Welcome to 2018. More than ever this will be a year when solidarity matters. It is going to be top-line critical that we all, as progressives, seek our commonalities and find broad areas where we can work together. And make your voice heard. See below, and in the weeks that follow, for how.

A 2013 bill in the Maryland General Assembly backed by Prince George's County Executive Rushern Baker created an environment where the School CEO was basically only accountable to the County Exec.    So when it came to big decisions, public input wouldn’t really matter much as long as they had unflinching support from the other side of Upper Marlboro. It's time to reverse that process and make the board all-elected again.

The co-directors of our national affiliate, People's Action, have a positive view of the prospects for 2018. Nothing will happen without struggle, of course, but struggle will bring progress despite the GOP oligarchy at the top.

One of our jobs as progressives is to figure out how to have these conversations in a way that presents acceptable alternatives but doesn't scare away the Trump voters of the world.  I know that some of my views would not be acceptable to my co-worker, but I also know we don't have to agree 100% in order to have a conversation. 

For your attention: Action today and the early week (Dec. 18-20) against the GOP tax scam; our statewide meeting Dec. 21, plus chapter meetings for Progressive Howard (Thursday, Dec. 21) and PMD Montgomery happy hour Wednesday, Dec. 20… details for all below. And, yes, we’re already talking about January (Take Action Anne Arundel County meeting Thursday, Jan. 18).

No more Memos till January 2 – but you may hear from us if circumstances warrant, holidays notwithstanding.

Georgetown University "opposes the unionization efforts of its advanced degree candidates who are working as research and teaching assistants .. , Georgetown is betraying its obligation as a Catholic and Jesuit institution to workers and the less affluent." Hal Ginsberg analyzes Georgetown's opposition to seeing its students as working people.

The tax incentives that have brought renewable energy sources up from 1% to 7% of the US total in a decade are threatened by the GOP tax plan. Despite heavy lobbying from pro-renewables forces it is clear that their adversaries got there first and had easy access to the tax writers. The result could be a disaster, MoCo activist Susan Nerlinger recounts here in a post from the PMD Montgomery blog site.

 Under legislation enacted this spring, Maryland’s largest utilities and state housing officials must cut peak energy demand by 2% annually through 2020. As housing advocate Todd Nedwick writes, the Public Service Commission can and should take concrete steps to bolster the state’s efforts to improve energy efficiency in the homes and buildings of low-income Marylanders. Along with the other advantages, the growing trade in residential weatherization rehab will get a further boost.

In the Weekly Memo for Dec. 11-18:

Top of the ticket: Our statewide meeting Dec. 21, plus chapter meetings for Progressive Prince George’s (Thursday, Dec. 14) and Progressive Howard (Thursday, Dec. 21); Baltimore chapter Listening Session with the movie “13^th” (Wednesday, Dec. 13) and PMD Montgomery happy hour Dec. 20… details for all below.

"Smart Growth is the antithesis of sprawl, which is development outside areas planned and built for growth. It gobbles open space, increases air and water pollution, and costs more in new services than it ever offsets with taxes from new residents," Tom Horton recounts in this Bay Journal article.

"Sprawl, or Dumb Growth, [he continues] can work politically, though, at least for a while — you just call it Economic Growth, or GROWTH, which sounds all right to many people, especially bankers and developers and pavers and home builders, who are good at electing candidates who’ll butter their bread." But just for a while. Frederick County is now "toting up the cost of progress" and it's not pretty.