Reflecting on Politics And Place - Issue #11

Nov 19, 2021

This week on my Facebook page, I wrote that everything is about politics, even the places we live. I know quite a few people who pretend that their lives are absent from politics. They pretend that their individual homes, the playground/parks, and restaurants they visit are a matter of their desires, absent from any kind of political involvement. This isn't true. Local politicians' decisions tremendously impact neighborhood boundaries, our ability to access healthy food, community investment or divestment as well as our voting options.

This past week, Prince George's County council members made a choice for its residents, even though they didn't want that specific choice made. Prince George's Council members voted for a map that repositioned neighborhood boundaries, putting some of them into different districts. Additionally, this new map may have taken away some local candidates' chances to run for office. What does that say about democracy on a local level? How are Prince George's County residents going to react to the council's decision? What does County Executive Angela Alsobrooks think about this? Perhaps we will have the answer to these questions sometime in the near future.

Until then, check out some reporting around this topic.

The contentious redistricting process has intensified divides between Democrats in this deep-blue county.

While the redistricting process of redrawing legislative district lines, following the national census, can be a routine affair, a County Council meeting in Prince George’s last month was anything but ordinary. Here’s what happened and why it matters to residents.

For five hours, a half-dozen members of the Prince George’s County Council were raked over the coals by their constituents in unusually blunt terms. In October, the six voted to give preliminary approval to a county council redistricting plan that they had crafted in secret and sprang on the public — and their colleagues — …

Maryland Politics

With less than a year to go before the 2022 election, candidates have declared they are running for governor, attorney general and comptroller.

The Maryland General Assembly is starting to become a leader in state to Legislature representation. However, there is still work to be done.

U.S. House Democrats united around a landmark $1.85 trillion social spending and climate bill on Friday, sending the major plank of President Biden’s economic agenda to the Senate. Democratic leaders in the House heralded the 220-213 near party-line vote on the so-called Build Back Better bill, touting its provisions on child care, education, health care, taxes …

Legislation to create a commission to study reparations faces steep odds in the evenly divided Congress. Advocates want the House to take up the bill, or for President Biden to act on his own.

All of the fruits of the $1.2 trillion bill may not be evident for decades.

Education

The Prince George's County Public School Board of Education has suspended its virtual meetings to return to in-person meetings. According to new guidelines, journalists are not allowed to attend public meetings, which take place in Upper Marlboro. Those meetings are only for residents who sign up to make a public comment. However, meetings will be posted online afterward. Attendees are required to show vaccination cards, IDs, and wear masks.

During the pandemic, the PGCPS members have been trying to put out a lot of fires. Now, the school system lacks enough educators, and it is putting a strain on other teachers who are present. Students are also feeling the shortage. It seems, at least, in some schools classrooms are overcrowded. Prince George's County educators, who have been teaching during this pandemic, say they are tired and want changes. According to the Washington Informer, teachers gathered at a Board of Education building last night, asking for better working conditions, and other changes.