What is local Government Up To? No Worries We Have You Covered - Issue #18
What is local Government Up To? No Worries We Have You Covered - Issue #18
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If you didn't get a chance to view Context's last newsletter on MLK, Jr., here it is again. Also, The Intersection Mag reported on district 23B candidate Januari McKay.
Local Government
Today, Jan. 18, The Prince George’s County Council will hold a virtual meeting at 10 a.m. U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen will lead the group.
" The 2021-2022 Prince George’s County Compensation Review Board will present its Final Report and Recommendations to the Council for review. Tuesday’s agenda also includes Council consideration of CR-001-2022, a Resolution continuing Prince George’s County’s Declaration of Emergency, due to the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic," according to county news reports.
The COW meeting will begin at 1:30 p.m. This meeting will include Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Health George L. Askew, MD, Health Officer Dr. Ernest L. Carter, and Anea Jordan, Executive Assistant to the Health Officer. " The COW will also discuss CR-001-2022, propose legislation addressing the County’s 16th Continued Declaration of Emergency."
At 5 pm, members of will discuss, among other things, the purple line, which according to recent reports is over budget. More info about meetings is here.
House Delegaton Meetings
County Executive Angela Alsobrooks announced that Prince George's County House Delegation will virtually meet on Jan. 21 at 9 a.m. Here is the YouTube link.
Taskforce Meeting
There is Charter Review Commission virtual meeting on Jan. 21 at 10 a.m. Here is the agenda, where you can access the virtual link here: t.ly/WD9yz.
There is also a Housing Opportunities For All virtual meeting on Jan. 28 at 10:30 a.m. No link for the meeting has been supplied. We will follow up with that link as soon as the state publishes it.
Here is the list of meetings for January. Here you can also access links to those meetings. All meetings are virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Link: t.ly/T5xP
The Prince George's County Re-Entry Advisory Board just released its report on how the county will proceed. Here are some highlights:
Enhance post-release needs in the areas of housing, health care, employment, and social services.
Enhance outreach abilities of the Bridge Center @ Adams House to the Community and to State Correctional facilities.
Formalize coordination between County DoC / MD DSPCS / BOP to notify the Bridge Center of an inmate’s release in order to assist him/her with the re-entry process should he/she elect to do so.
Establish a working relationship between the County and the Maryland Dept. of Parole and Probation.
Coordinate with the Problem-Solving Courts and provide education to judges about re-entry options.
Engage legal advocates/programs that can provide assistance with financial planning for child support payments and other civil fines that lead to further barriers for successful re-entry.
You read the full report here: t.ly/lJZ0
The County Council met on Jan. 11. You can view that meeting here. Link: t.ly/Ka0E
COVID-19 (Omicron) + Prince George's County
According to recent data, Prince George's County's new infections cases were at 1008. The seven-day average is at 1,377, down from 1,598.
A testing site to open in Temple Hills, Maryland. Address: 5300 Temple Hill Road, Temple Hills, MD 20748.
Time: Monday through Saturday, from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM, on a walk-in basis only.
Testing Sites:
COVID-19 rapid and PCR testing at the Bunker Hill Fire Station, 3716 Rhode Island Avenue, Brentwood, MD 20722.
First United Methodist Church of Hyattsville and Roseu Medical Center in Laurel.
There are weekly at-home rapid COVID-19 test kits distributions at designated locations in partnership with the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System and the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.
Religion
County Executive Angela Alsobrooks spoke for the Washington Hebrew Congregation for Martin Luther King, Jr.
Education
The Context Newsletter reported on how some community members have been, for years, advocating for the County Executive to return the Board Of Education to an all-elected members structure. (See the article above for the latest recommendations on the structure of the school board). An excerpt:
Janna Parker, education activist, and policy associate at the National Farm to School Network, said Alsobrooks has failed to hold up to her end of the bargain to change the structure of the school board governance from a hybrid model to one where the board of education members is elected by the community. In an interview about education policy, Parker spoke about some of the concerns she had about the structure. “Right now we have a divided school board, mainly because the appointed chair and other appointed members are having a very public spat with the elected members. It is inappropriate for a community predominantly of people of color to be told they cannot elect their own officials to govern their school board by the other officials they have elected. It silences the voice of the voters and the people.”
Context: In 2018, the year that Angela Alsobrooks campaigned for County Executive, Lori Morrow, now the first Parent Member of the Maryland State Board of Education wrote on a blog post about how some community members had problems with the Prince George’s County Public School Board of Education’s hybrid structure of governance (some elected and some appointed by the county executive).
There is an overwhelming sense that the system is failing in terms of transparency and accountability because PGCPS leadership is responsible to county politicians instead of residents.