Dear David,

With the current rumors circulating about what’s happening in District 47, I think
it’s important for me to put this is writing, especially as there can be long-term
consequences to outcomes and relationships between politicians and the various
unions that work together in our County.

Our son, Julian Ivey, is a candidate for delegate in District 47. According to the
laws of the United States of America and Maryland, he is qualified to run for the
office. This is a democracy, and the voters decide who they want to represent
their interests.

A year ago, when Julian ran for Cheverly Town Council, his opponent told all
who would listen that Julian was too young, had no experience and should not
win the seat. All the former, living mayors, as well as the past representatives
from that ward (all white) campaigned against Julian. Julian knocked on doors
and won over the skeptics. He wouldn’t let his dad and me help him at all until
the very last couple of days, when he let us help with the final GOTV efforts. In
the end, he won by a landslide and became the first African American to
represent Ward 2 in Cheverly.

As a Councilman, Julian has had a number of successes. He sponsored and

passed legislation to make Cheverly a Sanctuary City. He spearheaded the
addition of an economic development position in the town. He has led a public
conversation on race relations, focused on how white people can be allies to
black and brown residents. He rallied the Council to address issues around
policing and law enforcement in the town, which was long overdue.

When Julian decided to run for delegate, I tried to talk him out of it. I was
running for County Council District 5, and I knew having two races going at the
same time would be stressful. Julian proved his work ethic to us, once again,
and won our support. He has run a positive campaign, and has knocked on
thousands of doors. Voters, once again, are warming to him.

Jimmy Tarlau has made his displeasure abundantly clear. As soon as Julian
informed him and Diana Fennell that he was running for a seat in 47A, Jimmy
started what I would characterize as an extremely un-Progressive, un-
Democratic campaign. (Diana Fennell has not said anything negative that we are
aware of, and I wish her nothing but the best!) Jimmy started by calling Ben
Jealous and Donna Edwards (the former Congresswoman) to ask them to call
Julian (Ben) and me and Glenn (Donna) and try to get Julian out of the
race. Ben, indeed, reached out to Julian with just that request, and offered him a
position on his campaign. He explained that Jimmy would give him significant
financial help with his campaign, if Julian were not running. Julian was extremely
disappointed in Ben, since Ben Jealous was once the head of the NAACP, and
he was asking a young black man to step back in deference to an older white
man – in a district that is overwhelmingly African American. Julian told Ben that
he was going to stay in the race. Donna Edwards told Jimmy that people had
told her not to run, and that she was never going to tell anyone that they
shouldn’t run for office. She advised Jimmy to run his campaign and stop
focusing on getting Julian out of the race.

Jimmy then reached out to his supporters and told them they shouldn’t vote for
Julian. That he was “unqualified and was just an entitled kid who was running on
his parents’ name.” He even shared this message, while door
knocking. Naturally people called to tell us what was going on, and I became
angry. Once Jimmy realized that his negative campaigning was getting back to
us, he seemed to have a change of heart.

Jimmy stopped me after a community meeting, a couple of months ago, and

apologized for his behavior. He explained that he just didn’t know how to run, in
this circumstance, but that he knew it was wrong to talk about Julian as he had
been, and that he would stop. I told him to tell people the good things he’d done,
and his plans for the future, and to simply not say Julian’s name. That Julian
never brought him (or Diana) up, and that he should do the same. (I’d like to
note that Julian, who is supposed to be the immature one has behaved with the
utmost maturity, and the candidate who is about to turn 70 was behaving like a
spoiled child.)

Before much time had passed, I started getting the same reports.
Jimmy went into my hair salon, which is on 34th Street in Mt Rainier, and
pointed to Julian’s sign in the window and asked if they even knew Julian? I don’t
have to tell you that a black hair salon is not the place for Jimmy to campaign
against a young black man. They called me right away to tell me what had
happened. Jimmy also spoke at Diana Fennell’s fundraiser, and told the crowd
that a young guy was running against them who didn’t have any experience, etc,
etc.

At this point, I can no longer count on Jimmy to run a clean campaign. I have
made it clear to all that he is the one who should lose. And now Jimmy is calling
everyone in the labor movement to tell them that I am being mean to him and
Diana. First of all, just writing those words makes it sound as if he is 4 years
old. And second of all, I am clear that Diana Fennell has been nothing but
positive in her campaigning. She has been clear that she’s running as a team
with Jimmy, but I have not gotten a single report that she has disparaged
Julian. In return, I say only good things about her. Had Jimmy kept his word, I
would have continued to tell people that you can vote for two people, and please
make one of them Julian.

All of this has had an effect on my campaign for County Council District 5. I am
disappointed that my years of support for the labor movement – including
sponsoring the Millionaire’s Tax bill, with union member Donna Edwards at my
side – has not led to full-throated support of my candidacy. I have been a
successful partner in Annapolis, and as Chair of the Delegation, led the fight to
correct the net-taxable income part of the funding formula for our public schools,
which has brought in 10’s of millions of dollars in education funding that we were
entitled to, but were not getting. Next year’s estimate is $29 million — $90 million
since 2013.

I am effective, I am loyal, and I’m going to win. I’d rather win with the support
of the AFL-CIO, which would build on the foundation we’ve had for years. But no
matter what, I want it to be clear that at a time in our country’s history that young,
white students in Florida are praised for their advocacy and impact, we should
not tear down a young, black man in our own community who is only trying to do
positive things. And we certainly shouldn’t allow an old, white man to poison the
well in a district that is overwhelmingly black.

Sincerely,
Jolene Ivey