PG news
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The Laurel Independent voting guide, including guide for judge elections (often harder information for voters to come by).
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Early voting started Oct 24 and ends this Thursday, Oct 31. The closest early voting site to Laurel is the Laurel-Beltsville Senior Center at 7120 Contee Road, open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. those days.
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You’ve probably already received your Sample Ballot in the mail, but you can also download a copy from the PG County Board of Elections page, which also includes other useful resources like ballot drop boxes and voter registration lookups.
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Election Day is Tuesday, Nov 5 and polls will be open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. that day – Identify your polling place to cast your vote using the Maryland Election Board lookup tool which also has a number of great references and resources. (Note: Your General Election polling place is most like not the same place you cast votes for the City of Laurel elections last year – so be sure to double-check if you’re unsure.)
- Prince George’s County Board of Election page
- The Laurel Independent’s Election Guide
Meet the new PG Education Board Member Andorful on Nov 20 in Laurel
In the just-completed election, a new PG County Board of Education member was elected to represent our district, District 1 – Dr. Tiffini Andorful. And she’ll be coming to Laurel on Wednesday, Nov 20 at 6:30 p.m. at the Laurel Branch Library hosted by our PG County Councilmember Tom Dernoga.
From the event description:
Council Member Dernoga invites you to join him for a community conversation at the Laurel Branch Library, which will take place after a Meet & Greet with Dr. Tiffini Andorful, District 1 School Board Member Elect. Light refreshments will be served to anyone that RSVPs by filling out this form. Please do not forget to submit any questions you have for the Council Member ahead of time by recording them at the bottom of this form.
This is a great opportunity for parents, students, teachers, and other interested folks to come out and learn and share firsthand with our elected school officials – For more details and the link to RSVP, check out the event registration page.
PG County Fire Dept Reallocation Impact - Community Meeting this Thu, Nov 14
You may already be aware, but there’s a significant reallocation happening within PG County Firefighters. This coming Thursday, Nov 14, the PG County Council is hosting a Public Meeting to address questions, share information, and listen to residents about impacts happening to their communities.
The gist of the changes surround how fire services are provided: Historically, paid professional fire firefighters from the County would be assigned to fire houses in different cities and towns where they would be supplemented by local volunteers - Paid staff covered certain hours while volunteers covered the other hours. PG County has been reallocating firefighters, pulling them out of many local volunteer firehouses and moving them to County firehouses, affecting the coverage of certain areas and the response times experienced. (E.g., It’s part of why you’re seeing more of neighboring fire trucks coming to Laurel than in years past.)
To learn more about the impact and share concerns, join with other residents from around the County at the Largo County Administration Building this Thursday where PG County Fire Chief Tiffany Green will join Council Members to discuss staffing and the reallocation plan. You can also sign up to speak.
(UPDATE after event: Here’s a link to watch a recording of the meeting.)
Voting has Started for Nov 5 Elections
A few resources if helpful to you for the current voting season:
Hope that helps and here’s a great letterpress print by the ACPA that I love! :)
PG County Special Primary Election July 31 - Aug 6
Prince George’s County is holding a Special Primary Election from Wed, Jul 31 to Tue, Aug 6 to select candidates to replace a vacancy on the PG County Council — It’s important to know this is a Primary within the political parties (similar to the one that happened in May) and that the Councilmember will be elected as part of the General Election coming up Nov 5.
The Primary is being conduced mostly via mail-in ballot that every registered voter should have received at this point, and mailed-in responses must be postmarked no later than Aug 6 to count. There are also a list of drop-off box locations available as well as limited in-person voting options.
More information, including candidate statements, can be found at:
Prince George's County passes rent stabilization
On July 16, the Prince George County Council passed 10-0 a rent stabilization bill that had been in the works for around two years. This issue hit a peculiar peak around the economic disruptions of COVID, and various nuances were worked through to construct something PG Council members felt would work for our County (of which Laurel is fully within geographically).
The are a number of moving parts for how the legislation works, exceptions, etc., but here’s an excerpt of its key provision:
Sec. 13-144. Annual rent increase allowance.
(a) Annual rent increase allowance. The Director annually shall calculate a rent increase allowance for regulated rental units applicable to rental lease renewals equal to the lesser of:
(1) CPI-U plus 3 percent; or
(2) 6 percent.
(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsections (1) and (2) of this Subsection, the rent increase allowance for a regulated unit in an age restricted senior housing facility with a twelve (12) or twenty-four (24) month lease may not exceed the lesser of the CPI-U or 4.5 percent.
(b) Duration. A rent increase allowance under Subsection (a) remains in effect for a 12-month period, beginning July 1st of each year and ending on June 30th of the following year.
(c) By May 1st of each year, DPIE shall provide notice to the public of the annual rent increase allowance under Subsection (a), above, that will become effective on July 1st of that year.
More information, including full text of the now-enacted bill, can be found on the bill’s page on the Prince Georges County legislative website and it becomes effective 45 days from its passage on July 16.
Update: In related news, Montgomery County Council passed a rent stabilization bill on July 23.