Over 30 activists convened for Our Revolution Montgomery County’s Chapter Meeting Sunday November 11 at Kaldi’s Social House in Silver Spring from 11 – 1:30. The meeting opened with a presentation by Virginian Yasmien Taeb who is running for Virginia State Senate in 2019. She asked for our support as she seeks to unseat Democrat Dick Saslaw who has been in the State Senate for nearly 40 years. Taeb promised to be a far more progressive Senator than Saslaw. For more information on Yasmine Taeb, click here.
After Taeb spoke, we had an open discussion about the mostly concluded election season. We took pride and joy in progressive victories in Montgomery County (Marc Elrich), throughout Maryland (veto-proof Democratic majorities in the General Assembly), and across the country.
We also discussed races that did not go as we might have wished, particularly Larry Hogan’s win over ORMD endorsee Ben Jealous. The general consensus was that Ben was not well-known enough throughout the state, the media helped Hogan, and older voters preferred the Republican.
We discussed ways to reach more people, including letter-writing, door knocking, and via our website, and social media. One individual spoke of the impact that instagram can have on young people. Another stressed the importance of providing a centralized calendar of MoCo and MD events in which activists can participate.
We discussed ORMoCo’s Legislative Action Committee and its three teams – Election Reform, Criminal Justice Reform, and Healthcare. Several attendees stressed the importance of protecting the environment as well. If you would like to work in any of these three areas, please email orinmoco@gmail.com.
Stephen Mortellaro, who heads the Election Reform team discussed our partnership with FairVote and Ranked Choice Voting for Montgomery County. There are several events coming up and ways to help brings RCV to MoCo. If you are interested in working on this issue, please email smortellaro@gmail.com.
We discussed the importance of making sure that our next meeting is held in a universally accessible location since at least one person could not attend because of the upstairs room could only be reached by staircase.
ORMoCo endorsed general election candidates Lynn Amano for Board of Education, Tim Willard for County Council-at-large, and Marc Elrich all attended the meeting. Lynn and Tim spoke briefly. The meeting ended with Marc thanking the group for supporting him, discussing his vision for Montgomery County, and answering questions.
Marc said that he is looking for creative ways to solve the county’s financial crunch. He anticipates cuts in the total number of county employees but will work closely with unions to ensure that the cuts are fairly implemented. He also believes that MCPS can use its budget more efficiently by ensuring that teachers are in the classroom not providing administrative support.
Our next meeting will be Sunday afternoon December 9 from 1:30 – 3:30. We anticipate a Bethesda venue. We hope to see you there.