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Three candidates for Laurel’s District 1 outline priorities at forum
Summary
At a 90-minute forum in Laurel, three candidates for the open District 1 Prince George’s County Council seat emphasized schools, taxes and business development. The forum was organized by the Laurel Independent; the Democratic primary is June 23 and early voting runs June 11–18.
Three candidates for the open District 1 seat on the Prince George’s County Council outlined their top priorities during a 90-minute candidate forum last month at the Laurel Boys and Girls Club.
Taylor Thomas, reporting for Laurel TV, said the forum was organized and moderated by the Laurel Independent and drew a full house. The seat is being vacated by longtime politician Tom Dornoga because of term limits.
One participant (identified in the transcript as Candidate (speaker 2)) said education would be the top priority if elected, arguing parents face a lottery to enroll children and that some families move out of the county because of school quality. "Well, definitely schools," the candidate said, adding: "I hear a lot of parents saying they have to go through a lottery system to put their kids through school." The same speaker also called for "fair taxes," criticizing what the speaker described as ongoing county spending that they said falls on longtime residents.
A second participant (identified in the transcript as Candidate (speaker 3)) praised Laurel’s economic growth and Main Street business development and said the county council should try to replicate that model countywide. "The city of Laurel has been wonderful in their economic growth and business development," the speaker said, adding that Main Street has "flourished" and that those approaches could be taken to other parts of Prince George's County.
A third participant (identified in the transcript as Candidate (speaker 4)) focused on property taxes and support for small and minority-owned businesses. That speaker said they would work to grow the commercial tax base and voiced support for collective bargaining rights for workers, saying that mindset should be taken to the county level.
Taylor Thomas reminded voters that the Democratic primary is June 23 and that early voting runs from June 11 to June 18. Thomas also noted, as reported in the forum, that if any of the Democratic candidates win in November, the victor would represent a historic first for Laurel as either its first Latina, first Afro Caribbean or first immigrant in that seat (language taken from the transcript).
The forum offered a brief window into how the candidates are framing priorities for the District 1 contest ahead of the primary.
