Mark Lautman
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Laura Stewart Misses the Point of Campaigning
Read more: Laura Stewart Misses the Point of CampaigningThe board game Game of Life as we know it today was originally published in 1960. My edition at home is from the year ca. 2000, and it certainly shows its age in terms of social norms. Nevertheless, there is one square that is as germane today as it was in 1960: Run for Mayor,…
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MoCo’s Relationship with Annapolis
Read more: MoCo’s Relationship with AnnapolisIn February 2024, Delegate David Moon promoted, on behalf of the entire Montgomery County delegation in Annapolis, HB1300. The brutally concise summary of that legislation holds unenforceable certain restrictions in housing associations, specifically those meant to limit construction of dense housing on lots designated as single-family detached. The bill’s title appears as Montgomery County –…
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The Democratic BoE primaries: Part 2—Ranked Choice Voting
Read more: The Democratic BoE primaries: Part 2—Ranked Choice VotingThe outcome of the 2024 Democratic BoE primaries gives us a real-world view into how things could have been different under ranked choice voting (RCV). The rules of these BoE elections are extremely manipulative. The two top vote getters in each “district” face off in the general elections. That is nonsense, because everyone votes for…
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The Democratic BoE primaries: Part 1—the At-Large Voter Dilution
Read more: The Democratic BoE primaries: Part 1—the At-Large Voter DilutionThe most popular piece I wrote on Clean Slate MoCo is MCPS Board of Education: MoCo’s most illegitimate governing body. That article explains how the BoE’s multi-member, at-large elections are a glaring civil rights violation, because a small demographic elects all of the winners. There aren’t a lot of these entitled and aggressive voters, but…
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Removing a Council Member
Read more: Removing a Council MemberSome jurisdictions provide a remedy for removing an elected official that no longer serves his/her constituency. For Americans, arguably the most important removal procedure is against the president of the United States. Only the House of Representatives can impeach a president, and the Senate conducts the trial for removal. A two-thirds majority in the Senate…
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Evan Glass Endorses Ranked-Choice Voting
Read more: Evan Glass Endorses Ranked-Choice VotingGoing back to November 7, 2023, Council Member Evan Glass expressed his support for ranked-choice voting. It’s Election Day! Make sure to vote if there’s an election in your community. And let’s continue working to ensure that there’s ranked choice voting in more communities next year!#electionday #rankedchoicevoting #rcv #democracy pic.twitter.com/zvYS2O4NFN — Councilmember Evan Glass (@CMEvanGlass)…
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Networking at Conferences is Not a Critical Election Reform
Read more: Networking at Conferences is Not a Critical Election ReformIn State reform needed to make politics fairer, Council Member Evan Glass lauds the public campaign financing programs available in Maryland, and seeks to expand such programs to allow beneficiaries of the funding to purchase tickets to networking and community events. Such an amendment will further “level the playing field” for candidates running campaigns with…
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Community Profile: Mimi’s Ice Cream – Serving Happiness One Scoop at a Time
Read more: Community Profile: Mimi’s Ice Cream – Serving Happiness One Scoop at a TimeNovember 12 was opening day for Mimi’s Ice Cream in Rockville’s Federal Plaza—the third store in the DC area. The customers were diverse that day but for one thing: all of them were smiling. I couldn’t resist buying two scoops and asking owner Rollin Amore for an interview. I’ve always wanted to understand the difference…
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Following the Science on Street Safety
Read more: Following the Science on Street SafetyI had the good fortune to discuss street safety with a national expert on the matter, Professor Eric Guerra from the University of Pennsylvania. He co-authored a recent study “Do Denser Neighborhoods Have Safer Streets? Population Density and Traffic Safety in the Philadelphia Region.” Professor Guerra is currently the director of the Cooperative Mobility for…
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Why I’m Cautious of Adam Pagnucco and His Advice
Read more: Why I’m Cautious of Adam Pagnucco and His AdviceI remember March 13, 2023, quite well. That was the day I stopped reading Adam Pagnucco’s blog. On that day he published There is No Plan B for Upcounty, in which he highlighted the socio-economic discrimination inflicted on upcounty residents by their downcounty establishment counterparts, and ended with the following exhortation. And to Upcounty residents,…