Dear Neighbors,
  
Before you vote, below and attached are some points of interest that you may want to consider when voting on the Ballot Questions contained on the November 2014 ballot. 
  
The South County Democratic Club was poised to present a Town Hall Forum on these issues this weekend, but one of our primary speakers, the Honorable Judge William Missouri, Chair of 2014 Charter Review Commission, had to retract his participation due to ethical reasons. The Club and I always strive to educate voters on important issues so this is for your information only.

 

Question 1 Constitutional Amendment (Ch. 422 of the 2013 Legislative Session) Transportation Trust Fund - Use of Funds

Voters should consider voting For the Constitutional Amendment to limit use of the gas tax, title/tag registration,etc. solely for transportation purposes.

  

Question 2 Constitutional Amendment (Ch. 261 of the 2014 Legislative Session) Special Election to Fill Vacancy in Office of Chief Executive Officer or County Executive

Voters should consider voting For this Constitutional Amendment as it will give voters the immediate ability to elect county leadership at the executive level to fill a vacancy without having to wait until the next election cycle.

  

Question A Charter Required Referendum (CB-44-2014) Public Safety Facilities Bonds; Question B Charter Required Referendum (CB-45-2014) Library Facilities Bonds; Question C Charter Required Referendum (CB-46-2014) Community College Facilities Bonds; Question D Charter Required Referendum (CB-47-2014) County Buildings Bonds;Question E Charter Required Referendum (CB-48-2014) Public Works and Transportation Facilities Bonds; and Question F Charter Required Referendum (CB-50-2014) Proposed Charter Amendment
Voters must ask whether we want to first repay the outstanding bonds or continue to improve our public facilities. If former, vote Against the Charter Referenda and if the latter, vote For the Charter Referenda.

  

Question G Charter Required Referendum (CB-51-2014) Proposed Charter Amendment

The current County charter is a vague in this area, which is why Question 2 is essential to support. However, filling the important position of County Executive by a person appointed and not elected by the people does not bode well for democracy. I encourage voters to vote Against the Charter Referendum.

  

Question H Charter Required Referendum (CB-52-2014) Proposed Charter Amendment

As long as one of the newspapers remains the Gazette or other paper that our seniors will read (who are unlikely to get their news from electronic media), I see this question as favorable.

For this reason, I encourage voters to vote For the Charter Referendum.

Question I Charter Required Referendum (CB-53-2014) Proposed Charter Amendment

This is will make the employment discrimination laws more comprehensive. I encourage voters to vote For the Charter Referendum.
 

Question J Charter Required Referendum (CB-54-2014) Proposed Charter Amendment

I strongly encourage voters to vote Against the Charter Referendum as undemocratic (and coupled with the fact that the County Council recently introduced legislation (CB68-2014) to increase the salaries of both the County Executive and the County Council, this is greedy).

 

The attachment provides a detailed memorandum of issues from my personal perspective:   


 Memo on 2014 Ballot Questions

  

  
Voter registration ends today, and early voting starts October 23, 2014.

 

Feel free to share with your neighbors, friends and colleagues before they vote.    
  

Staying engaged,

Tamara Davis Brown
Tamara Davis Brown

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Tamara Davis Brown for Prince George's County
P.O. Box 1292
Clinton, MD 20735
 
By Authority:  Tamara Davis Brown for Prince George's County, Mary Forsht-Tucker, Treasurer