Council Member: Race Will Be a Factor for Laurel Council Seat

This story originally ran May 19.

The lone African-American on the Laurel City Council says he will take race into consideration when he votes in June to fill a vacancy on the council that represents a population that is 65 percent minorities.

Calls for diversity on the city council have been mounting as demographic changes in the last two decades have shifted the population toward a so-called majority minority. Groups have urged the council to diversify its ranks to better represent all of Laurel. 

Fred Smalls, elected to the council in 2002, said he will examine race as well as other qualifications for any recommendations for filling the spot vacated by , who announced her resignation in April. The council will interview candidates tonight at the Laurel Municipal Center.

“I’ve talked to my colleagues, and I’ve talked to the mayor; we certainly want to see diversity on the council,” said Smalls, who represents Ward 2. “Getting anyone from the African-American or Hispanic community: Is that a concern? Absolutely it is.”

Forty-eight percent of Laurel’s population is African-American and minority groups make up about 65 percent of the city’s population, according to 2005-2009 census estimates.

All members of Laurel’s city council are white except Smalls.

So far, six people have submitted their names for consideration for the council spot, three of whom are non-white.

The candidates, all of whom reside in Ward 1, include labor organizer Samuel Epps, domestic abuse victim advocate Valerie Nicholas, and former city councilman H. Edward Ricks.

Washington, D.C., firefighter Brian Lee; John Kenyon, president of the Willow Oaks Homeowners Association; and personal financial counselor Peter O’Reilly have also submitted their names for consideration.

Members of Laurel’s black community are watching the appointment process closely.

“[The council] doesn’t reflect race at all--not even close,” said Adrian Rousseau, who plans to run for city council in the fall. “I believe that’s part of the problem, when you have no empathy for the community. I feel like that’s why we’re not getting represented.”

Rousseau, who unsuccessfully sued the city in 2009 in an effort to have an additional voting booth in Ward 2, a predominantly minority area, said he expects the council will select someone who already works within the city.

“I just hope and pray they do the right thing… not the white thing,” he said.

The NAACP is among the groups concerned about the lack of diversity on Laurel’s council.

“It does raise concerns for me that Laurel, a city that is 48 percent African-American, can only produce one African-American member of their city council,” said Hilary Shelton, NAACP’s senior vice president of policy and advocacy. “It does raise concerns about why it’s not more reflective of the population which it serves.”

Shelton said other cities have faced similar struggles.

He cited Biloxi, MS, which has one black council member on a board of seven, in a city made up of 18.3 percent African-American or black residents, according to census estimates.

Council president Michael R. Leszcz said he is most concerned with finding a qualified person for a demanding job that takes 400 to 500 hours a year.

“The criteria I have personally is getting the best person to fill this job for the vacancy we have June 1,” he said.

He defended the council, which, he pointed out, is composed of three women and two men.

“Ever since I’ve been here, there’s never been a major problem on the council that was not dealt with,” he said. He noted that no elected officials in Laurel have come under fire for ethics violations or needing “policemen to fix tickets.”

“That doesn’t go on in this town,” he said. “People are dedicated to doing the best they can for their fellow citizens.”

Laurel Mayor Craig Moe, who does not vote to appoint council members, said that voters are who counts in the council selection process.

“You have to give the voters their due,” he said. “I think they are a lot smarter than the elected officials give them. They are the ones who do the voting and put the individuals in. You have to get the message out and appeal to them.”

The appointed council member would be up for re-election in November.

Both Moe and Smalls noted that diversity is up among city employees. In 2009, 20.7 percent of Laurel’s workforce was African-American, up from 15.3 percent in 1999.

“We’ve seen other races working for the city, which is good,” Moe said. “It represents your city.  They are all quality people.  We’ve worked hard for that.”

In 1992, the city was 14 percent black, and Reginald Parks was its first minority council member, according to Joseph Robison, who was mayor of Laurel in 1992.

“There weren’t that many blacks in the city at the time,” Robison said.

The politically active white population in Prince George’s County, where part of Laurel is located, consists of residents who stayed behind during the white flight of the 1970s, said Jonathan England, a lecturer at the University of Maryland College Park, who teaches a class in racial politics in Prince George’s County.

The white flight occurred as blacks from Washington, D.C., moved into the county, he said.

Prince George’s County is known for its wealthy black population—it’s the wealthiest county in the nation with an African-American majority, according to a recent Capital News Service story.

England said that an aging white population can only maintain a power balance for so long.

“Who’s next? Have they mentored the younger whiter population? Where are the young white people to take it over—they’re gone,” he said. “The future for Laurel is going to be very interesting.”

Council members will interview the potential council replacement tonight at 7 p.m. at the Laurel Municipal Center, 8103 Sandy Spring Road. They are scheduled to vote to appoint the new member on Wednesday, June 1.