Here’s the Tea on the Prince George’s County Council At-Large Seat

Welcome back to another episode of all politics is local, the Maryland edition with me your host Tamara Davis Brown. Thank you for joining us today. So from my last podcast you may recall that I had some exciting news. One I announced that this local podcast was ranked in the top 10 of the Maryland podcast for political coverage and political content. So that was one of the things that announced the second thing that I announced that I was a candidate for the vacant at large Prince George's County Council seat and the special election is coming up. It's right around the corner. It is Tuesday, August the 6th with early voting beginning July 31st through August 5th. I mentioned and just to make sure everyone knows Maryland is a close primary state. So there will be Republican candidates and Republicans get to vote for their selection of candidates and then there will be Democratic candidates of which I am one then the Democrats get to vote for their top choice. So the top two from each political party will face off in November on November 5th when we vote for our presidential election. So you'll be able to vote for throughout the county. You're not only your president and your Congress and your senator, US congressman or woman and US senator, you'll also be able to vote for the new person to replace the vacated seat of Prince George's County at large. So I thought I would call this episode here's the tea. So pull out your cups and saucers, get your scones and biscuits and whatever else you want to have with your tea to get some information about the at large county council seat here in Prince George's County. Since I have filed, I've gotten a lot of questions both online, by email and even today I was out at an event in Chevrolet, Maryland as well as in Laurel, and today campaigning and the voters were asking, well, you know, what is the at large seat? What does the person do? Just lots of questions. People don't quite understand the position of county council at large. And so I thought I'd take time to create an episode to explain both the background and history and how we got the at large seats in Prince George's County where the quote unquote tea comes from. I'm spilling the tea if you will, but really try to just to educate you on the Prince George's County at large seats. So I'll start first with the background. So Prince George's County actually received and became a charter form of government as opposed to home rule in 1970. And the difference, the distinction is is with a charter form or government you create an administrative branch as well as a legislative branch. Home rule is basically just a legislative branch where the president of the council or the commissioners is usually the top boatgitter and sometimes they may each person who wins as a county commissioner will vote for who will be the president of that commission. So prior to 1970, Prince George's County was a home rule county. It did not have a county charter. It was a home rule. We had commissioners. And at that time, most of the positions in the county were actually at large. So having a at large seat is not new to Prince George's County. It's just that we changed and got a charter form of government in 1970, which created the county executive. It created a legislative branch which is the county council. And of course, we have our judicial branch or the judicial system here in Prince George's County. So in 1970, when we created the charter form of government, we created nine distinct councilmatic districts. So you are either living in district one, two, three, four, five, six, seven or eight. And like me, nine Prince George's County has had, if you lived in the county prior to 1970, you may remember us having at large positions. But now since the 1970s, now that we have the charter, we've gone from home rule to a charter form of government, looking to our neighbors to the south, for example, Charles County, they still have home rule and they still have a home rule type of government. That's why they call commissioners and not a council. They are actually, there's a referendum that will be voted on in November as to whether or not the county, Charles County should become a charter form of government as well. So it'll be interesting to see what our neighbors do. There's some proponents forward and some proponents against it. So how did we get the two at large seats that we have right now? When did that occur? That actually occurred in 2018 by voter referendum. And some of you may recall that there was a question on ballot. We called it question D. I was actually on the opposition. I did not want to additional at large seats. And the main primary focus for me was that it was additional tax dollars and tax payer dollars that we had to spend. And I estimate about two million dollars for the two seats because you're paying for the salary of the two at large council persons and the salaries are about 160 or so, a little bit, maybe a little bit more. Then you have each of those persons have a chief of staff. They have a scheduler. They have a constituent service person or legislative person. So they have a staff of at least four to five people plus their salaries and their benefits. So when she add all those items up between salary and benefits for two additional seats, it's cost in print structures County and additional, you know, to probably additional two million in order to keep those two seats open. So initially in 2018, I actually opposed having the at large seats added to the county council. The second reason that I opposed it is because I knew it was purely for political purposes and this gets to the why. So here's the tip. There was a county council person who was soon to be term limited and in print structures County, you serve two terms of four years. And then after that, you have you cannot run for your district seat once again. There's a council member who was term limited and had a desire to run for county executive. That council member was holding dead last in the county executive race. And that person did not have the name recognition County wide in order to beat another person that was in the race. And actually at the time, it was three people that were considering its running. And those three people, a poll was done and it demonstrated that one person in particular was definitely far above and ahead. And that person went on to become County executive and that is Angela also Brooks. Second person is a current state senator right now. And then another council person who was term limited could not run again. That person was polling dead last. And so the powers that be meeting the political establishment in the county said, Hey, why don't you sit this out? Would not sit it out. But what why don't you abandon right now your desire to be county executive and wait till 2026 in order to run that way. The you'll be the quote unquote next person or air apparent to the seat in the meantime, what you need to do is get your name recognition up in the entire county. So we're going to create these two at large seats and they had to create two because we want to keep an odd number on the council. So when votes are taken, there is a clear majority or clear minority on the council. So you want to odd number to make sure that the votes don't come out split. So they created the powers that be created this at large. They put it on voter referendum again. It was question D. I was highly vocal against it because I knew the fiscal responsibility that it was going to cost a taxpayers an additional $2 million annually just to pay for the salary and benefits of those two offices. And then second, I knew that it was created solely for a person to set themselves up to run for county executive later, meaning in 2026. Well, because that occurred, and that's what they wanted to happen. They pulled all the stops money and everything, saw signs, vote yes, some question, indeed, you know, all of this. And the voters voted for it. Clear majority, you know, they saw the signs, they saw the literature that was mailed to them, literature that was handed out at the polls said vote for question D. And unfortunately, there was a good percentage. I won't say it was still overwhelmingly, it overwhelmingly passed, but there were a good percentage of people that were paying enough attention to say no. And I believe that number was around 30%, it could have been as high as 40%. But the motion did pass, the referendum, I should say, did pass and it passed overwhelmingly. So by the 2020 election, which was the first opportunity after question D passed in 2018, we added two seats and the two council persons that currently on the council are now, quote-unquote, term limited and would not be able to run, or at least county at large, county wide. So that's kind of what happened and that's what people need to understand as to why those two seats were created. They were created for political, expediency for one person in particular to get their name, recognize county wide, and be able to run for county executive in 2026. So that is the background that's when it occurred, that's why and then the other question I get is, well, what do the at large positions do? So the at large seats are really no different than the district seat. It just means that the county council person has to represent the interest of the entire county. So if that person gets a call from someone in district nine, or get a call from someone in district one, or get a call from someone in district six, they have to respond to all of those persons because they represent the entire county council. So I guess one benefit of having the two at large seats is if you can't get redress from your district council person, then you have two other opportunities to go to one of your at large persons and representatives in order to get any type of redress that you need to get the resources that you need. So there is a benefit to having the at large seats, but ultimately you still have your district council representative and then the at large will be your voice on, you know, hopefully larger issues and hopefully an at large council member should be doing is looking at the totality of the county and when they vote, they're voting in the best interest of the entire county. And I'm not saying that that's not being done right now, but there are certain responsibilities of the county council person, particularly when they sit as the district council on zoning matters that some council members in the district will say, well, I don't want this in my district or I want this in my district. I don't want that. I want to zone this way and we don't want it zone that way. And they can get a little perennial about it. So the at large person should be able to take a look at that and be hopefully more objective and say, well, what's in the best interest of the county? Yes, we may not want this in your district, but then is it better and is it still any better in someone else's district or should it be in the county at all? I think the at large position can be a benefit to both the residents of having a second and third voice on the council, but hopefully it'll be a person who will be able to take the totality of what's happening in the county and make sure that we are making legislation, making zoning decisions, making board of public health decisions that will benefit the entire county and improve our quality of life. So that's what the seat does. That's the, you know, the additional opportunities that you get, but it's just like having three council representatives instead of just one. So the next question I get is a political why are so many people running for the seat? And the quick and easy answer is this is a quick and easier election. It's not as costly. As you know, the primaries are coming up on August the 6th. So it's a quick turnaround. It's not a long sprint. It's a very quick sprint, less than 100 meters and in the Olympics, it's probably like your 60 meters and even less because we are just, we're less than a month out before the election and it's a quick way once whoever wins it's a quick way to get their name out and be recognized countywide, especially if they want to run for higher office. And again, that's why it was created politically in the first place. And that's what some people are hoping to do. I'm not saying all candidates are, but I know in fact two of the top candidates, they are interests lies in the fact that they want to be county executive at some point. And that's why they are running. It's unfortunate because the top, what they consider the top two candidates, they are in political office already and it's going to create a domino effect, meaning if they exit, if they win and they exit their currency because they can't hold both seats at the same time, the exit the seat, it may create yet another special election. We're already going to have a second special election potentially because I predict that our current county executive will become the US Senator and she'll have to step down to take the oath of office in 2025 for the county executive seat. And depending on when she makes that decision, it could be an appointment, but my understanding is is that she wants the will of the people to decide who should be the next county executive. And I think that's the correct thing to do. However, elections are expensive. The Board of Election has indicated that this particular race will cost about 1.3 million dollars in taxpayer money in order to fill this vacancy of the at-large seat because you have to have your polling places open. You've got the print the ballots, you've got to have election judges, you have to have all the election staff, you've got to count the ballots, all of those things they have to mail out the ballots. So elections don't come without a cost. So it's going to cost additional fund. And if the top one of the top two candidates when there will be another special election. So one is the city mayor and so that city would have to have a special election as well. And one is actually a district council member. And we would have to have another special election. At least it'll be just in their district or in that particular city. It begs the question of why certain people are running but that goes to again why they were created in the first place. They're really created in the first place to be that stepping stone to the next level of being county exec. So people ask and it's a very appropriate question to ask, well why are you running? Since you opposed the at-large seats in the beginning, you were against question D. And you don't seem to have any real political aspirations. Why are you running? So that's a very good question. I am running to restore integrity, transparency and accountability to the position. As a community activist and a community advocate. And leader, I can be and will be the voice of the community. And I think that we need more persons who are not necessarily beholden to special interests but to the will of the people and to hear what the voice of the people, my tagline for my campaign is the name you know and a voice you trust. You're tuning in because either one you're trying to find out more a little bit more about me to make an educated decision or two, you're already a part of what I call consider my base of people who follow me, who listen to my podcast when I produce a new episode or you've gotten an email to say, hey, let's listen to the podcast. But you trust what I'm telling you and the information that I'm giving you because I try to give you facts and that impose my personal. opinion, but give you the facts and let you know what's going on and how it impacts you as a Prince Georgian. I want to continue that in a more official capacity as a county councilperson. Yes, my heart is still in district nine where I live and that doesn't mean that I won't because I'm running for the at large seat now. I'm only running to complete the term of an of a of a vacant seat. It doesn't mean that I will not run for district nine in 2026. Definitely not ruling that out because the southern part of the county I've lived here since 1988 and it's it's what I know the other parts of the county I know because I've worked and been an advocate on issues that affect all Prince Georgians has nothing to do with geographic areas or not. So for example, I was the treasure of a group called PG Tax Watch and that group sole purpose was to come together and make sure we're paying attention to what is going on on the county council and at the executive level when it comes to increasing our property taxes or any other associated tax you know we pay income tax but we also pay like a telecommunications tax which was recently in my mind increased with this last state legislative session in order to help fund education and I won't say increase there was no increase I didn't need to correct that the tax was not an increase but it was reallocated differently so that it could help fund some of the mandates of the blueprint for education. I'm not necessarily opposed to that I think that there needed to be some other questions asked a little bit more in depth but nevertheless getting back to PG Tax Watch so that group was actually I'm probably was the only person from the southern part of the county that worked with that group the rest of them were in the northern part, the Laurel College part Greenbelt area that I worked on issues with them. There have been many opportunities for advocacy and activism where I've worked with people in the northern the central parts of the county not just the southern part of the county whenever I send out an email on any particular issue I tried to be a little bit more different I used to send out emails and tell people about meetings and what's coming up and this and that and other people started to do that as well and I was getting the same emails including my own about similar events like three or four times and I just didn't want to flood anybody's inbox so I deliberately stopped sending meeting notices I send meeting notices only when it's an event that a group that I'm probably associated with or know about and sometimes I get requests to send out notices about particular meetings that may not be well known in the other words you won't get it from three or four different sources and so the emails that I send are those that alert you to potential legislation both at the county to the state and even sometimes the federal level less so on the federal side but it's potentially something that you want to pay very close attention to I have kind of parlayed that countywide in fact that as I was being interviewed by some persons in in in state legislature about issues and my candidacy and I indicated to them that at some point in time you may not be on my email list but you may have indirectly received it because it got forwarded to a group and you may be on that additional group I said all that to say is that the reason that I am running is not only to restore and bring integrity transparency and accountability to you and to the office but to be that voice on a larger range of issues that are facing the county and so I'm not going to go into my platform because that was not what this podcast was intended it was just intended to give you the tea on the background of the county being a former home rule to becoming a charter former government with the county executive and county council and starting off with the nine councilmatic districts and how the in 2018 we voted and had a referendum approved to allow for two additional seats for very political reasons and unfortunately those political reasons won't come to fruition at least not for one person but that is the tea about how those two seats got added and and and why and hopefully you understand that we can look at it positively to say that you'll get an additional representation or voice from at least two people two other people outside of your district representatives and so hopefully if the seats continue and I say if because I understand that my state senator wants to introduce legislation to actually remove the two seats I would not be opposed to that at all again I'm a fiscal hawk when it comes to our tax dollars so anything to reduce taxes and to reduce our budget is a good thing for me as far as I'm concerned so even though we still need to complete the term out it wouldn't be a problem for me if the seats were eliminated because they were purely done for political purposes anyway so that's the tea I thank you for listening I would love you to continue to not only listen but subscribe like and share this podcast with all of your friends family and neighbors and then I want to encourage you to choose wisely I would love your vote for me tamer davis brown on August the 6th is the day of the special election early voting begins July 31st to August 5th and you should also know that the ballots this year for this special election will be actually mail to you you will get a mail-in ballot the board of election recognizes that one because of the quick turnaround it's really going to be difficult to do a regular election but to it makes more sense because it's vacation time August is generally a time when people are away Tuesday the 6th of August happens to be national night out nationally we always have all these big celebrations it's not that it's not going to be on people's radar to really come out to vote and so the board of election has done what I think was the wise decision is to say we're going to mail everybody a ballot and you can now when you get your ballot you fill it out you can actually literally mail it in to the princester of just county board of election but stamp on it and mail it well don't you think you need a stamp I think you can just mail it in just make sure you fill it out completely you sign it you have to sign those mail-in ballots so they have to see the signature or you can drop it in a drop box so if you drop it in a drop box they're going to be 39 drop box locations they have not released those locations yet so as soon as I get that information I may come back and just do a short podcast to give you all the information on the special election for the princester of just county at large seats and then in addition to the 39 drop box locations there will be nine early voting centers one in each council district so we have nine council districts it's going to be a drop box and one in each location so during early voting if you want to go in and complete your ballot you can bring the ballot with you I'm sure they'll probably have some there just in case people don't have theirs or never got mailed or they lost it or what have you I'm sure they're going to have some there but you can go into those nine early voting centers between July 31st and August 5th and as well as on August 6th so on August 6th what's going to be different if we're not going to have your normal polling places open all over the county you know where like for example I normally voted friendly high school in Fort Washington I'm not going to be able to go to friendly to go vote on August 6th I have to go to one of those nine centers so it's only going to be those nine centers that are open and so that that cuts down on the cost again that's a good thing it cuts down on having to staff all of those polling places so that's a good thing so that's what you need to know about the elections that's what you need to know about how the at large seats came to be and what they with you know both the positive of what they do the negative of the additional cost to taxpayers so thank you for listening. Again, please subscribe, like and share, share, share, share. It's podcasts with everyone you know so that the work can get out and people can understand what the at large seats are and why we have them and what we can do to benefit from them, but then more importantly why I'm running for the seat. So thank you for listening and we'll be back with another episode of All Politics is Local. Thanks for joining me today on this episode of All Politics is Local, the Maryland edition, where we hope to inspire and activate a new generation of informed voters to move beyond the ballot box and take action. Remember, All Politics is Local. [Music]