My Announcement
May 9, 2006
Mt. Rainier Nature Center
 

Today I begin a new chapter in my life. This decision has been made easier by friends and family like you, encouraging and helping me everyday, and has made me sure that I’ve made the right choice.

Glenn and the boys have helped me tremendously, too. Glenn has never cooked so much in his life! He has learned the difference between a clove of garlic and a bulb of garlic. And I have experienced campaign workers in the boys. They're great at helping put out signs and doing mailings. They'll help with door knocking and literature-dropping once school lets out, too. And all of us have had to pull together to make this work, and I want to thank them all for helping not just directly with the campaign, but with keeping the household running.

I thought that coming back to Mt. Rainier was the right thing for me to do when I was trying to decide where to be today. Glenn and I bought our first home here in 1988, and we absolutely loved it here. We were pretty naive, though, about how large of a house we needed. We thought we’d be here forever, but two boys in, it was clear we needed a few more bedrooms!

One of the things we love about Mt. Rainier is the strong sense of community. People look out for each other here, and they're involved in each other's lives. Glenn and I used to belong to a dinner group here with two other families. Each family cooked dinner for the other two families once a week, and with leftovers, you could get through the whole week with only cooking one meal! It was great. (Now I have to cook that much every day to feed everybody.) When someone has some type of calamity, people pitch in here. Just recently our friend Renate had a horrible house fire, and when I came by that next weekend, there were neighbors covered in soot, helping to clear out the mess.

When we looked for a bigger house we chose Cheverly for the same reasons. Cheverly's sense of community is well-known -- just look at the most-recent Washingtonian Magazine, if you don’t believe me!

It's the people in Mt. Rainier, and Cheverly, and all over the 47th District and across Prince George's County who are our strength. We are the key to building on the positives and fixing the negatives about Prince George's. And that brings me to why we're here today with a great band, a moon bounce and all of these friends and neighbors.

Earlier today, I filed the required paperwork with the State Board of Elections in Annapolis officially declaring my candidacy as your Delegate from the 47th District.

Each legislative district in Maryland sends a delegation of representatives to Annapolis – three Delegates and a Senator. The best part of this arrangement is that each member of the delegation brings their own skills and experience to the legislature to act on behalf of the citizens. The stronger the delegation, the more effective your representation in state government.

This arrangement allows each citizen the opportunity to elect their representatives based on different criteria – selecting candidates on individual attributes that compose a solid team of representatives. So when you consider your choices at the polls, select the candidates based on our individual, but complimentary strengths.

My candidacy offers voters an opportunity to strengthen our delegation in many ways. First, I have a strong, proven track record of community involvement and activism. I'm also a mother of young children, and the child of elderly parents. My dad is here today, and I'd like to thank him and my step-mom for doing such a great job raising me and my brother, and showing us that service starts at home and radiates outward to the community around you. As a mother and a daughter, I have personal experience with the schools, and with senior citizen's health care issues.

I also bring passion and determination, and I'm known for working hard. Recently I was at the Chillum-Ray Civic Association meeting, and talked about how when I was pregnant with Troy, who's number 4, I was the general contractor on the addition of our house – "Home Depot" were Julian's first words, poor thing – and I started Mocha Moms at the same time. We had our first organizational meetings in the construction. And Troy was born in our new bedroom a few hours after Glenn and Rushern moved the furniture in. Within five minutes of his birth, the electrician knocked on the bedroom door and asked where the outside light was that I wanted him to install! The midwife was not amused, but I knew he had to finish, and so I put back on my contractor's hat and told him what he needed to know. I think those civic association members were more shocked about the homebirth than anything else, but they could see that one thing I can do is juggle many things at once and be successful at all of them.

So when I set my sights on a goal, it is accomplished. That does not mean I am stubborn or not capable of working as a team. It means that when an opponent is relentless, like Washington Gas – I, too, will be relentless for what is right.

Finally, I bring respect to the table – respect of the office and the voters who entrust me with their representation. I pledge to work with community associations and municipal governments to ensure that our voice is heard in Annapolis – not just at election time, but all the time.

The effectiveness of the delegation is dependent on the collective skills and experiences of each member of the Delegation. Our district faces challenges - crime, education, senior services and quality of life. These are all issues that each candidate acknowledges and will strive to improve. I will approach these issues with a commitment to work for each of you.

I would be more than happy to talk to you about my ideas for public safety, improving the environment, expanding our educational resources, including working for our full share of Thornton funding and adult-level English language classes, saving our hospital, working with local businesses to enhance their support to the community. Our services for seniors must be more than recreation. Preventative visits and home care are important health-care issues Annapolis must consider.

We have only sixteen weeks to reach-out to each voter in our district, not only to introduce myself, but to invite every eligible voter to participate in the primary election. This is an important election, not only on a state level, but federal and local as well. Participation is key to ensure we select the strongest ticket possible for September's General election.

This campaign is made possible by the support of friends like you. I sincerely appreciate all the faith you have placed in me and I will work hard to make you proud of your legislative delegation. Together we will make Prince George's County all it is capable of being.

Thank you.
 

County Councilman David Harrington introduces
Jolene at her announcement in Mt. Rainier.