Montgomery County, MD Green Party Blog

A traditional entry point for people interested in running for political office is the Board of Education.  There is a vacancy now in district 4 (Takoma Park, and parts of Silver Spring and Wheaton), that has opned up since Board member Valerie Ervin was elected to the Montgomery County Council.

Anyone with relevent experience who might be interested in getting into politics on the ground floor should look into this.

Board Seeks Applicants for District 4 Vacancy
November 10, 2006

Individuals who live in Board of Education District 4 in Montgomery County are invited to apply for the vacancy created by the pending resignation of Valerie Ervin. Ervin will be leaving the Board because of her election to the Montgomery County Council. The new Council members will be sworn in on December 4, 2006.

The appointment of an individual to complete the remaining two years of the current term will be made by the Board of Education. The appointment process includes a review of submitted applications, personal interviews, voter registration verification, and confirmation of district residency. The Board intends to interview selected candidates on Saturday, December 9, 2006, and expects to complete the appointment process by December 12, 2006.

By law, the individual chosen must be a registered voter of Montgomery County and reside within Board of Education District 4, which encompasses Takoma Park and parts of Silver Spring and Wheaton. The specific precincts that comprise the district can be found in Section 3-901(f)(3)(vii) of the Education Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland. The boundaries of the district also can be identified by calling the Board of Elections at 240-770-8500. An individual who is
subject to the authority of the Board of Education, such as an employee of the school system, may not serve as a member of the Board.

Applications must be received by 5:00 p.m. on November 27, 2006. For additional information about the position, please call Roland Ikheloa, the Board of Education’s chief of staff, at 301-279-3301. Individuals are requested to mail, hand deliver, e-mail, or fax the documents to the Board of Education. The mailing address is 850 Hungerford Drive,
Room 123, Rockville, Maryland 20850. E-mails may be sent to roland_ikheloa@mcpsmd.org. The fax number is 301-279-3860. The names and correspondence of all applicants will be available for public review.

Individuals wishing to be considered for appointment must submit the following:

1. A signed letter expressing the applicant’s desire and willingness to serve on the Board of Education as the District 4 representative with a term ending in November 2008;

2. A brief record of the applicant’s personal history and relevant civic, professional, and other experience (a resume will suffice);

3. A statement certifying that the applicant is a registered voter of Montgomery County and resides in District 4; and

4. Contact information including e-mail addresses and telephone numbers where the applicant can be reached.

In spite of being located on the far fringes of the fairgrounds, the Montgomery County Greens tabling was quite a success.  We got nearly 500 petition signatures, signed up people interested in the party, and even got a couple of registration changes to Green. 

We handed out tons of literature, Zeese campaign literature, Boyd Campaign literature, platform highlights, ICC literature, and plenty of Zeese stickers to the kids; kids love stickers and for a while, they’ll be walking billboards for you.

Next week, it’s on to the state fair!

Posting will likely be slow this week as we are staffing the Green Party table at the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair which runs through this Sunday.

If you’re there stop by and say hello.  We’re waaaaaaaay in the back.  The fairgrounds is just off exit 11 on route 270.

Hey folks,

If you have a My Yahoo page, you can easily add this blog as a feed to your headlines section by clicking the little button on the right side of the blog page that says, Add To My Yahoo. Then whenever a new story appears in the blog, the title of the article will appear on your My Yahoo page along with its age. Cool and easy.

Adam

5 minutes — Introductions; select timekeeper and (interim) Recording Secretary; approve agenda (Nathan)
45 minutes — Ed Boyd Speaks; Q & A; shall we endorse his campaign? (Nathan)
30 minutes — Les Evenchick speaks; Q & A; shall we endorse his campaign? (Nathan)
45 minutes — Kevin Zeese speaks; Q & A; shall we endorse his campaign? (Nathan)
20 minutes — Shall we stand a place-holder candidate against Van Hollen? (Nathan)
10 minutes — Officer elections (Co-chairs, Recording Secretary, Membership Coordinator, Outreach Coordinator) (Nathan)
10 minutes — T.P./S.S. Report (Mary)
10 minutes — M.G.P. Report (Nathan)
10 minutes — MGP ballot access petition (Nathan in place of Tim)
10 minutes — Shall MoCo endorse the BG&E rate hike protest? (Brandy Baker)
5 minutes — MoCo teleconference: When? (Nathan)
Because of a request that I could not deny, John A. Murphy will not be speaking at our meeting this month; instead, he will be speaking at our April meeting.

The music at the Barking Dog Club in Bethesda was loud, the beer was flowing, and the atmosphere was lively. It was the perfect night for a party, but a better night for a political fund-raiser.

On Tuesday, a group of young Democrats, New Generation Montgomery PAC, held its third fund-raiser aimed at voters under 30. With the promise of drink specials, giveaways and networking opportunities, organizers filled the second floor of the bar, but more importantly, they identified a new group of activists.

The group is just one of Montgomery County’s newest line of political power groups: political action committees aimed at and created by young people. With 2006 being one of the state’s and the county’s most important elections, young people could play a major role in determining any number of races.

For the New Generation group, young means under 40. In fact, in races where candidates are older, the group does not even issue an endorsement.

But endorsements are a minor part of New Generation’s work. Its main goals are increasing voter turnout, supporting candidates and doing the party’s basic organizing work.

‘‘Most of the young people in this county are already politically informed, New Generation gives them a way to transform that information into action,” said Tom Manatos, 26, the PAC’s treasurer.

Encouraging young activists is not unique to Democrats by any means.

The Young Republicans of Montgomery County, started in the 1980s for Republicans under 40, focuses on party support, but so far does not recruit candidates from its membership or contribute to individual campaigns.

‘‘For the upcoming elections, we want our party to know that we are the ones that invest the shoe leather,” said Rachael Gingrich, 26, president of the 70-member group. ‘‘We’re not just gofers, we can also be go-to’s.”

In addition to Gingrich’s group, the state GOP also boasts Teenage Republicans and College Republicans.

Like the young Dems and Reps, the College Reps are found on most campuses of state colleges and universities. It plans to work on the U.S. Senate campaign of Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele and on Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.’s re-election, said state adviser Daniel Zubairi, 29, who is running for Congress in the 8th District.

With the Green Party, where the average age of active members is in the 30s, youth is implied.

Although the party does not have a separate PAC for young voters, 90 percent of its new Montgomery County members were between 17 and 19 as of May, when the most recent count was taken.

‘‘We’re a value-based group, and that means a lot to young people,” said Joseph P. Horgan, 50, treasurer of Montgomery’s Green Party Central Committee. ‘‘Our four pillar values [social justice, ecology, nonviolence and grassroots democracy] are a large draw for young voters.”

The zeal of these groups is an extension of the youth voting bloc’s involvement in the 2004 presidential election. During that election, political activists brought out the heavy artillery to influence young voters: famous people. And it worked. More than 20 million people under age 30 ‘‘rocked the vote” according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement in College Park.

Can the youth PACs help sustain that level of interest in 2006?

That depends a lot on the war in Iraq, said Ronald W. Walters, government and politics professor at the University of Maryland, College Park.

‘‘A lot of the 2004 turnout was directly related to the war, and the large numbers brought a new dimension to the elections,” he said. ‘‘But it is already being said that if something is done to key down the war, like reducing the number of deployed soldiers to below 100,000, then the activity may be diminished.”

In Maryland, Walters said, he is not sure the youth PACs will make much difference in the state elections.

‘‘As with most groups like this, to really effect change, they have to raise a large sums of money, and usually these groups aren’t able to do this,” Walters said. ‘‘Turnout is the biggest asset of these groups to their parties.”

December 3 is being planned as an international day of action, to coincide with first Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, in Montreal, from Nov. 28 to Dec. 9. U.S. organizations have united under the banner of “Climate Crisis, USA Join the World!”

The Montgomery County Green Party has decided to take the opportunity to lobby Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley to join the U.S. Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement and pledge to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions to 7% below 1990 levels by 2012.

As of today, 188 mayors representing over 40 million Americans have signed the agreement. The consultant firm, Climate Group, has certified that 17 cities have already lowered their emissions to 1990 levels or below, saving those cities $600 million.

Every major east coast city from Boston to Washington, D.C. has signed the treaty–except for Baltimore. Philadelphia has established a 12 point program to increase efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Sadly, Annapolis is the only one of the 188 cities that is in Maryland. We believe that this calls for a campaign to urge Mayor O’Malley to sign the agreement. Now is a particularly good time to raise the issue since Mayor O’Malley is considering a run for governor next year. He should go on the record on the issue.

The Mayor can be contacted by writing to City Hall, Room 250, 100 N. Holliday Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, by calling (410) 396-3835 or faxing (410) 576-9425, or emailing mayor@baltimorecity.gov . Make your voice heard on this issue!

Here is the letter I sent to Mayor O’Malley:

Mayor Martin O’Malley
City Hall, Room 250
100 N. Holliday Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21202

Dear Mayor O’Malley;
I am writing to you concerning the Climate Conference in Montreal, Canada that is being held from Nov. 28 to Dec. 9. This will be the first meeting since the signing of the Kyoto Protocol on global warming. It is also a sad reminder that the Bush administration has failed to anything about this vital issue.

The American people want action on this issue. According to polls, a majority of Americans believe that global warming is a problem. A Harris poll this year found that 74% of Americans agreed with the statement, “Protecting the environment is so important that requirements and standards cannot be too high, and continuing environmental Improvements must be made regardless of cost.” The organization Climate Crisis, USA Join the World has collected 40,000 signatures on a petition calling on U.S. officials to recognize the treaty.

One of the few hopeful developments has been the grass roots movement among U.S. Mayors to meet or exceed the Kyoto targets in their cities. As of October 21, 2005 187 mayors representing nearly 40 million Americans, have signed the agreement. Many have already reported significant reductions in their greenhouse gas emissions. According to Climate Group, a British-based consultant, 17 major U.S. cities have lowered their emissions below 1990 levels and saved $600 million.

Sadly, Annapolis is the only city in Maryland that has signed this agreement. The coming Climate Conference would make a good opportunity for Baltimore to join that list. Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. have all signed the agreement. Baltimore remains a conspicuous absentee.

I urge you to right this situation and sign the agreement. For your convenience, I am enclosing a copy of the agreement and the signature page.
Sincerely,

Tim Willard
Co-chair, Montgomery County Green Party

MoCo GP Meeting

Saturday, November 5th at noon

1 hour — Social hour (pot luck)

5 minutes — Introductions, selection of Recording Secretary (we don’t have a permanent one) and time keeper

30 minutes — Speech and Q&A (Roger Berliner, candidate for councilmanic dist. #1 — http://www.friendsofrogerberliner.com)

10 minutes — Treasurer’s Report (Joseph Horgan)

10 minutes — TP/SS local report (Mary Rooker)

10 minutes — State CC report (Nathan Bahn)

10 minutes — past outreach activities (Becky Schaaf) BTW, plz note we do not have a perm. outreach coordinator

5 minutes — Membership report (Bahram Zandi)

The Takoma Park Folk Festival, now in its 28th year, will run this Sunday from 11 am to 6:30 pm. It is located at the Takoma Park Middle School, 7611 Piney Branch Rd, Takoma Park. This year’s event will have seven stages with music and entertainment; more than 50 artisans in wood, glass, ceramics, weaving photography, jewelry and fine arts; West African, Middle Eastern, Thai, Salvadoran, German, Jamaican and vegetarian food; and the Green Party!

The event itself if worth seeing–even without the Green Party being there. But do stop by and say hello, check out upcoming events, even help us petition if you wish.

See you there!

At last night’s MCGP meeting we spent an hour and a half discussing the outcomes of the Tulsa meeting and debating the merits of the defeated GDI proposals and the continuing rift between ardent supporters for Nader/Camejo and Cobb. We spent about 30 minutes discussing topics such as support for the Maryland GP, outreach, membership, brochures and the development of the state platform. At one point in the meeting someone said that the MCGP still didn’t have anyone who had stepped forward to run for county council or any county office next year.

Our facilitator introduced the discussion on Steve Kramer’s report on Tulsa by saying that airing of the frustrations about the leadership of the GP and the past presidential nominations process are important and need to be discussed. I agree with that and appreciated learning from many of the comments that people shared. But I was distressed to see how little concern or attention is being given to the local party’s organization or capacity-building for participation in local elections.

To me, calling myself Green and arguing for Nader or Cobb doesn’t mean a thing if I don’t participate in decisionmaking bodies in my local area. People won’t join the MCGP if they don’t know what it stands for, and they won’t know that if we don’t take on leadership roles. Not many of us can afford (or want) to run for President, but many of us can begin educationg people about the value of the Green Party and common sense politics by joining a board or commission and demonstrating some green leadership.

Here are some current, local opportunities (for info, call Julie Pruett 240 777-2535, or go to the County Executives boards and commissions page):

Long Branch Advisory Committee of Silver Spring
County Executive Douglas M. Duncan is seeking applicants to fill 15 vacancies on the newly created Long Branch Advisory Committee of East Silver Spring. Members will serve a two year term. The purpose of the Advisory Committee is to continue the work of the Long Branch Task Force. The committee will advise the county staff on implementation of the residential and commercial revitalization of the Long Branch community. The committee will annually report to the County Executive and County Council on the progress of the revitalization. The Task Force will be composed of 15 members, including homeowners, educational, faith-based and/or civic association members, commercial property or business owners, renters, and representatives of non-profit organizations serving the Long Branch community. It is expected that the Advisory Committee will meet at least quarterly and work groups will also meet on specific projects as needed. Applicants should write by September 19 to County Executive Douglas M. Duncan at the Executive Office Building, 101 Monroe Street, Rockville, Maryland 20850 or send an e-mail to Douglas.Duncan@montgomerycountymd.gov. A brief resume including home and work telephone numbers should be enclosed.

Five Regional Recreation Advisory Boards
County Executive Douglas M. Duncan is seeking applicants to fill several vacancies on the Regional Recreation Advisory Boards in the Upcounty (four vacancies; three incumbents are eligible to reapply), Mid-County (four vacancies, two incumbents are eligible to reapply), Silver Spring (five vacancies, two incumbents are eligible to reapply), East County (two vacancies, the incumbents are eligible to reapply), and the Western area (four vacancies, four incumbents are eligible to reapply). Some of the positions are for alternates; and some of the positions are for partial terms. The regional recreation boards advise the County Executive, County Council, the director of the Department of Recreation and the Planning Board on regional recreation needs, encourages the development of desirable parks and recreational opportunities, and advises and makes recommendations to appropriate officials on matters concerning budgets, recreation programs, services, and facilities. Membership on the regional boards includes nine regular members and two alternates. Members must reside in one of the five regions of Montgomery County. Residents who live within the city limits of Rockville, Gaithersburg or Washington Grove are not eligible for appointment. Members serve three-year terms without compensation. Meetings are usually held the once a month in the evening in the respective geographic areas. To determine the region where you reside or for more specific information on the evening that the regional boards meet, please call 240-777-2535. Deadline: September 2.

Human Rights Commission
County Executive Douglas M. Duncan is seeking applicants to fill five vacancies on the Montgomery County Human Rights Commission. Two members are eligible for reappointment.
The 15-member commission promotes equal rights and opportunities for all persons. Commissioners are expected to serve on special or standing committees and participate in activities requiring involvement in the community. Commissioners serve on case review boards consisting of three individuals that consider and decide each complaint that the Director certifies to the Commission. Regular meetings are held the fourth Monday evening of each month in Rockville. Members serve 3 year terms without compensation. Appointed members are required to file a confidential financial disclosure statement within fifteen days of Council confirmation and annually thereafter. Deadline: September 12.

Criminal Justice Coordinating Commission
County Executive Douglas M. Duncan is seeking applicants to fill two public-at-large vacancies on the Montgomery County Criminal Justice Coordinating Commission. The incumbents are eligible to apply for reappointment. The 30-member Commission includes representatives of criminal justice agencies, local municipalities, judges, elected officials and the public-at-large. The Commission must evaluate the organization and adequacy of law enforcement and the administration of justice in the County. Members of the Commission serve without compensation. Meetings must be held at least four times per year and are typically held on Thursday mornings at 7:30 a.m. in Rockville. Members are also asked to serve on subcommittees. Deadline: September 2.

Cable Communications Advisory Committee
County Executive Douglas M. Duncan is seeking applicants to fill six vacancies on the Cable Communications Advisory Committee. One vacancy is for a partial term expiring in November 2006. Five members are eligible to apply for reappointment.
The Committee advises the County Executive and Council on franchise agreements between the County government and providers of cable television service. It also advises on the use of funds provided by cable operators to support local television programming and other cable related activities. Meetings are held the third Wednesday evening of each month in Rockville. Members serve three-year terms without compensation. Individuals selected for appointment must file a confidential financial disclosure statements within fifteen days of appointment and annually thereafter. Deadline: September 2.

Information on applying for the Merit System Protection Board (which is compensated about $6,000 a year) is available at the County Council site.