07.29.18 The Montgomery County executive race: buckle your seat belts

After a harrowing month, a partial recount requested by candidate David Blair determined this past Monday that Marc Elrich is indeed the Democratic Party nominee, by a margin of less than 80 votes. Elrich will face perennial Republican candidate and gadfly Robin Ficker in November. Normally, one would predict a landslide victory by any Democrat over the widely disliked Ficker (there are plenty of Republicans who can’t stand him).

But, there is no “normal” this year. The biggest departure from past elections is at-large incumbent Nancy Floreen’s abandonment of the Democratic Party to run against Elrich in November. For another, the Washington Post – always a strongly regressive force in local politics – is becoming more and more doctrinaire under gazillionaire Jeff Bezos’s leadership. The Post is a leading voice in the new red scare sweeping the country, as a backlash against Bernie Sanders and in the wake of Democratic Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s stunning upset against a machine politician in New York state (the same day as Maryland’s recent primary).

Our (supposed) newspaper of record has been calling Elrich names all spring, editorializing against him (and in favor of Blair) at least three times and declaring the End-Times near if Elrich (and, I assume, anyone with a social conscience) were to be elected to local office.

We can be 100% certain that WaPo will endorse Floreen early and often in the coming months. (One disappointment with Floreen’s candidacy is that we will miss the spectacle the Post’s agonizing over whether to endorse Ficker over Dangerous Socialist Marc Elrich.) We can also be certain that the development industry – terrified by the prospect of a county leadership that asks them to pay for the infrastructure all their concrete requires – will spend millions of dollars to keep Elrich out of office. (See the nasty mailers sent out by Empower Montgomery – a developers’ cabal – in the run-up to the primary: they rated Elrich -5 and nearly everyone else +5 or higher.)

So, does Floreen pose a real threat to Elrich’s election? The simple answer is “yes” and the Elrich campaign would be foolish not to taking her extremely seriously.

But. . .

• Nancy Floreen is an unlikable candidate who has repeatedly won her at-large seat on County Council more on the basis of name recognition and developer money than on inspiration. (As Elrich says, Floreen was never much of a Democrat, anyway. My strong belief is that if she were anywhere in Red America, she would have been a perfectly comfortable Republican all along. She pretended to be blue here, because she is unprincipled and that was the only route to getting elected.)
• Marc Elrich has a long history of out-performing his relative fundraising by large margins (Blair outspent him this race by more than 2 to 1). This means that Elrich – who might have the best name recognition of any politician in the county (would Jamie Raskin rank higher?) won’t need a large war chest to run a strong campaign.
• More people will start listening to what Elrich actually says, rather than falling prey to the red-baiting. He is a principled lefty, to be sure, but he also has been able to work with and reach compromises with people of all stripes across the county. Check out what he said on the Kojo Nnamdi show on July 20: that he doesn’t waste anyone’s time on ideological legislation and policy that he knows won’t pass. This is a mature, pragmatic person and politician, not a bomb-thrower or revolutionary.
• And here’s the amazing thing: nearly all Democrats in the county have lined up to support our nominee. Hans Riemer and Ike Leggett, two very centrist politicians, got behind Elrich before the recount was over. Primary opponent Roger Berliner did so as well. And, in the biggest (pleasant) surprise at all, David Blair announced his support for Elrich as soon as the recount determined the winner, once and for all.

(A side note to all this wonderfulness is that it took current Council member, and primary opponent George Leventhal longer than David Blair to come out for our nominee. As I previously have written on Facebook, this shameful delay was due to Leventhal’s personal antipathy towards Elrich and a ridiculous case of sour grapes for a for a fifth-place finisher.

Leventhal is mostly a solid progressive. But he has sided too often with the development industry and has an angry temperament that is nearly 180-degrees opposite from Elrich’s soothing demeanor. I’d love to see Leventhal continue to make public contributions in areas such has homelessness and immigrants rights. But his recent shenanigans play to the worst perceptions of him, including his inability to control his emotions and a basic untrustworthiness. If he keeps up the personal grandstanding, he might render himself irrelevant and that would be a shame.)

So, does Elrich have a strong chance against Floreen? You bet he does. With a great ground game, committed volunteers, and a substantial part of the Democratic establishment working for him, he should win in November. (Not all of those who have endorsed him will lift a finger on his behalf. Riemer, for example, was red-baiting Elrich only two weeks earlier and endorsed almost certainly just to preserve his viability for ego-pleasing future campaigns.)

Montgomery County voters can’t afford to rest in 2018, following a primary election that customarily is the election-of-record in our deep-blue county. Buckle your seat belts, write a check to Elrich, and if you have the stamina, sign up to door-knock or make phone calls on his behalf. Our county needs your engagement to assure that Marc Elrich soundly defeats two Republican opponents this fall.

©2018 Keith Berner

 

07.14.18 Takoma Junction development won’t . . .

. . . end life as we know it,

• threaten the existence of the universe,
• hurt a single poor person,
• make a whit of difference in the availability — or lack thereof — of affordable housing in Takoma Park,
• gentrify the whole city or otherwise change the progressive ethos of Takoma Park,
• damage other structures,
• harm children who need to cross the street,
• inconvenience more than a few people due to traffic (it won’t have much impact on traffic at all).

Takoma Junction development will

• replace an ugly impervious surface with a nicely designed two-story building that will improve quality of life in our city, following at least 30 years of inaction,
• force the Coop to adjust how it operates.

As for the Coop, not only has it refused to engage constructively over the past five years, it has whipped up an ideological frenzy, in which a small and positive change to our city becomes the moral equivalent of

• separating families at the border
• GOP theft of the Supreme Court
• police violence against people of color
• collapse of liberal democracy
• hating the poor.

Opponents’ arguments have at times been amusing, more often been baffling, and now have become outright offensive. By turning their opposition into the Moral Issue of Our Time, they are distracting themselves and the rest of us from the more serious work needed in the face of resurgent racism, international collapse, and climate change. Heck, every breathless moment they spend on their struggle is a minute they are not spending countering the very-present threat to our county from the Washington Post, the development industry, and Nancy Floreen. If you hate over-development, that is the battle to be waged. (Go Marc Elrich!)

Reason will prevail at City Council on July 25, because the majority of councilmembers and residents know the difference between reality and frenzy.

PS. Jarrett Smith: now that you have no political future, how about regaining a shred of dignity by resuming your support for Junction development? You switched sides in an instant for no good reason, so it shouldn’t be hard for you to switch back.

©2018 Keith Berner

 

 

 

 

07.09.18 An open letter to my Democratic elected officials: Stop Floreen now!

In addition to publishing this blog post, I will also email it to all the officials listed below. I encourage all readers to send something similar to their elected representatives.

To:
US Sen. Ben Cardin
US Sen. Chris Van Hollen
US Rep. Jamie Raskin
Sen. Will Smith
Del. David Moon
Del. Jheanelle Wilkins
Del.-Elect Lorig Charkoudian
County Executive Ike Leggett
County Councilman Tom Hucker
County Councilman George Leventhal
County Councilman Hans Riemer
County Councilman-Elect Gabe Albornoz
County Councilman-Elect Evan Glass
County Councilman-Elect Will Jawando

With today’s news that the Maryland Board of Elections will allow Nancy Floreen’s independent run for county executive to proceed this fall, I call on you to waste no time in standing up to this nefarious attempt to undermine our party’s nominee. The time to stop Floreen’s bid is now, before the Washington Post and its pals in the development industry start funding a smear campaign that will drown us in propaganda and weaken our nominee and our party.

I urge you not only to speak out, but also to ban Floreen from all party gatherings and activities henceforth.

While you might be forgiven for not endorsing our nominee, if you fail to denounce Floreen’s campaign, you will have taken sides against the Democratic Party, which I and others will not forget.

©2018 Keith Berner

07.04.18 Official campaign lit report

At our home, we received 3.84 pounds of campaign literature during the Maryland/Montgomery county primary election campaign, beginning with a piece from county executive candidate David Blair in early February. Overall, we received 105 pieces of campaign mail. The biggest polluter of all was (big surprise, eh?) the aforementioned Blair, MoCo Pharma Bro and General Plutocrat, who drowned us in 14 pieces. This doesn’t include three more pieces sent by the developer’s group, Empower Montgomery (which Blair helped found), from whom we got three particularly ugly pieces in the final two weeks.

What amazed me as a political analyst is that Blair had the mailing campaign almost completely to himself until mid-May for the June 26 primary. I asked one candidate who I know had enough money to mail why he waited so long to do so. His reply was that his political consultants told him no one would be paying attention until the end.

Common sense tells me that when as many as a dozen pieces are arriving daily in mailboxes by early June, no one is going to pay attention to your piece then, either. So much for the great wisdom of consultants who only know one way of doing things: the way they did them four years ago.

Because I follow local politics so closely, none of the deluge made a whit of difference to me. I read almost none of it; though, I occasionally marveled at something that was particularly well (or poorly) designed. I get that this stuff is meant for low-information voters, some significant percentage of whom are actually swayed by  it (though, the Washington Post’s horrific endorsements certainly counted for more).

Of course, very few mailers contained any actual information about what the candidate intended to do or why they deserved a chance to try and do it. Perusing such vapid campaign communication is the equivalent of following the email-only campaign of my Takoma Park City Councilman Jarrett Smith who threw his hat in the ring for County Council at-large just before the deadline. (He managed to spend a few thousand on graphic design, but had no money to mail — the two or three signs he managed to put up were gorgeous). Smith’s justification for running was laid out so carefully in this email he sent to the main Takoma community listserv on June 26:

Neighbors,

I ask for your vote on this Election Day. There are big issues before our county. It is the time to vote for experience and proven leadership.

In your service,

Jarrett K. Smith

I suppose Smith should be congratulated: he got his substance-less message out for tens of thousands less than other candidates who spent all that money to tell us nothing.

PS. Smith came in 29th place out of 33 candidates for MoCo at-large, so maybe his strategy was a little wanting, after all.

©2018 Keith Berner

06.27.18 Post-election blues

There were some sweet victories last night. Yet, I felt depressed when I went to bed towards 1 am and even more so today. Let me focus on the positive, first:

• District 20’s dream team –  Lorig Charkoudian, David Moon, and Jheanelle Wilkins – beat back the ethically challenged Darian Unger.
• Marc Elrich holds a 452-vote lead against Evil Plutocrat David Blair, pending counting absentee and provisional ballots.
• My completely irresponsible Takoma Park city councilman, Jarrett Smith came in 29th place out of 33 in the County Council at-large race.
• Ben Jealous summarily kicked ass against the bland, ethically challenged (his endorsement of David Trone for $39k) Rushern Baker. Jealous offers the hope that a passionate campaign can unseat Larry Hogan this fall.
• An outstanding progressive, Vaughn Stewart, won a delegate seat in D-19.

Oh, but the bad news seems boundless:

• The new County Council was practically hand-picked by the Washington Post and the development industry. Newcomers like Andrew Friedson (D-1) and Evan Glass (at-large) will team up with pave-it-all incumbents like Craig Rice (D-1), Sidney Katz (D-3), and Hans Riemer (at-large) to give away to the developers what little remains of the store.
• In the at-large race, every strong progressive got nearly obliterated: Bill Conway (3.3%), Seth Grimes (1.5%), Danielle Meitiv (3.3%), Jill Ortman-Fouse (3.3%). (By comparison, the fourth-place winner in this pick-four race –  Gabe Albernoz –  garnered 7.3%.) Two progressives – Brandy Brooks and Chris Wilhelm –  did relatively well at 5.9%, but not winning means only bad guys (and, yes, no women won) will be making policy.
• Liquor salesman and plutocrat David Trone successfully purchased his seat in Congress (unless he gets beat by a Republican in the fall) from District 6, destroying progressive hero Roger Manno in the process.
• Elrich could still lose. If David Blair manages to pull this out, we will have by far the worst county government in my 18 years living here.
• Darian Unger and Jarrett Smith got a sufficient number of votes that they might be encouraged to keep living in their alternate universes where time is on their side and they will eventually be swept to glory by adoring crowds. (Someone: please tell me how a content-less city councilman who doesn’t interact with city officials or constituents managed to get ~2,200 votes. Who are these people? Did they just like the name Smith?)
• Turnout was abysmal. I’m not comparing to previous years, but simply looking at the fact that in a county of one million, the county executive winner will have garnered less than 35,000 votes. US democracy is broken and this is a leading indicator.

As if I weren’t feeling glum enough, Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement today. There is no way to sugarcoat this: the GOP theft of the seat that went to Neil Gorsuch and the right to replace swing-vote Kennedy give the far right control of the Supreme Court for the coming 20 years. Couple this with our system’s bias towards the GOP (from partisan gerrymandering, to the concentration of Democrats in small geographical areas, to the Electoral College) and a minority band of racists and authoritarians could dominate our politics for decades.

(I don’t mean that Democrats won’t score any victories: they may well take the House this year and Trump seems pretty vulnerable going into 2020. But the victories will be partial and sporadic, hardly enough to rebalance the system.)

Even though US foreign policy has been hypocritical in relation to our stated values more often than not, our rhetorical support for democracy and human rights – as well as our ability to collaborate with allies – has done a substantial amount of good in the world. The damage done by the Cheeto administration in <2 years will never be remediable, especially as democracy retreats all across the globe. And, as we slide ever more towards authoritarianism and minority rule at home, any possibility of domestic or international progress is as good as dead.

I don’t know yet how I will manage to keep fighting for positive change given my present despair, especially when I don’t even see any hope at the local level. If any of my dear readers has a suggestion, please bring it on.

©2018 Keith Berner

 

 

06.25.18 Annoy the Post: vote progressive

If you have decided not to follow my guidance completely or you think your favorite labor union’s endorsements are off the mark; if you’re still confused about what to do tomorrow (that is, if you haven’t already voted), you can remember this basic rule: anyone the Washington Post has endorsed is to be avoided like the plague. From Rushern Baker to David Blair, good ol’ WaPo can be counted on to loathe workers and to consider  development titans to be a disadvantaged minority deserving affirmative action (and a good percentage of your take-home pay).

So, look up all the Post endorsements tonight and just resolve to vote for someone, anyone who isn’t on their list. Not only will you be voting for a better state and county, but you’ll have the added pleasure of causing aneurysms in the editorial suite. What more fun could a person have on Election Day?

©2018 Keith Berner

06.23.18 It’s Elrich vs. Blair – what kind of county do you want to live in?

It is now a two-man race for Montgomery County executive. You can choose Marc Elrich, the least ego-driven, most ethical politician in the county, someone who prioritizes people and communities. OR you can choose David Blair, the plutocrat who is spending millions  to purchase power, a man with no governmental experience, set on feeding the rapacious development industry at our expense: the notorious #MoCoPharmaBro.

No one reading this blog was going to vote for Blair. But some of you may have been tempted by George Leventhal, a distant second-best to Elrich on policy, but also someone whose bad temper makes him a risk with executive power. You may also have been tempted by Roger Berliner, because you were deceived by Sierra Club’s misguided endorsement. Whatever their strong points, face it: Neither Berliner nor Leventhal is going to win on Tuesday. If you cast your vote for one of them, you will be helping to elect Blair.

Don’t waste your vote. Vote for Marc Elrich for county executive.

©2018 Keith Berner

 

06.22.18 Revisions to Keith Berner’s biennial voter guide

You may want to review the original version of my guide, which I published on June 5.

Governor: Rich Madaleno Ben Jealous
US Senate: anyone but Ben Cardin
US Congress CD6: Roger Manno
US Congress CD8: Jamie Raskin (unopposed)
Montgomery County Executive: Marc Elrich
Montgomery County At-Large:
—–Definite (in alpha order): Brandy Brooks, Jill Ortman-Fouse, Will Jawando, Chris Wilhelm
—–Pick two of three: Bill Conway, Seth Grimes, or Jill Ortman-Fouse
MoCo D1: Meredith Wellington
MoCo D3: Ben Shnider
MoCo D5: Tom Hucker
MD Senate D18: Dana Beyer
MD Senate D20: Will Smith (unopposed)
MD Delegates D20: Lorig Charkoudian, David Moon, Jheanelle Wilkins
Moco Democratic Central Committee At-Large:
—–Women: Marie Mapes
—–Men: Justin Chapelle, Edward Fischman, Dave Kunes

With so many dilemmas of riches, new information incoming, and an opportunity to interact directly with candidates, I am revising some of my original recommendations.

Governor. It is without any joy that I am switching my recommended vote from Rich Madaleno to Ben Jealous. I still believe that Madaleno has the most talent and experience in this race, by a considerable margin. Sadly, his campaign just hasn’t caught fire: he has remained around 6% in polls for a good while now. The race is now pretty clearly between Jealous and Rushern Baker. If you agree with me that Baker is too bland and centrist and likely to get creamed by Larry Hogan in the fall, you have to vote tactically. Vote for Ben Jealous to stop Rushern Baker and set up a strong November match-up that Democrats can win.

Montgomery County Council At Large. I have moved from listing Will Jawando as someone definitely to vote against last summer  to believing he has the smarts, policy understanding, and progressive philosophy to deserve your vote. I had been concerned in the past about what I thought was a thin history of community service in our county. At a meet-and-greet this week, Jawando disabused me of that notion, rattling off a nice list of his contributions, including a summer reading program for disadvantaged youth. (See also his response about this on the Progressive Neighbors questionnaire – Question 6.) I’m also impressed by the zero rating the pernicious developer group Empower Montgomery (EM) gave him in recent mailings. (See why EM is bad news.) I remain concerned that Jawando’s outsized political ambition will distract him from his job on County Council after a couple of years, but am willing to accept this risk.

So, if I am moving Jawando into my top four in the 33-person at-large race (where you get up to four choices), whom am I “demoting”? This practically breaks my heart, because all the candidates whom I have considered seriously would be fabulous in office.

So: Chris Wilhelm and Brandy Brooks absolutely remain among my top choices. My other finalists have been Bill Conway, Seth Grimes, and Jill Ortman-Fouse.

I have, in effect, demoted Ortman-Fouse into a three-way tie with Conway and Grimes. I still think Jill Ortman-Fouse has a good chance of winning, but I am disturbed by the very high ranking given to her by Empower Montgomery. Ortman-Fouse shared with me the questionnaire she submitted to EM and I don’t see any obvious reasons for concern. But I am bothered by her willingness to accept their support without comment (and have asked her to renounce it and denounce them). Just the same, Ortman-Fouse remains on my list.

I also still think highly of Bill Conway whom I think is well positioned to win. I am concerned that Grimes is not as well positioned to win at the other two, based on my observation that he has trouble “sealing the deal” when he meets informally with progressives. So, I’ll be flipping a coin between Conway, Grimes, and Ortman-Fouse until I actually cast my vote.

Another nuance revision from two weeks ago is that I strongly urge voters to reject Evan Glass. My opposition to Glass has increased because of Nancy Floreen’s endorsement and the high score he got from EM (in addition to his WaPo endorsement I already wrote about). There remains no doubt which side Glass is on in MoCo’s major cleavage: the role of the development industry in our politics.

D20 Delegate. I have not changed any of my endorsements: Lorig Charkoudian, David Moon, and Jheanelle Wilkins. The only revision here is that I was gentle to Darian Unger two weeks ago. It is now apparent that Unger’s love affair with himself has fueled a highly unethical campaign. Voters should not only reject Unger’s style of politics, but should send him a strong message to return to community service and give up the quest for public office. (See my two recent posts about Unger: here and here.)

Democratic Central Committee. This body is not widely known or understood. Most of the time, these folks organize fundraisers, phone-banks, and door-to-door canvassing. But, under Maryland law – and in an affront to democracy – this is the body that appoints candidates to fill openings in public offices. (An example is that when Jamie Raskin won his Congressional seat in 2016, the CC appointed then Del. Will Smith to fill Raskin’s seat and Jheanelle Wilkins to fill Smith’s seat.)

In fact, a HUGE number of Maryland senators and delegates have been appointed by party committees. Therefore, it is important to vote only for reformist progressives as CC members: progressive because thats the type of appointments we want them to make; reformist, because we want them to work to change Maryland law to replace appointments with special elections.

Here are my recommendations for DCC for Montgomery County at-large (the D20 races are unopposed). Note that the party split the races by gender this year.

• Women (select up to four): Marie Mapes (only)
• Men (select up to four): Justin Chapelle, Edward Fischman, Dave Kunes (only)

Candidates whom I am not endorsing here are not necessarily bad: I just don’t know anything about them. For the same reason, I am not making endorsements in other races, such as school board, judges, and other offices.

©2018 Keith Berner

 

06.22.18 Wait! There’s more! (Unethical behavior from Darian Unger, that is.)

Darian Unger is falsely claiming endorsements for this year’s race.

In this example, Unger has not tried to hide the date of the WaPo article, but he has pinned it to the top of his Twitter feed, clearly assuming most people won’t notice the date.

The following comes from a recent Unger mailer. It not only fails to note that the Jamie Raskin quote is from 2014, but also fails to provide the context, which is a survey of all candidates in the race that year, with something nice to say about each (i.e,. it was not an endorsement). 

Here’s the full paragraph Unger grabbed that quote from:

Each candidate in this race has something distinctive and important to say that enriches our public dialogue and needs to be heard. Justin Chappell, a veteran campaigner for the rights of the disabled, has eloquently underscored the central importance of effective and responsive government for the most vulnerable Marylanders amongst us. D’Juan Hopewell, a passionate anti-hunger activist, has spoken movingly of building coalitions to make government an instrument of empowerment for the poor. Will Jawando, who has had a strikingly impressive career in national politics and government serving Senator Obama and then President Obama on educational issues, has offered a compelling vision of “progress and opportunity, together.” Jonathan Shurberg, longtime attorney and progressive policy advocate, has focused on the importance of promoting fair elections and educational opportunity for all. Darian Unger, an effective civic leader, environmental engineer and volunteer firefighter, provides a laser-like policy focus on climate change and the problems associated with environmental degradation. And George Zokle offers a strong and much-needed public policy focus on mental health, an issue with ramifications in areas ranging from education to public safety to housing.

I reached out to Congressman Raskin today to ask if he had authorized Unger’s use of this quote. Here’s a screenshot of our conversation.

(Raskin asked me to note that his only endorsement for an open seat this year is Rich Madaleno for governor.)

Finally (for this round), Unger has claimed on every mail piece he sent this year that NARAL endorsed him. Again, Unger is distorting the truth: NARAL publishes a list of endorsements and a separate list of candidates with 100% pro-choice records. It’s nice to see Unger on that second list, but he is not on the first one.

Darian Unger is running a thoroughly unethical campaign. The last thing we need is another self-absorbed public official so certain of their right to power that they cut corners to achieve and maintain it. 

06.21.18 Unger campaign manager caught on video stealing and discarding rivals’ campaign materials

Update, 6/22, 12:30pm: See my latest post on Unger’s false claims of endorsements.

I didn’t write the headline on today’s post – it comes from the blog A Miner Detail. Here are headlines and links to:

• Bethesda Magazine/Bethesda Beat: Campaign Manager Fired After Video Shows Him Tossing Opposition Literature Into Dumpster
• Seventh State: Unger fires campaign manager for stealing lit

Bethesda Beat’s article is he most detailed and hard-hitting of the three.

See the video of the deed itself (total length 3:27; the thief first enters @ 1:33).

Yes, D20 delegate candidate Darian Unger has fired campaign manager John Rodriguez. Three hours ago, Unger posted this statement on his Facebook page:

I learned today that one of my campaign workers trashed the campaign literature of some of the other candidates. I fired him immediately. I consider such behavior to be completely unacceptable.

I reached out to the affected candidates to apologize for his actions, which run counter to my values, and the values of the other candidates, whose efforts I respect tremendously. I also offered to compensate their campaigns for the cost of their materials.

We do not stand for that kind of behavior. Takoma Park and Silver Spring are wonderful places, which we can improve by working together with respect. [emphasis added]

 

No one so far has suggested that Unger ordered Rodriquez to commit this act of sabotage. So, does the firing and apology mean that Unger should be off the hook? I think not and here’s why:

• The candidate is responsible for his campaign and certainly for hiring a campaign manager. An inability (or unwillingness) to assure good ethics in one’s staff is an indication of how that candidate can be expected to behave in office. An I-didn’t-directly-order-the-misdeed excuse is weak.
  • Rodriguez has a shady past, as documented in this City Paper article. Unger is either incompetent or malfeasant in not having considered this history disqualifying. According to Bethesda Beat: “This hasn’t been my first run-in with the Unger campaign manager,” D20 Senator Will Smith said. “Not only did John Rodriguez destroy our campaign materials, he’s made numerous veiled threats and insinuations.”
  • A staff member at a prominent labor union posted this comment on Del. David Moon’s Facebook feed: “I can also tell you Rodriguez was overbearing and rude when he called our office repeatedly. He acted like we owed his candidate an endorsement. I speak with a ton of candidates and staff, but none who behaved that way.”
  • As Unger dealt with the fallout today, he referred to Rodriguez once as a “campaign consultant” and – in statement above – as a “campaign worker.” This man was the campaign manager whom Unger hand-picked. Attempting to downgrade Rodriguez’s importance is just plain sleazy. (Consider Trump’s habit of pretending aides caught in wrongdoing had no significant role.)
• Unger is an exceptionally eager candidate. Eagerness can be a good thing. It can also lead to an end-justifies-the-means ethos. Just as the candidate is responsible for senior campaign staff, they also set the tone for their entire campaign. If the candidate chooses, they can certainly establish ethics as a fundamental principle.
• What the union staffer attributes to Rodriguez, I have observed directly in Unger’s own behavior:
  • I was on the Progressive Neighbors Steering Committee (PN, PNSC) and directed the candidate endorsement process this year. Unger had served as co-chair for the organization until he stepped down last December to run for office. Until the bylaws were changed to require this, Unger had previously misused his position to secure PN’s endorsement at the same time as he campaigned for office. (The bylaws were changed, in large measure, due to this.)

The PN endorsement process this year was exhaustive, including outreach to about 130 candidates, with nearly a hundred returning our questionnaires. We invited our large mailing list to provide input on candidates and on our tentative recommendations.

Out of all those candidates:

Only one called PNSC members to persuade us to endorse him (90% of other candidates wouldn’t have had our phone numbers).

Only one wrote to PN’s main email address to advocate for himself (no one else did it at all – this person did it at least twice).

Only one distributed PN’s email address to people who were not on PN’s mailing list and had nothing to do with the organization, so that they could send endorsements back to the Steering Committee. As a result, we received a deluge of endorsements (far more than for any other candidate at any level) – most without any substance – for that person.

Guess who that was? Darian Unger, who misused his inside information about PN to try and give himself a leg up.

Sadly, his tactics worked: I ended up quitting the PNSC in protest when the organization was unable to step beyond its history of interest conflict involving Unger and gave him a co-endorsement (alongside Jheanelle Wilkins.)

• • At a meet-n-greet for a different candidate (not an opponent) earlier this spring, Unger planted himself a the front door and collared every attendee on their way in or out, to pitch his own candidacy and distribute his lit. I have never seen another candidate do this.
  • A credible source in another campaign has pointed out that Unger has falsely claimed to have received endorsements from Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and from NARAL.

Darian Unger has a record of stretching limits. Even if the examples I have provided are hardly against the law (prior to today: Rodriguez’s actions were clearly illegal), they are beyond norms that other Montgomery County Candidates follow by instinct. In this context, it is reasonable to assume that campaign staff felt empowered to do whatever they thought necessary to win. Beyond doubt is Unger’s incompetence or bad judgment in hiring as campaign manager known for dirty tricks. And Unger’s attempts today to claim that Rodriguez was anything other than his right-hand man are nauseating.

I call on Darian Unger to resign this campaign and I call on Progressive Neighbors to withdraw their endorsement. I don’t expect either of these things to happen, so I call on you, Dear Reader, to vote only for candidates of unimpeachable ethics, especially in the D20 delegate race.

©2018 Keith Berner

06.05.18 Keith Berner’s biennial voter guide: for the June 26 Maryland Democratic primary

Note: I am not endorsing in races outside my district (Maryland D20 & Montgomery County D5), except when I have particular knowledge of the candidates.

Governor: Rich Madaleno
US Senate: anyone but Ben Cardin
US Congress CD6: Roger Manno
US Congress CD8: Jamie Raskin (unopposed)
Montgomery County Executive: Marc Elrich
Montgomery County At-Large:
Definite (in alpha order): Brandy Brooks, Jill Ortman-Fouse, Chris Wilhelm
Pick one of two: Bill Conway or Seth Grimes
MoCo D1: Meredith Wellington
MoCo D3: Ben Shnider
MoCo D5: Tom Hucker
MD Senate D18: Dana Beyer
MD Senate D20: Will Smith (unopposed)
MD Delegates D20 (in alpha order): Lorig Charkoudian, David Moon, Jheanelle Wilkins

Maryland Governor

Rich Madeleno is the most qualified and capable person running for governor — by far. He is also a passionate progressive who will work every day for economic and social justice, environmental protection, and immigrants’ rights. Madaleno’s long service in Annapolis has been remarkable, earning him wide respect for his fiscal expertise. He knows better than anyone else in the field, the people and processes of Maryland government.

In case you’re still wavering, consider Congressman Jamie Raskin’s and District 20 Delegate David Moon’s enthusiastic endorsements. Finally, I watched Madeleno in two Progressive Neighbors (PN) candidate forums and both times he made the strongest, most compelling arguments against Governor Larry Hogan. Remember: that’s who we have to beat in November!

Ben Jealous, former director of the NAACP and proud supporter (and endorsee) of Bernie Sanders, merits consideration in this race. We know that Jealous will be on the right side of issues. But, Jealous has no experience in elected office and one has to wonder if his rhetoric would be matched by results. There is one reason I can think of to choose Jealous over Madaleno three weeks from now: if it appears that he is in a better position than Madaleno to beat Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker.

Why does Baker, who has been endorsed by nearly the entire Maryland Democratic establishment, need to be stopped? Consider, first, that this is a center-right bunch (sorry, not even Chris Van Hollen is much of a progressive any more). Consider, further, their record of backing failures, like Anthony Brown in 2014 and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend in 2002 — it’s not a gang that exactly has its finger on the pulse of Maryland voters. If Baker gets the nomination, look to him to run a lackluster campaign, much like Brown’s, and to get destroyed by Hogan. Finally, consider Baker’s endorsement of liquor salesman David Trone for Congress (District 6) in exchange for $39,000 in campaign contributions.

This rest of the gubernatorial field is so weak and inexperienced that only one candidate bears mentioning at all. Krishanti Vignarajah’s campaign is an insult to all Marylanders. She voted in DC until very recently and never provided service of any kind to our state. Her only “qualification” is having served as an aide to the previous first lady, hardly a policy heavy position. If, by some miracle, she were to pull out a primary victory, the GOP would get her knocked off the ballot in no time, because she has not resided the required five years in Maryland.

US Senate

My only recommendation here is not to vote for Ben Cardin. His domestic policy record isn’t bad, but his foreign priority is to enable the Israeli right. Cardin’s opposition to the nuclear deal with Iran and his attempt to pass legislation curtailing the free-speech rights of Americans who don’t support Israel are utterly disqualifying. It doesn’t matter whether you vote for carpetbagging Chelsea Manning or one of the other token challengers to Cardin, since none of them has the proverbial snowball’s chance in hell. All that matters is your not helping to drive up the senator’s vote total.

US Congress – District 6

Roger Manno’s record in the Maryland legislature can be compared to Jamie Raskin’s. Manno is a principled progressive and labor supporter who provides the leadership needed to turn good ideas into law.

One or two others in the race are not bad ideologically, but Manno is the only one who can beat liquor salesman and GOP-loving gazillionaire David Trone, who is the most pernicious influence in area politics since Doug Duncan’s End-Gridlock slate. Stopping Trone is of equal importance to stopping David Blair’s county exec run (see next section).

Montgomery County Executive

For progressives, this choice is even clearer than the one in the governor’s race (where there is somewhat of a dilemma between Madaleno and Jealous): Marc Elrich is the only candidate you can trust as county exec. Quoting from my endorsement last July:

Elrich is the least ego-driven politician I have ever met. He is not enamored of seeing his name or face in lights or of power for its own sake, but rather gets out of bed every day in order to make a better world, especially for the underdogs. Elrich is also the least corrupt politician in Montgomery County, having consistently refused to take contributions from the politically dominant development industry. While he is able to meet respectfully with all players in county affairs, Elrich is the only member of the council who has consistently prioritized community needs over industry interests.

Further, Elrich is one of the most intelligent and informed public leaders we have. His encyclopedic knowledge of zoning, public education (he was a MCPS teacher for 17 years), and other arcana means he is as prepared to govern as anyone.

Is Elrich perfect? Nope. For one thing he has a tendency stick his foot in his mouth with rash rhetoric, making him seem more extreme than he is. And he is a mite too rigid in opposition to growth and development for yours truly. (I worry about shutting the doors of our wealthy county on the poor who would benefit by coming here.)

But I would far rather err “to the left” on this — electing someone who will never simply do the bidding of the Chamber of Commerce, the development industry, or (deity forbid) the Washington Post — than to take a risk with any of the other, compromised candidates in this race. There is — sadly — little doubt that we will end up with a pro-Chamber county council next year and we need an executive who will check it, not enable it.

George Leventhal is the only other candidate not wholly in the pocket of the county’s bad guys. But I worry about putting anyone in an executive role who has Leventhal’s anger issues and tendency to bully. I do believe that Leventhal has good intentions, much of the time, and there has been no one better than him at constituent responsiveness. On the flip side, Leventhal’s eagerness to tout a substantively empty “compact” between MoCo and PG on preserving affordable housing along the Purple Line betrays a disturbing willingness to claim credit where none is due. Finally, Leventhal recently called for reducing MoCo’s energy tax, which is environmentally and fiscally irresponsible.

Speaking of the Post, this supposed quality newspaper embarrassed itself when it recently endorsed David Blair for county exec. Blair, who has no record of public service, has been drowning the county in mailers since February, as he attempts to purchase the election. The Post loves the millions Blair made in the pharmaceutical business. He is currently being ridiculed as #MoCoPharmaBro on Facebook and is perceived as such a danger to our county that opponent Roger Berliner (who otherwise deserves no respect or support) and Progressive Maryland are going after him with gusto (Berliner’s add compares Blair to Trone, another wealthy amateur). Blair doesn’t even vote consistently, which would eliminate him for me, even without his other flaws.

Montgomery County At-Large (four seats)

There are 33 Democrats running. Just wrap your mind around this for a moment. The most well intentioned political observers cannot possibly have gotten to know all of them. The best we can do is help each other fill in gaps and look at the past records of those candidates who have them.

I am somewhat better informed about the field than most, because I read the questionnaire responses of all 23 candidates who sought Progressive Neighbors’ (PN) endorsement, weeding out any who rejected public campaign financing. Following are my conclusions.

Brandy Brooks and Chris Wilhelm are running together as #TeamProgressive. The two of them are powerful voices for redressing capitalist excesses, improving our flawed democracy, and protecting the environment. Wilhelm, a MoCo public school teacher, has door-knocking and fundraising for a year, with impressive results. He is in sixth place among all the candidates in remaining cash on hand, as of May 15, and has a large ground operation. This puts him among the two progressive candidates with the best chance of knocking off chamber-of-commerce candidates in the primary.

There is some concern about Brooks’s short residence in Maryland (two years). On the other hand, hers was among the most compelling of the PN candidate responses I read, showing not only her philosophy, but also considerable knowledge of policy details. Brooks is not as strong financially as Wilhelm, meaning she is more likely of the two to be helped by the team they have formed.

Jill Ortman-Fouse is the other progressive with a strong chance of success on June 26. Her service as an at-large member of the Board of Education gives her name recognition across the county. Even better, she’s good at making friends: I have yet to hear any criticism of Ortman-Fouse’s character or performance. There is no doubt that our county will benefit from having education experts like her and Wilhelm on County Council. Ortman-Fouse also has worked on behalf of affordable housing, the environment, and other issues.

Pick one: Bill Conway or Seth Grimes

Both Conway and Grimes are the types who wow you immediately with their intelligence and in-depth understanding of policy.

I have witnessed over a decade Grimes’s public service as an activist and city council member in Takoma Park. His service on the board of Shepherd’s Table demonstrates his deep commitment to economic justice. His work on the Safe-Grow initiative, first at the city and then at the county level, makes him one of the strongest environmental candidates in the race.

Conway may be the most moderate candidate I am considering — and I don’t see this as a bad thing. After engaging with him directly and watching him interact with others, Conway has struck me as a no-bullshit realist. He seems to get the real constraints the county’s economic circumstances have on policy better than some of the progressives I’m supporting and he doesn’t pander. Also, it isn’t like Conway is “dangerously” moderate: he supports a minimum-wage increase and his wife, Diana Conway, is one of the county’s most prominent environmental leaders. (I don’t expect her to make policy for him. I do expect her views to be persuasive across the kitchen table.) Finally, Conway’s fundraising totals put him at the top, alongside chamber-of-commerce types like Charles Barkley, Evan Glass, and Hans Riemer. His victory could help send one of them to defeat.

Evan Glass is a nice and smart guy. But, if his hand-in-glove relationship with developers in the 2014 campaign were not enough to scare of you off, this year’s Washington Post endorsement should put the nail in the coffin. The Post’s record of support for big business and pave-it-all development is worse this year than ever. There is no chance they would have endorsed Glass if they weren’t convinced he’d be doing the Chamber’s bidding once in office.

Will Jawando has made strides over the course of his four campaigns for office in the past four years. His grasp of issues and his progressive stances on them are increasingly impressive. On a personal level, he is warm and gracious. But for me, his political ambition is off-putting, at best. I want to vote for people who want to be on County Council, rather than considering it a way station on their path to greater glory. I suspect MoCo will not be getting Jawando’s full attention after a relatively short period in office. In a weaker field, I might take this risk, but I see no reason to do so this time.

Hans Riemer, the sole incumbent running for reelection this year, was never worthy of the votes he has received and nothing has changed this go-‘round. The shame is that he is nearly certain to win.

Danielle Meitiv has managed to garner the love of nearly every progressive organization in the county without ever having done anything substantive to earn it. Before deciding to run for office, the only public thing Meitiv has accomplished was to get arrested for letting her kids walk alone on country streets (for which, she earned the rubrik “Free-Range Mom”). Meitiv is running on that fame and her status as a a climate scientist. This sounds great, but we don’t need a climate scientist in office at the county level — what we need are smart policy makers who know how to reduce county energy consumption on the ground. Meitiv is a nice person and a solid progressive. She just hasn’t earned the attention the progressive community is paying her and there are better candidates on the ballot.

Montgomery County Council – District 1

Progressives’ sentimental favorites in this race are Ana Sol Gutierrez and Bill Cook. Neither has any chance of winning, so a vote for either is as good as throwing your vote away. Gutierrez is relatively well known, but the district she served as state delegate (D18) overlaps only slightly with the county district she is running in.

Among the well-funded candidates with a good chance of winning, Meredith Wellington stands out. When she served on the Planning Board (1999-2007), she was the most consistent skeptic of the development industry. In the current campaign, she vows not to take money from those big-business interests and instead to favor community and the environment. While not all endorsements matter, Marc Elrich’s support for Wellington is telling: he believes she will be his partner on County Council, making sure that our government serves the people, rather than the Chamber. Progressive Neighbors also endorsed Wellington (along with Gutierrez).

Montgomery County Council – District 3

Ben Shnider has run an upstart campaign against Nancy Floreen’s ideological best friend on the current council, Sidney Katz. A Shnider victory over Katz would change the nature of the council profoundly for the better.

Montgomery County Council – District 5

I have been sharply critical of Tom Hucker in the past, mostly for being a bully. This remains a concern for me — as does the fact that he has been unreliable as an ally to Elrich on council. But Hucker does a lot of good work supporting workers, the environment, and economic justice. A very strong case would have to be made for not returning Hucker to council and his opponent this year, Kevin Harris, isn’t making one. Harris is taking a NIMBY position on bus-rapid transit (BRT) along Route 29 and is pandering to development opponents in Takoma Park on a local issue he should have stayed away from.

This is not a bad moment for me to digress to the issues of development and growth, in general. While I am ardently opposed to the political dominance of the development industry in our politics, I don’t believe that nothing should be built anywhere. There is a strong not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) element in the county’s slow-growth progressive community. When NIMBYs refuse to compromise for the greater good, they are no better than Republicans who oppose sharing the wealth. BRT on Rt. 29, for example, may inconvenience those who live in the immediate vicinity. But the benefits for less-wealthy commuters and for the environment outweigh those narrow concerns. 

Maryland Senate – District 18

Dana Beyer is the fearless firebrand we need in the legislature, not only to push progressive policy, but also to take on the Old Guard run by regressives like Sen. Mike Miller. Beyer is also whip smart — she has been a political activist for years and is as good an analyst of public policy, along a wide variety of topics, as you could ever hope to meet.

Beyer looks even better in comparison to her opponent Jeff Waldstreicher, whose voting record is fine, but whose repertoire includes dirty tricks. Seventh State reported today on Waldstreicher’s latest shenanigans: Waldstreicher Fibs His Way Out of Facing His Constituents.

Maryland Delegates – District 20 (three seats)

David Moon and Jheanelle Wilkins are a progressive’s dream come true. Moon’s record of accomplishment in four years as delegate is stunning across a whole range of policies (did you know he got an animal-rights bill passed last session?). Even when Moon loses (his attempt to end the tax exemption for golf courses), he changes the world by raising the issue (and he will win on this next session, mark my words).

Wilkins got a later start than in Annapolis than Moon did, having been appointed to her delegate seat seat two weeks into the 2017 session. (The vacancy was caused by Jamie Raskin’s election to Congress; Will Smith was appointed to that seat, and then Wilkins was appointed to Smith’s.) It has been a joy to watch her grow from being an I’m-on-board progressive to being a leader with substantive legislative accomplishments in the most recent term, on issues nearly as broad as those tackled by Moon.

Lorig Charkoudian is a newcomer only in the sense that she doesn’t have Moon’s and Wilkins’s incumbency. A PhD economist, she is well known locally as an expert on criminal justice reform, food “deserts” (lack of healthy, quality food in poor neighborhoods), and other economic justice issues. Charkoudian’s record of political engagement is such that she will hardly go to Annapolis unprepared: she is experienced in drafting legislation and knows how to get around the halls of the legislature.

Darian Unger is a good man who might stand out in a weaker field. In this one, he lacks the political talent, experience, and effectiveness of the other candidates. Unger has done a lot of public good outside of elective office. I wish he would find fulfillment doing just that — it’s where he shines.

©2018 Keith Berner

05.30.18 A flip for a flop

Jarrett Smith’s precipitous reversal on Junction development betrays cynicism on behalf of a hopeless cause (his quest for higher office).

Timeline

• February 23: Takoma Park Ward 5 City Councilman Jarrett Smith, who was reelected less than three months earlier, files to run for County Council, just four days before the 2/27 deadline. He is to face 32 opponents in the June 26 primary.
• April 20: Smith, who has supported plans to develop Takoma Junction for years, defends the project’s size in an email (implying his continued support).
• April 22: The City holds a “pop-up” event on the site of the proposed Junction development, encouraging visits by officials and residents.
• April 23: Smith authors an email asking for details on how to kill the project, which is the first indication of his flip.
• April 28: Smith explains his change of heart to City Manager Suzanne Ludlow, due to a couple of hostile voters he met at the pop-up, whom he “normally . . . wouldn’t care” about, but can’t ignore “right now.”
• May 4: At Smith’s request, a resident posts to two ward listservs Smith’s declaration of opposition to Junction development. (The councilman hadn’t posted any communication to these listservs for months.)
• May 11: Smith breaks his long boycott of the listservs with his campaign announcement for County Council. He announces no policy positions, providing only Takoma Park pride and ethnicity as campaign rationales.
• As of his mid-May campaign finance report, Smith has almost no support (he ranks 21^st of 24 candidates who filed), not even within his ward. His campaign is invisible, he is nearly unknown outside of Takoma Park, and he has no money for campaign publicity.
• Conclusions
  • “Right now” in Smith’s 4/28 email is all about his new status as a candidate for higher office.
  • If Smith thinks he has any shot of finishing in the top 15 on June 26, I want some of what he’s smoking.
  • It is unethical to kill good policy in service to one’s political career (common though it is). It is a shear mystery why one would do so when there’s no possible payback for the dirty deed, not even electoral victory.

The Flip: Takoma Junction development

On May 5 (before I knew the inside details), I wrote about Takoma Park City Councilman Jarrett Smith’s sudden reversal on Takoma Junction development after years of consistent support for the project. I portrayed his refusal to communicate his own views to Ward 5 residents (or solicit theirs), instead tasking a resident to post for him to the community listservs he had been boycotting for months.

Last week, an inside source provided your blogger with emails retrieved through a public-records request that detail how quickly and thoughtlessly Smith switched sides. As recently as April 20, Smith wrote to unnamed recipients in support of the project, defending the developer’s need for profit to make the plan viable:

Subject: Re: Getting more public space at the Junction
From: Jarrett Smith <jarretts@takomaparkmd.gov>
To: Jarrett Smith <jarretts@takomaparkmd.gov>
Date Sent: Friday, April 20, 2018 10:15:23 AM GMT-04:00
Date Received: Wednesday, May 16, 2018 3:20:28 PM GMT-04:00
I don’t understand how all of these financial assumptions can be made. NDC will have a construction and long term financing on this project. We also don’t know what their IRR is for their investors. Maybe that 8% is to cover brokerage commissions? I know that a project of this size, every dollar is important. A modest reduction in profits could ruin this entire project.
Jarrett
Jarrett K. Smith
Takoma Park City Council. Ward 5

[emphasis added]

Only three days later, Smith had switched sides, demanding information on how to kill the deal:

Subject: Junction Development
From: Jarrett Smith <jarretts@takomaparkmd.gov>
To: Council@takomaparkmd.gov
Bcc: esiegel2@igc.org
Date Sent: Monday, April 23, 2018 10:44:43 AM GMT-04:00
Date Received: Wednesday, May 16, 2018 3:18:17 PM GMT-04:00
All,
The vote on NDC’s site plan proposal is coming before us in the next few weeks. I think we need to review the DA that unwinds the deal. We need to know the penalties so we can share with residents before May 9th. I ask staff to share the details with us as soon as possible.
Jarrett
Jarrett K. Smith
Takoma Park City Council. Ward 5
[emphasis added]

It took Smith five more days to declare his implacable opposition to Junction development, when he refused to take part in the survey of councilmembers regarding areas of agreement and disagreement:

Subject: Re: Important Update on Council schedule re Budget and Junction
From: Jarrett Smith <jarretts@takomaparkmd.gov>
To: Suzanne Ludlow <suzannel@takomaparkmd.gov>
Cc: City Council <Council@takomaparkmd.gov>, “Damweber, Jason”
<jasond@takomaparkmd.gov>, Jessie Carpenter <jessiec@takomaparkmd.gov>, Sara Daines
<sarad@takomaparkmd.gov>, Rosalind Grigsby <rosalindg@takomaparkmd.gov>, “Cheung,
Susan” <susanc@takomaparkmd.gov>
Date Sent: Saturday, April 28, 2018 11:20:26 AM GMT-04:00
Date Received: Saturday, April 28, 2018 11:20:28 AM GMT-04:00
Thanks, Kacy for taking the lead on compiling Junction survey and drafting the resolution. I won’t be filling the survey because I’m a no vote on moving the [sic] forward. I wanted you to know why there are only six survey responses.
Jarrett
Jarrett K. Smith
Takoma Park City Council. Ward 5
[emphasis added]

Later that day, Smith responded to City Manager Suzanne Ludlow’s inquiry about his sudden opposition to the plan:

Subject: Re: Important Update on Council schedule re Budget and Junction
From: Jarrett Smith <jarretts@takomaparkmd.gov>
To: Jarrett Smith <jarretts@takomaparkmd.gov>
Bcc: CindyD@takomaparkmd.gov
Date Sent: Saturday, April 28, 2018 1:38:53 PM GMT-04:00
Date Received: Wednesday, May 16, 2018 2:55:22 PM GMT-04:00
Suzie,
I can’t afford fighting with anymore of my super voters. I was told at the pop up if I support this project there will be war. In normal circumstances I wouldn’t care, but not now.
Jarrett
Jarrett K. Smith
Takoma Park City Council. Ward 5
[Empasis added. The “pop up” referred to was a site visit for residents organized by
the city on April 22.]

“Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t care,” writes Jarrett Smith, “but not now.”

What does “not now” mean? Well, the one thing that has changed just recently in Smith’s calculations is his last-minute decision to go for a political promotion to the Montgomery County Council: in this email he is declaring a swap of policy for votes.

Clearly what happened is that a couple of residents collared Smith at the April 22 “pop up” and declared potential war on him if he wouldn’t help kill the Junction project. His sudden fear of a minuscule number of lost county-council votes was enough for him to sell out the city and the rest of his constituents. Just. Like. That.

It is one thing for an elected official (or anyone else) to change their view after considerable study over a period of time. The suddenness of Smith’s switch (not to mention his disinterest in resident input prior to that day) betrays its cynicism.

The Flop: A hopeless campaign for County Council

Smith campaign status:

• He is one of 32 Democratic at-large candidates on June 26.
• Many candidates started campaigning almost a year ago. Smith launched his campaign on February 23, four days before the filing deadline.
• Smith rejected public financing of his campaign, anathema to campaign-finance-reform fans.
• He hasn’t exactly been raking in the bucks through private fundraising, though: his total raised of $5,610 and his cash balance of $2,427 put him in 21^st place of 24 campaigns that filed reports due by May 15.
• Only four of Smith’s 32 contributions come from Ward 5 residents (by comparison, 250 contributions are necessary to qualify for public financing).
• Nearly half the dollars Smith has raised comes from out of state (three from possible relatives, with the surname “Smith”).
• The two-thousand and change Smith has on hand won’t pay for s single mailer, which Seventh State Blog estimates would start at $35,000.*
• Smith has almost no name recognition among voters outside of one part of Takoma Park.

In sum

Jarrett Smith’s political ambition is shear fantasy. It wouldn’t be worth a second glance, if he weren’t selling us out on its behalf.

Jarrett Smith’s flip is clear: a sudden and complete reversal on a project vital to Takoma Park. His flop is just as apparent: a campaign having no apparent public purpose** or prospect of success.

I’m baffled. What Smith has done here just doesn’t make any sense, not even for his own self-interest (his campaign is an embarrassment that won’t help him at all in should he go for the glory again in 2022).

I wrote last fall about Smith’s sense of entitlement to public office and disregard for constituents. We can now add delusions of grandeur to the bill of particulars on this unfit politician.  Residents need to hold Jarrett Smith’s feet to the fire if they are to have any hope he will remember his serious obligations to engage them and to further public policy without self-interest.

---

*Statistics are from Seventh State Blog and the Maryland Board of Elections.

**Smith broke his long boycott of community listservs on May 11, when he posted a campaign announcement with these vapid rationales:

• Montgomery County is now majority ethnic;
• Since Ike Leggett’s election approximately 30 years ago as the first African American At-Large County Councilmember, every ethnic member of the county council has held another previous elected office. In my case, I am in my 4th term representing Takoma Park’s City Council; and lastly,
• this year’s election will be the very last time a Takoma Park Councilmember can maintain his or her seat and run for another office, therefore, in the spirit of solidarity and Takoma Park tradition, I need you.

[excerpted verbatim from Smith’s 5/11 email]

©2018 Keith Berner

 

03.15.18 D20 Pride (Moon, Smith, and Wilkins)

If you live in Takoma Park or Silver Spring (state legislative district 20) and read today’s Washington Post Metro section, you could not help feeling a burst of pride at being served by the most progressive and among the most effective delegations in Annapolis.

In “Maryland General Assembly advances bill that bans bump stocks on firearms,” we learn that our elected officials are taking the lead on gun control in Maryland. Del. David Moon is the lead sponsor on the bill mentioned in the headline. A few paragraphs later, Sen. Will Smith appears as the star of an effort to bar domestic abusers from owning guns.

Turning the page in the Metro section leads to an article titled “Activists urge Maryland to stop ‘Potomac Pipeline’ ahead of key deadline.” Here we learn of Del. Jheanelle Wilkins’s leadership in opposing construction of an environmentally destructive pipeline.

Of course, these are merely examples of our elected officials’ proactivity on issues we care about. A glance at Wilkins’ Facebook page shows her recent involvement in labor rights, just sentencing, maternal health, windpower, and more. Moon is even more prolific, leading or joining efforts to ban corporate contributions to political campaigns, institute same-day voter registration, make police accountable, and prevent child abuse and neglect.

If you live in D20 and are not following your elected officials on Facebook, you really should.

*****

Speaking of local pride a recent, outstanding series about the geography of political contributions in Montgomery County shows Takoma Park (the zip code, not the city) to be far ahead of all other jurisdictions in average contributions per resident: $1.97, with Chevy Chase a distant second at $1.43. Tired of all the whining about how much an outsize role Takoma Park plays in county and state politics? Just point out to the whiners that if they had our residents, they could also be leaders.

Another interesting tidbit from the Seventh State series is that Marc Elrich beats George Leventhal 4 to 1 at Takoma Park contributions, even though they both reside in Takoma Park. Leventhal beats Elrich somewhat up county, but trails significantly in the activist, densely populated area Seventh State calls the “Democratic Crescent.”

©2018 Keith Berner

02.09.18 Let the deluge begin (bonus: fond memories of David Trone)

If you thought Snowpocalypse and Snowmaggedon were bad, you ain’t seen nothing like the storm that began dropping its detritus this week. I’m talking about piles of political postal mail and robocalls from the ~130 candidates on the ballot in Montgomery County (at county, state, and Federal levels) – and this is only counting candidates in competitive races. (I’m assuming that those running unopposed will be minor contributors to the deluge.)

Here in Takoma Park, we received our first mail piece two days ago: a letter (in an envelope) from David Blair, a candidate for Montgomery County executive. Then, last night, we received our first robocall, from Lorna Phillips Forde, who is running for county council at-large (Forde’s message was cutoff at the beginning, making her look [sound] bad).

There are benefits to candidates who start advertising (in whatever form) early: the fact that everyone else isn’t yet in the game means your forays will stand out. Of course, not all candidates have the finances to start this stuff mid-winter (some at-large council candidates are nowhere close to being able to afford a county-wide mailing). It will get crazy in May and June, when we come home to half-a-dozen mail pieces a day.

Should we consider this to be garbage? Or is it valuable input voters’ decision-making? I lean towards the former view. Mailing pieces are almost always ugly and tell us very little that isn’t boilerplate pablum. Robocalls are one of the most obnoxious phenomena in the known universe.

But almost none of the candidates will be able to afford broadcast advertising or billboards (except for David Trone* who will  spend $25 million to purchase a seat – from the sixth district – in Congress). How else are they gonna get name recognition across their districts or the entire county? (Well, having legions of volunteers to door-knock for you and visiting a wide array of community and political events are much better ways to connnect with potential voters, but these involve hard work!) So, I try to be tolerant. In the case of robocalls, though, any campaign that hits me more than once is going to get added to my I-hate-you-forever list very quickly.

I plan to collect all the junk mail we receive, with the goal of counting it and weighing it on Primary Day (June 26, 2018). What are your hobbies, Dear Reader?

PS. Some other blogs (like Seventh State) post images of some mailings they receive. I don’t plan on doing that. In my view, either one does it comprehensively (which is most fair to the various campaigns, but would mean this blog would do nothing else) or one is cherry picking based on criteria that your readers most likely aren’t privy to.

*See my prior coverage of this liquor salesman turned buy-it-for-myself politico:

• 02.03.16 David Trone introduces dirty tricks to MD-8 congressional campaign
• 02.06.16 Birds of a feather: Matthews & Trone don’t even vote (MD-8)
• 03.02.16 Like Bob McDonnell and Donald Trump? You’ll love David Trone!
• 03.15.16 David Trone calls Jamie Raskin ‘a polarizing figure from the left.’
• 01.15.17 David Trone: He’s baaaaack (and will be uglier than ever)

And: in a candidate’s forum, Trone recently said Israel should be our 51st state and should get everything they want.

 

©2018 Keith Berner

 

 

01.30.18 Sierra Club goes cynical

Bethesda Magazine reported yesterday Sierra Club’s endorsements of Roger Berliner for county executive, as well as of Hans Riemer and Will Jawando for County Council At-Large. I have previously written about Berliner’s poor environmental record (aw c’mon – his support for a fossil fuel divestment bill only came after he helped gut it of its substance!). I have also written numerous times about Riemer’s and Jawando’s lack of any substantial accomplishments for our county.

(Note: I may not endorse them myself, but I have no substantial objection to SC’s endorsements of Evan Glass and Danielle Meitiv for At-Large.)

What is clearly going on here is that Sierra Club has cynically calculated whose backs it needs to scratch (because they are potential winners?), rather than prioritizing the candidates who are most likely to push an environmental agenda.

This is not the first time Sierra Club has disgusted me. In 2011, I wrote about how they deluged me with postal pollution because I made the mistake of supporting them financially. Check out that post for a partial list of environmental organizations that are actually worthy of support.

We now know everything we need to know about Sierra Club. I urge all environmentalists in the county to cut ties with this cynical group.

©2018 Keith Berner

 

 

 

01.24.18 More resources for keeping up with local and state politics

Thanks to readers who sent along tips!

Blogs

Maryland Matters calls itself “the premier site for news about Maryland government and politics” and features posts by a variety of authors. I subscribe to emails that come in at the rate of two or three per day.

Political Maryland (Barry Rascovar) is another blog I subscribe to by email. Rascovar posts about once a week.

Other Resources

Paul Bessel’s website lists all races and candidates in Montgomery County, as well as all upcoming candidate forums and other political events.

Maryland State Board of Elections is the definitive listing of campaigns that have officially filed: Maryland and Montgomery County. The site contains contact information, but some campaigns provide inaccurate info in their filing documents.

Maryland Campaign Reporting Information System is the site for all campaigns’ financial reports.

©2018 Keith Berner

 

01.23.18 How to stay abreast of Montgomery County and Maryland politics

Your blogger admits with shame that his blog is not the be-all and end-all of local political coverage (though, he still insists that only his opinions are reliable!). With the Washington Post’s having long since jettisoned any pretense of giving a shit about its own region, where is a poor activist or voter to turn? Here is my list of favorite go-to sources.

Seventh State (David Lublin and Adam Pagnucco): This site provides unbeatable statistical/financial analysis, some breaking news, and analysis that is a bit too centrist for my taste, but almost always worth a read. It is heavily MoCo focused. I keep up by following Seventh State on Facebook. (I just have to swallow hard and bite my inner cheeks when Pagnucco acts as cheerleader for the likes of Roger Berliner and Hans Riemer. To be fair, Pagnucco is open about whom he supports and the overall coverage on the site is pretty fair.)

A Miner Detail (Ryan Miner) does pretty much what Seventh State does, but has a broader geographic focus. Miner also takes and posts videos of many candidate forums. I keep up by subscribing to receive new posts by email.

Bethesda Beat (daily newsletter from Bethesda Magazine) is from an actual local newspaper, with some political coverage worth reading. I keep up via an email subscription.

Our Maryland provides a weekly email newsletter that summarizes their coverage. So far (I have only subscribed for a few months), I haven’t found overwhelming value here, but it still seems good to keep tabs on it.

Washington Post Metro Section: If you subscribe to the Post anyway, it’s worth giving Metro a daily skim. Articles on local politics are slim pickings and are always biased to align with the Post’s virulently anti-labor, pro-development editorial bias.

I’m always looking for additional sources of local political news. If you have any suggestions, please send them my way: lhf@kberner.us.

If you are not seeking out and reading political coverage of our region, don’t consider yourself an informed voter.

©2018 Keith Berner

 

01.13.18 Running for office? Communications tips.

Here are a few basic tips before you put yourself in front of the public:

1. Register your own domain. Those with @aol.com email and website addresses look like neanderthals.
2. Don’t use a stupid domain like @goodforfamiles.com or @justiceforall.com. Use some form of your name (e.g., @keithberner.com or @keithforcouncil.com). This looks professional and allows you to tell your story in the content of your communications. When you try to squeeze your philosophy into your email address, you end up being a one-note candidate or (worse) appearing to be nothing more than a slogan. (And, unless you are a professional copywriter, your slogan is almost guaranteed to be corny or vapid.)
3. Put up a website. If you are running for any office higher than small-town city council, put yourself where most people will look for you.
4. Make sure your website is findable through popular search engines. Like a tree falling in a forest, a site that can’t be found makes no noise.
5. Put your contact information, especially your email address on your website. Don’t make me have to choose between donate-now and volunteer buttons as the only way to send you an inquiry.
6. Don’t ignore inquiries. If you can’t be bothered to respond to interested parties now, we know how bad your eventual constituent service will be.
7. If you can afford it, hire professionals to create your brand, both visual and written. If you can’t afford it, use the best quality images and writing you can find.

What prompts this outburst from yours truly? Well, I am currently trying to gather contact information for ~130 candidates in Montgomery County so that endorsement questionnaires can be sent to them. It amazes me how many of them have no website or have sites that provide no means to reach them without giving them money or volunteer time. I also am aghast at the ~40% who have simply ignored my inquiries.

Get with it, people. Or get out of the race.

©2018 Keith Berner

12.22.17 Thirty-plus at-large candidates in MoCo? How to choose?!

Bethesda Magazine reports today that a 30th candidate has filed to run for one of four at-large seats on the Montgomery County Council in next June’s Democratic primary election (which, given the overwhelming Democratic majority in the county, is the only election that matters). How is any moderately informed voter to sort out this crowd?

(Political activist Paul Bessel maintains a constantly updated list of candidates here. His list, which includes some who are only rumored to be in the running, currently totals 40 for the at-large race.) 

It will be impossible for any of us to get to know all the candidates, so some shortcuts for winnowing down down the large list could be helpful. Here are my criteria:

1. Has the candidate filed for public financing? Under Montgomery County’s new campaign-finance law, candidates qualify for public matching funds by raising a sufficient quantity of small (up to $150 each) contributions from county residents to reach a sufficient quantity of total dollars raised. In my view, any county candidate not accepting public financing is ipso facto endorsing corrupt pay-to-play politics where wealthy interests purchase the county council they want. In MoCo, the development industry has been throwing around $4,000 contributions for years, which has resulted in our pave-it-all politics.

2. Is the campaign viable? To qualify for matching funds in the at-large race (there are different thresholds for county exec and district races), candidates must receive 250 individual contributions totaling at least $25,000. So far, only five of the 30 candidates have actually qualified (out of 22 who have indicated intent to qualify). I suggest that candidates who have not qualified for public financing by January 17 (when campaign finance reports are due) might not have the public support to merit serious consideration. (If that date strikes you as too early, set your own!) Of course, there could be some campaigns that fall a bit short, but seem to have momentum.

3. If the candidate is currently in public office, how have they done? Hans Riemer is the only incumbent in the at-large race. His tenure has been marked by exaggeration, obfuscation, footsie with the developers, and a lack of issue gravitas.* Don’t support him.

4. Where does the candidate fall in the county’s great divide: developers vs. everyone else? I’m not anti-development, but I am firmly opposed to the industry’s outsized, overwhelming dominance of our politics. The current council already includes a majority that is wholly in developers’ pockets and we don’t need any more of these. Besides Riemer, the most 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 choice.

5. Has the candidate ever offered public or community service in the county? I don’t know everyone’s records, but one “bad guy” stands out: Will Jawando is running his fourth race in four years, but seems never to have done anything for county residents other than litter our yards and mailboxes with his publicity.

6. Diversity, diversity, diversity. In this #metoo and #blacklivesmatter era, there is no excuse for putting four white men in at-large seats in liberal MoCo. Even if it’s these guys who are catching your attention, you owe it to everyone to look harder for candidates who don’t look and sound the same as the current power structure. Reducing the power of white men is a long-term project that requires our attention at the local level.

I have already made one endorsement in the race: Seth Grimes (a white guy), because I know his record so well from his years of public and community service in Takoma Park. I am intrigued by several other candidates, but – as you might expect – I know only a small percentage of those running. I’ll be watching and listening closely in coming weeks and months. I hope you do, too.

*Please enjoy my previous comments about Riemer  just type his name into the search box on this site. Or, go directly to one of my favorites.

©2017 Keith Berner

 

08.12.17 Will Jawando can’t even keep track of what office he’s running for!

Will Jawando, who has announced his candidacy for MoCo council at-large, is running his fourth campaign in three years (without ever having done anything for this community). No wonder he can’t keep track of what he’s running for. Thanks to Seventh State for catching this.

HIS ANNOUNCEMENT SAYS COUNCIL . . . BUT HIS WEBSITE SAYS CONGRESS