Submitted for your attention this Monday – local elections Nov. 5; our blogs; statewide meeting Dec. 14; transportation in Prince George’s; school improvement in MoCo – and lots more. It's the Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo, your clearinghouse for progressive thought and activism, power building and co-governance pathways. Read on.
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Progressive Maryland weekly memo for Monday October 28 2019
Submitted for your attention this Monday – local elections Nov. 5; our blogs; statewide meeting Dec. 14; transportation in Prince George’s; school improvement in MoCo – and lots more.
TOPLINE: LOCAL ELECTIONS NOVEMBER 5 – PROGRESSIVE MARYLAND ENDORSES CANDIDATES
Think the 2020 election is getting close? Well, this Tuesday, November 5 there are local elections all around Maryland, and the people who get elected to make change in your local community are also very important to our lives. Don’t let these opportunities to build power and make change where you and your neighbors live slip by! Read about Progressive Maryland's endorsements here for Bowie, College Park, Greenbelt, Pittsville, Salisbury -- and Rockville, where voting is all by mail this time.
Progressive Maryland is endorsing local elected officials for this first time this fall! Election day is Tuesday, November 5th. We are organizing canvasses and election day poll workers -- if you would like to volunteer for one of these candidates please email [email protected].
[With a special note about Rockville, which is conducting its first all mail-in ballot election! Rockville residents- Remember: your Rockville ballot must be received at City Hall by 8 PM on November 5 for your vote to count].
Progressive Maryland has endorsed Derrick Mallard in Bowie, Denise Mitchell in College Park, Colin Byrd in Greenbelt, Jared Schablein in Pittsville (Wicomico County), James Hedrick and Virginia Onley in Rockville, where the election is entirely by mail. Read today’s full account on our blogsite.
As always, our recent blog posts are here, including one on work still to be done on criminal justice in Maryland, and the wrenching time of change as Rep. Elijah Cummings was remembered. Details on those and more below.
The changes just kept coming, too, as Senate President Mike Miller announced late last week he would step back and Baltimore Senator Bill Ferguson, a young and progressive legislator with strong education credentials, was chosen by the chamber’s Democratic caucus as his successor. Ferguson picked up support from other contenders to help him firmly defeat Sen. Doug Peters, a much more conservative member from Prince George’s.
GET READY NOW – DECEMBER 14 PROGRESSIVE MARYLAND STATEWIDE MEETING VENUE CONFIRMED --
Progressive Maryland Statewide Annual Meeting Organizing Meeting SATURDAY, December 14 9 AM – 5 PM  at the Episcopal Church of St. Michael and All Angels, 2013 Saint Paul St, Baltimore, MD 21218 Members of Progressive Maryland are invited to participate in this year’s exciting Annual Statewide Meeting! We will be convening in Baltimore this year. Meet the full staff and core leaders of Progressive Maryland! Reconnect with our collective vision for the state! Share your work and get more deeply involved in the campaigns for Fair Elections, Public Education Equity, Criminal Justice Reform, and more! Learn about our progressive candidates across the state and our plans for co-governance and trainings! Come and be nourished with delicious food, local entertainment, and powerful relationship building time! Sign Up Now
ABOVE: Some of the 34 progressive activists at the Movement Politics One-day Training event in
Baltimore last Saturday, learning power building skills and co-governance strategies and enjoying it too.
The Medicare for All town hall held in Gaithersburg on Oct. 20 by our allies in the Maryland Progressive Healthcare Coalition (MPHC) is now available on a video stream and is already approaching 18,000 views. Take a look at the explainer, an introductory talk by Our Revolution president Larry Cohen (retired president of the Communications Workers, CWA) and a panel of expert analysts who also respond to some solid questions from the audience. https://www.facebook.com/OurRevolutionMD/videos/531692600951283/
The Push For More Support For Community Schools is at the heart of the Kirwan Commission proposals to improve Maryland’s schools. A recent poll shows that about three out of four Marylanders want more money spent on public schools but have low information on what’s being proposed. Here is the excellent recent summary from the Maryland Reporter’s state roundup; it has links to full coverage in several outlets: Luke Broadwater of the Sun reports that in the survey conducted Sept. 13-18, 74% of Marylanders said they support personally paying more in taxes to improve public education, while only 26% were opposed. But only about 22% of those polled said they were aware of the work of the Kirwan Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education, which has rolled out a decade-long reform plan that could cost about $3.8 billion more each year once fully implemented, Danielle Gaines reports for Maryland Matters.
Progressive Maryland activists and your communities can find out more about the Kirwan proposals: The “Blueprint for Maryland’s Future” coalition, including Progressive Maryland and teachers’ organizations statewide, has set 23 information sessions from the mountains to the Shore – this week there’s one TODAY (Oct. 28) in Garrett County and three TOMORROW (Oct. 29) in Anne Arundel, Frederick and Harford counties The town halls go well into November -- see them all here.
From the Prince George’s Chapter, Sierra Club -- Friday, November 1 at 10 AM, Maryland Department of Transportation officials will meet with Prince George's County Council in Upper Marlboro to discuss priorities for transportation infrastructure improvements. Be there to learn how decisions are made and to let officials know that county residents care about reliable public transit, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and safe options for pedestrians and bicyclists. Location: County Administration Building Room 2027, 14741 Gov. Oden Bowie Drive, Upper Marlboro 20772. To make oral comments, arrive early and sign up to speak. Learn about the Consolidated Transportation Program at http://www.mdot.maryland.gov/newMDOT/Planning/CTP/CTP_20_25/Draft_Documents/MDOT%202020-2025%20Draft%20CTP.pdf\
And the Frederick News-Post reports that the State Highway Administration in November will hold info-type workshops – two in Frederick County and two in MoCo -- on Gov. Hogan’s proposed public-private partnership deal to widen I-270 and the Beltway and include toll lanes.
OUR CHAPTERS AROUND THE STATE
Have your say about transportation priorities in Prince George’s Friday, Nov. 1 – see Sierra Club message above.
Wednesday, November 6Â Our Kids, Our Schools, Our Community - Forum on Education Funding Rally 6-8 PM Â Montgomery Blair High School, 51 University Blvd E, Silver Spring, MD 20901 Our schools are underfunded. Our students have growing needs. An out-of-date funding formula doesn't address the needs of our schools. Join us for a discussion about public education funding and find out how you can get involved to advocate for full funding for our students, our teachers, our families, and our future! Sign Up Now
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December 7 Movement Leadership Training Organizing Meeting Saturday, December 7, 9 AM - 5 PM at MCEA, 12 Taft Ct, Rockville, MD 20850 Progressive Maryland is hosting a 1-day Movement Leadership Training for current and prospective members. Folks from Montgomery County, Prince George's County, and Central and Western Maryland are encouraged to attend. This is an agitational training designed to develop grassroots leaders' skills around building power in alignment with their self-interest. The training costs $25, which covers lunch, snacks, and materials. Sign Up Now
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Take Action Anne Arundel County
Lower Shore Progressive Caucus
Baltimore will host the Progressive Maryland Statewide Meeting Saturday, Dec. 14 – see above.  Â
 PMD Baltimore lead organizer Ken Maxfield selfifies some of the 34 progressive activists at the Movement Politics one-day training last Saturday.
EVENTS FROM OUR PROGRESSIVE ALLIES
TUE Oct 29 Racial Equity Public Hearing  7-9 PM Montgomery County MD Council 3rd floor hearing room, 100 Maryland Ave, Rockville, MD 20850 — Show up for the hearings on Bill 27-19! The Montgomery County Council is holding hearings on Bill 27-19, the Racial Equity and Social Justice Act. Hearings set at 1:30 PM and 7 PM – Meet at 6 PM in the Council Cafeteria for a pre-hearing sign making session. Sign up here to testify. Hosted by MORE Network – Montgomery County Racial Equity Network and 3 others: https://www.facebook.com/events/451128219085644/
WED Nov 6 Police Accountability Workshop 6:30– 9:00 PM Silver Spring Civic Building, 1 Veterans Pl, Silver Spring, MD 20910 Hosted by Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church and 2 others: The Together Diversity Team and Silver Spring Justice Coalition are co-sponsoring a session to get updates about police accountability in Montgomery County;  information about how state legislation impacts county law; and how you can have a voice about police accountability.  Speakers include Will Jawando, Montgomery County Council Member At-Large
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/police-accountability-workshop-tickets-73695271541
https://www.facebook.com/events/690717518109813/
THU, Nov 7 Progressive Cheverly Community Choice Energy Forum,  7 PM at Gladys Noon Spellman Elementary School multipurpose room (3324 64thAvenue -- Del. Lorig Charkoudian (D-20) and Lily Hawkins from Food & Water Watch discuss community choice energy, a powerful tool that lets local governments bargain for cleaner, more affordable energy on behalf of residents and businesses. Maryland should join other states (including Virginia), in adopting legislation authorizing community choice energy, the speakers argue.
Baltimore progressives, Check in on Max Obuszewski’s highly useful activist calendar and tip sheet at http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
Reading the Progressive Maryland BlogSpace: our recent blogs are shown below, but if you want a handy way to keep track – and never miss a blog post – you can sign up to get this Weekly Memo by email. Remember this is your blogspace and your participation is heartily invited. See something going on that you don’t like – or that you do like and hope to see more of? Send us your thoughts; submit to the moderator at [email protected]
We recently published these blog posts:
October 28, 2019 Progressive Maryland endorses local candidates in Nov. 5 municipal elections around the state
 Think the 2020 election is getting close? Well, this Tuesday, November 5 there are local elections all around Maryland, and the people who get elected to make change in your local community are also very important to our lives. Don’t let these opportunities to build power and make change where you and your neighbors live slip by! Read about Progressive Maryland's endorsements here for Bowie, College Park, Greenbelt, Pittsville, Salisbury -- and Rockville, where voting is all by mail this time.
October 23, 2019 Maryland still has work to do on criminal justice reform
Replacing the dysfunctional Baltimore City jail with a therapeutic facility is a good step, but there is still a lot of work to be done to promote dignity and justice for all Maryland residents, as a Diamondback opinion columnist outlines here.
October 21, 2019 Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Monday, October 21, 2019
A full week of progressive action: Important Anne Arundel council hearing today (Monday Oct. 21) with health implications; a vigil Friday, Oct. 25 for another police killing victim in Prince George’s, and PM’s People's Leadership Institute: Movement Politics Training Saturday Oct. 26 in Baltimore -- plus four town halls around the state on school improvement prospects in your community. All that this week. Read on.
October 18, 2019 A passing, and a tool to shape the future
Past and future – one story came to an end yesterday, a story of great achievement that nevertheless ends, as it must, in grieving.
The larger history, for better and worse, goes on.
We have news and views on both.
 >>REMEMBER – these blog posts are frequently expressions of political opinion from our wide-ranging membership and circle of allies. They are not expressions of opinion by Progressive Maryland. Don’t be surprised if they sometimes vary in their political content. You might even disagree with them – a good reason to contribute a blog of your own. Send it to the moderator, Woody Woodruff, at [email protected].
>>Keeping up with the blogs is easier with the index. The blogs published in the PM BlogSpace from June 2015 through December 2016 are all available with descriptions and links here. You can follow blogs for 2017-18 starting from here
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