Union endorsements draw GOP criticism

‘It’s hard to respond to a questionnaire you never received’

By Lindsey McPherson, lmcpherson@patuxent.com, Howard County Times, 6/10/10

The Howard County Education Association last week announced the local candidates it is endorsing in the 2010 election, including 14 incumbents and six challengers.

“We look at it from an education perspective and the union perspective,” union president Ann DeLacy said. “We endorse the candidates that are for public education.”

The endorsements are based on personal interviews and candidates’ responses to union questionnaires. The deadline for candidates to file to run for office is July 6, but DeLacy said the education association makes its endorsements before the end of the school year to accommodate its members’ schedules.

The union’s endorsements were awarded to all Democratic candidates, and some members of the Republican party this week said they didn’t have a shot at the union’s consideration since they didn’t receive interview requests or questionnaires.

“It’s hard to respond to a questionnaire you never received,” said state Sen. Allan Kittleman, a District 9 Republican. He added that District 9 Republican incumbent Dels. Gail Bates and Warren Miller also did not receive questionnaires, nor did Republican candidates Kyle Lorton, in the District 13 Senate race, and Jeff Robinson, in the District 13 House of Delegates race.

DeLacy said the association didn’t send questionnaires to incumbents Kittleman, Bates and Miller “because they have a very low percent voting record for educational issues.” She called their support of education “abysmal.”

Howard County Republican Party Chairwoman Joan Becker said she is disappointed the education association endorsed all Democratic candidates, but she is not surprised.

“There is a misperception that Republicans are not pro-education,” she said.

Changing the perception, she said, is “something that we need to work on as a party” and educating people about the Republican interest in education will be something they focus on this election season.

Schools a ‘crown jewel’

At the county level, the union endorsed incumbent County Executive Kenneth Ulman and incumbent County Council members Calvin Ball, Mary Kay Sigaty, Jennifer Terrasa and Courtney Watson.

“They understand the importance of having a strong public education system,” DeLacy said. “I like to think that our school and our library systems are probably the crown jewel of our county.”

The union’s 14-member Government Relations Committee, in its recommendations to the Board of Directors and the Representative Assembly, decided not to endorse a candidate for the County Council in District 5 because incumbent Gregory Fox, a Republican, “is running unopposed at this time and has not been particularly supportive of education, having proposed cuts to the education budget in the past.”

Fox, however, said he proposed only one cut to the education budget in the past four years, which was in the amount of $184,000 for the removal of three school system positions in 2007.

“I’ve actually proposed more increases to the Board of Education budget than any other council member,” in those four years, he said.

In the Maryland General Assembly contests, the union endorsed all the incumbents from Districts 12 and 13. They include state Sen. Edward Kasemeyer and state Dels. Steven DeBoy, James Malone and Elizabeth Bobo for District 12 and state Sen. James Robey and state Dels. Frank Turner, Shane Pendergrass and Guy Guzzone for District 13.

“They were very friendly incumbents,” DeLacy said. “They had good voting records.”

In District 9, the union endorsed all of the challengers: Jim Adams for the state Senate and Jon Weinstein and Maryann Maher for the House of Delegates. All are Democrats challenging Republican incumbents.

In the race for the four open Howard County Board of Education seats, the association endorsed incumbent Frank Aquino and challengers Marcelino Bedolla, David Proudfoot and Brian Meshkin.

“We need out-of-the-box thinkers,” DeLacy said. “I’m hoping that maybe they can all work together and somehow get the best team out there to win.”

The county education association, which will have members passing out its “apple ballots” at the polls on election day, only issues endorsements for local candidates. The Maryland State Education Association voted in October 2009 to endorse incumbent Gov. Martin O’Malley.

http://www.explorehoward.com/education/72413/union-endorsements-draw-gop-criticism/