11 minute read
Prince George's County
William J. Ford WI Staff Writer
Wes Moore has received another major endorsement in his quest to become the Democratic Party’s nominee for Maryland governor – most recently from House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.
Hoyer, the second-highest ranking Democratic in the House of Representatives and one of the longest serving members in Congress, said Moore brings youthful exuberance, extraordinary leadership and counts as the only combat veteran in the race. Moore served in the Army as a paratrooper reaching the rank of captain.
Hoyer made the announcement Friday at Bowie State University [BSU] near its MARC train stop which proposes to add student housing, a grocery store and other businesses on the campus.
“I did not plan to endorse any of the gubernatorial candidates in this primary given the talented field of Democratic contenders. All are highly qualified and would do an honest and credible job as governor of Maryland,” said Hoyer, who represents Southern Maryland and parts of Prince George’s County which includes BSU.
“I’ve been in public office in
5 House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland), right, endorses Wes Moore for Maryland governor April 29 at Bowie State University. (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)
Maryland for half a century. Wes Moore is unlike any other. He is uniquely suited to bring a message of hope and possibility to this race. He is a new candidate for a new and better day for Maryland,” Hoyer said.
The Moore campaign, joined by several supporters including his running mate and former Del. Aru-
Prince George’s Library System Opens Pop-Up Location at National Harbor
William J. Ford WI Staff Writer
When patrons walk inside the Arts’tination art gallery at National Harbor, they see vibrant paintings, distinctive clothing and various, uniquely crafted collages.
5 Artist Michel Jeter (left) holds a Mother's Day card workshop April 30 inside the Pebble pop-up library inside Arts’tination gallery at National Harbor. D.C. resident Harrette Newsome learns how to make her own card. (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)
Tucked in the rear of the gallery, one will find a small room with books replete with beautiful illustrations including “Chamber Music” by the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, “How To Become A Successful Artist” and “Radiant Child.”
The Prince George’s County Memorial Library System curated these as part of more than 400 books – selected because of their connection to the arts.
Thanks to a partnership with the county’s Arts and Humanities Council, the space called the “Pebble pop-up library,” with materials suitable for both children and adults, opened to the public on Saturday, April 30.
“We want to make sure that the library is visible no matter where people go,” said Roberta Phillips, president and CEO of the library system during a soft launch three days prior to the official grand opening.
“This was the perfect partnership with the arts council. This is a way for people to get educated about the arts and for people to get a career in the arts,” she said.
Prince George’s residents with a library card can check out books from the Pebble and return them to any of the County’s nearly two dozen branch locations. The books will be picked up and returned back to National Harbor.
Visitors can not only check out work by local artists but also register to participate in various programs hosted by the library system and arts council. The council will celebrate its 40th anniversary this year and has plans to host a film festival in September.
While on vacation visiting family in the D.C. area, Lionel and Sarah Green of Los Angeles stopped by Arts’tination on April 27.
“This place is really cool,” Lionel Green said inside the Pebble library. “I like the artistic expression on all the [book] covers, especially those which showcase African-American and
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na Miller of Montgomery County, gratefully received Hoyer’s endorsement as the candidate pushes forward in hopes of being elected and making good on his promise to change the status quo.
Moore, whose decision to enter the race, serves as his first time seeking political office, spoke to the significance of Hoyer’s endorsement.
“Leader, I cannot tell you enough how humbling your support and endorsement is,” Moore said while looking at Hoyer. “But I’ll tell you what’s even more humbling is my excitement to get a chance to work with you because we are going to get this done.”
Moore said Bowie State and Maryland’s other three historically Black colleges and universities – Coppin State, Morgan State and University of Maryland Eastern Shore, count as assets to the state. However, he continues to point to an unresolved lawsuit, more than 14-years-old, that must be settled with the state so the aforementioned universities can receive funding budgeted for their ongoing operations.
“We believe in the long-term growth of our state which must both include what we’re going to do with HBCUs as well as our commitment to allowing them to be in front of our conversation – from rebuilding a workforce to deciding how we are going to build entrepreneurial pipelines.”
Despite being a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford, Moore placed greater emphasis on his first years in higher education during which he earned an associate degree at Valley Forge Military College in Pennsylvania and the impact on his life.
During his career, he once served as CEO of the nonprofit Robin Hood Foundation, one of the nation’s largest organizations committed to fighting poverty.
Daryl Thorpe, 21, a Bowie State student leader, said he supports Moore’s vision to incorporate HBCUs into the overall discussion whose focus remains facilitating improvements within the state from which all would benefit.
“I’ve never seen anybody out here at the MARC train station – that’s how I know he’s honest because this is the heart of Bowie and the focal point on the campus,” said Thorpe of Baltimore City, who’s working as an intern for Del. Nicole Williams (D-District 22) of Greenbelt. WI @WJFjabariwill
Maryland’s Candidates Outline Top Policies for a More Progressive Agenda
William J. Ford WI Staff Writer
A tandem from among the much larger number of Maryland’s gubernatorial candidates seeking the Democratic nomination participated in a forum Saturday, April 30 to outline their proposed policies representative of a progressive agenda.
The four candidates for governor and one for lieutenant governor collectively agreed with Our Revolution Maryland, the host of the one-hour virtual session, that health care counts as “a human right,” climate change exists and that now serves as the time to reassess the criminal justice system.
One pushback came from former Prince George’s County Council member Monique Anderson-Walker when responding to a question about why gubernatorial candidate and state Comptroller Peter Franchot doesn’t support the $3.8 billion Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education plan.
“Peter supports the Blueprint – the challenge is how it’s going to be paid for,” said Anderson-Walker, Franchot’s running mate. “That should always be [on the forefront] as a fiscal leader.”
Former Prince George’s County Rushern L. Baker III, former Obama administration official Ashwani Jain, former U.S. Education secretary John King, Jr. and former Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez participated in the forum. A total of 10 Democratic candidates are running in the July 19 primary election.
Participants in Saturday’s forum agreed in their support for teachers with each summarizing how they would retain educators in classrooms.
King said the state should allow class sizes as part of collective bargaining for teachers. He gave an example of a Prince George’s school counselor overseeing 800 students.
“Those working condition issues have to be addressed,” he said.
Baker said the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the problem for teachers to receive resources. He said he would implement a holistic approach with the health, transportation, or economic development agencies to assist “our K through 12 education system . . . that’s what I did as county executive.”
Anderson-Walker agreed with King on collective bargaining for teachers. She also said teachers should receive “flex-time” to work with students in small groups, which teachers did in providing online and to a lesser extent, when direction in-person instruction during the previous school year.
Jain listed a number of proposals he would implement: forgive student debt for educators who teach in Maryland for at least six years, offer free public transit and allow community college students with associate degrees to become eligible to take teacher certification exams.
“We should give them a raise,” Perez said about teachers.
He added the state should provide mental health and other services for both students and teachers. In addition, he wants to see an increase in teacher diversity that would match the student population.
The final question for candidates addressed their proposed actions or form of legislation which demonstrates their support for Our Revolution Maryland and its progressive values.
Baker pointed to campaign finance reform, adding that he and running mate Montgomery County Council member Nancy Navarro are utilizing the state’s public financing system.
“You can’t speak truth to power or change a system if you’re taking money from the very people who are going to influence you when you get into office,” he said.
Jain replied with how he’s working to make political participation both more inclusive and accessible.
“We’re going to win because of our focus in engaging more Marylanders in the process, encountering volunteers and one-on-one voter content,” he said.
Anderson-Walker didn’t highlight a specific policy but said the culmination of work she’s done what Franchot has done and continues to do as comptroller “are exemplary of what it will take to build upon in order to achieve generational wealth, health, education and economic development opportunities for us all.”
Income and equality count as two critical areas for Perez, particularly with America being a nation of immigrants and “[former President] Donald Trump not liking that.”
With the various challenges a governor must face, he said the state’s next leader must be “the multi-tasker in chief.”
If elected governor, King said he would ask big companies and those who receive at least one million dollars annually to “pay their fair share” toward resources in child care, health care and education.
“I look forward to working with Our Revolution Maryland to ensure that we not only win in July but that we win in November and then come to Annapolis in January with a strong, progressive mandate for change,” he said.
The second, four-year term for Republican Gov. Larry Hogan expires in January. Hogan has endorsed former Maryland labor secretary Kelly Schulz, a Republican candidate who worked in Hogan’s administration. Del. Daniel Cox, who represents parts of Carroll and Frederick counties, has received support from Trump. The other two Republican candidates include former state Del. Robin Ficker of Montgomery County and Joe Werner of Baltimore County.
Because Maryland primaries are only open for Democrats and Republicans, two other people registered their candidacies for the general election: Libertarian candidate David Lashar of Annapolis and Independent candidate Kyle Sefcik from Montgomery County.
WI @WJFjabariwill
Prince George’s Council Appoints District Heights Mayor to Fill Vacant Seat
William J. Ford WI Staff Writer
The Prince George’s County Council voted unanimously Tuesday, May 3 to appoint District Heights Mayor Johnathan M. Medlock to fill a vacant seat on the 11-member body.
Medlock, who became acting mayor in November 2019 and won in a special election in July 2020, replaces former Council member Derrick Leon Davis who resigned April 15.
“I feel honored. I feel like this an opportunity for me to elevate from being the mayor in the city of District Heights to really focusing on the county,” Medlock said in an interview. “As a mayor, the biggest thing I do is make sure I’m in the community and being involved and engaged and seeing where the problems lie. I want to do that representing District 6.”
Medlock, who has chosen to serve the remaining seven months of Davis’ term, which expires in December, as the representative for District 6 which includes the city of District Heights, Forestville, Largo and parts of Upper Marlboro.
A tentative date to swear in Medlock has been scheduled for Monday, May 9.
“I welcome Mr. Medlock to the council on an interim basis,” said Council member Tom Dernoga (D-District 1) of Laurel, who added this may have been the council's first vote to appoint a person since 1994.
One of the main items Medlock must address this year will focus on a proposed $5 billion fiscal year 2023 budget of which the public school system accounts for $2.6 billion – more than half of the entire spending plan.
In terms of District 6, the mayor said he wants to assess policies providing tax credits for seniors, increase amenities for the Westphalia neighborhood in Upper Marlboro, provide additional youth services and decrease “the stem of violence within our community.”
Medlock will yield the District 6 seat to one of five Black women, all Democrats, each of whom hopes to be elected in the July 19 primary.
Prince George’s has the most registered Democrats in the state of Maryland, so the winner in the primary will more than likely succeed in the November general election and assume the helm for a four-year term a month later.
Two of the candidates, Belinda Queen and Nakia Wright, sub-
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5 Former Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III. (FILE: Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)
