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More Than You Know - - Election Day Guest Post by Cindy Vaillancourt



Cindy Vaillancourt posted the following on social media yesterday and I immediately knew I wanted to share it here. She has graciously given her permission. - - jam

*****

I hear a lot of extremely negative comments about our elected representatives at all levels.

There is no doubt there are a lot of just icky-yucky-gross, unavailable, corrupt, buffoonish, porcine, and truly dishonorable people running for office, holding office, or even retiring from office.  

I would just like to take a minute to share with my Maryland neighbors some insight I gained as a result of my activism, and service as an elected official.

With very few exceptions, the people on all levels who represent Howard County work harder than most folks know.  I could not maintain the schedules these folks keep.  I was exhausted just trying to keep up with the obligations of my office - but, without fail, wherever I went on BOE business, many other elected representatives were already there, and stayed longer.

Anyone who complains that their representative is unavailable to them is just not trying.  Before his death, you could not go to a community event without tripping over the late, great Representative Elijah E. Cummings.  You want to have a word with Ben Cardin, or John Sarbanes?  Attend any one of hundreds of meetings or events. I had a lovely conversation with Jamie Raskin not long ago - and he doesn't even represent HoCo.  Chris Van Hollen inexplicably remembered my name after I first met him. Barbara Mikulski gave me an arm squeeze and said to keep up the good work. (ok, that one may have been pretty generic ;) ).

Our state delegation is even more visible and accessible.  Speaking of tripping over people,  have you been to any event in Howard County where you did not see Howard County Executive Calvin Ball?  or Allan Kittleman when he was a councilman, state senator, or county exec? Or Ken Ulman?  Or Jim Robey?  Even now that he is retired, Frank Turner is still everywhere supporting the community.  

I guarantee if you call Vanessa Atterbeary, or Senator Guy Guzzone, or Jen Terrasa - Howard County, or Katie Hester, or Courtney Watson, or Chao Wu you will get a callback. If you grab them at an event they will listen attentively.  I am sure that is also true for Terri Hill, Jessica Feldmark, Pam Guzzone, Natalie Zeigler and Clarence Lam- though I haven't tried to call them myself.

Our local council people are easy to reach, and in spite of many interactions being quite fraught for the BOE members, most of them (sure, there are exceptions) are responsive if you reach out, write, call, or happen upon them in the community at the dozens of events they attend each month.

I don't agree with all of them.  I don't agree with everything any of them do, or positions they take.

But with few exceptions, they put in more hours than you know, take more abuse than you would believe, and (for the most part) do it graciously.

So when you go to the polls and you see a candidate, a sitting official, or a retired official --- feel free to share your priorities, ask questions, or just make eye contact and smile.

UPDATE: I forgot to add former Governor Hogan, who stood with the BOE in our fight with a previous superintendent - and who could be counted on to attend functions and mingle.... and former Governor O'Malley who visited HoCo often and freely chatted with anyone around ... and speaking of electeds to trip over ...if you haven't tripped over Wes Moore yet, you probably don't get out much.

*****

Cindy Vaillancourt served on the Howard County Board of Education from 2010 - 2018. In my opinion she “put in more hours than you know, took more abuse than you would believe, and (for the most part) did it graciously.” 

I have very strong opinions about today’s election, both national and local. It would have been easy to fill this space with words to that effect. Like many of my neighbors, friend, and family, I have fears about today and the days to come. The humanity in Ms. Vaillancourt’s words felt like the right touch in a troubled moment.

If you have other thoughts to share, let me know.


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