Rushern L. Baker III is determined that his current gubernatorial campaign not be a replica of his 2018 run. Not just the losing part — but the way he lost. The former Prince George’s county executive looks back at his unsuccessful run four years ago and sees a campaign that was too scripted, too focused on “not offending anybody.” “I made a mistake,” he said in an interview. “I made a mistake by not being authentic in 2018, and worrying about whether I’d offend the Senate president or the speaker of the House, or anyone else — rather than just telling the truth.”
Baker Determined Not to Repeat “Mistakes” From His First Gubernatorial Bid
Plymyer: Baltimore City Council should pass bill to ban elected officials from overseeing IG’s office. Here’s why.
Baltimore City Council Bill 22-0238 seeks to place on the November ballot a proposed amendment to the city charter that would bar elected officials, their designees, state or government employees, and lobbyists from serving on a board that oversees the city’s Office of the Inspector General. It is meant to reduce conflicts of interest that could arise, given that investigation of any one of those individuals could come under the IG’s purview. Baltimore needs an independent and effective OIG. Council members who care about the city will vote in favor of the bill.
Josh Kurtz: Author, Author (Part One)!
When I first heard that Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando (D) was writing an autobiography, with the title “My Seven Black Fathers,” the cynic in me raced to a couple of conclusions. There was something a little too Obamaesque about the title to make me think this was anything but a calculated political document by a very ambitious politician whose own history, with a white mother from Kansas, an African father and a Black wife named Michele, aligns very neatly with the 44th president’s. I was wrong.
Md. pandemic aid to businesses hindered by rules, caution, officials say
The state’s top tax collector said efforts to get aid to businesses struggling to survive the early days of the pandemic may have been slowed by a paralyzing fear of fraud. Comptroller Peter Franchot called for a quicker response in a future pandemic situation Tuesday. The comptroller heads a work group that is reviewing how state pandemic aid was spent. “Here’s the problem: We are paralyzed in this country by this notion of fraud,” said Franchot. “We see a lot of (fraud) … but we’re paralyzed by it. Scared of our own shadows. We don’t want to give the money unless there is a 25-page application filled out in detail.”
Renaming Indian Head Highway seemed like a good idea. How did it go wrong?
Gabrielle Tayac, a Native American scholar and historian, still remembers as a girl hearing from her father the oral history passed down in his family for over 100 years: How the town of Indian Head and the highway through it got named. “We were driving down Indian Head Highway, and he said, ‘They killed our people and put their heads on spikes,’” said Tayac, an associate professor at George Mason University. “My father said, ‘That’s why Indian Head was called this.’”
Inflation divide: The wealthy splurge, the poorest pull back
Americans at the low end of the income rung are once again struggling to make ends meet. A confluence of factors — the expiration of federal stimulus checks and surging inflation on staples like gas and food — are driving an even bigger wedge between the haves and have-nots. While wealthier shoppers continue to splurge, low-income shoppers have pulled back faster than expected in the past two months. They’re focusing on necessities while turning to cheaper items or less expensive stores. And they’re buying only a little at a time.
High stakes, low attention: Dynamic Democratic field vies for Md. governor
Political Notes: New Ads for Governor and AG, GOP Surrogates Helping Out, AFSCME’s Long List
A new 30-second ad touting former U.S. Labor Secretary Tom Perez in the Democratic primary for governor began airing on Baltimore TV stations Friday. Only it wasn’t made or paid for by Perez’s campaign. The authority line at the end of the ad says it was paid for by Maryland Opportunity Inc., a political action committee that registered with the Maryland State Board of Elections earlier this spring. Little is known about the people behind it. In the board of elections filing, the committee chair is listed as Selena Lewis.
Md. House, Senate remain disconnected on path to legal cannabis
A House work group on marijuana legalization will hold its first meeting since the legislative session on June 14, Judiciary Chairman Luke Clippinger said Friday at the Maryland State Bar Association’s legal summit. That information came as news to Sen. Brian Feldman, a key champion of cannabis legalization in the Maryland Senate who was serving on the same panel as Clippinger at the MSBA conference. Feldman said he had expected more collaboration between the two chambers, which have a host of issues to sift through in the coming year, both ahead of and after a November referendum on legalization that is expected to pass.
Prince George’s School Board Chief Rebuffs Alsobrooks’ Request to Resign By Bruce DePuyt June 3, 2022
Prince George’s Board of Education Chair Juanita Miller signaled on Friday that she has no plans to resign, despite a direct request a day earlier from the woman who appointed her, County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks (D). In a video statement emailed to Maryland Matters, Miller said she intends to fight charges leveled at her by the state Board of Education late last month. Those charges include the failure to sign a legal services contract with a law firm that was the choice of a majority of Miller’s colleagues.