Less Than 100 Days to Election Day
Hiruy Hadgu
Are You Registered to Vote?
It is often stated “the most important office is that of the citizen”.
When we as voters discharge this civic duty, we are sending an important signal to elected officials: “we are watching and paying attention”.
I was born in a country where people live their entire lives without voting in a free and fair election and I was able to vote for the first time in 2014 after earning my citizenship that year.
Walking into my voting precinct, picking up the ballot, and voting for a candidate of my own choosing was such an exhilarating experience and it is not something I take for granted.
The 2018 primaries will be held in June. Here are the times and locations for the two voting periods. Note that your early voting locations maybe different from the polling locations on election day.
Early voting: June 14th to 21st
Polling precinct locations: Find the locations here.
Election Day: Tuesday, June 26th.
Polling precinct locations: Find your location here.
Click here to check you voter registration status.
Candidate Forums and Campaign Message
I participated in my third candidate forum on Saturday, March 17, hosted by the Thurgood Marshall Democratic Club.
In case you missed it, I am happy to share that our campaign message is breaking through in a major way.
So much so that many candidates are also talking about the concern of “developer influence” and its deleterious effects on public policy.
From my campaign’s perspective, the credit goes to all the community leaders and activists who provided me with the needed education and guidance, which forms the basis for my campaign platform.
This county-specific platform is more than platitude. It is not enough to say "developer influence is concerning". I have specifics on how to reduce it. Scroll down to read a summary of each area of my platform.
"The Preferred Future" Platform
I introduced my platform over a month ago. The four areas of my platform depicted in the figure - accountability, planning, reforms, and opportunity - represent the concerns raised by many community leaders and activists.
Here is a brief summary with links to details:
Accountability (click here for details):
The three areas of accountability are: eliminating the revolving door, increasing the Councils oversight capability, and strengthening the County's audit function.
Planning (click here for details):
The loopholes added to APFO at the behest of developers on February 5th must be removed. Also, let's add other quality of life related tests. The County's public transportation system is not integrated with the overall planning process.
Reforms (click here for details):
We need to reform the Planning Board and provide a citizen's attorney to help residents with zoning and land-use disputes.
Opportunity (click here for details)
I think automation will improve our lives while replacing many local jobs, unless we plan for it. The County's services for our older adult community should reflect the needs they have expressed. Lastly, the term "affordable housing" has been no more than platitude as leaders express support for it without any action. This has to change.