06.20.14 Big business is for Evan Glass (which is why I’m not)
If you’re still wavering about your choice for Montgomery County District 5, this Washington Post article — Business community rallies behind Evan Glass in Montgomery District 5 race — should provide all you need to decide that Even Glass ain’t your man. Bill Turque writes:
Since mid-May, Glass has received about $22,000 from real estate, land development and construction groups. It includes a total of $12,000 from two real estate PACS: the Greater Capital Area Political Action Committee and MD RPAC, a Maryland Realtors group.
Glass also got $4,000 from Paul Mahon, executive vice president and general counsel for the Silver Spring -based United Therapeutics, and $1,000 from Michael Ford, a top executive at DPR Construction. Smaller donations came from JBG and the Chevy Chase Land Company, two major Montgomery developers.
As I have previously written, my vote in this race goes to Terrill North. But I can now say unequivocally that Tom Hucker is my second choice, notwithstanding his dirty campaigning and bullying.
©2014 Keith Berner
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June 20, 2014 at 6:01 pm
There have been at least FOUR different mailers sent by the Realtors on behalf of Evan Glass independent of his campaign. Big Business will likely spend over $100,000 on this race to head off a Tom Hucker victory. They’re not spending it to unseat Marc Elrich, or other progressives running for office. There’s one reason for that—Tom’s immense record of success for economic justice.
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June 20, 2014 at 7:52 pm
Woody Brosnan wrote,
Why are Realtors big business? They are the individuals who try to help us sell our buy homes. Their interest is in protecting single-family neighborhoods and home values, which I guess is why Marc Elrich BRAGGED about their support in his last campaign and again this year.
I have been distributing Marc’s literature. The endorsement from the Greater Capitol Area Association of Realtors is listed right above the emblem for Progressive Democrats of America. So is Marc for big business now?
And are unions anti-development, Keith? Not the plumbers, and electricians and the carpenters. They are in league with developers because more buildings mean more jobs for them. That is why the AFL-CIO is supporting the Keystone Pipeline.
Many of the Glass business contributions have come from restaurants supporting his plan to reform our county liquor laws to make it easier for them to stay in business. But I’ve seen Hucker signs in businesses too. And as the latest Post story notes, Hucker also took money from Chevy Chase Land Company.
Whether you are for Hucker or Glass or North or any other candidate, I urge folks to look at the entire record and the entire person, and not make false divisions between Democrats.
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June 21, 2014 at 2:45 pm
Individual realtors may be small businesses, but the industry is big business. I don’t blame Elrich for receiving their endorsement and for putting it on his mail. He has a right to show off that he is the only progressive candidate in the county to get the WaPo endorsement, along with that of some business groups. This shows just how smart he is — able to stay true to his values without selling his soul. Evan Glass has no public record and the mutual embrace between him and business is disturbing. I can’t believe that Glass will be the second Elrich needs on council in order to start changing the pay-to-play culture of the county.
As for the unions, I know they’re pro-development. That’s one of the reasons I have no love for them.
As for “false divisions” between Democrats, I am loyal to my values, not to a party. And the divisions I cite between those who favor restrained growth and those who want to pave everything are real: that is the fault line in MoCo politics, not the partisan divide that prevails most everywhere else.
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June 21, 2014 at 9:10 pm
It’s NOT small businesses that are the issue here. It’s that developers, their attorneys and lobbyists are dumping a lot of money on him just before the primary. The majority of the money he received during the last reporting period is from real estate development interests and their lobbyists that have proposals before the Council. The District 5 seat is not the place for that. Developers already own a few At Large Seats. Dist 5 rep is supposed to represent the people who live here, not developers.
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June 22, 2014 at 7:10 am
This whole thing is silly. Hucker entered the race with a war chest of $150,000 that was raised over the years from big business, small business, public utilities and a huge amount of public sector labor donations. Glass has been the underdog this entire campaign and has been building a wide coalition of supporters. It’s funny that Keith lambasts Glass for raising a small percentage of his overall funds from businesses though Keith continues to support Jonathan Shurberg and his profligate self financing to a tune of more than $250,000.
Perspective people.
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June 23, 2014 at 10:07 am
So I just received an analysis from Power Up Montgomery that shows Tom Hucker is the only D5 candidate who has received contributions from PEPCO, $750 all told. Does this mean he is an ally of the company that brings us power blackouts and slingshot trees? By the analysis you and Hucker allies are using to attack Evan Glass, yes.
I would note that Evan is the only D5 candidate who testified in favor of public financing of county elections at the recent public hearing on the issue.
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July 10, 2017 at 8:04 am
[…] Glass is a smart and nice guy. But he chose to run for D5 in 2014 as a Chamber of Commerce candidate, backed by all the big developers. There was also an arrogant tinge to his campaign that turned me off (he claimed that the transit […]
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December 22, 2017 at 2:30 pm
[…] viable candidate who may fit into this category is Evan Glass. I like Glass enormously, but his last campaign was developer-aligned and I see no indication that he regrets that […]
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