December 2008 Archives

by Lindsey McPherson
Capital News Service

Photo by Julie Wiatt

After decades of working to enhance civil rights, Maryland Secretary of Labor, Licensing and Regulation Tom Perez has brought his expertise to the person who could make the most use of it -- President-elect Barack Obama.
   
Perez, a 47-year-old attorney from Takoma Park, has led transition efforts for the Justice, Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development Departments for the past several months.
   
"He's a tremendous, passionate advocate of civil rights issues (and has) a tremendous ability to work with people of all backgrounds and points of view," said Montgomery County Councilwoman Nancy Floreen, who was on the council with Perez, the county's first Latino member, from 2002 to 2006.

In his four-year term, Perez fought against predatory lending and high prescription drug prices and worked to improve literacy and immigration programs.

"He's immensely smart," said Councilman George Leventhal. "Tom Perez has a great analytical mind, and it's not just his brain; it's also his heart. He cares deeply about people who are left behind and making sure that everybody gets a chance to participate."
   

by Brian Roan

December 10, 2008--Tonight, Takoma Park celebrates the 25-year anniversary of the city becoming a Nuclear Free Zone on December 12, 1983.

The event, which will include speakers, movies, and refreshments, among other things, is in celebration of the city council passing the 1983 Nuclear Free Zone Ordinance, which was written by Nuclear Freeze activist Jay Levy. Levy is currently acting as a committee chair in Takoma Park.

The ordinance sets up a number of guidelines for Takoma Park, which, during the final days of the Cold War, wanted to make sure it had no part in the deterrence plan of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). Put into its simplest terms, MAD meant neither side would attack one another for fear of being wiped out in retaliation.

Takoma Park rebelled against this idea and instead opted to follow close to 30 other jurisdictions in adopting a policy that would make sure that the city had no part in nuclear proliferation.

A few of the edicts set forth in the ordinance set rules against allowing the production of nuclear weapons in city limits, buying from or investing in companies that help produce nuclear weapons, and publishing a list of weapons producers.

Even though the cold war has ended, the proliferation of weapons is still seen by some as a threat. Fuel and waste from nuclear reactors can be used in weapons, and North Korea and Pakistan shocked the world with their displays of nuclear capability.

As such, Takoma Park celebrates their continued commitment to staving off proliferation with speakers, movies, and refreshments outside of city hall at 7:30 p.m.

by Brian Roan

I clutched my ticket in my hand, looking down to make sure for the tenth time that I had placed the bet on the correct horse. This was only my second time betting on the horses at Laurel Park, and I was still shaky on the particulars.

"One dollar, Village Band to win." I had said to the ticket taker.

He looked at me for a hard second before asking for the horse's number. I struggled a moment and then looked down at my program. I flipped a few pages and said the number, took my ticket, went outside to wait.

by Lindsey McPherson
Capital News Service

Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen can add another leadership position to his resume.

Van Hollen will serve as the assistant to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, a role she expanded Tuesday to include incumbent retention.

"We need to make sure that our new members who were just elected cement their relationships with the voters back home, and so we're going to be working with them to make sure that they have the tools and support necessary to maximize their ability to do a good job for their constituents," Van Hollen said.
 
The assistant to the speaker attends all House leadership discussions and focuses on issues or policies the speaker assigns to him, according to Pelosi's spokesman Brendan Daly.
   
"I am looking forward to having a policy formation development role within the Democratic leadership and looking forward to working on our legislative strategy and working with the Obama administration to follow through on the agenda that (President-elect Barack) Obama talked about during the campaign," Van Hollen said.