Archive for the 'Jack Johnson' Category
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson (D) says that he is pretty close to making a decision on what he is going to do after December 2010; that is when is time as the county executive will come to an end. He says that there will be announcement by the end of the month in regards to his future.
Last February, it was reported that Johnson was considering a run against O’Malley in the 2010 primary election. Johnson dismissed that as the “press indication.”
I cannot believe that Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson is seriously considering a challenge to Governor Martin O’Malley in the Democratic primary in 2010. Johnson is correct in saying that there should be no point where the incumbent in office is not challenged, but if that is the only reason he has for challenging O’Malley, then Johnson has no leg to stand on, especially if you look at 2006.
Johnson, the incumbent for the County Executive office, was challenged by former Del. Rushern Baker in the Democratic primary. However, Johnson did not feel that Baker was worthy of chalenging him to the point that Johnson himself refused to debate him. Despite the fact that Johnson’s predecessor Wayne Curry and current Prince George’s State’s Attorney Glen Ivey endorsed Baker, Johnson miraculously won. I still stand by my comment that if you run unopposed in the general election and only muster 97 percent of the vote and not anything close to 99 percent, that is not a mandate.
In addition to Johnson not practicing what he preaches, you have the abysmal way he had carried himself in office. His most recent escapades include sneaking off to Africa on taxpayer funds after delivering a doom and gloom financial outlook for the county AND proposing another tax hike. In addition, he also has a lack of understanding when it comes to criminal justice. This includes his assertion that Domestic Violence is not a crime, as well as his declaring apartment complexes bastions of crime. Also, instead of directing his police chief to go after criminals, he goes after nightclubs. Johnson also presided over 2005, the bloodiest year in Prince George’s County. His choice for, Police Chief Melvin High, retired last year but under normal circumstances, he would have been fired before then.
Do I even need to mention the Cheye Calvo case? Remember, it was recently on WAMU (88.5FM) where Johnson said that Calvo was not above the law. What a great thing to say about a municipal mayor in the county who was a victim of a botched police raid that scared his mother-in-law to the point where she can’t even live in the house anymore. Then there is the Ronnie White case where SOMETHING more should have happened by now. The one other person, the afforementioned State’s Attorney Ivey, is doing the best that he can under the circumstances. By the way, Johnson in the same radio appearance proved in the same statement why no one can take him seriously.
If I were Mr. Johnson, I would seriously consider if I would even stand a chance against O’Malley. I’m no fan of O’Malley, but if I had to choose between him and Johnson…I would pick O’Malley and pray that my dog doesn’t become the next victim of Johnson Justice.
P. Kenneth Burns is the editor of Maryland Politics Today. His email is kennyburns@marylandpolitics.us.
As first hinted last month right here on Maryland Politics Today, Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson (D) is considering a run for statewide office.
We now learn from The Gazette that he is considering a challenge to Governor Martin O’Malley in the 2010 Democratic Primary.
Now the continuation of our spotlighting the bad, the ugly and the “radio edit,” Maryland PT’s E-List.
Taking the top honor this week for the first time in the oh-9, Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson (D)…
Johnson who was lured out of exile to make an appearance on The Politics Hour this past Friday on WAMU (88.5FM), by the way the interview is about 23 minutes into the program if you download it. If you are interested, Johnson says that the D.C. United would probably end up in the Largo area should the pro soccer team finds reasonable terms.
The part which places him on the dishonor roll, or as you might say ‘the good stuff’, starts 29 minutes in when host Kojo Nhamdi brings up the county police department being under federal oversight no longer. A couple of minutes later, Kojo asks about two outstanding cases, the death of Ronnie White, the 19-year-old Laurel man who never had his day in court in regards to being accused of injuring a police officer with his car. The officer died of his injuries, White was killed in a county jail, waiting to be formally charged. The other case, you guessed it, the botched police raid on Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo’s home.
Johnson said that the police department did not have anything to do with the White case, which is true, there is a whole separate unit overseeing the jail. Johnson went on to say when the incident happened, “I came out very strong [and] made clear that we do not tolerate unconstitutional acts in our county [and] that all of the citizens, especially those in our custody, deserve equal protection [and] due process.” That laughter you hear in the room…is me, especially when it comes to page two.
Johnson in regards to the Calvo incident, “All of us are subject to the law. If there are allegations that there are illegal substances in my home and if there is evidence to that effect, I expect the police department and law officials to treat me like they would treat any other citizen.”
Washington City Paper columnist Mike DeBonis asked the question that we are all think at this point: “Should every citizen be subject to a SWAT team raid and have their dogs shot and killed in cold blood?” Johnson (long story short) said that Calvo is not above the law. In addition to that, Johnson played dumb when it came to a Washington Post story which said that officers did not have a no-knock warrant to bust in Calvo’s home.
So let me get this straight, so we the citizens of Prince George’s County are not above having our property destroyed, our pets being executed and to be hand cuffed while in our underwear and not answer any questions as far as what we are being accused of. You heard it first on WAMU. If you run a PetSmart in Prince George’s County, I would start talking to corporate about ordering Kevlar for cats and dogs really soon. The demand is about to increase on those items.
Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson is…
ANNAPOLIS — Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson (D) said that he and Rushern Baker has always been friends. As a matter of fact Johnson said, “We never not made up.” This was in response to a question I asked concerning a picture of him and former delegate Rushern Baker (D) that was in The Washington Post from this past summer.
This picture was taken as Johnson and Baker were returning from Denver where the 2008 Democratic National Convention was being held, which prompted a possible “life is short, let’s work together” possibility.
It was almost a year ago when Johnson called Baker a loser, after the Prince George’s Democratic Central Committee did not pick the former County Executive candidate as a successor to the late Prince George’s Senator Gwendolyn Britt (D-Dist. 47). Of calling Baker a loser, Johnson said “sometimes you say things that are not kind and you regret it.” When asked specifically about whether he regretted calling Baker a loser, Johnson repeated the same statement.
He went on to state his point that he became friends with Major Riddick, Jim Estepp and current Prince George’s Senator C. Anthony Muse (D-Dist. 26) after he campaigned against them for County Exectuive. Keep in mind these were the candidates in 2002. “Rushern tends to be very personal in a campaign and I don’t think you need to do that. I don’t think you have to try to tear people down in order to move up in life.” Johnson accuses the Baker campaign of being very personal over the last six years.
In regards to the new legislative session, Johnson said that this is the first year that he does not have a blueprint for his budget, adding that the county is not going to ask for additional money. Knowing that he will get a cut from the state, the county will be looking to make sure that it’s a fair cut. “Sen. [Ulysses] Currie is key to that because he is chair of the budget and taxation committee and we are hoping everything works really well for him.” Johnson also takes note that revenues need to be raised and said that they plan on proposing two bills in the legislature to do that. If they pass, all will be well.
Johnson, who is term limited in 2010, is thinking about pursuing statewide office when he leaves next year. “I haven’t decided which one I am going to pursue yet…I may not pursue any, but I am definitely keeping my options open.”
Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson (D) is looking to enhance county revenues in order to fulfill his promise of hiring 150 new officers a year for this year. The Gazette is reporting that Johnson is asking the state to approve “revenue enhancements” to overcome an anticipated $100 million budget shortfall.
Remember, taxes in the county cannot be raised unless voters approve them and based on what happened in November, Johnson will not be propsing anything outright any time soon. Johnson, proposed a three percent tax hike on telephone bills (land, cable and wireless.) It made it’s way to the ballot and died quickly. The revenue enhancement was such a fresh idea, his spokesman John Erzen was surprised.
Johnson made his “whenever” appearance as interim police chief Roberto Hylton announced that crime overall has dropped in the county by four percent. Violent crime, we can actually report, dropped nine percent in the county last year.
Hylton was nominated to be permanent police chief by Johnson, who expects him to be confirmed next month.
We did not do this last year, but now would be a good idea to implement the Best and the Worst of Maryland Politics for the year 2008. The criteria for the best and the worst is pretty obvious, although the best has a little bit of a tougher criteria because it has to be a story that is in my opinion did not get the proper perspective it deserves.
First, the best of Maryland. This one you can say mimicked national events, but this story is much better.
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The best of Maryland in 2008 goes to Victoria Jackson-Stanley and the citizens of Cambridge, Dorchester County.
Ms. Stanley is the first black mayor of the eastern shore town which was placed on the national map four decades ago when it was embroiled race riots. Cambridge is a different place these days. The Washingotn Times said that in the non-partisan election, race nor gender was a factor. Not only is Ms. Jackson the first black mayor of Cambridge, she is also the first female mayor of an eastern shore town. Jackson, who works as a social worker, says that she was not trying to make history. I think it is kind of hard for her to avoid considering that she was one of the first black students to attend the the county high school, which was all-white.
Congratulations to Mayor Jackson and the city of Cambridge, for displaying Maryland’s verion of hope and change. You guys are the Best of Maryland for 2008.
There was no winner-up in this category. The person who would have filled that void was Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon (D) for actually providing some tangible improvement to the city, but the fact that she initially decided to keep a raise without any real remorse during a tough budget year pretty much rescinded my naming her.
Which brings us to the Worst of Maryland, a contest where Governor Martin O’Malley (D) actually did not make the list believe it or not.
Continue reading ‘The Best and Worst of Maryland in 2008′
Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson (D) returned from his trip to Africa recently and without missing a beat, he canceled a scheduled interview with The Washington Post to discuss the trip. I guess the paper is on his naughty list this year.
The Post did report that Johnson went overseas with his chief of staff, a special assistant, two media information officers and a security guard, all of whom worked for the county. After visiting Senegal, he later hooked up with four members of the Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation, a non-profit agency partially funded by the county.
A spokesman says that county taxpayers will be paying for part of the trip, a final cost will not be hammered out until bills have been “reconciled.” He also defended Johnson by saying whether it’s Las Vegas, Chicago or Senegal, he is working to bring jobs and business to the county.
Keep in mind, this trip happened shortly after Johnson announced doom and gloom as far as county finances, to the point that county employees were going to be furloughed for two weeks. In addition, not even some top county officials knew Johnson was going on a trip, until he was gone.
Editorial from The Washington Post says that they do not know a lot about Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson’s trip to Africa.
Namely, they want to know why Johnson (D) is being so secretive about how long he is going for, which countries he is visiting, how much for the trip, who’s paying for the trip and who is with him.
Johnson is known for his secrecy when it comes to county affairs. The last non disclosure was not so silent, it was the negotiations over who would buy the Prince George’s Hostpital System.
Talk about strange bedfellows, Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson has for the first time publicly announced that he is voting against the slots referendum.
Johnson tells The Washington Post that the state should fund public schools through more “traditional” ways of raising revenue, adding that slots would shift the responsibility of education funding “disproportionately to the poor, who will be using the machines for hope when they are already down in the dumps.”
The comment today is, tell someone outside the clan. Last Saturday, I received another edition of “Gorgeous Prince George’s.” This is the junk mail/pr newsletter that is sent to Prince George’s County residents to talk about the good things happening in Prince George’s County. As predictable as the Miami Dolphins picking up where they left off last season, the cover of this edition is County Executive Jack Johnson (D) holding the celebratory sign for the county achieving a AAA bond rating over the summer.
It had a number of good stories about things happening in the county, however, I asked myself why are we getting this newsletter. I am not asking because of my dislike of our County Executive, I am asking because this is the stuff that needs to be delievered personally to the county executive, and not by his minions, to every media outlet in town no matter what the news is. Johnson and is future successors, need to realize that we as journalists must ask about everything going on in the county. They also need to learn that one of the main job descriptions as a commentator, which is what I also do in addition to report on this site, is to challenge the status quo and raise points that are not allowed in a news story.
Johnson has not had a handle on crime, that has been preached to no end. He will be asked about crime probably from now until 2010 or until competence reigns in the leadership of the law enforcement community. He should accept that fact and learn how to be steadfast towards the end of his term. Governor Martin O’Malley (D) went through more police commissioners than anyone cares to think about, but he was not afraid to be roasted in the media over his crime numbers, whether he was right or wrong.
I had just finished reading the book, “The Truth in Black in White” by Harry R Jackson Jr. Jackson is the pastor of the Hope Christian Church in Beltsville. He was speaking about the very subject of his book on TBN. The subject of the book in a nutshell is that there needs to be a true race reconciliation for the country to unite and move forward. Another minister who was apart of the taping asked why was he preaching that message to Christians. He added that this message should be told to the masses…
In that same spirit, I am asking Johnson why is he wasting tax dollars printing these newsletters when it;s a lot cheaper to make the 40 minute drive to Upper Northwest Washington DC and tell the message directly to the television stations and two news radio stations that are in that part of town (and over the bridge to Arlington, Virginia where WJLA-TV (Channel 7) is based.) Will Johnson have to face tough questions? Sure, every politician does. However, it’s better to face the media than to send out the whipping boy for punishment until you are ready for a ribbon cutting.
This might be mean spirited on my part (and Lord please forgive me now,) but I have been waiting for this one for reasons that you probably already know about…but tonight for the first in what I suspect many times, Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson has been added to The E List, the list of people who go way beyond the boundaries of common sense or their respective lunatic fringes.
Johnson, I did not add to the list right away, but after last week, something had to be said.
Continue reading ‘The E List: Jack Johnson’
