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...

It’s Time to Vote, Howard County

Posted on October 2, 2020October 28, 2020 by Jenny

Ballots are beginning to arrive in mailboxes, and ballot drop boxes are in place. It’s time to vote, Howard County, but please read this first. Today, the League of Women Voters of Howard County held a candidate forum for our local Board of Education candidates, a prime opportunity to watch all the candidates as a group debate several important topics. The candidates’ performances so perfectly embodied what I’ve been saying about them all year, so I’m going to present a debate analysis and...

District 4: Say No to Sezin Palmer (Part 1)

Posted on August 13, 2020August 19, 2020 by Jenny

Sezin Palmer is an unsuitable candidate to represent District 4 on the Board of Education in Howard County. This is a multi-part series discussing the reasons why. See Part 2 here. I don’t know about you, but I had never heard of Sezin Palmer until last fall, when she and many other Howard County residents had a collective aneurysm over the idea of redistricting to better integrate our schools by socioeconomic status. The first time I saw her name was shortly after Howard County Public ...

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...

Hall of Shame – May 3, 2020

Posted on May 3, 2020August 17, 2020 by Jenny

Over the weekend, District 4 BOE candidate Jen Mallo announced that she had received the endorsement of Senator Clarence Lam and Delegates Eric Ebersole, Terri Hill, and Jessica Feldmark, all of District 12. On Sunday, Mike Miller of the anti-redistricting group Howard County Neighbors United doctored Jen's announcement with vitriol and posted it to HCNU's Facebook group. The loquacious administrator of the group, Steven Keller, chose to allow the post to stand. District 4 BOE candidate Matt Le...