Details on how three recent “ends-justify-the-means” election ads published by the Howard Progressive Project, a PAC co-founded by Board of Education candidate Dan Newberger, has led HCPSS employees to disregard rules in Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) Ethics Policy pertaining to political campaigning.
A detailed discussion and legal analysis of a concerning welcome letter sent from Howard County Councilman for District 5, David Yungmann, to District 1 residents who are slated to be redistricted to District 5 after the 2022 election.
Issue #8 and 2022 Election Special Edition of the HoCo Watchdogs newsletter. This newsletter provides a concise list of articles, videos & social media posts for readers to stay well informed about important Howard County, Maryland issues such as public school policies, land use & development, and county governance.
A critical analysis of the recent decision by the Maryland Court of Appeals to uphold the constitutionality of a state law that authorizes a 16-17 year old student, elected strictly by 11-17 year olds, to serve on the Howard County Board of Education and cast binding votes on decisions that impact public school policies.
An overview of the unusually high election campaign contributions made by the HCPSS redistricting-focused “Polygon 147” Ellicott City neighborhood to The Calvin Ball Team in 2017 and why it is significant that they have made zero contributions to Ball’s campaign in this election cycle.
A brief discussion of some concerning examples of regional discrimination and biases that HCPSS Board of Education candidate Jacky McCoy has publicly demonstrated.
A Guest Watchdog reflection on the HCPSS Board of Education’s recent decision to change its opening statement for public forum to include rules that may violate the First Amendment and to cordon off the public meeting room dais with theatre-style ropes.
A detailed investigation of how Howard County Executive Calvin Ball promoted his underqualified family member to a county position that they didn’t have the educational requirements for and personally authorized ten years worth of pay raises in just three years for this family member after they wrongfully denied the public release of hundreds of emails that included evidence of broken laws and backroom deals on land use and development.
“The Office of County Executive admits every claim of violating the Open Meetings Act and Public Information Act, except one…they argue that County Executive Ball’s sister in law and campaign manager did not understand the law she used to withhold from public access almost 500 emails in the files of the Office of County Executive involving a politically active County lobbyist/ developers’ lawyer.”
“In my opinion, we have something strange going on in the Democratic race for the District 4 Howard County Council seat. A “Trump type“ candidate is staining our local politics with the most dirty campaign that I can remember…”