Letter to the Editor: Diane Nixon is a progressive choice for District 20 (July 2006)
I read Michael Tabor’s article, Progressively Speaking, in the June issue and was amazed that he neglected to even mention that my wife, Diane Nixon, is a candidate for the House of Delegates in District 20.
Diane ran four years ago and came close to winning. She has not made it a secret that she plans to run again this year, and she has attended various candidate’s debates including the one recently in Takoma Park.
If being progressive means, as Michael infers, being a labor union supporter then Diane should certainly have been included. As far as I know, Diane is the only person running who is a union member.
She worked successfully to have union representation instituted at her workplace, and she served as a delegate, member of their executive board, was on the contract negotiating committee, and even took a leave of absence from her job to work on legislation in Annapolis, which passed the year it was introduced (a practically unheard of event), to have hospitals set up a fund to train workers for better jobs.
For the past twenty years Diane has worked on legislation to protect animals and the environment. Diane is proud of her work to protect animals and to make animal cruelty a felony in Maryland (another bill which passed overwhelmingly).
She has also worked on issues to protect the environment; including legislation to open areas of the state to new wildlands (not to mention her consistent opposition to the Inter-County Connector).
She hasn’t been paid a salary for her years of working for animals and the environment. She feels that animals are the truly voiceless in our society. They don’t vote and they don’t make political contributions, yet they deserve our protection.
She has worked for the environment because she sees how it is being destroyed and how lands are being lost to development.
To me, being progressive is about issues, not about how many labor unions you can get to endorse you.
Diane has always supported the rights of gay and lesbian men and women to marry and will work for the passage of that legislation.
She believes that medical marijuana should be legally available for those who need it.
She feels that Montgomery County hospitals and nursing homes need to provide better care for patients, and she would introduce legislation for unannounced inspections.
She knows the importance of all children getting a good education.
She wants tougher laws to deal with repeat criminals so that people will feel safe in their homes and not be afraid to walk on the street after dark.
She thinks that raising taxes should be done only as a last resort, and wouldn’t be necessary if large corporations paid their fair share.
The voters in District 20 couldn’t elect a better representative than my wife, Diane Nixon.
— Clyde Lassell
Silver Spring, MD