Published on: Wednesday, August 11, 2010

By Michelle J. Nealy

Sparks flew when the five candidates for county executive posed questions to each other during a recent candidate forum.

During the forum hosted by the Prince George’s County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People each candidate took the rare opportunity to ask another candidate one question.

More than 200 people — many already affiliated with a campaign — listened as candidates probed each other, cheering and jeering as they saw fit.

The event, held at Queen Anne Theater at Prince George’s Community College in Largo, was the first of a series of political forums hosted by the local NAACP chapter. The organization will host a second debate with candidates for state senators and delegates Aug. 11.

Recent polls indicate Sheriff Michael A. Jackson and former State Delegate Rushern Baker are the race’s front runners.

After acknowledging the recent endorsement of Baker by The Washington Post, Jackson said, “The NAACP is an organization where people died for the right to vote. How do we know you aren’t once again going to take the opportunity again to take away their right to vote?”

Jackson’s question referred to an instance when Baker, as a state delegate, temporarily eliminated the county’s elected school board.

Baker replied by saying, “The greatest justice the (NAACP) fought for was not only the right to vote, but the right for our children to have a quality education. In a county as rich and as diverse as this one, for us to stand by and have a school system that is second from the bottom and to do nothing is appalling.”

Henry Turner, chairman of the Prince George’s County Inaugural Commission for Veterans, sent a frenetic charge through the theater when he told Del. Gerron Levi of Bowie: “You’re not a mother or a parent ... What makes you think you understand our children and what they need to successfully graduate from high school?”

Levi replied, “The fact is that 63 cents on every dollar of my tax dollars also goes to fund education in this county. We all have an interest in education, not just parents. It is mean and short-sighted to suggest that those who are not parents of children in schools don’t have an interest in the overall economy of Prince George’s county.”

County Councilman Samuel Dean of Mitchellville posed the following question to Turner: “You have wrapped yourself in the American flag because you’re a West Pointer and what have you. You keep saying that you have been involved in overseeing a budget of $2 (or) $4 billion budget. Have you ever balanced a budget? Have you ever proposed a budget and in addition to that... how do you translate that experience into being qualified to be the next county executive?”

The two-minute response time limit elapsed as Turner explained, “I spent 12 years in the Army as acquisition program manager. The Army transformation effort began with the Striker Brigade, which is a program that I put together—a $4.5 billion program that was put together from concept to budget. I brought in over 75 different colonels that came in and laid out the requirements for that program.”

None of the candidates asked a question of Jackson.

The forum ended on an energetic note as audience members applauded the rare display raw emotion.

The county’s primary election is scheduled for Sept. 14.