| County Forum Incites Citizens’ Anger |
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| Prince George's County Archive | |||
| By Carla Peay - WI Staff Writer | |||
| Thursday, October 22, 2009 | |||
 County resident Jacques Chevalier joined more than 70 community members in sharing his concerns to Prince George’s County elected officials. Photo by Maurice G. Fitzgerald “The corruption and the cronyism needs to stop. I don’t need to call out any names; they know who they are,” Chevalier said. Chevalier was one of several hundred Prince George’s County residents who attended a forum at the First Baptist Church of Glenarden Thu., Oct. 15. The forum was the first of its kind, as local and state officials sat on a stage, and residents came to a microphone one by one to express their concerns about the future of the County. “We need stronger participation from people who live in this County, and people need to say what’s on their minds. We can’t be afraid if we care about our families,” Chevalier said. As for the shoes, Chevalier said the gesture was intended to show disrespect for the elected officials seated on the stage. “They show so much disrespect to us, so I wanted to show them the same disrespect that was shown to [former president George W.] Bush,” Chevalier said. The disgruntled County resident was referring to a press conference held in December of 2008 in Baghdad, when Iraqi journalist Al-Zaidi threw two shoes at Bush, a gesture considered an insult in the Muslim culture. On the stage were state’s attorney Glenn Ivey; Del. Marvin Holmes (D- Dist. 23B); Del. Michael Vaughn (D- Dist 24); Del. Melody Griffith (D- Dist 25); county executive Jack Johnson; Sen. Douglass J.J. Peters (D- Dist. 23); Sen. C. Anthony Muse (D- Dist 26); councilmember Tom Dernoga (D-Dist 1); and sheriff Michael Jackson. Residents signed up to speak prior to the forum, which was moderated by WKYS radio personality Shelia Stewart. Some of the topics included education, transportation, public safety, health care, housing and economic development. Another resident who spoke during the forum was Lenore Coleman of Bowie, Md. She expressed concerns about the education her 18-year-old son Akeem Coleman has been receiving in the County school system. “They have this one-size-fits-all education system. The classrooms are too big and they teach to the lowest level,” Coleman said. “The educational system in this county is broken, and needs to be fixed. Seventy percent of the students in this county are not going to college, and they need to be taught how to make a living,” said Coleman, who suggested that technical schools be housed inside high schools. “They have to walk out of school with a skill. We have too many kids who can barely write and speak. We have teachers who are teaching from the same lesson plans they had 10 years ago,” Coleman said. The forum lasted for more than three hours, and the last person to approach the microphone asked the panel what they intended to do about the concerns expressed by the audience, which Griffith answered. “This forum is being recorded, and the information gathered here will be responded to. We will compile our findings into a written document which will be available on the Web,” Griffith said. No details were provided as to how soon the documents would be available. State Sen. David Harrington (D- Dist. 47) called the forum “helpful.” “There is never enough time for everyone to express every concern they have. But we will have other forums of this kind. People brought up some very important issues, and we will keep people informed as to our progress on those issues,” Harrington said. Johnson also took a moment to respond to the comments made by Chevalier that alluded to the corruption of elected officials. “All of us serve this county and this state honorably. All of us serve this county at great personal sacrifice,” Johnson said. “Public integrity is at the heart of everything we do.” A second County forum is tentatively scheduled for the first week of November.
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