I attended my first county council meeting tonight. Many Asian Americans who read my blog attended tonight’s meeting because of the CB-9 “Sanctuary Howard” bill. Some of them are supporting the bill and most of them are opposing it.
I am really surprised how the county council meeting is running, which is quite different from Columbia Association’s board meeting. Their agenda is extremely simple and there are no supporting document at all.
So my impression is how a bill is generally handled (like “Sanctuary Howard”):
- one or several county council members write a bill and introduce it in the first meeting.
- In the second meeting ( two weeks later), they allow public testimony.
- In the third meeting( two weeks later), they vote.
The first picture is always shown on Baltimore Sun whenever they report the county government affairs.
The second picture is to honor Atholton High School volleyball team who just won the first state title in 23 years. What an achievement.
Chou, I am at the Council Hearing listening to the testimony for and against CB9. I am honestly very surprised at how many Chinese immigrants are here wearing the red “no” to CB9 shirts. Can you please help me understand their point of view? This is very disheartening for me to see.
Laura
Sent from my iPhone
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I believe you are just not able to see the research and preparation that go on before any member introduces a bill. In addition, the council has working sessions that are open to the public, although not to public comment, where discussions are more in depth.