How can Howard County voters make informed decisions at the ballot box when major media outlets give prominent coverage to politically timed confidential ethics complaints while largely ignoring publicly confirmed violations by other candidates, and when organizations that brand their political endorsements around the concept of “ethics” give those violations a pass?
A summary of 2024 election campaign contributions for Districts 4 and 5 HCPSS Board of Education candidates and concerning details of how almost 80% of over $120,000 in contributions to two candidates has come from individuals and businesses residing outside Howard County, partisan elected official and political party/club transfers and self-funding instead of from the residents of the Howard County District that the candidates are running to represent.
A data deep dive into lockdowns and County Police Department responses to public schools in Howard County (HCPSS) and Carroll County (CCPS) between 2017 and 2023.
A retrospective look at how years of poor school transportation planning and decades of shortsighted, unsustainable residential overdevelopment policies by the Howard County government have led to and exacerbated the current HCPSS school bus transportation crisis.
An examination of some key elements of the Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) Contract with Zum Services, Inc. , which has left thousands of HCPSS families scrambling to deal with bus route cancellations and delays at the start of the 2023-24 school year.
A look at the history of the current Howard County school bus disaster with Zum Services, Inc. and how this situation is just the latest of many leadership issues that have plagued HCPSS in recent years under the tenure of Superintendent Michael Martirano.
A review of the voting records for each current Howard County Councilmember on a variety of County Council bills related to land-use/development, environmental impact/flood mitigation & preservation, governmental Board accountability/oversight, and the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) that came down to 3-2 split decisions from 2019 through the end of 2022.
A comparison of the $144 million cost of the proposed Lakefront Library in Downtown Columbia, MD with the cost of other recently-built libraries and schools in the county and surrounding region.
A brief discussion about how State Bill 10-23, a bill that proposes to have two members of the HCPSS Board of Education be appointed by the Howard County Executive from a candidate list provided by the State Delegation, is an example of the “Door in the Face” compliance technique that certain HCPSS Board of Education members are facilitating.
A critical opinion and historical perspective of a proposed State bill that will reduce the term of the newly-elected 2022 HCPSS Board of Education members, Dr. Linfeng Chen and Jacky McCoy, from four years (2022-2026) to just two years (2022-2024) and will also give the Howard County Executive the right to directly appoint two HCPSS Board of Education members every four years from a candidate list provided by the State Delegation.