Justin Towles Fundraiser

It was a heck of a weekend. Delegate Sophocleus had a big fundraiser on Friday, Candidate Judd Legum had a meet-n-greet early Saturday and Justin Towles had a his kick-off event late Saturday. Molly's Mission, a non-profit to help the Anne Arundel County NICU unit, had a fundraiser Sunday. *Whew*

I'm excited to see young Democrats getting involved in politics and it's a great pleasure to be running with Justin Towles in District 31. He had a great turnout at the Riviera Beach Fire Hall and excellent roast beef.

He has great energy which is hard to keep up with! And his message to the crowd echoed with what I have been hearing: Pasadena does not want extremists. Our current delegates campaigned on the promise of moderation and have brought us extremism instead.

Protect the Future from Extremists. Vote Chiappelli in 2010!

Police Northern District

I had the opportunity to attend the Anne Arundel County Northern Police District Community meeting on November 4th. (I also have to confess that I'm not sure what the proper name for the group is!)

You learn more by listening. And I wanted to learn what's going on at the community level in regards to crime.

The media portrays certain neighborhoods as having serious crimes every day. It was nice to learn that serious crimes are not as common as the media suggests. It was also good to meet with the police officers and see that they really care about preventing crimes and catching the criminals. Last months meeting was apparently much larger and more involved. Gangs are becoming a larger problem in the area.

I asked one of the police officers what they need from the state legislators and his response, without a pause, was legislation to deal with gangs.

And that, my friends, is legislation that I would proudly sponsor.

Quick Position Points

On the reverse side of my campaign cards I have a short checklist of some of my positions. This list is by no means exhaustive. I hope that it gives people some idea of who I am and what I stand for. Several people have asked me to elaborate on some of these points so please find my short comments:

• Clean water: We have excellent laws in place, it's now a matter of enforcing those laws. Single large polluters dumping gallons of waste into our lakes and streams are on notice. The problem is increasingly the thousands and thousands of little polluters. I would like to work on creating incentives to reduce run-off pollution without treating average people like criminals.
• Clean Air: We have made tremendous strides in reducing large industrial-style air pollution. Again, the problem is increasingly thousands of small problems. It's not sexy, it's not flashy, but the best solution is to increase energy efficiency.
• A Clean Chesapeake Bay: Cleaning our air and water will result in a cleaner Chesapeake Bay. Senator Cardin's new bill will bring a lot of attention and money to bear on the problem. At the state level, it's a matter of creating incentives to use the Bay wisely and in a sustainable matter.
• Lower Taxes: This is on top of the lists of concerns for most people. I want to shift the tax burden away from "good" things like income and property and onto "bad" things like embalming and pollution. For the average citizen, I believe that this will result in lower taxes.
• Corruption-free government: One of the best things about the United States that makes us the envy of the world is that our government is relatively free from corruption. However, that can easily change overnight. My vote cannot be bought.
• The Government out of your bedroom: Some conservative extremists keep making noises about regulating what goes on in the bedrooms of consenting adults. That's not the government's business.
• Safe Schools: Let's keep dangerous people out of our schools whether they are students or adults. Let's make sure that the school buildings themselves are in good repair.
• The Right to bear arms: It's pretty self-evident. As long as the guns are kept in a safe and secure manner and nobody is being hurt, you have the right to bear arms.
• Criminals to be punished: This is probably my most controversial position. I don't like spending my tax dollars on housing criminals. I would rather give the Justice system new tools to get the job done.
• Graffiti-free neighborhoods: It may be a pet-peeve of mine, but I believe that it is shared. I don't like graffiti and I think we need to empower the police and the people to prosecute vandals with harsher punishments. A Graffiti-free neighborhood sends the message that crime is not tolerated there.
• The Right to free-speech: Again, it's pretty self-evident. Free-speech is messy and you will hear a lot of things that you don't like, but that is the essence of a free nation. Government should not be stifling any voices.

Pasadena Parade 2009

It was a dreary and rainy morning as we prepared our float for the Pasadena Parade. We told most of our volunteers with young children to stay home rather than get their children sick. We scrambled to rig a tarp over the float to stay dry.

And then....

At 2pm when the parade began, the sun came out, the rain stopped and it turned into a gorgeous day.

The Citizens for Jeremiah Chiappelli walked in the Pasadena Parade from Tick Neck Park to George Fox Middle School. Lots of people came out to watch the parade. Lots of groups walked in the parade. All three of the incumbent delegates were present. All three of the Democratic challengers were present. Yes, Justin Towles is jumping into the race and he makes three.

I had a great time shaking hands and meeting the people along the way. The people were very supportive. The kids were supportive too, but I think they were more interested in the candy.

The best part of the parade was my wife riding a segway dressed as a superhero. Protect the Future. You don't have to be a super-hero, but it helps.