October 20, 2024 • 63 mins
Listen in as Tamara Davis-Brown explores local politics and the upcoming general election in Maryland, focusing on Prince George's County. This episode offers a clear guide to the election ballot, from the presidential race to important local judicial elections. As a lifelong Democrat, Tamara shares her voting approach and encourages others in her party to support Democratic candidates, especially Angela Alsobrooks for the Senate. She highlights the importance of early voting and discusses a new polling location in Accokeek, Maryland, which could boost voter turnout.
Tamara also looks at Maryland's political scene, including Governor Larry Hogan's independent stance and its connection to Republican views. She discusses the impact of figures like Mitch McConnell on judicial appointments and emphasizes how state and local politics can affect national issues. With a critical perspective, Tamara shares insights into judicial races, advocating for ethics and transparency, and stresses the need to examine campaign finances.
Additionally, she addresses public infrastructure and safety challenges in Prince George's County, including the financial implications of the new FBI headquarters. Focusing on Questions D, she explains why this bond bill is crucial for funding essential infrastructure and supporting public safety departments. Amid these serious topics, Tamara also enjoys the fall season and shares her love for college football, reminding everyone that local politics matters and encouraging active participation in democracy.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome back to another episode of All Politics
is Local, the Maryland edition.
With me, your host, tamaraDavis-Brown.
I'm titling this episode as theTrick or Treat episode.
We're going to be discussingthe general election ballot that
(00:27):
is coming up.
On November 5th.
We are having, as everyoneknows, the nationwide elections
for our president, our senators,our US House of Representatives
and a few local races as well,and in Prince George's County
(00:50):
and probably across the nation,there will be some ballot
questions and this past Thursday, my chapter of Alpha Kappa
Alpha Sorority, which is UpsilonTau Omega, alpha Kappa Alpha
Sorority, which is Upsilon TauOmega, also known sometimes as
the Fort Washington Chapter,held its election preparedness
(01:12):
seminar where we really focusedon the ballot issues.
It was a great turnout, fullhouse, and we received a lot of
information.
I know many people could notcome, so the purpose of this
episode is to provide someinformation about the ballot
that you did not get to hear.
(01:33):
I did send out some nonpartisantype information, but a lot of
people, including a couple of mysororities this, was like, yeah
, that's real good, but I reallywant to hear how you're voting.
Including a couple of mysorority sisters was like, yeah,
that's real good, but I reallywant to hear how you're voting,
and so I appreciate yourconfidence in me and your
confidence in my judgment interms of decision making when it
comes to the ballot box.
(01:54):
So I will warn listeners ifthis is your first time
listening, or if you're notnecessarily a registered
Democrat, or if you're notnecessarily a registered
(02:26):
Democrat, this may not be theepisode for you.
Of the presidential candidates,we have some judges that are in
common, regardless of where youlive, and of course, we have the
US Senator race, the US Senaterace.
That's also in common.
And then question one is forall Marylanders.
(02:47):
So the way that the ballots areprinted, you have your
presidential races, us Senateraces, your Congress races, then
your judges.
The first set of judges thatI'm going to be speaking on are
specific to Prince George'sCounty, so your judges may be
different if you live outside ofPrince George's County.
That's for the circuit court.
(03:07):
Then the second set of judgeswill be on every ballot for all
mail-in-ders, and then I'll jumpto a special election here in
Prince George's County.
That only applies to PrinceGeorge's.
And then question one, which isa question that is on
(03:27):
everyone's ballot in the stateof Maryland.
After that you can jump offbecause the rest of it will be
particular and specifically forPrince George's County.
So I'm sure everyone that'slistening already knows this
information, but I'm just goingto give it by way of general
(03:50):
information and background.
Of course, our general electionwill be held on Tuesday,
november 5th, from 7 am.
Polls close at 8 pm.
Polls close at 8 pm and if youwant to early vote in the state
of Maryland, you can do sobetween October 24th through
(04:11):
October 31st, also same time, 7am to 8 pm.
So early voting in Marylandstarts next week, next Thursday,
and I just wanted to put in aplug here.
Some of the information forPrince George's County early
voting locations did not includea location in Akaquique,
(04:32):
maryland, and that has beenchanged.
Normally you have early votingeither at the Akaquique Fire
Volunteer Fire Department andsometimes at Agakeek Academy,
but this general election theLife Covenant Ministries yes,
(04:57):
Life Covenant ChristianMinistries in Agakeek, maryland,
and that is Pastor Ron andCharlita Bragg.
Their church is located at15522 Livingston Road in Aga Kik
, maryland.
It's the church that's rightbeside the water tower.
So if you've ever driven downLivingston Road between getting
(05:20):
to the Wise Shopping Center pastthe library, between getting to
the Wise Shopping Center, pastthe library and coming up
towards where I usually have myshred events, at the dental
office.
There's a church right there,depending on the left or right,
depending on which directionyou're traveling from but it's
(05:43):
again the church right next tothe water tower, and I did drive
by there yesterday and noticedthat they had a drop box already
in the parking lot.
So they are accepting mail-inballots if you want to.
That's a location where youcould drop your mail-in ballots
if you live in the communitycity of Akaquik or community of
Akaquik, if your address isAkaquique, maryland, 20607.
(06:06):
That's your early votinglocation.
So just wanted to point thatout.
Let's jump right on into theballot for the state of Maryland
, specifically Prince George'sCounty.
Like I said, the first we willbe voting for is President and
Vice President of the UnitedStates.
You have your Democraticcandidates, republican
(06:29):
candidates, and then there arealso three other candidates one
for the Libertarian Party, onefor the Green Party and then one
of unaffiliated.
The unaffiliated candidateactually dropped out and
endorsed the Republicancandidate.
So if you decide to vote forthat person, even though they're
(06:50):
on the ballot, I'm not surewhat they're going to do with
that name.
By the time he wanted to dropoff, it was too late to remove
the name for the ballot, becausethese ballots have to be
printed in several languages,they have to be distributed and
you know it's just.
There's a lot of prep work toget this done up and get these
(07:14):
out, especially when you havemail-in ballots.
So there's a deadline to removeyour name from the ballot as
well.
So of course, I, as I said atthe top of the episode, this is
a partisan episode and I am aregistered Democrat, so I am
voting for all Democrats up anddown the ballot and I encourage
(07:38):
all other registered Democratsto do the same, registered
Democrats to do the same.
And the reason that I'm beingvery partisan about it is
because I do believe ourdemocracy is very fragile and
our democracy is on the ballot.
Every election.
You hear oh, this is the mostimportant election in your
(08:00):
lifetime.
This is the most important.
This is the most important.
Yes, this is the most important, because we know what a second
term of a Trump presidency wouldlook like.
I believe everything that hesays when he says he wants to be
a dictator, he wants to use themilitary to fight the
(08:25):
quote-unquote enemy within.
He wants to weaponize theDepartment of Justice, to go
after his political opponentsand everything that sounds
dictator, dictatorial, dictator,dictatorial.
(08:50):
That's what's spewing out ofhis mouth right now, and I just
believe that our foundingfathers are rolling over in
their graves because they leftEngland because they didn't want
to be under the rulership of aking.
They didn't want a king, theywanted democracy.
They wanted different powers,separation of powers, of
government.
They wanted an executive branch, a powers and authority and
absolute immunity, almost.
And so it really it's a reallyawakening time and I hope that
(09:40):
people take this electionseriously and come out to vote.
So if you know people that are,you know, waffling about
whether or not they want to vote, please go pick them up, take
them to the polls and have themto vote and hopefully convince
them to vote for the Democraticcandidates.
So that's all I'll say aboutthat.
(10:04):
So, vice President and President, I am voting for Kamala Harris
and Tim Walz as the Presidentand Vice President of the United
States, and Larry Hogan.
Now I watched a debate I guessthat was not last week but week
(10:27):
before last between Angela alsoBrooks and Larry Hogan, and I
thought Angela did a very goodjob.
And I do want to speak to allMarylanders because we not me
(10:49):
personally, but the state hasvoted him in twice for two terms
as governor and he actuallyleft his governorship with a
very high favorable rating,apparently.
But I wanted to make sure thatpeople know that the success of
Governor Hogan was not becausehe was an independent and
because he spoke out againstTrump and didn't lash onto that
(11:11):
bandwagon.
The success that Governor Hoganhad in Maryland was because of
a Democratic state legislature.
The Democrats have the majorityin both the Senate and the
House and there were many billsthat were passed that have been
helpful to residents of Maryland, but it was because they
(11:34):
overrode Governor Hogan's vetoand they've overridden many,
many bills that the governoreither vetoed or he allowed to
go into law without signing them.
(11:57):
The state, and particularly theHigher Education Commission and
just the state in general fornot properly funding our HBCUs,
specifically Morgan State, bowieState University, the
(12:19):
University of Maryland, easternShore and Coppin State
University all of the four HBCUshere in Maryland and the
lawsuit predated the governor atthe time.
However, he waited untilbasically his last, almost his
(12:40):
last year Well, definitely hislast term.
I can't remember if it was hislast year of his last term or
the year prior to his last term,last year in office, before
signing legislation, to finallysettle that lawsuit and get
funding to equity funding to theHBCUs and particularly Morgan
(13:02):
State, because Morgan had someprograms that no other
university state university Ishould say had and basically
(13:27):
what the state did was defundthose programs, duplicated them
at University of Maryland,college Park Campus or at Towson
or at one of the other stateuniversities, and so there was a
discrimination suit filed byMorgan State and then the other
HBCUs also joined in.
But my point is is thatGovernor Hogan was never
interested in settling that case.
Hogan was never interested insettling that case.
More importantly, he was neverinterested in actually funding
(13:49):
the lawsuit.
They had the universities, theHBCUs had won the lawsuit, they
had been given a specific dollaramount, verdict by the court,
awarded a particular verdict,verdict, and despite all of that
(14:11):
, the governor's office neverput the money in the budget to
settle this lawsuit.
So again, governor Hogan can sayone thing about his being
independent and being a maverick, but he cannot.
His record demonstratesotherwise.
And so you've seen some of theads that Angela also Brooks
(14:33):
campaign and others who aresupporting her other packs that
are supporting her put out.
I just encourage you to do youryour research on that and you
know, as independent as GovernorHogan likes to be, he really
could have demonstrated thateven more to Maryland voters by
running as an independent.
(14:54):
Nevertheless, he decided to runas a Republican, and Ms Also
Brooks is correct he wasrecruited by Mitch McConnell,
the minority leader of the USSenate, and they are trying to
take over the Senate majorityand be able to continue to do
(15:14):
some of the politicalmaneuverings that they've done,
especially with the SupremeCourt.
You guys may remember whenPresident Obama had an
opportunity during an electionyear to appoint a Supreme Court
justice, mitch McConnell closedthat door and that opportunity
and Merrick Garland I cannot saythis guy's name, he's our US
(15:41):
Attorney General now Garland I'mmessing up his first name right
now Merrick Garland.
In any event, he deniedPresident Obama's pick at the
time to be on the Supreme Court.
However, when Trump was inoffice and president and there
(16:03):
became an opening to, in fact,one, also during an election
year, one during the time earlyvoting in some states had
already started, mitch McConnellallowed those two and that
particularly that one, AmyCohn-McBarritt to go through and
(16:23):
, as a result, we've seen someof the disastrous cases that
have come out of the SupremeCourt.
Now that it has a majority thatis on the right.
They have denied basic civilrights applications and
discrimination cases.
The reason that we've had anexecution in I believe that's
(16:46):
Kentucky.
They did not stay the executioneven though the prosecutor said
the evidence was wrong.
The case shouldn't have beenbrought.
All this other family, even thevictim's family, had pleaded
saying you know, stay theexecution.
The Supreme Court did not staythe execution and so we had
(17:07):
those cases.
Of course, we had the overturnof Roe v Wade.
When I say all politics is localand what's happening at the
federal level does trickle downto the state level and
individual levels.
So I just encourage you to notlisten to the rhetoric that
(17:28):
Hogan is spewing about beingindependent, about supporting a
woman's right to choose, when hedid not do so as governor and I
don't believe he'll do so asSenate.
But the telltale sign for me isthat he could have changed his
registration, voter registration, to independent instead and run
(17:51):
for this office instead ofrunning as a Republican
candidate.
So that tells you a lot and youfollow the money.
The Republican Party isthrowing a lot of money in these
campaigns.
The last couple of mailers thatI've gotten against Angela has
been paid for by some PAC, someRepublican PAC.
So, anyway, I'm encouragingeveryone.
(18:14):
I am voting for Angela also,brooks, as our Senate.
I'm looking at the long game,the long term.
You got to look at the biggerpicture.
Sometimes In Congress, dependingon where you live, you have two
representatives of theCongressional District 4, which
is where I live now as ofredistricting from the 2020
(18:37):
census, or you are inCongressional District 5.
The Democratic candidates areon your ballot Glenn Ivey and
Steny Hoyer.
So the next races.
So if you're a Marylander andnot in Prince George's County,
this will not apply to you, butif you're in Prince George's
(18:58):
County, it will.
And this is for the circuitcourt judges races.
You are, you're to vote up forfour, and they are five, and the
four Democratic candidates areDarren Sebastian Johnson, denise
Linnese, roll Cherie NicoleSimpson and Donnell Wilford
(19:25):
Turner.
So those are the four judgesthat I am voting for.
Mr Michael Sheehan is aRepublican, so we are not voting
for Mr Sheehan, and I will saythat in the state of Maryland
Maryland actually the judgesraces are actually partisan
races.
Judges races are actuallypartisan races.
Usually, judges try to maintainor mask their partisanship
(19:50):
because they say that they're tojudge impartially, which is
true.
But you can always check to seetheir cases and see how their
judicial leanings, theirjudicial philosophies.
(20:10):
But I know that these fourpersons are registered Democrats
and Mr Sheehan is a registeredRepublican, so again I'm voting
for Darren Sebastian Johnson,denise Linnez-Roll, cherie
Nicole Simpson, lynetteLenez-Roll, cherie Nicole
Simpson and Donnell WilfordTurner.
Now the next three judges' racesshould appear on all the
(20:33):
Maryland ballots and they arewhether or not these judges are
actually already sitting on thecourt.
They've either been appointedand and well, they have been
appointed, and the question isis whether or not they should
maintain their seat on the bench.
So the first person is Annie KAlbright, and if her name does
(20:58):
not last name does not soundfamiliar, you search her.
She looks just like her mother.
She is the daughter of MadelineAlbright, our former Secretary
of State.
I am voting to yes, keep her onthe bench in the Appellate
Court of Maryland at large.
The second person is Mr Kevin FArthur is Mr Kevin F Arthur and
(21:29):
I am also voting to keep him onthe bench.
I did a little research on himand saw that he ruled in a case
down in Calvert County toreinstate a decision of the
Ethics Commission.
And in our day and time withpolitics, the way they are, and
the ethical transgressions andthen I won't even call them
(21:50):
mistakes because these are grownmen and women making
conscientious decisions toviolate ethics or to try to
appear to be in line with theletter of the law but not
abiding by the spirit of the law.
(22:10):
So you know, the Bible alsosays even the parents avoid even
the appearance of evil.
So some people might befollowing the rule by the letter
but in their heart they'reappealed.
The decision F Arthur and hesided with the commission on
(22:32):
that.
So I'm always supporting peoplewho side with ethics and
ethical.
You know persons who are, youknow, violating ethical.
(23:18):
You know rules, regulations,whatever.
So he sided right for that.
So just on that case alone I amsupporting Kevin F Arthur.
The next person is Ms Andrea MLeahy and I'm also voting to
(23:39):
have her continue in office.
There was not a lot about JudgeLeahy, but I did find something
interesting when she was anattorney for Prince George's
County.
In the Office of Law sheactually successfully argued an
appeal on downsizing of aparticular development and
(24:04):
basically the case centeredaround whether or not a
developer had already vesteddevelopment rights.
I think they said they wantedto put up like a big four-story
or more apartment complex and Iguess the planning board decided
(24:26):
against them and so she wasrepresenting the county as an
attorney in the Office of Lawand actually the case went on
appeal and she actually won thatcase as an attorney not as a
judge, but as an attorneybasically defending the county
(24:46):
in helping to downsize a bigapartment complex for a
particular zone or area andbasically it set precedent
though that on what is vestedrights in developments, so you
don't need to know all thosedetails.
Vested rights in developments,so you don't need to know all
(25:07):
those details.
But I just thought that doingthat research, even though she
was working for the county andshe had to represent the county,
so she had to be on the rightside of things.
But so many times you hear mecomplain about development.
So this is one case in one areawhere developers did not get
their way and the county won,and it was good for the people
because it set precedent on whatdevelopment rights, how they
(25:31):
are vested.
So I'm voting for to yes tokeep Miss Andrea Leahy on the
bench.
So the next two races that I'mgoing to talk about are specific
to Prince George's County.
We have some open PrinceGeorge's County Board of
(25:59):
Education or school board seatsor school board seats, and I
don't know how many, but Ireally have not done a lot of
research on the candidates,primarily because my district
does not have a candidate thatis running.
They're staggered Each districtis kind of staggered in
(26:22):
elections so some will beelected in the gubernatorial
election while others are beingelected in the presidential
election.
What I do know is at least twocandidates I believe one
candidate in District 8 andanother candidate who's already,
I believe, on the school boardare teachers and they are
(26:42):
running for office to be on theschool board, and I do highly
support teachers because theybring a perspective to the
school board that no otherperson can have.
They're in the classrooms, theysee the students' needs, they
see the needs that they have aseducators, they see how
(27:07):
interaction with officemanagement in terms of principal
and then office management interms of administration and how
it impacts them daily as they dotheir job, they do their job,
(27:30):
and so I do think that it's goodif there is a candidate that is
running for school board inyour district in Prince George's
County.
If they are a teacher, they areworth a second look and even
worth a vote, because they bringa perspective that is very
different from careerpoliticians that use the school
board to for to step up and goto another office, have no
interest, sometimes, don't havechildren in the school system or
even if they do, they're notvery active and involved.
(27:54):
They're just using this as astepping stool a stepping stone
if you will to the next seat inhigher office, if you will to
the next seat in higher office.
So pay particular attention tothe person's bio and whether or
not they are schoolteachers,because I do think that we need
more schoolteachers on theschool board to bring that
(28:18):
perspective that they have Allright.
And then there was the specialelection for county council at
large.
Now you guys know, if youlisten to my podcast, that I
actually ran for the countycouncil at large position.
In the primary, which was backin August, I lost to the council
chair, jolene Ivey, so she isthe Democratic nominee and Mr
(28:42):
Michael Riker is the Republicannominee is the Democratic
nominee and Mr Michael Riker isthe Republican nominee.
Now I said I was voting for allDemocratic candidates.
But I am being petty pattytoday and anytime I run for an
office and I lose and don't win,don't move on to the general
(29:02):
election, I always write my namein so you can call me Petty
Patty, you could send emails,you can call and text, you can
laugh and whatever.
I don't care, I will take itevery day.
So this is one instance whereI'm not voting for the
Democratic candidate, but I'mwriting myself in.
So, yes, petty Patty is hereand writing herself in for the
(29:26):
at-large seat for generalelection and I will keep moving.
The next item that we're goingto be voting on on our ballot is
question one.
Again, this affects allMarylanders and so this question
actually deals with what I saidat the forum last week.
(29:46):
It deals with Roe v Wade.
I didn't get into the detailsof how to vote on this again
because we were Alpha Kappa.
Alpha is a nonpartisanorganization and I didn't want
to get into the details andsound too partisan.
But this is my podcast and Ican be as partisan as I want,
just like I can be as petty as Iwant and ask you to write my
(30:09):
name in for the special electionat the at large.
But question one basicallyenshrines in the Maryland
Constitution a woman's right tochoose and have reproductive
freedom in constitution awoman's right to choose and have
reproductive freedom.
(30:29):
So if you are pro-choice, youwould vote for the
constitutional amendment.
If you are pro-life, you wouldvote against the constitutional
amendment.
And because of Roe v Wade andwhat's going on, many states
that are around us that have putin restrictive abortion laws
and procedures and all theseother restrictions that they
(30:53):
have placed on women, a lot ofwomen are coming to Maryland to
be able to either safely have anabortion and or safely, you
know deal with complications oftheir pregnancy.
So again, if you're pro-choice,you vote for the constitutional
(31:14):
amendment.
It enshrines Roe v Wade intothe Maryland Constitution.
If you're against it, it is.
If you're pro-life, you'reagainst it.
And I'm going to make anotherstatement as a Christian woman,
(31:40):
because for me, being pro-choiceit just means that you have a
choice and you can have a choice, and that choice could be that
you decide to keep the child.
So, again, let the woman andher doctor and her spouse or
significant other make the bestmedical decision for them.
(32:02):
So you know, I hate the factthat you know people will say
that if you're pro-choice,you're pro-abortion.
No, you just want to make thebest medical decision that you
can with your medicalprofessionals, and so let's give
women those rights to makethose professional medical
(32:24):
decision.
And, as we you may have heardor may or may not know, african
American women have a highermortality rate.
When it comes to ourpregnancies, whether it's
preeclampsia, whether, you know,it's all kinds of complications
, we seem to have more and wewant the woman to be able to
(32:47):
survive the pregnancy.
And there's a whole slew ofbills we call it the Mom-Nuppers
Act in fact, and we arechampioning that bill in our
sorority because it's, I think,13 bills total package that
gives not only funding andresearch but just gives women
(33:12):
the opportunity to have asuccessful pregnancy.
So I'll stop on that.
But anyway, that's question one.
Now the next several questions,a through F, are specific to
Prince George's County becausethey are bond bills, with the
exception of question the lastone, question F.
(33:34):
So if you're not a resident ofPrince George's County, this
won't necessarily apply to you.
But what I will say is what arebond bills?
So bond bills are items thatare on our ballot, that our
(33:56):
local county has said we haveidentified several
infrastructure projects.
These are all capitalimprovement projects.
They are projects to eitherbuild new schools, build new
school buildings, new roads, newstreets, renovate some
buildings, all those greatthings that we use every day.
(34:17):
So, whether it's a library,whether it's a school, whether
it's the public administration,building the new one in Largo,
the old one in Upper Marlboro,all of those things.
So this is where we have anopportunity to vote on bills,
(34:39):
because what's happening withthose bills?
They are going to Wall Streetand saying, hey, these are the
list of projects that we havethat we want to build, and can
you, wall Street, loan us thismoney and we'll pay it back with
interest, which is why it's soimportant for Prince George's
County to maintain its AAA bondrating, because you get the
(35:00):
lowest interest rate.
And we had last week the DeputyDirector of the Office of
Management and Budget, ms AmberHendricks, to give her
presentation on the bond bills,and so she indicated that the
county, of course, still has itsAAA bond rating, which
generally means we're atsomewhere between 4% and 6,
(35:22):
depending on when we vote onthese bond bills and actually
apply for the actual funds inWall Street and sell the bonds.
And so we're somewhere betweenfour and six percent and having
to pay them back, and the bondbills generally are for like a
six year project.
Sometimes they drag on and someprojects dragged on because of
(35:47):
COVID and so we have, butthey're mostly financing about
six to six, between six andeight years and sometimes longer
.
So the first bond bill questionA we have is for county
buildings and the county wantsto seek money in the tune of
(36:11):
$96,720,000 to finance countybuildings one.
The buildings that we'reseeking to either build new
facilities or renovatefacilities are really for the
people that need it the most ourhomeless, unhoused and persons
(36:35):
who are victim of domesticviolence.
So I'll read those projects.
They are the Prince George'sCounty Homeless Shelter, the
Shepard's Cove Family Center,the Domestic Violence and Human
Trafficking Shelter, the WarmNights Homeless Shelter, and
then there are a few otherhealth facility renovations as
(36:56):
well as the county buildingrenovation, and that's the
building that is in UpperMarlboro across from the
courthouse.
That building, as you know, thecounty council and all of its
office and staff, along with, Ibelieve, all of office of
management and budget, becauseyou used to go to that building
to pay your taxes, your propertytaxes, and a few other offices
(37:21):
are now all in the new WayneCurry building, municipal
building in Largo, and one ofthe reasons for moving there is
within walking distance from ametro.
Many people complained that theydidn't have access to the
county building in UpperMarlboro because there's no
public transportation there andthe bus system that does cover
(37:43):
Upper Marlboro, the town ofUpper Marlboro.
There's no connectivity betweenthe bus system, maybe in the
northern part of the county orthe central part of the county
or even the southern part of thecounty to get you to Upper
Marlboro without it taking, youknow, seven, eight hours or
whatever Some secure route youwould have to take.
(38:06):
So they're going to be doingsome renovations there.
I'm not certain who they willhouse there.
I think the board of election,the school board, I'm sorry,
would be a good place to put inthat old county building and
then move everyone out of theold Sasser building.
But it remains to be seen ifthat's going to be done.
(38:26):
But I am super excited that allof these shelters the homeless
shelter, the family shelter, thedomestic violence shelter, the
warm night shelter all proposedto be renovated and we're asking
to borrow money from ourmunicipal bonds for those
(38:47):
purposes.
So I am voting yes on questionA.
Question B deals with ourlibrary facilities and in the
southern part of the county wehave some great libraries.
They first renovated the OxonHill Library and they're
actually still doing a littlebit more work there, from what
(39:08):
I've heard.
I haven't been there in a whilebut I think there may be some
other work that they're going tobe doing there.
But we got the brand newAgakeek Library.
I guess it's not even brand newanymore, it's probably about
seven, between seven and 10years old now, but it's still,
you know, pristine, looks verygood.
And then finally, finally,finally, after several years of
(39:32):
construction, we have ourSurratt's Clinton Library in
Clinton, maryland, open.
So I'm really pleased aboutthat.
The bond bill for question B isto.
The county wants $17,284,000 tofinance library facilities and
the libraries they've identifiedare Hillcrest Heights branch,
(39:58):
which right now is the librarythat's down from Iverson Mall,
if you know where that is inTemple Hills.
They will be doing an actualreplacement of that library.
Now I don't know if they'regoing to keep it at the same
site or if they're going to finda new site.
She was not.
Ms Hendricks was not certainabout that.
The other one is the LangleyPark branch and then they want
(40:23):
to also do some branchrenovations at other libraries,
but they were not identified.
It's just that Library BranchRenovations 2, but the one that
will be replaced will be theHillcrest Heights and I'm sure
that community will be elated toget a new facility.
So I'm voting yes on question B, as a person who loves books
(40:47):
and is about to celebrate what33 years of my book club Love,
love, love libraries.
So supporting question B.
Question C is the bond issue forthe community college.
Now, if you have not been inLargo and been by the community
college in a while, just take adrive by.
(41:09):
It is amazing.
They've got a new culinarycenter which I've been able to
use.
They also have a new black boxtheater which I've been in and
again have been able to use, andthere's a lot of renovations
going on around there.
So I was a little surprised,actually, because I thought they
(41:29):
were almost through, butapparently not.
The county will be seekingbonds in the amount of
$194,380,000.
I mean $194,380,000 forrenovations at the community
(41:57):
college and the improvements aregoing to be to renovate
Marlboro Hall, bladen Hall andChesapeake Hall.
Those are the three halls thatwill be renovated.
Chesapeake will also have a newaddition to it.
They're also going to renovatethe Student Center.
It is now named after the lastand very long-serving president
of the college, ms Charlene, drI should say Dr Charlene Dukes.
(42:20):
They want to renovate that andthere are going to be some other
college improvements.
But what I'm really excitedabout is that they're planning
to construct a southern regioncampus.
Send our students at the highschool level and freshly
(42:51):
graduated high school level to asouthern region campus as well.
So that will be very helpfulAgain, because sometimes
transportation getting to thatpart of Largo is not necessarily
accessible as well.
So, excited about the openingof the Southern Region Campus.
So I'm voting yes on question C.
Moving on to question D Now,you heard me at the top of the
(43:18):
episode to say that I'm callingthis episode the trick or treat.
That I'm calling this episodethe trick or treat, and so the
treat is is that we got somegood information from the Office
of Management and Budget onthese bond bills.
But there was one trick and I'mgoing to go into it.
If you read my email, youalready know about it, but if
(43:39):
you're listening for the firsttime, the public works and
transportation, of course.
Now that goes for facilitiesfor our roads, our bridges, all
of the infrastructure work wherewe have cars and people moving
and transit.
And so the county wants to use$311,873,000 in bonds to do the
(44:10):
following projects Trafficlights and traffic signals,
bridge repair and replacement,curb and roll rehabilitation,
transportation enhancement,street tree removal and
replacement, transit-orienteddevelopment and infrastructure,
pedestrian safety improvements,bridge rehabilitation, federal
(44:34):
aid planning and siteacquisition.
And then the last thing whichreally caught me by surprise,
and this is why I was like isthis a trick on Prince George's
County?
It includes the FBIheadquarters infrastructure
improvements.
Now, you know, we've beenfighting with Virginia,
(44:55):
commonwealth of Virginia, to tryto get the FBI here and
fighting, fighting, fighting, wefinally got awarded the award
for the FBI to be billed inPrince George's County and then,
lo and behold, they tricked usand told us that we got to
provide the infrastructureimprovements.
Now, I won't say they trickedus.
(45:15):
What I will say is thatapparently, and according to Ms
Hendricks, as part of thebidding process, there were
certain infrastructureimprovements to the roadway to
have security for the FBIbuilding, which makes sense.
Again, I totally, totallyunderstand it.
I just think that those moniesshould be used from our federal
(45:37):
tax dollars and not an extramoney that's coming from Prince
George's County taxpayers tohave to go to Wall Street to get
cell bonds and to pay back withinterest on the backs of Prince
George's residents.
So I was a little upset when Isaw that.
Again, I totally understand it.
(46:00):
I'm not going to cut off my noseto spite my face and not vote
against Question D because wedesperately, so desperately need
all the money that we can giveto the Department of Public
Works.
They're doing a great job withthe resources that they have and
with the staff that they have.
And you know the county is abig county and we have a lot of
(46:23):
county roads, we have a lot ofaging infrastructure that has to
be repaired and we need as muchmoney as possible.
So I'm not going to say, youknow, because the FBI
headquarters infrastructureimprovements are in this, I'm
going to vote against this bill,this bond bill, because you
(46:43):
know there's so many otherthings, this bond bill because
you know there's so many otherthings I've read, you know, the
street lights, the bridge repair, the curb and road
rehabilitation, the pedestriansafety improvements.
You know so many pedestrians aredying.
Unfortunately we have thehighest fatalities in the state
of automobile crashes as well aspedestrian deaths in our county
(47:09):
.
So we need these infrastructureimprovements to try to help
improve our safety, but we alsoneed to and I have to put in a
shameless plug.
We also have to crack down ondistracted drivers, speeders,
all those other persons who arecausing these horrific crashes
(47:34):
and fatalities, particularlywith our pedestrians but even
with others.
Hope is is that the fundingthat we get will help alleviate
some of that problem and get usto that quote-unquote vision
zero of no fatalities, trafficfatalities with pedestrians and
cars.
(47:54):
But I don't want to digress onthat.
So let's support and vote yesfor the referendum on question D
.
So anyway, so that was thelittle trick that kind of caught
me off guard about having touse our FBI, go to Wall Street
(48:19):
to get a bond for the FBIinfrastructure improvements,
bond for the FBI infrastructureimprovements.
But nevertheless let's keepmoving.
But I'm assuming and hopingthat that's just for a county
road to get access, and thenanything above and beyond that
it has to be, in my opinion,paid for by the federal
government and our tax dollarsthat we pay there.
(48:43):
So the next question is questionE issuance of public safety
facility bonds.
Now the county is asking to goto Wall Street and ask for
$40,205,000 to finance publicsafety facilities, and these
(49:08):
include fire departmentfacilities.
So the facilities named in theprojects are the District 6
Police Station, the SpecialOperations Division Facility,
the Police Station Renovation itdoesn't say which police
station, but some police stationrenovations the Laurel Fire and
EMS Station, the Oxon Hill Fireand EMS Station and I'll come
(49:28):
back to that one the firestation renovations again, those
are not specified the detentioncenter, housing renovations,
the central control slash,administrative Wing expansion
and then the CommunityCorrections Complex.
So those are all of thebuildings that will be either
(49:53):
renovated or built new.
The Oxon Hills Fire Station hasbeen promised to the community
of Oxon Hill for years now.
I think we're probably going onabout seven or eight years
because we have the Oxon HillVolunteer Fire Department that
has been serving the Oxon Hillcommunity.
(50:13):
However, as you know, we havebuilt all of National Harbor,
the MGM and Tanger Outlets.
Just the calls for service forthose areas by themselves
probably almost needs adedicated fire station, but we
(50:34):
definitely need to get that.
Every time I see Chief Green Iask her about the status of that
fire station and it's one delayafter another.
First it was funding.
And then there were some otherhiccups, and I think the other
hiccups actually have to do withstaffing, which I'll kind of
talk about.
But the Oxneal Fire Station isproposed to be built behind
(50:56):
Harborside Hotel.
There is some, there's a lot.
There's a plot of grass afterthe park, the other side of
Topgolf, there's a plot of landbetween Oxon Hill High School,
the Topgolf parking lot, rightbehind Harborside Hotel, where
(51:16):
the fire station is supposed tobe built, and that will give it
close proximity to this side, Iguess, if you will, of not
really 210, but let's see I getmy directions correct where the
(51:39):
Oxon Hill Volunteer Fire Stationis on.
Yeah, it's on the other side of210.
Right across from Oxon HillElementary School and down from,
I think that's, st PalumboElementary, I mean Catholic
(52:00):
church and school.
So that station services all ofOxon Hill and so they have a
lot of calls for service thatgoes further, further down Oxon
Hill Road, down past the library, all of that area, some of the
(52:22):
service area that almost takesit into the Fort Washington area
.
So they have a huge servicearea.
So there's really a need for aprofessional and again, that's a
volunteer station.
They have professional staffthere, I'm sure, but it's still
a volunteer station.
We are, I'm sure, now.
We were at the 2020 census.
Prince George's County was at.
(52:42):
You know, 900,000 somethingresidents in Prince George's
County Four years later.
You can tell just by thetraffic that we have.
Now.
I'm sure we're at a million.
People now continue to serveour community with just hybrid
(53:04):
volunteer fire departments,hybrid professional fire
departments.
We need more professional firedepartments.
The problem that we have rightnow is staffing.
So you may have heard, justlike our police stations are
understaffed, we have somesevere staffing levels in the
(53:29):
fire department as well.
You know where fireprofessionals have been moved
from one station to another.
The communities that it's beentaken from are up in arms.
I believe they even filed alawsuit, and you know.
(53:50):
So we just really need torecruit people.
Ms Hendricks and I also heardthe county chair confirmed this
that there's money in the budgetto hire 150 new fire and EMS
employees and I'm really hopingthat that will help and we can,
(54:12):
you know, close that gap and getthe new station built and open
in the Oxon Hill area, becauseit's sorely needed, and Hill
area because it's sorely needed.
We live in a very competitiveand expensive district.
When we talk about the DMV, thedistrict, maryland and Virginia
(54:33):
you've got we're competingagainst Fairfax County, we're
competing against DC and you'recompeting against Montgomery
County, all of who have way morecommercial tax base as well as
higher the one percenters,higher income people who pay
higher property taxes, and theypay higher income taxes as well,
so they can offer theirteachers, their firefighters,
(54:57):
their police officers a lot moremoney starting salary than we
can in Prince George's County.
So we have to kind of think alittle bit more critically.
Maybe having some additionalhousing options I know they've
done some tax credits forfirst-time homebuyers, for our
teachers and our firefightersMaybe we need to some of these
homes that we're building, maybethey need to be dedicated to
(55:19):
our service employees, whetherit's again the teachers, the
nurses, the firemen and all ofthose.
So we have to be able tocompete with them.
But you know it's going to behard to fill those 150 slots and
I'm hoping that we'll be ableto do that.
But that's just an aside.
(55:42):
In terms of the bond issue, Iam supporting building those new
facilities and renovating thefacilities we have for public
safety.
Now the last question, questionF and I'm glad Ms Amber was
there to Ms Hendricks, I shouldsay, was there to speak on this
issue because she said well, Iwant to speak on this because I
(56:04):
have to draft these resolutionsall the time.
Question F has to do with andI'm going to read it first in
your hearing to provide that,during any fiscal year, no
agency of county government mayexceed the number of positions
for that agency as approved inthe operating budget, without
prior approval of the council.
(56:26):
Now, apparently, under theJohnson administration, when
Jack Johnson was countyexecutive, this rule was already
in place.
However, the intent behind thisrule and the reason that we
have to vote on it is because weneed to amend the charter to
(56:46):
make it a little bit morespecific, and it's still not as
specific as I think it should be, because what the real intent
behind it is is not only so Say,for example, the Department of
Public Works has a hundred for100 employees.
They shouldn't have 101employees.
(57:06):
That means that they'veexceeded their budget, they're
operating outside of theiroperating budget but, more
importantly, this bill and thereason that this question is on
the ballot it has to do withpromotions within an office, so
say, in the Department of PublicWorks.
You know most people that arelistening, probably either they
(57:28):
work for the federal governmentor they know someone that works
for the federal government, sothey know about these GS levels
GS 7, 8, 9, 13,.
Ses, senior Executive Serviceso you get promoted by levels
and so they are aware of that.
The same thing happens at thelocal level in Prince George's
(57:49):
County.
So the purpose of this bill isto be able to allow the
departments to promote withintheir departments and provide
promotions, but still yet notexceed the county their
operating budget.
So maybe someone you knowstarted as and I don't know
(58:12):
those numbers in Prince George'sCounty, but I'm going to use
the federal numbers they startedas a GS-7, and they're being.
After a couple of years they'regoing to be promoted to a 9 or
10 or whatever.
And the purpose of this bondbill is to make sure that the
(58:33):
funding for those sources staywithin that operating budget.
And if it exceeds it then youhave to go to the county council
for approval.
And the basic thing that MsHendricks was saying to us last
week was it's important to havethis bill so that it cuts down
(58:53):
on some of the work of heroffice in the management,
because each time they have togo for promotion.
It's a resolution.
It's changing.
It changes the dynamics of howthe budget is operates and how
the budget.
You know we want to make surethat we stay within our
operating budget.
So she highly encouraged thatwe vote for this and it'll help
(59:15):
ease her job and she did justsuch a tremendous job last week
and I definitely want to easeher job.
So those are the questions thatwe will be voting on on the
November ballot and againNovember Tuesday, november 5th
is your day to exercise yourright to vote in Maryland.
(59:36):
You can vote early.
October 24th through the 31st.
The voter registration deadlinehas actually passed.
However, maryland does allowpersons who what we call same
day voting, same dayregistration and same day voting
.
You can actually go duringearly voting, register and cast
(59:59):
a ballot.
It will be a provisional ballotbecause they still have to
verify your information.
So bring your ID.
If you're not registered butyou still want to vote, bring
your ID.
Maybe bring another bill orsomething that associates you
with the particular address sothat you can vote and go and
vote.
(01:00:19):
So you do have that opportunityin Maryland to do so If you are
want to vote by mail and youhaven't put in an application.
Yet for the vote by mail, youhave until October 29th to
submit your application.
(01:00:40):
You need to submit yourapplication in person.
If you do that, it'll be 8 pm.
If you do it online, you haveto 1159 October 29th to get your
mail to fill out an applicationto get a mail-in ballot.
Once you get a mail-in ballotyou want to make sure that you
return it and it's postmarked byNovember the 5th to be counted.
(01:01:05):
So be sure you follow all ofthose instructions.
So I hope this has been morehelpful.
People really wanted to know.
You know.
Thanks for that nonpartisaninformation, but I really want
to know how you're voting and Iwant to know why you're voting
the way you're voting.
So hopefully that's beeninstructional and I encourage
everybody to go and vote.
(01:01:26):
Take four or more to the polls.
That's our little slogan withinour sorority.
We're taking four or more tothe polls and please, please,
please take somebody.
Have a plan, you know.
Be prepared for long lines, beprepared for whatever.
So if you need your medication,you need a light lunch, you
need a chair, you need whatever.
You think you need be preparedto go and vote and I encourage
(01:01:52):
you to vote early.
Do an early voting so you canavoid the long lines.
And that's it for this episode,the Trick or Treat episode.
I hope you're enjoying the fallweather.
Had a great weekend thisweekend with our homecomings.
I don't know the outcome of theBowie State, the AA Bowie alum,
(01:02:13):
so somebody can tell me that,but I know Maryland beat my
daughter's USC Trojans onyesterday and I know that was
exciting, and beating mydaughter's USC Trojans on
yesterday and I know that wasexciting and unfortunately I was
on the yard at Howard as aHoward Law alum and Tennessee
State came in and cleaned houseand beat us and I think the
(01:02:33):
final score was like 36 to 14 orsomething like that.
But anyway, it was a greatweekend.
Enjoy the weekend, enjoy thefall weather but, more more
importantly, get yourself readyto vote.
Thanks for listening to all.
(01:03:02):
Politics is local with me.
Your host, tamra davis brown,you.
Welcome back to another episode of All Politics
is Local, the Maryland edition.
With me, your host, tamaraDavis-Brown.
I'm titling this episode as theTrick or Treat episode.
We're going to be discussingthe general election ballot that
(00:27):
is coming up.
On November 5th.
We are having, as everyoneknows, the nationwide elections
for our president, our senators,our US House of Representatives
and a few local races as well,and in Prince George's County
(00:50):
and probably across the nation,there will be some ballot
questions and this past Thursday, my chapter of Alpha Kappa
Alpha Sorority, which is UpsilonTau Omega, alpha Kappa Alpha
Sorority, which is Upsilon TauOmega, also known sometimes as
the Fort Washington Chapter,held its election preparedness
(01:12):
seminar where we really focusedon the ballot issues.
It was a great turnout, fullhouse, and we received a lot of
information.
I know many people could notcome, so the purpose of this
episode is to provide someinformation about the ballot
that you did not get to hear.
(01:33):
I did send out some nonpartisantype information, but a lot of
people, including a couple of mysororities this, was like, yeah
, that's real good, but I reallywant to hear how you're voting.
Including a couple of mysorority sisters was like, yeah,
that's real good, but I reallywant to hear how you're voting,
and so I appreciate yourconfidence in me and your
confidence in my judgment interms of decision making when it
comes to the ballot box.
(01:54):
So I will warn listeners ifthis is your first time
listening, or if you're notnecessarily a registered
Democrat, or if you're notnecessarily a registered
(02:26):
Democrat, this may not be theepisode for you.
Of the presidential candidates,we have some judges that are in
common, regardless of where youlive, and of course, we have the
US Senator race, the US Senaterace.
That's also in common.
And then question one is forall Marylanders.
(02:47):
So the way that the ballots areprinted, you have your
presidential races, us Senateraces, your Congress races, then
your judges.
The first set of judges thatI'm going to be speaking on are
specific to Prince George'sCounty, so your judges may be
different if you live outside ofPrince George's County.
That's for the circuit court.
(03:07):
Then the second set of judgeswill be on every ballot for all
mail-in-ders, and then I'll jumpto a special election here in
Prince George's County.
That only applies to PrinceGeorge's.
And then question one, which isa question that is on
(03:27):
everyone's ballot in the stateof Maryland.
After that you can jump offbecause the rest of it will be
particular and specifically forPrince George's County.
So I'm sure everyone that'slistening already knows this
information, but I'm just goingto give it by way of general
(03:50):
information and background.
Of course, our general electionwill be held on Tuesday,
november 5th, from 7 am.
Polls close at 8 pm.
Polls close at 8 pm and if youwant to early vote in the state
of Maryland, you can do sobetween October 24th through
(04:11):
October 31st, also same time, 7am to 8 pm.
So early voting in Marylandstarts next week, next Thursday,
and I just wanted to put in aplug here.
Some of the information forPrince George's County early
voting locations did not includea location in Akaquique,
(04:32):
maryland, and that has beenchanged.
Normally you have early votingeither at the Akaquique Fire
Volunteer Fire Department andsometimes at Agakeek Academy,
but this general election theLife Covenant Ministries yes,
(04:57):
Life Covenant ChristianMinistries in Agakeek, maryland,
and that is Pastor Ron andCharlita Bragg.
Their church is located at15522 Livingston Road in Aga Kik
, maryland.
It's the church that's rightbeside the water tower.
So if you've ever driven downLivingston Road between getting
(05:20):
to the Wise Shopping Center pastthe library, between getting to
the Wise Shopping Center, pastthe library and coming up
towards where I usually have myshred events, at the dental
office.
There's a church right there,depending on the left or right,
depending on which directionyou're traveling from but it's
(05:43):
again the church right next tothe water tower, and I did drive
by there yesterday and noticedthat they had a drop box already
in the parking lot.
So they are accepting mail-inballots if you want to.
That's a location where youcould drop your mail-in ballots
if you live in the communitycity of Akaquik or community of
Akaquik, if your address isAkaquique, maryland, 20607.
(06:06):
That's your early votinglocation.
So just wanted to point thatout.
Let's jump right on into theballot for the state of Maryland
, specifically Prince George'sCounty.
Like I said, the first we willbe voting for is President and
Vice President of the UnitedStates.
You have your Democraticcandidates, republican
(06:29):
candidates, and then there arealso three other candidates one
for the Libertarian Party, onefor the Green Party and then one
of unaffiliated.
The unaffiliated candidateactually dropped out and
endorsed the Republicancandidate.
So if you decide to vote forthat person, even though they're
(06:50):
on the ballot, I'm not surewhat they're going to do with
that name.
By the time he wanted to dropoff, it was too late to remove
the name for the ballot, becausethese ballots have to be
printed in several languages,they have to be distributed and
you know it's just.
There's a lot of prep work toget this done up and get these
(07:14):
out, especially when you havemail-in ballots.
So there's a deadline to removeyour name from the ballot as
well.
So of course, I, as I said atthe top of the episode, this is
a partisan episode and I am aregistered Democrat, so I am
voting for all Democrats up anddown the ballot and I encourage
(07:38):
all other registered Democratsto do the same, registered
Democrats to do the same.
And the reason that I'm beingvery partisan about it is
because I do believe ourdemocracy is very fragile and
our democracy is on the ballot.
Every election.
You hear oh, this is the mostimportant election in your
(08:00):
lifetime.
This is the most important.
This is the most important.
Yes, this is the most important, because we know what a second
term of a Trump presidency wouldlook like.
I believe everything that hesays when he says he wants to be
a dictator, he wants to use themilitary to fight the
(08:25):
quote-unquote enemy within.
He wants to weaponize theDepartment of Justice, to go
after his political opponentsand everything that sounds
dictator, dictatorial, dictator,dictatorial.
(08:50):
That's what's spewing out ofhis mouth right now, and I just
believe that our foundingfathers are rolling over in
their graves because they leftEngland because they didn't want
to be under the rulership of aking.
They didn't want a king, theywanted democracy.
They wanted different powers,separation of powers, of
government.
They wanted an executive branch, a powers and authority and
absolute immunity, almost.
And so it really it's a reallyawakening time and I hope that
(09:40):
people take this electionseriously and come out to vote.
So if you know people that are,you know, waffling about
whether or not they want to vote, please go pick them up, take
them to the polls and have themto vote and hopefully convince
them to vote for the Democraticcandidates.
So that's all I'll say aboutthat.
(10:04):
So, vice President and President, I am voting for Kamala Harris
and Tim Walz as the Presidentand Vice President of the United
States, and Larry Hogan.
Now I watched a debate I guessthat was not last week but week
(10:27):
before last between Angela alsoBrooks and Larry Hogan, and I
thought Angela did a very goodjob.
And I do want to speak to allMarylanders because we not me
(10:49):
personally, but the state hasvoted him in twice for two terms
as governor and he actuallyleft his governorship with a
very high favorable rating,apparently.
But I wanted to make sure thatpeople know that the success of
Governor Hogan was not becausehe was an independent and
because he spoke out againstTrump and didn't lash onto that
(11:11):
bandwagon.
The success that Governor Hoganhad in Maryland was because of
a Democratic state legislature.
The Democrats have the majorityin both the Senate and the
House and there were many billsthat were passed that have been
helpful to residents of Maryland, but it was because they
(11:34):
overrode Governor Hogan's vetoand they've overridden many,
many bills that the governoreither vetoed or he allowed to
go into law without signing them.
(11:57):
The state, and particularly theHigher Education Commission and
just the state in general fornot properly funding our HBCUs,
specifically Morgan State, bowieState University, the
(12:19):
University of Maryland, easternShore and Coppin State
University all of the four HBCUshere in Maryland and the
lawsuit predated the governor atthe time.
However, he waited untilbasically his last, almost his
(12:40):
last year Well, definitely hislast term.
I can't remember if it was hislast year of his last term or
the year prior to his last term,last year in office, before
signing legislation, to finallysettle that lawsuit and get
funding to equity funding to theHBCUs and particularly Morgan
(13:02):
State, because Morgan had someprograms that no other
university state university Ishould say had and basically
(13:27):
what the state did was defundthose programs, duplicated them
at University of Maryland,college Park Campus or at Towson
or at one of the other stateuniversities, and so there was a
discrimination suit filed byMorgan State and then the other
HBCUs also joined in.
But my point is is thatGovernor Hogan was never
interested in settling that case.
Hogan was never interested insettling that case.
More importantly, he was neverinterested in actually funding
(13:49):
the lawsuit.
They had the universities, theHBCUs had won the lawsuit, they
had been given a specific dollaramount, verdict by the court,
awarded a particular verdict,verdict, and despite all of that
(14:11):
, the governor's office neverput the money in the budget to
settle this lawsuit.
So again, governor Hogan can sayone thing about his being
independent and being a maverick, but he cannot.
His record demonstratesotherwise.
And so you've seen some of theads that Angela also Brooks
(14:33):
campaign and others who aresupporting her other packs that
are supporting her put out.
I just encourage you to do youryour research on that and you
know, as independent as GovernorHogan likes to be, he really
could have demonstrated thateven more to Maryland voters by
running as an independent.
(14:54):
Nevertheless, he decided to runas a Republican, and Ms Also
Brooks is correct he wasrecruited by Mitch McConnell,
the minority leader of the USSenate, and they are trying to
take over the Senate majorityand be able to continue to do
(15:14):
some of the politicalmaneuverings that they've done,
especially with the SupremeCourt.
You guys may remember whenPresident Obama had an
opportunity during an electionyear to appoint a Supreme Court
justice, mitch McConnell closedthat door and that opportunity
and Merrick Garland I cannot saythis guy's name, he's our US
(15:41):
Attorney General now Garland I'mmessing up his first name right
now Merrick Garland.
In any event, he deniedPresident Obama's pick at the
time to be on the Supreme Court.
However, when Trump was inoffice and president and there
(16:03):
became an opening to, in fact,one, also during an election
year, one during the time earlyvoting in some states had
already started, mitch McConnellallowed those two and that
particularly that one, AmyCohn-McBarritt to go through and
(16:23):
, as a result, we've seen someof the disastrous cases that
have come out of the SupremeCourt.
Now that it has a majority thatis on the right.
They have denied basic civilrights applications and
discrimination cases.
The reason that we've had anexecution in I believe that's
(16:46):
Kentucky.
They did not stay the executioneven though the prosecutor said
the evidence was wrong.
The case shouldn't have beenbrought.
All this other family, even thevictim's family, had pleaded
saying you know, stay theexecution.
The Supreme Court did not staythe execution and so we had
(17:07):
those cases.
Of course, we had the overturnof Roe v Wade.
When I say all politics is localand what's happening at the
federal level does trickle downto the state level and
individual levels.
So I just encourage you to notlisten to the rhetoric that
(17:28):
Hogan is spewing about beingindependent, about supporting a
woman's right to choose, when hedid not do so as governor and I
don't believe he'll do so asSenate.
But the telltale sign for me isthat he could have changed his
registration, voter registration, to independent instead and run
(17:51):
for this office instead ofrunning as a Republican
candidate.
So that tells you a lot and youfollow the money.
The Republican Party isthrowing a lot of money in these
campaigns.
The last couple of mailers thatI've gotten against Angela has
been paid for by some PAC, someRepublican PAC.
So, anyway, I'm encouragingeveryone.
(18:14):
I am voting for Angela also,brooks, as our Senate.
I'm looking at the long game,the long term.
You got to look at the biggerpicture.
Sometimes In Congress, dependingon where you live, you have two
representatives of theCongressional District 4, which
is where I live now as ofredistricting from the 2020
(18:37):
census, or you are inCongressional District 5.
The Democratic candidates areon your ballot Glenn Ivey and
Steny Hoyer.
So the next races.
So if you're a Marylander andnot in Prince George's County,
this will not apply to you, butif you're in Prince George's
(18:58):
County, it will.
And this is for the circuitcourt judges races.
You are, you're to vote up forfour, and they are five, and the
four Democratic candidates areDarren Sebastian Johnson, denise
Linnese, roll Cherie NicoleSimpson and Donnell Wilford
(19:25):
Turner.
So those are the four judgesthat I am voting for.
Mr Michael Sheehan is aRepublican, so we are not voting
for Mr Sheehan, and I will saythat in the state of Maryland
Maryland actually the judgesraces are actually partisan
races.
Judges races are actuallypartisan races.
Usually, judges try to maintainor mask their partisanship
(19:50):
because they say that they're tojudge impartially, which is
true.
But you can always check to seetheir cases and see how their
judicial leanings, theirjudicial philosophies.
(20:10):
But I know that these fourpersons are registered Democrats
and Mr Sheehan is a registeredRepublican, so again I'm voting
for Darren Sebastian Johnson,denise Linnez-Roll, cherie
Nicole Simpson, lynetteLenez-Roll, cherie Nicole
Simpson and Donnell WilfordTurner.
Now the next three judges' racesshould appear on all the
(20:33):
Maryland ballots and they arewhether or not these judges are
actually already sitting on thecourt.
They've either been appointedand and well, they have been
appointed, and the question isis whether or not they should
maintain their seat on the bench.
So the first person is Annie KAlbright, and if her name does
(20:58):
not last name does not soundfamiliar, you search her.
She looks just like her mother.
She is the daughter of MadelineAlbright, our former Secretary
of State.
I am voting to yes, keep her onthe bench in the Appellate
Court of Maryland at large.
The second person is Mr Kevin FArthur is Mr Kevin F Arthur and
(21:29):
I am also voting to keep him onthe bench.
I did a little research on himand saw that he ruled in a case
down in Calvert County toreinstate a decision of the
Ethics Commission.
And in our day and time withpolitics, the way they are, and
the ethical transgressions andthen I won't even call them
(21:50):
mistakes because these are grownmen and women making
conscientious decisions toviolate ethics or to try to
appear to be in line with theletter of the law but not
abiding by the spirit of the law.
(22:10):
So you know, the Bible alsosays even the parents avoid even
the appearance of evil.
So some people might befollowing the rule by the letter
but in their heart they'reappealed.
The decision F Arthur and hesided with the commission on
(22:32):
that.
So I'm always supporting peoplewho side with ethics and
ethical.
You know persons who are, youknow, violating ethical.
(23:18):
You know rules, regulations,whatever.
So he sided right for that.
So just on that case alone I amsupporting Kevin F Arthur.
The next person is Ms Andrea MLeahy and I'm also voting to
(23:39):
have her continue in office.
There was not a lot about JudgeLeahy, but I did find something
interesting when she was anattorney for Prince George's
County.
In the Office of Law sheactually successfully argued an
appeal on downsizing of aparticular development and
(24:04):
basically the case centeredaround whether or not a
developer had already vesteddevelopment rights.
I think they said they wantedto put up like a big four-story
or more apartment complex and Iguess the planning board decided
(24:26):
against them and so she wasrepresenting the county as an
attorney in the Office of Lawand actually the case went on
appeal and she actually won thatcase as an attorney not as a
judge, but as an attorneybasically defending the county
(24:46):
in helping to downsize a bigapartment complex for a
particular zone or area andbasically it set precedent
though that on what is vestedrights in developments, so you
don't need to know all thosedetails.
Vested rights in developments,so you don't need to know all
(25:07):
those details.
But I just thought that doingthat research, even though she
was working for the county andshe had to represent the county,
so she had to be on the rightside of things.
But so many times you hear mecomplain about development.
So this is one case in one areawhere developers did not get
their way and the county won,and it was good for the people
because it set precedent on whatdevelopment rights, how they
(25:31):
are vested.
So I'm voting for to yes tokeep Miss Andrea Leahy on the
bench.
So the next two races that I'mgoing to talk about are specific
to Prince George's County.
We have some open PrinceGeorge's County Board of
(25:59):
Education or school board seatsor school board seats, and I
don't know how many, but Ireally have not done a lot of
research on the candidates,primarily because my district
does not have a candidate thatis running.
They're staggered Each districtis kind of staggered in
(26:22):
elections so some will beelected in the gubernatorial
election while others are beingelected in the presidential
election.
What I do know is at least twocandidates I believe one
candidate in District 8 andanother candidate who's already,
I believe, on the school boardare teachers and they are
(26:42):
running for office to be on theschool board, and I do highly
support teachers because theybring a perspective to the
school board that no otherperson can have.
They're in the classrooms, theysee the students' needs, they
see the needs that they have aseducators, they see how
(27:07):
interaction with officemanagement in terms of principal
and then office management interms of administration and how
it impacts them daily as they dotheir job, they do their job,
(27:30):
and so I do think that it's goodif there is a candidate that is
running for school board inyour district in Prince George's
County.
If they are a teacher, they areworth a second look and even
worth a vote, because they bringa perspective that is very
different from careerpoliticians that use the school
board to for to step up and goto another office, have no
interest, sometimes, don't havechildren in the school system or
even if they do, they're notvery active and involved.
(27:54):
They're just using this as astepping stool a stepping stone
if you will to the next seat inhigher office, if you will to
the next seat in higher office.
So pay particular attention tothe person's bio and whether or
not they are schoolteachers,because I do think that we need
more schoolteachers on theschool board to bring that
(28:18):
perspective that they have Allright.
And then there was the specialelection for county council at
large.
Now you guys know, if youlisten to my podcast, that I
actually ran for the countycouncil at large position.
In the primary, which was backin August, I lost to the council
chair, jolene Ivey, so she isthe Democratic nominee and Mr
(28:42):
Michael Riker is the Republicannominee is the Democratic
nominee and Mr Michael Riker isthe Republican nominee.
Now I said I was voting for allDemocratic candidates.
But I am being petty pattytoday and anytime I run for an
office and I lose and don't win,don't move on to the general
(29:02):
election, I always write my namein so you can call me Petty
Patty, you could send emails,you can call and text, you can
laugh and whatever.
I don't care, I will take itevery day.
So this is one instance whereI'm not voting for the
Democratic candidate, but I'mwriting myself in.
So, yes, petty Patty is hereand writing herself in for the
(29:26):
at-large seat for generalelection and I will keep moving.
The next item that we're goingto be voting on on our ballot is
question one.
Again, this affects allMarylanders and so this question
actually deals with what I saidat the forum last week.
(29:46):
It deals with Roe v Wade.
I didn't get into the detailsof how to vote on this again
because we were Alpha Kappa.
Alpha is a nonpartisanorganization and I didn't want
to get into the details andsound too partisan.
But this is my podcast and Ican be as partisan as I want,
just like I can be as petty as Iwant and ask you to write my
(30:09):
name in for the special electionat the at large.
But question one basicallyenshrines in the Maryland
Constitution a woman's right tochoose and have reproductive
freedom in constitution awoman's right to choose and have
reproductive freedom.
(30:29):
So if you are pro-choice, youwould vote for the
constitutional amendment.
If you are pro-life, you wouldvote against the constitutional
amendment.
And because of Roe v Wade andwhat's going on, many states
that are around us that have putin restrictive abortion laws
and procedures and all theseother restrictions that they
(30:53):
have placed on women, a lot ofwomen are coming to Maryland to
be able to either safely have anabortion and or safely, you
know deal with complications oftheir pregnancy.
So again, if you're pro-choice,you vote for the constitutional
(31:14):
amendment.
It enshrines Roe v Wade intothe Maryland Constitution.
If you're against it, it is.
If you're pro-life, you'reagainst it.
And I'm going to make anotherstatement as a Christian woman,
(31:40):
because for me, being pro-choiceit just means that you have a
choice and you can have a choice, and that choice could be that
you decide to keep the child.
So, again, let the woman andher doctor and her spouse or
significant other make the bestmedical decision for them.
(32:02):
So you know, I hate the factthat you know people will say
that if you're pro-choice,you're pro-abortion.
No, you just want to make thebest medical decision that you
can with your medicalprofessionals, and so let's give
women those rights to makethose professional medical
(32:24):
decision.
And, as we you may have heardor may or may not know, african
American women have a highermortality rate.
When it comes to ourpregnancies, whether it's
preeclampsia, whether, you know,it's all kinds of complications
, we seem to have more and wewant the woman to be able to
(32:47):
survive the pregnancy.
And there's a whole slew ofbills we call it the Mom-Nuppers
Act in fact, and we arechampioning that bill in our
sorority because it's, I think,13 bills total package that
gives not only funding andresearch but just gives women
(33:12):
the opportunity to have asuccessful pregnancy.
So I'll stop on that.
But anyway, that's question one.
Now the next several questions,a through F, are specific to
Prince George's County becausethey are bond bills, with the
exception of question the lastone, question F.
(33:34):
So if you're not a resident ofPrince George's County, this
won't necessarily apply to you.
But what I will say is what arebond bills?
So bond bills are items thatare on our ballot, that our
(33:56):
local county has said we haveidentified several
infrastructure projects.
These are all capitalimprovement projects.
They are projects to eitherbuild new schools, build new
school buildings, new roads, newstreets, renovate some
buildings, all those greatthings that we use every day.
(34:17):
So, whether it's a library,whether it's a school, whether
it's the public administration,building the new one in Largo,
the old one in Upper Marlboro,all of those things.
So this is where we have anopportunity to vote on bills,
(34:39):
because what's happening withthose bills?
They are going to Wall Streetand saying, hey, these are the
list of projects that we havethat we want to build, and can
you, wall Street, loan us thismoney and we'll pay it back with
interest, which is why it's soimportant for Prince George's
County to maintain its AAA bondrating, because you get the
(35:00):
lowest interest rate.
And we had last week the DeputyDirector of the Office of
Management and Budget, ms AmberHendricks, to give her
presentation on the bond bills,and so she indicated that the
county, of course, still has itsAAA bond rating, which
generally means we're atsomewhere between 4% and 6,
(35:22):
depending on when we vote onthese bond bills and actually
apply for the actual funds inWall Street and sell the bonds.
And so we're somewhere betweenfour and six percent and having
to pay them back, and the bondbills generally are for like a
six year project.
Sometimes they drag on and someprojects dragged on because of
(35:47):
COVID and so we have, butthey're mostly financing about
six to six, between six andeight years and sometimes longer
.
So the first bond bill questionA we have is for county
buildings and the county wantsto seek money in the tune of
(36:11):
$96,720,000 to finance countybuildings one.
The buildings that we'reseeking to either build new
facilities or renovatefacilities are really for the
people that need it the most ourhomeless, unhoused and persons
(36:35):
who are victim of domesticviolence.
So I'll read those projects.
They are the Prince George'sCounty Homeless Shelter, the
Shepard's Cove Family Center,the Domestic Violence and Human
Trafficking Shelter, the WarmNights Homeless Shelter, and
then there are a few otherhealth facility renovations as
(36:56):
well as the county buildingrenovation, and that's the
building that is in UpperMarlboro across from the
courthouse.
That building, as you know, thecounty council and all of its
office and staff, along with, Ibelieve, all of office of
management and budget, becauseyou used to go to that building
to pay your taxes, your propertytaxes, and a few other offices
(37:21):
are now all in the new WayneCurry building, municipal
building in Largo, and one ofthe reasons for moving there is
within walking distance from ametro.
Many people complained that theydidn't have access to the
county building in UpperMarlboro because there's no
public transportation there andthe bus system that does cover
(37:43):
Upper Marlboro, the town ofUpper Marlboro.
There's no connectivity betweenthe bus system, maybe in the
northern part of the county orthe central part of the county
or even the southern part of thecounty to get you to Upper
Marlboro without it taking, youknow, seven, eight hours or
whatever Some secure route youwould have to take.
(38:06):
So they're going to be doingsome renovations there.
I'm not certain who they willhouse there.
I think the board of election,the school board, I'm sorry,
would be a good place to put inthat old county building and
then move everyone out of theold Sasser building.
But it remains to be seen ifthat's going to be done.
(38:26):
But I am super excited that allof these shelters the homeless
shelter, the family shelter, thedomestic violence shelter, the
warm night shelter all proposedto be renovated and we're asking
to borrow money from ourmunicipal bonds for those
(38:47):
purposes.
So I am voting yes on questionA.
Question B deals with ourlibrary facilities and in the
southern part of the county wehave some great libraries.
They first renovated the OxonHill Library and they're
actually still doing a littlebit more work there, from what
(39:08):
I've heard.
I haven't been there in a whilebut I think there may be some
other work that they're going tobe doing there.
But we got the brand newAgakeek Library.
I guess it's not even brand newanymore, it's probably about
seven, between seven and 10years old now, but it's still,
you know, pristine, looks verygood.
And then finally, finally,finally, after several years of
(39:32):
construction, we have ourSurratt's Clinton Library in
Clinton, maryland, open.
So I'm really pleased aboutthat.
The bond bill for question B isto.
The county wants $17,284,000 tofinance library facilities and
the libraries they've identifiedare Hillcrest Heights branch,
(39:58):
which right now is the librarythat's down from Iverson Mall,
if you know where that is inTemple Hills.
They will be doing an actualreplacement of that library.
Now I don't know if they'regoing to keep it at the same
site or if they're going to finda new site.
She was not.
Ms Hendricks was not certainabout that.
The other one is the LangleyPark branch and then they want
(40:23):
to also do some branchrenovations at other libraries,
but they were not identified.
It's just that Library BranchRenovations 2, but the one that
will be replaced will be theHillcrest Heights and I'm sure
that community will be elated toget a new facility.
So I'm voting yes on question B, as a person who loves books
(40:47):
and is about to celebrate what33 years of my book club Love,
love, love libraries.
So supporting question B.
Question C is the bond issue forthe community college.
Now, if you have not been inLargo and been by the community
college in a while, just take adrive by.
(41:09):
It is amazing.
They've got a new culinarycenter which I've been able to
use.
They also have a new black boxtheater which I've been in and
again have been able to use, andthere's a lot of renovations
going on around there.
So I was a little surprised,actually, because I thought they
(41:29):
were almost through, butapparently not.
The county will be seekingbonds in the amount of
$194,380,000.
I mean $194,380,000 forrenovations at the community
(41:57):
college and the improvements aregoing to be to renovate
Marlboro Hall, bladen Hall andChesapeake Hall.
Those are the three halls thatwill be renovated.
Chesapeake will also have a newaddition to it.
They're also going to renovatethe Student Center.
It is now named after the lastand very long-serving president
of the college, ms Charlene, drI should say Dr Charlene Dukes.
(42:20):
They want to renovate that andthere are going to be some other
college improvements.
But what I'm really excitedabout is that they're planning
to construct a southern regioncampus.
Send our students at the highschool level and freshly
(42:51):
graduated high school level to asouthern region campus as well.
So that will be very helpfulAgain, because sometimes
transportation getting to thatpart of Largo is not necessarily
accessible as well.
So, excited about the openingof the Southern Region Campus.
So I'm voting yes on question C.
Moving on to question D Now,you heard me at the top of the
(43:18):
episode to say that I'm callingthis episode the trick or treat.
That I'm calling this episodethe trick or treat, and so the
treat is is that we got somegood information from the Office
of Management and Budget onthese bond bills.
But there was one trick and I'mgoing to go into it.
If you read my email, youalready know about it, but if
(43:39):
you're listening for the firsttime, the public works and
transportation, of course.
Now that goes for facilitiesfor our roads, our bridges, all
of the infrastructure work wherewe have cars and people moving
and transit.
And so the county wants to use$311,873,000 in bonds to do the
(44:10):
following projects Trafficlights and traffic signals,
bridge repair and replacement,curb and roll rehabilitation,
transportation enhancement,street tree removal and
replacement, transit-orienteddevelopment and infrastructure,
pedestrian safety improvements,bridge rehabilitation, federal
(44:34):
aid planning and siteacquisition.
And then the last thing whichreally caught me by surprise,
and this is why I was like isthis a trick on Prince George's
County?
It includes the FBIheadquarters infrastructure
improvements.
Now, you know, we've beenfighting with Virginia,
(44:55):
commonwealth of Virginia, to tryto get the FBI here and
fighting, fighting, fighting, wefinally got awarded the award
for the FBI to be billed inPrince George's County and then,
lo and behold, they tricked usand told us that we got to
provide the infrastructureimprovements.
Now, I won't say they trickedus.
(45:15):
What I will say is thatapparently, and according to Ms
Hendricks, as part of thebidding process, there were
certain infrastructureimprovements to the roadway to
have security for the FBIbuilding, which makes sense.
Again, I totally, totallyunderstand it.
I just think that those moniesshould be used from our federal
(45:37):
tax dollars and not an extramoney that's coming from Prince
George's County taxpayers tohave to go to Wall Street to get
cell bonds and to pay back withinterest on the backs of Prince
George's residents.
So I was a little upset when Isaw that.
Again, I totally understand it.
(46:00):
I'm not going to cut off my noseto spite my face and not vote
against Question D because wedesperately, so desperately need
all the money that we can giveto the Department of Public
Works.
They're doing a great job withthe resources that they have and
with the staff that they have.
And you know the county is abig county and we have a lot of
(46:23):
county roads, we have a lot ofaging infrastructure that has to
be repaired and we need as muchmoney as possible.
So I'm not going to say, youknow, because the FBI
headquarters infrastructureimprovements are in this, I'm
going to vote against this bill,this bond bill, because you
(46:43):
know there's so many otherthings, this bond bill because
you know there's so many otherthings I've read, you know, the
street lights, the bridge repair, the curb and road
rehabilitation, the pedestriansafety improvements.
You know so many pedestrians aredying.
Unfortunately we have thehighest fatalities in the state
of automobile crashes as well aspedestrian deaths in our county
(47:09):
.
So we need these infrastructureimprovements to try to help
improve our safety, but we alsoneed to and I have to put in a
shameless plug.
We also have to crack down ondistracted drivers, speeders,
all those other persons who arecausing these horrific crashes
(47:34):
and fatalities, particularlywith our pedestrians but even
with others.
Hope is is that the fundingthat we get will help alleviate
some of that problem and get usto that quote-unquote vision
zero of no fatalities, trafficfatalities with pedestrians and
cars.
(47:54):
But I don't want to digress onthat.
So let's support and vote yesfor the referendum on question D
.
So anyway, so that was thelittle trick that kind of caught
me off guard about having touse our FBI, go to Wall Street
(48:19):
to get a bond for the FBIinfrastructure improvements,
bond for the FBI infrastructureimprovements.
But nevertheless let's keepmoving.
But I'm assuming and hopingthat that's just for a county
road to get access, and thenanything above and beyond that
it has to be, in my opinion,paid for by the federal
government and our tax dollarsthat we pay there.
(48:43):
So the next question is questionE issuance of public safety
facility bonds.
Now the county is asking to goto Wall Street and ask for
$40,205,000 to finance publicsafety facilities, and these
(49:08):
include fire departmentfacilities.
So the facilities named in theprojects are the District 6
Police Station, the SpecialOperations Division Facility,
the Police Station Renovation itdoesn't say which police
station, but some police stationrenovations the Laurel Fire and
EMS Station, the Oxon Hill Fireand EMS Station and I'll come
(49:28):
back to that one the firestation renovations again, those
are not specified the detentioncenter, housing renovations,
the central control slash,administrative Wing expansion
and then the CommunityCorrections Complex.
So those are all of thebuildings that will be either
(49:53):
renovated or built new.
The Oxon Hills Fire Station hasbeen promised to the community
of Oxon Hill for years now.
I think we're probably going onabout seven or eight years
because we have the Oxon HillVolunteer Fire Department that
has been serving the Oxon Hillcommunity.
(50:13):
However, as you know, we havebuilt all of National Harbor,
the MGM and Tanger Outlets.
Just the calls for service forthose areas by themselves
probably almost needs adedicated fire station, but we
(50:34):
definitely need to get that.
Every time I see Chief Green Iask her about the status of that
fire station and it's one delayafter another.
First it was funding.
And then there were some otherhiccups, and I think the other
hiccups actually have to do withstaffing, which I'll kind of
talk about.
But the Oxneal Fire Station isproposed to be built behind
(50:56):
Harborside Hotel.
There is some, there's a lot.
There's a plot of grass afterthe park, the other side of
Topgolf, there's a plot of landbetween Oxon Hill High School,
the Topgolf parking lot, rightbehind Harborside Hotel, where
(51:16):
the fire station is supposed tobe built, and that will give it
close proximity to this side, Iguess, if you will, of not
really 210, but let's see I getmy directions correct where the
(51:39):
Oxon Hill Volunteer Fire Stationis on.
Yeah, it's on the other side of210.
Right across from Oxon HillElementary School and down from,
I think that's, st PalumboElementary, I mean Catholic
(52:00):
church and school.
So that station services all ofOxon Hill and so they have a
lot of calls for service thatgoes further, further down Oxon
Hill Road, down past the library, all of that area, some of the
(52:22):
service area that almost takesit into the Fort Washington area
.
So they have a huge servicearea.
So there's really a need for aprofessional and again, that's a
volunteer station.
They have professional staffthere, I'm sure, but it's still
a volunteer station.
We are, I'm sure, now.
We were at the 2020 census.
Prince George's County was at.
(52:42):
You know, 900,000 somethingresidents in Prince George's
County Four years later.
You can tell just by thetraffic that we have.
Now.
I'm sure we're at a million.
People now continue to serveour community with just hybrid
(53:04):
volunteer fire departments,hybrid professional fire
departments.
We need more professional firedepartments.
The problem that we have rightnow is staffing.
So you may have heard, justlike our police stations are
understaffed, we have somesevere staffing levels in the
(53:29):
fire department as well.
You know where fireprofessionals have been moved
from one station to another.
The communities that it's beentaken from are up in arms.
I believe they even filed alawsuit, and you know.
(53:50):
So we just really need torecruit people.
Ms Hendricks and I also heardthe county chair confirmed this
that there's money in the budgetto hire 150 new fire and EMS
employees and I'm really hopingthat that will help and we can,
(54:12):
you know, close that gap and getthe new station built and open
in the Oxon Hill area, becauseit's sorely needed, and Hill
area because it's sorely needed.
We live in a very competitiveand expensive district.
When we talk about the DMV, thedistrict, maryland and Virginia
(54:33):
you've got we're competingagainst Fairfax County, we're
competing against DC and you'recompeting against Montgomery
County, all of who have way morecommercial tax base as well as
higher the one percenters,higher income people who pay
higher property taxes, and theypay higher income taxes as well,
so they can offer theirteachers, their firefighters,
(54:57):
their police officers a lot moremoney starting salary than we
can in Prince George's County.
So we have to kind of think alittle bit more critically.
Maybe having some additionalhousing options I know they've
done some tax credits forfirst-time homebuyers, for our
teachers and our firefightersMaybe we need to some of these
homes that we're building, maybethey need to be dedicated to
(55:19):
our service employees, whetherit's again the teachers, the
nurses, the firemen and all ofthose.
So we have to be able tocompete with them.
But you know it's going to behard to fill those 150 slots and
I'm hoping that we'll be ableto do that.
But that's just an aside.
(55:42):
In terms of the bond issue, Iam supporting building those new
facilities and renovating thefacilities we have for public
safety.
Now the last question, questionF and I'm glad Ms Amber was
there to Ms Hendricks, I shouldsay, was there to speak on this
issue because she said well, Iwant to speak on this because I
(56:04):
have to draft these resolutionsall the time.
Question F has to do with andI'm going to read it first in
your hearing to provide that,during any fiscal year, no
agency of county government mayexceed the number of positions
for that agency as approved inthe operating budget, without
prior approval of the council.
(56:26):
Now, apparently, under theJohnson administration, when
Jack Johnson was countyexecutive, this rule was already
in place.
However, the intent behind thisrule and the reason that we
have to vote on it is because weneed to amend the charter to
(56:46):
make it a little bit morespecific, and it's still not as
specific as I think it should be, because what the real intent
behind it is is not only so Say,for example, the Department of
Public Works has a hundred for100 employees.
They shouldn't have 101employees.
(57:06):
That means that they'veexceeded their budget, they're
operating outside of theiroperating budget but, more
importantly, this bill and thereason that this question is on
the ballot it has to do withpromotions within an office, so
say, in the Department of PublicWorks.
You know most people that arelistening, probably either they
(57:28):
work for the federal governmentor they know someone that works
for the federal government, sothey know about these GS levels
GS 7, 8, 9, 13,.
Ses, senior Executive Serviceso you get promoted by levels
and so they are aware of that.
The same thing happens at thelocal level in Prince George's
(57:49):
County.
So the purpose of this bill isto be able to allow the
departments to promote withintheir departments and provide
promotions, but still yet notexceed the county their
operating budget.
So maybe someone you knowstarted as and I don't know
(58:12):
those numbers in Prince George'sCounty, but I'm going to use
the federal numbers they startedas a GS-7, and they're being.
After a couple of years they'regoing to be promoted to a 9 or
10 or whatever.
And the purpose of this bondbill is to make sure that the
(58:33):
funding for those sources staywithin that operating budget.
And if it exceeds it then youhave to go to the county council
for approval.
And the basic thing that MsHendricks was saying to us last
week was it's important to havethis bill so that it cuts down
(58:53):
on some of the work of heroffice in the management,
because each time they have togo for promotion.
It's a resolution.
It's changing.
It changes the dynamics of howthe budget is operates and how
the budget.
You know we want to make surethat we stay within our
operating budget.
So she highly encouraged thatwe vote for this and it'll help
(59:15):
ease her job and she did justsuch a tremendous job last week
and I definitely want to easeher job.
So those are the questions thatwe will be voting on on the
November ballot and againNovember Tuesday, november 5th
is your day to exercise yourright to vote in Maryland.
(59:36):
You can vote early.
October 24th through the 31st.
The voter registration deadlinehas actually passed.
However, maryland does allowpersons who what we call same
day voting, same dayregistration and same day voting
.
You can actually go duringearly voting, register and cast
(59:59):
a ballot.
It will be a provisional ballotbecause they still have to
verify your information.
So bring your ID.
If you're not registered butyou still want to vote, bring
your ID.
Maybe bring another bill orsomething that associates you
with the particular address sothat you can vote and go and
vote.
(01:00:19):
So you do have that opportunityin Maryland to do so If you are
want to vote by mail and youhaven't put in an application.
Yet for the vote by mail, youhave until October 29th to
submit your application.
(01:00:40):
You need to submit yourapplication in person.
If you do that, it'll be 8 pm.
If you do it online, you haveto 1159 October 29th to get your
mail to fill out an applicationto get a mail-in ballot.
Once you get a mail-in ballotyou want to make sure that you
return it and it's postmarked byNovember the 5th to be counted.
(01:01:05):
So be sure you follow all ofthose instructions.
So I hope this has been morehelpful.
People really wanted to know.
You know.
Thanks for that nonpartisaninformation, but I really want
to know how you're voting and Iwant to know why you're voting
the way you're voting.
So hopefully that's beeninstructional and I encourage
everybody to go and vote.
(01:01:26):
Take four or more to the polls.
That's our little slogan withinour sorority.
We're taking four or more tothe polls and please, please,
please take somebody.
Have a plan, you know.
Be prepared for long lines, beprepared for whatever.
So if you need your medication,you need a light lunch, you
need a chair, you need whatever.
You think you need be preparedto go and vote and I encourage
(01:01:52):
you to vote early.
Do an early voting so you canavoid the long lines.
And that's it for this episode,the Trick or Treat episode.
I hope you're enjoying the fallweather.
Had a great weekend thisweekend with our homecomings.
I don't know the outcome of theBowie State, the AA Bowie alum,
(01:02:13):
so somebody can tell me that,but I know Maryland beat my
daughter's USC Trojans onyesterday and I know that was
exciting, and beating mydaughter's USC Trojans on
yesterday and I know that wasexciting and unfortunately I was
on the yard at Howard as aHoward Law alum and Tennessee
State came in and cleaned houseand beat us and I think the
(01:02:33):
final score was like 36 to 14 orsomething like that.
But anyway, it was a greatweekend.
Enjoy the weekend, enjoy thefall weather but, more more
importantly, get yourself readyto vote.
Thanks for listening to all.
(01:03:02):
Politics is local with me.
Your host, tamra davis brown,you.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.