive and well with the spotlight revealing male employers using their positions to behave inappropriately, unprofessionally, and worse towards their female employees. Unfortunately, Krasnow\u2019s accusation attracts attention for the wrong reasons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a radio interview, Del. Bill Frick made hard-charging remarks regarding former Rockville Mayor Rose Krasnow\u2019s competing campaign for county executive. \u201cI had never heard her name before she announced as a candidate,\u201d Frick, 43, said. \u201cShe hadn\u2019t been in public life since the turn of the century. I really had not interacted with her. … Continue reading Krasnow Makes Baseless Sexism Charge Against Frick — And Then Acts Identically<\/span>