We enjoyed a well-attended Chapter Meeting at Irene’s Pupusas in Glenmont Sunday. Here’s what we discussed and decided:
1) We announced the Chapter’s decision to endorse Will Jawando and Tim Willard for County Council-at-Large and Lynn Amano for Board of Education.
2) We decided that Chapter Meetings will be held on the second Sunday of each month from 1:30 – 3:30pm. Provided that if a significant number of members communicate a preference for Saturday meetings, we may alternate between Saturday and Sunday each month. Our next meeting will be Sunday November 11. The location will be announced.
3) Stefani Olsen was introduced as the Chair of Outreach and Membership Engagement. In this capacity, she will focus on (A) involving members in all aspects of ORMoCo, (B) reaching out to communities that are not currently well-represented or represented at all within the group, and (C) communicating to Chapter leadership the preferences of members who may not have spoken out on important issues.
4) We discussed the five measures – 2 State Constitutional Amendments and 3 County Questions – on the ballot. We reached consensus on all.
Yes on Question 1 Constitutional Amendment – Governor to include supplemental funding in annual State Budget for pre-K through 12th grade revenues from video gambling.
Yes on Question 2 Constitutional Amendment – General Assembly is authorized to enact legislation permitting same-day voter registration on Election Day.
Yes on Question A County Redistricting Procedure – Removes party central committees from the process for selecting the Redistricting Commission.
Yes with explanation on Question B County Property Tax Limit – Votes Needed to Raises Property Taxes changed from “nine Councilmembers” to “all Councilmembers”. Explanation: ORMoCo opposes the stringent requirement that a super-majority of nine councilmembers must approve any property tax hike, based on the possibility that a vote could be held when there are fewer than nine councilmembers, e.g., in the event of a councilmember’s death, we support this Question.
No on Question C Amend County Charter to permit Councilmembers to have more than one non-merit aide.
Does Question B make it harder or easier for the CC to raise property taxes?
How do I join?
Hi Linda. It’s great to hear from you. Our membership form is here. Please fill it out and submit it and you will be a member. We will announce this week the location of our next Sunday Chapter Meeting on November 11 at 1:30.