The week ahead for Progressive Marylanders includes the Prince George's County Planning Board hearing on the community-wasting Capital Plaza Walmart expansion, plus Verizon strike support and the past week's blog posts in review.

Greetings Progressive Marylanders:

 This Monday we note that Progressive Maryland staffers and volunteers contacted around 2000 voters leading up to the April 26 Primary election, including getting pledges to vote and doing get-out-the-vote (GOTV) activities in the days just before the balloting. Our Facebook page has many photos of this activity.

 In addition we continue in these projects:

• Progressive Maryland has been helping CWA workers who are on strike against Verizon by hiring them in get-out-the-vote efforts. We hope the strike ends soon, but in the meantime workers need support, including folks to walk picket lines in solidarity.
  
  
• Strengthening a movement to hold Walmart accountable in Prince George’s, both the proposed enlargement of the Capital Plaza site and disrupting the Duvall neighborhood with a proposed new store. The Planning Board has scheduled a May 5 public hearing on the Capital Plaza plan.

 The main event for this week is the Thursday, May 5 hearing before the Prince George’s Planning Board on the Capital Plaza Walmart expansion proposal. Plenty of details on this serious violation of smart-growth principles, which has rallied local communities and municipalities, can be found in our April 16 blog post from the front lines:

 The hearing is Thursday May 5th at 10 a.m. at the County Administration Building, 14741 Governor Oden Bowie Dr. Upper Marlboro, MD 20772.

We need everyone there! In the meantime, it would be helpful if folks did the following:

 Sign the Petition! http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/no-super-walmart-in-capital-1

Write to the Planning Board. Tell them how you feel! Email: [email protected]; Letters: Maryland National Capital Park & Planning Commission, Development Review Division, County Administration Building, 14741 Governor Oden Bowie Drive, 4th floor, Upper Marlboro, MD 20772

Sign up as a Person of Record. Get all the latest information from the county on the proposed expansion and be eligible to testify at public hearings. Sign up at http://www.pgplanning.org/Resources/Person_of_Record.htm Use Application Number: DSP-15020-01 and/or Application Name: Capital Plaza Walmart

Anyone who wants to know more (especially people who live close by!) should contact lead project staffer Jennifer Dwyer at [email protected]

What you may have missed last week – blog posts in the PM BlogSpace:

A Hyattsville Wire writer argues that new urbanism is benefiting the county and especially Hyattsville. http://www.progressivemaryland.org/prince_george_s_and_hyattsville_show_urbanist_progress

For more extensive catching-up on posts during the Assembly session and before the Primary election, an index of blog posts since Feb. 17, with summaries: http://www.progressivemaryland.org/pm_blogspace_review_our_blog_posts_since_mid_february_indexed_and_linked

Last week’s Monday Memo from April 25 http://www.progressivemaryland.org/monday_memo_vote_progressive_maryland_s_get_out_the_vote_efforts

Stick with Progressive Maryland to stay informed, and with our Facebook page to stay updated as the primary election approaches. As always, the hard day to day work of citizenship and fighting for ordinary people is on the table. Power yields nothing without a demand, Frederick Douglass said, and being organized gives us power to fight back.

AND REMEMBER THIS BLOGSPACE IS FOR THE PROGRESSIVE VOICES OF MARYLAND. Want to include your voice? Send a submission, or questions, to the moderator at [email protected]