Former Delegate Saqib Ali Announces for Board of Education // Help Save Maryland Responds

Today, Maryland Juice received an email from former Delegate Saqib Ali announcing his campaign for Montgomery County Board of Education. A few hours later, anti-immigrant anti-immigration organization Help Save Maryland followed-up with their own email. We present both messages below:

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Dear Friend, I wanted you to be among the first to know: I’m running for the Montgomery County Board of Education (District 2). As you may know, I served as a State Delegate for 4 years (2007-2011) representing Germantown, Gaithersburg and North Potomac. During my time in Annapolis I fought to increase school funding so that we could have smaller class sizes and better school facilities. Now my oldest daughter Sofia is preparing to start at MCPS elementary school in September. I know she will be attending a great school system. I want to be a part of making it even better. I believe my skills & experience will be an asset for the Board of Education. The voting rules in this election are quite unique. It is a non-partisan election. So all registered voters in the entire Montgomery County are eligible to vote regardless of party or residence. The primary election will be held on March 24 - April 3rd. The general election will be held in November. There are 5 candidates running. The top 2 vote-getting candidates (regardless of party) will emerge from the primary election. And then one of them will be selected in the general election in November as the final winner. My immediate goal is to place in the top 2 in the primary election. The primary election is less than 2 months away! I can't win it without your help. Most importantly, I need you and your entire family to vote for me on the very first possible day: March 24th. I also need your help to convince others to do the same. You can do this by: Donating money to my election campaign by clicking here. Volunteering your time to pass out fliers by clicking here. Forwarding this email to all your contacts, posting on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc. Please stand with me to make our schools better. Warmest Regards, I'll be in touch... - Saqib Ali www.AliForEducation.com By Authority of: Friends of Saqib Ali, 12504 Degas Court, North Potomac, MD 20878, Susan Ali, Treasurer

Help Save Maryland Newsletter

FORMER DELEGATE ALI ANNOUNCED TODAY HE IS RUNNING FOR THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION Wednesday, February 01, 2012 Yes, redistricting disenfranchises one of Montgomery's minority groups Who would have thought that former state Delegate Saqib Ali (D-Montgomery County) would actually get it right, well partially right, regarding Gov. Martin O'Malley's controversial legislative map proposed for Montgomery County ["Yes, redistricting disenfranchises one minority group," Jan. 4].    After spending a short and undistinguished career in Annapolis, backing exceptionally liberal legislation and working closely with radical organizations like the Council on American-Islamic Relations and Casa of Maryland, Ali was given the boot by Montgomery County voters. Since his departure from Annapolis, Ali has further honed his anti-citizen skills, most recently in two attempts to disrupt public meetings and knowingly violate the right of free speech for conservative leaning citizens in our state.    But I have to give Ali credit, although even a blind hog gets an acorn once in a while. His letter on disenfranchised minorities in Montgomery County makes sense, especially regarding the black community.    Black citizens, who actually deserve more representation in Annapolis due to their numbers, seem to be asleep at the wheel and the incumbent politicians have no plans to wake them up. The total silence from black citizens and their elected officials on this issue is shocking and is quite reminiscent to the oblivious reaction when O'Malley passed the in-state college tuition legislation designed to primarily help Latino illegal immigrants. In both cases, in-state tuition and representation, those with the most to lose politically and financially have been the most silent on standing up for their rights. Where Ali misses the mark is with other minority groups, primarily Latinos. The Census rewards quantity of persons rather than quantity of citizens. With a significant portion of the Latino community in Montgomery County without legal presence, they are not able to vote (or work or obtain a drivers' license). In fact it's against federal law for illegal immigrants to vote. So there is no disenfranchisement taking place for Latinos in Montgomery County. Brad Botwin, Rockville The writer is director of Help Save Maryland, a nonprofit group that opposes illegal immigration. http://www.gazette.net/article/20120201/OPINION/702019471/1014/yes-redistricting-disenfranchises-one-of-montgomery-s-minority&template=gazette