Tuesday, December 17, 2013

JUICE: Gubernatorial Candidates Trade Barbs, Apply for Ervin Seat by 1/8, MoCo Council Candidates, D18, D15, D12, D11 News

Below Maryland Juice provides a few new items that may be of interest to politicos:

JUICE #1: MARYLAND GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATES TRADE BARBS AT MOCO FORUM - Yesterday Maryland Juice attended the annual "Committee for Montgomery" breakfast, a nonpartisan event attended by numerous business, political and nonprofit leaders in Montgomery County. But the draw for the breakfast gathering was a forum featuring practically all of Maryland's gubernatorial candidates (Democratic & Republican) on stage at the same time. Below we highlight a few interesting statements and thinly veiled attacks from the candidates for Maryland's highest office:

L-R: Moderator Brad Bell, Anthony Brown, Heather Mizeur, Charles Lollar, David Craig, Doug Gansler, Ron George
MoCo County Executive Ike Leggett spoke moments before the gubernatorial candidates took the stage and implored once again for the contenders to help Montgomery County win increased school construction funding in the 2014 legislative session. Calling Montgomery County the economic engine of the state, he also urged the state leaders to help MoCo fund its transportation infrastructure needs. Here's what the candidates had to say about these and other matters:
DOUG GANSLER: Attorney General Doug Gansler may have provided the most notable commentary with a series of not-so-subtle criticisms of the O'Malley-Brown administration. In his opening statement, Gansler noted that this was not his inaugural appearance at the Committee for Montgomery breakfast, and that he didn't just start attending once he started running for office. In responding to Anthony Brown's commentary about Maryland's #1 school system, Gansler stated that the "the books are a little cooked." On Maryland's Obamacare roll-out, Gansler suggested that the state should've put someone in charge that had experience and knew what they were doing. On the state's recent shift of pension costs to counties, Gansler said the O'Malley-Brown administration "shifted the burden to local government and said you figure it out." He also argued that Maryland has an unsustainable situation where we just tax people and that we need to fix our transportation, not just talk about it. He specifically mentioned the Purple Line, Corridor Cities Transitway and the Rapid Transit System.

HEATHER MIZEUR: Delegate Heather Mizeur stayed on the progressive issue track during much of the forum and noted that issues like marijuana reform would not be discussed during the gubernatorial campaign if she wasn't running. She also noted that she fought Annapolis leaders on the pension shift.

ANTHONY BROWN: Lt. Governor Anthony Brown started off by answering Ike Leggett's call for more MoCo school construction dollars and pledged to work in Annapolis this session to make it happen. He also defended the pension shift and stated that the O'Malley-Brown administration made the tough decisions to keep the pensions sustainable.

RON GEORGE: Delegate Ron George, a Republican candidate for Governor, had perhaps the most unusual remarks during the candidates forum. In response to discussion about the educational achievement gap in Montgomery County and surging enrollment from the children of immigrants, George talked about charter schools and suggested that we should temporarily take the immigrant children out of the public schools and put them in a separate school until they are proficient enough to re-join the general population.

DAVID CRAIG: Harford County Executive David Craig (a Republican candidate) stated support for the Purple Line from Bethesda to Silver Spring.

CHARLES LOLLAR: Charles Lollar (a Republican candidate), gave a particularly animated performance at the forum and criticized the fact that Montgomery County sends more tax dollars to Annapolis than it receives back.

JUICE #2: DETAILS ON THE APPLICATION PROCESS FOR VALERIE ERVIN'S DISTRICT 5 MOCO COUNCIL SEAT - Maryland Juice just received the following press release from MoCo Council President Craig Rice detailing the application process for the District 5 Council seat being vacated by Valerie Ervin. Note the January 8th application deadline in the press release below:
PRESS RELEASE

Council President Craig Rice Outlines Process to Fill Montgomery District 5 Vacancy

Application Deadline is Jan. 8, 2014

ROCKVILLE, Md., Dec. 17, 2013—Montgomery County Council President Craig Rice today outlined the process to appoint a new Councilmember for District 5. On Dec. 10 Councilmember Valerie Ervin announced that she will resign from the Council on Jan. 3, 2014 to become executive director of the Center for Working Families.

As provided in Sections 102 and 106 of the County Charter, the Council intends to appoint a new Councilmember for District 5 by Jan. 31, 2014 to complete Councilmember Ervin’s unexpired term, which ends on Dec. 1, 2014. The new Councilmember must reside in District 5 and be registered to vote in the same political party as Councilmember Ervin (Democrat).

The Council intends to select a person who has shown a clear understanding of the issues that are important to residents of District 5.  To assure a level playing field for all persons interested in seeking election to the next full term from District 5, the Council expects to appoint a person who does not plan to run for election to that term.

Applicants should submit letters of interest with a resume to Council President Craig Rice, Montgomery County Council, 100 Maryland Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20850 by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014.  Applications can also be submitted via email to: county.council@montgomerycountymd.gov.

Each applicant must be a registered voter in Montgomery County, registered to vote as a Democrat, and, at the time of appointment, a resident of Council District 5.  Each resume submitted should include the applicant’s professional and civic experience, political party affiliation, home and office telephone numbers, and home and email addresses.

Each application letter, recommendation letter, and resume submitted as part of the appointment process will be made available to the public.  Each applicant must submit a confidential County financial disclosure statement for Council review. (The form will be transmitted to each applicant for completion.)  Only the financial disclosure statement of the ultimate appointee will be made available to the public.

The Council will decide which applicants to interview.  Interviews will be scheduled for 2 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 17 at the Council Office Building.  Additional interviews, if necessary, will be scheduled for 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 22, and Friday, Jan. 24.

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Maryland Juice will soon publish a list of some of the names we have been hearing may be interested in the District 5 interim appointment.


JUICE #3: UPDATE ON POSSIBLE CANDIDATES FOR PHIL ANDREWS' MOCO COUNCIL DISTRICT 3 SEAT - Councilmember Phil Andrews is the other MoCo official vacating a seat in 2014, and after bumping into people at holiday parties over the weekend, Maryland Juice has an updated list of potential candidates for the June 2014 Democratic Primary:
  • Activist Guled Kassim
  • Gaithersburg Mayor Sidney Katz
  • Gaithersburg Councilmember Ryan Spiegel
  • Rockville Councilmember Tom Moore
There is at least one more potential candidate, but they did not respond to our inquiries before publication.


JUICE #4: D18 UPDATE // DELEGATE ANA SOL GUTIERREZ FILES FOR RE-ELECTION - Many MoCo politicos had been speculating that D18 Delegate Ana Sol Gutierrez might retire at the end of her current term. But she posted the following message on Facebook last night indicating she has filed for re-election:


Indeed, according to the Board of Elections website, all of the District 18 incumbents have now filed for re-election (Sen. Rich Madaleno and Delegates Al Carr, Ana Sol Gutierrez and Jeff Waldstreicher):



JUICE #5: UPDATE ON DISTRICT 15 DELEGATE CANDIDATES // REP. JOHN DELANEY'S AIDE KEVIN MACK IS OUT - David Fraser-Hidalgo was recently appointed to the District 15 House of Delegates seat vacated by Brian Feldman, and many have been wondering who might run for the D15 seat in the June 2014 Primary. Sources indicate that Congressman John Delaney's aide Kevin Mack has decided not to run for the D15 Delegate seat. But sources indicate Democratic activist Hamza Khan, who previously applied for the D15 appointment, is now weighing a run for the Delegate seat in 2014. Lastly, progressive attorney Bennett Rushkoff is waging a liberal campaign for the D15 seat. I ran into Rushkoff this weekend, and I overheard him describe his platform to someone as one focused on schools and the educational achievement gap, stopping fracking and promoting wind power, and creating a "public option" for Maryland's health care system.


JUICE #6: SHELLY HETTLEMAN (AIDE TO SENATOR BEN CARDIN) ANNOUNCES CAMPAIGN FOR D11 HOUSE OF DELEGATES - Maryland Juice received the following press release from Shelly Hettleman announcing a campaign for the District 11 House of Delegates seat being vacated by Attorney General candidate Jon Cardin (excerpt below):
PRESS RELEASE

Shelly Hettleman announces run for 11th District House of Delegates at Campaign Kick-Off

On Sunday, December 15, U.S. Senator Ben Cardin will introduce his former Campaign Director, Shelly Hettleman, as she announces her candidacy to represent the 11th District in the House of Delegates.  “A woman with Shelly’s character and commitment to public service will represent our community well in Annapolis,” said Senator Cardin.  There is an open seat in the 11th District as Del. Jon Cardin has declared a run for Attorney General.

Ms. Hettleman is committed to public service.  She has worked in numerous community programs, including advocacy groups for parents and abused women. She served as Sen. Cardin’s Campaign Director and as one of the leaders of the 2012 Maryland Democratic Coordinated Campaign, she co-led the re-election campaign of the entire Maryland Democratic congressional delegation.

Shelly has the skills, work ethic, and vision to be an effective legislator. “It’s not about flashy promises,” Ms. Hettleman says, “To get things done, it takes hard work and being in close touch with the needs of children, families and seniors.”

At the Kick-Off, Ms. Hettleman will spell out some of her legislative priorities, among them: better public schools and early childhood education, more and better jobs, a fuller range of services for seniors, protecting the environment, and a series of steps to ensure robust citizen and neighborhood involvement in her work as a Delegate.

“It will be an honor to represent the people of the 11th District, and I will work tirelessly to earn their trust.”   

If elected, Ms. Hettleman would be the first woman to represent the 11th in nearly 30 years....

A graduate of Pikesville High School, Shelly Hettleman and her husband Jeff raised their son and daughter in the Dumbarton community.  In addition to her work with Senator Ben Cardin, she helped found CHANA, an aid network for abused women in the Baltimore region and Parent Action, a grassroots organization dedicated to strengthening early childhood education and family friendly workplaces.

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JUICE #7: RETIRING DISTRICT 12 DELEGATE STEVE DEBOY WEIGHING UN-RETIREMENT? - A few months ago, all three District 12 Delegates announced they would be retiring from office. As a result, several candidates have announced for the D12 race. The district was dramatically altered in the last round of redistricting, so that the more liberal voters in Columbia, MD and Howard County are disproportionately represented in the new D12. But Center Maryland's Josh Kurtz recently reported that one of the retiring Delegates Steve Deboy may be rethinking his retirement decision:
JOSH KURTZ (VIA CENTER MARYLAND): Word on the street in Annapolis is that Baltimore County Del. Steve DeBoy (D) is reconsidering his decision to retire.

DeBoy, the thinking goes, is less than thrilled with the lineup of liberals that has formed to replace him. What’s more, as he ponders a race for Baltimore County sheriff – in 2018, when veteran Sheriff Jay Fisher (D) is expected to retire – he is wondering whether he’ll be in a stronger position to run as an officeholder rather than someone who has been out of the public eye for four years, even with his 32 years of law enforcement experience.

DeBoy did not respond to phone messages and an email left at his Annapolis and district offices. But when he announced his plans not to seek reelection in 2014, just days after the end of this year’s General Assembly session, he made it clear that redistricting was a factor in his decision....
In our previous round-ups of contentious roll call votes, we noted that Delegate Steve Deboy voted against Maryland's recent Dream Act, marriage equality, death penalty repeal, gun control, gas tax, and immigrant drivers licenses bills. The only hot-button liberal issues he seems to have supported recently are medical marijuana and stopping the Lockheed Martin corporate welfare handout.

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