Update: (River Hill) Money (Still) Makes the World Go ‘Round

Posted on October 24, 2020October 28, 2020 by Jenny

I wrote back in late August that of the $167,000 raised thus far by Board of Education candidates and PACs in the 2020 election cycle, roughly half of it has come from a single high school catchment area - River Hill High School. I surmised that River Hill was putting its financial might into a slate of anti-redistricting candidates. Another round of campaign finance reports are out as of yesterday, and that story hasn't changed. Except that the numbers have become even more mind-boggling....

Drawing Red Lines

Posted on October 6, 2020October 28, 2020 by Jenny

The esteemed moderator of Howard County Neighbors United, who is locally famous for his verbosity and pedantry, recently posted this uncharacteristically terse criticism of District 4 Board of Education candidate Jen Mallo. He took issue with Ms. Mallo’s statement in a recent candidate forum that “During redistricting, we saw groups that wanted to draw red lines around certain communities,” his objection being that the use of a phrase that describes racist housing policy perpetuates the “divis...

(River Hill) Money Makes the World Go ‘Round

Posted on August 31, 2020November 1, 2020 by Jenny

I updated this piece on October 24. In an election year, scrutiny of campaign finance reports is nothing new. People want to know who is donating cash and gifts to candidates and why. This year, a small subset of Howard County residents, still upset about last year's school redistricting process, are convinced that greedy real estate developers are pumping cash into Board of Education campaigns in exchange for influence. The conspiracy theory is that the $650 donated by Howard Hughes is b...

Let’s Talk Redistricting (Part II)

Posted on July 17, 2020August 19, 2020 by Jenny

This is a two-part series reflecting on the 2019 HCPSS redistricting process. In Part I of my series on redistricting, I explained my position on the 2019 HCPSS redistricting process, and I stated that I while I supported the plan, I understood much of the opposition to it. Today, I’m going to discuss opposition that had a different, distinctly malignant flavor. This opposition was at best disingenuous and at worst covertly racist, characterized by vitriol filled with half-truths...

Let’s Talk Redistricting (Part I)

Posted on July 9, 2020August 17, 2020 by Jenny

This is a two-part series reflecting on the 2019 HCPSS redistricting process. Many folks are aware that I supported the school redistricting that happened in 2019. Every now and then, someone will drop a comment on my social media that points to my position on the 2019 redistricting as being inconsistent with or contradictory to something I may have written or tweeted lately. It’s important to note that the 2019 redistricting was a complex topic, and my thoughts and feelings abou...