The Arrogance of the Siddiquis

Turning to HoCo’s House Lannister, Dr. Janet Siddiqui has decided to enter the race for the 4^th County Council District.

First of all, one should be skeptical of the argument that self-funders can be independent of special interests (“unbought and unbossed” to employ former Congresswoman Shirley Chisolm’s slogan).  Folks with the ability to loan themselves $100,000 (funneled through various committees, as outlined here: https://scotteblog.com/2018/01/17/will-janet-siddiqui-run-for-office-in-2018/) are themselves a special interest.  Of course, I expect her campaign won’t completely self-fund, but who would give the Siddiquis money to fill their coffers?  Fortunately, campaign finance reports are available to the public. Just go ahead and type in “Siddiqui” in the Committee Name box here: https://campaignfinancemd.us/Public/ViewFiledReports

Her attempted job hop in 2014, from the Board of Education to a brief run for the House of Delegates in District 13 to deciding to drop out in favor of her husband Nayab is redolent of a sense of entitlement.  This familial bait-and-switch was rejected by Team 13, while she was selected to run on the slate, Nayab was not. In her own words, she said regarding a run for the state legislature, “I’ve always looked forward to that in my plan.”  (Source: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/columbia/ph-janet-siddiqui-withdraws-district-13-story.html).  Oh really, would you care to tell Howard County voters more about your "plan?"  Or how the events of “the day of the filing” were necessary for you to rediscover your “commitment to the people and children of Howard County.”  If that commitment was so unshakeable, should it have mattered what Aquino and Meshkin did or did not do re: seeking re-election to the Board?

Let us not forget the very recent past, when Janet Siddiqui voted to retain the services of former Superintendent Renee Foose.  By voting with the other members of the “Gang of Five” to renew her contract, this gave Foose the leverage to secure a massive ($1.65 million) buy-out.  Of course, it should be noted that three members of this Gang were tossed out of office by Howard County voters in 2016, including Dr. Siddiqui.

Back to when she was on the Board of Education, her commitment seemingly didn’t extend to an awareness of certain aspects of the position.  When asked about the public release of a “special education audit,” that one parent called “critical information that the public needs,” Siddiqui’s reply was “I don’t know that it hasn’t been released” (Source: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/columbia/ph-ho-cf-special-education-forum-0414-20160412-story.html). The report cost $300,000 yet only 26 pages were released to the public ($11,538 per page).  As parents and other activists clamored for greater transparency and a full report, Siddiqui’s response, “we should work with what we have, moving forward.”  That sounds like acquiescence, not advocacy.

Then there is the curious relationship that the Siddiquis seem to enjoy with gas station owners.  Another prominent blogger has written more about this topic (Source:  
http://53beersontap.typepad.com/53beers/2014/06/siddiqui-and-omvb-leaders-to-bring-gas-station-to-om-village-center.html

If you prefer videos for information,  a YouTube channel (HCEA Howard) created four short videos featuring Janet Siddiqui in which you might be interested:

Ranging from mold to poor spending decisions and weak financial oversight, they include:

Pediatrician Janet Siddiqui falls short on health issues for students and staff:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q8G-dFQm90

Failed management by Board Member Janet Siddiqui proven in State Audit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdYeamS8PBU

State Audit Results under Janet Siddiqui’s leadership

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouaK40DuPEU

Janet Siddiqui spends our tax dollars in the wrong places

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnklEzt4_qo

In the opinion of this author, her track record demonstrates questionable judgement and an excessive degree of concern over what is best for the Siddiquis, not Howard County.  As said in campaign literature in support of Grover Cleveland’s presidential candidacy, “public office is a public trust.”  Based on her performance, Dr. Siddiqui has not earned our trust, and she should not be elected to a public office such as the County Council.

Stay tuned, as more will follow…

HoCo Council Districts 3 and 4 – But What About Bitcoin Contributions?

I once attended a forum where a senior advisor to a cash-strapped presidential candidate attempted to make the argument that having more money, for a campaign, was worse than having less money as the value of the individual dollar was greater when there is less money (based on scarcity of resources).  The good news is that the architecture of the hall was conducive to forming a wave of laughter that swept him off the stage.

Back to local news.

Upon reviewing the latest campaign finance data, there is nothing about the cash hauls in District 3 that compels me to say, X has the nomination sewn up.  Two candidates currently lead the money field, Jennings and Rigby, while the other two, Hunt and Hadgu, each pulled in decent sums.   It’s what one does with the money that matters.  How good is their targeting?  Are they employing the right messaging?  How compelling will their direct mail be?  How are their door-to-door efforts proceeding?  Are their volunteers hyper-motivated?  Who is using social media most effectively as a voter engagement platform? These, and others, are questions of critical importance in local elections where most turnout models point toward “low.”  Not to mention that another candidate (or two) could conceivably jump into the fray, which could shake up the equation and lead each campaign to revisit and possibly revise their positioning/strategy.  Granted, I believe that these four will constitute the top four finishers in the D primary, regardless of who else might toss in their chapeau.  In which order will they finish? I have some ideas. I might share them later.

D4: my home district.  There is talk of some malefactor of middling wealth who might jump in.  Let’s put aside this speculation on whether a minion of Big Gas might run.  We need to focus on the whole campaign, as it stands now.  Oh, and sorry Ian, you don’t make the cut.

Jung has a modest war chest, but Fikes is a serious contender who has just gotten started.  There is no “favorite” in this race (from an Establishment perspective, although this author does not pretend to be part of said Establishment).  Jung has a good profile for the office she seeks, but Fikes does as well and is more closely aligned with recent education issues, which is the number one topic in Howard County. See the questions I raised regarding D3?  They also apply to D4.  And rest assured, dear Reader, my preferred candidate will emerge as the Democratic nominee in the Fourth District. 

In solidarity.

Pocketbook Abattoir

Quick thoughts on the fundraising numbers. 

Normally, the release of the campaign finance data results in a couple of candidates pondering how to exit the room most gracefully.  This time around, it is challenging to see who is in clear mortal peril.  Let’s start at the top and focus on surprises:

Governor’s Race: Baker and Kamenetz both clear $1.0M raised in the reporting period (2017), but the latter leads the former in the critically important Cash on Hand category by a sizable margin ($2.0M to $696K.  Note – all figures are from my hand-scrawled notes. Second note – loans are important to acknowledge as distinguishing between financial backing expressed through contributions vs. self-financing is one, albeit just one, indicator of “public” support.  However, money spends like money so I am not breaking out loan data here.

So Shea has $1.3M Cash on Hand. Big deal.  Show me his constituency.  He – like Ross – will probably have to rely on a “well, if we finish in second place everywhere, we have a shot at this” strategy.  Between the two, I think Ross is better situated to execute such a maneuver, and even then, he is unlikely to pull it off.  Unless Shea starts distinguishing himself on Issues (yes, I will get to Madaleno soon), I don’t know where his campaign goes.  Just another well-funded vanity exercise?  Possibly. An audition for the LG slot?  Perhaps.

Jealous pulled in $1.25M in 2017, more than Baker and Kamenetz, it should be noted.  But he started from $0 and he had a relatively high burn rate, so he is showing just shy of $400K.  His union and progressive support and ability to garner paid media attention still make him a serious force.  He needs to consolidate the left though (fine, Rich, give me one second).

Sen. Madaleno strikes me as similar to a thoughtful, left-of-center Michigan politico named Lynn Jondahl.   Jondahl was a respected figure in Michigan politics for decades, a long-time member of the state House of Representatives (a Delegate in Maryland verbiage).  He ran for Governor in 1994 and he finished 4^th in the Democratic primary with around 10% of the vote.  Madaleno has only $193K CoH, but I anticipate he will continue to make some noise in Annapolis through policy proposals (like the $15 minimum wage bill he is introducing with Delegate Hettleman).  Probably just visible enough to appeal to good-government, media and policy-attentive progressives.  Can he build a constituency large enough to capture a plurality in Montgomery County? Maybe.  Could he finish in the top 3 in neighboring Howard County? Conceivably.  This author – who has not yet selected a favorite – believes that Madaleno would be a very good Governor, but I am not seeing an easy path to the Democratic nomination for the Senator.

Krish Vignarajah, whose website can be found here: http://krishformaryland.com/, had a better than expected showing.  I fell asleep before her numbers were posted. I woke up expecting her to have a CoH figure around Madaleno’s and definitely south of Jealous.  $405 CoH, with a very frugal burn rate (only $25K in expenditures compared to $431K raised) is not bad at all.  With these numbers, her campaign clears the threshold of “serious.” In a low turnout primary, a woman who is a policy wonk with sufficient money in the bank can be well-positioned to make a move…particularly going into the televised debate season and especially if folks like Baker and Kamenetz start going after each other.  Can Vignarajah pull off a Feingold ’92?  I don’t see why she couldn’t.  

I will focus on other state and local races shortly.  Back to work.

In solidarity.