On July 19, 2022, The Rouse Project Failed. Again.

A little over a year ago, Howard Hughes Corporation bankrolled a dark-money campaign to take over the Columbia Association. The campaign, called “The Rouse Project” was led by former county executive Ken Ulman and Howard County’s longest serving Councilmember, Vernon Gray, who also happens to be the County’s first African American Councilmember.

With their help and many other community leaders, Howard Hughes Corporation recruited candidates for the CA Board. The Rouse Project’s stated goal was to increase the diversity of the CA Board.

It was not too long after this website published a series of articles on the previous shady deals orchestrated under Ken Ulman, while serving as County Executive, that it became clear the “diversity” angle was a cynical ploy to advance HHC’s corporate profit agenda.

The Rouse Project failed. Miserably.

Tens of thousands of dollars invested to highjack an HOA election, went down the toilet thanks to the voters.

Nevertheless, nobody expected HHC would be humbled and go away, because in the upcoming General Plan update and Comprehensive Zoning, Howard County developers stand to gain hundreds of millions of dollars in corporate subsidies, under the right circumstances.

What are these “right circumstances?”

The Rouse Project was merely a dress-rehearsal. The real prize is county council.

Accordingly, Howard Hughes Corporation, Ken Ulman, and Vernon Gray with the help of County Executive Calvin Ball helped recruit Neveen Kurtom in D1 and Janssen Evelyn in D4, to unseat the only councilmembers who have worked to improve accountability and transparency in county government.

Ms. Kurtom enjoyed the support of various Howard County Democratic Central Committee members and Democratic Clubs including elected officials. Nearly 70% of her campaign money came from developers, she had several community leaders including Vernon Gray and former Councilmember Jon Weinstein pushing her candidacy.

Ms. Kurtom’s willingness to put herself out there as a candidate is to be commended. However, she did not offer any clear vision except for the typical, insipid, canned talking points about inclusiveness and a brighter future.

The developers were running the show in her campaign.

Ultimately many of the local clubs did not even bother to endorse in D1 and it looked like the focus turned completely to D4 and Janssen Evelyn.

Many may not know that he had been waiting in the wings since 2019 employed by County Executive Ball’s administration in a role created especially for him.

Mr. Evelyn was also backed by Howard Hughes Corporation as evidenced by the presence of his large campaign signs on every available HHC easement around the County, specifically in D4.

In recent past, Mr. Evelyn was also backed by Howard Hughes Corporation in his campaign to be on the Hickory Ridge village board. While village board elections do not require any campaign finance disclosure, Hickory Ridge residents had reported receiving professionally-designed campaign literature from him in the village board race, similar to The Rouse Project.

Since 2019, it was clear that the establishment would leverage racial politics as a line of attack against Councilmembers Liz Walsh and Deb Jung. For nearly 3.5 years, establishment Democrats placed set-pieces or politically defining scenarios to allow them to frame the two councilmembers as racist, anti-affordable housing, and out of touch.

In December or 2019, when Councilmembers Liz Walsh and Deb Jung raised concerns about the prospect of Councilmember Opel Jones serving as Zoning Board Chair because he was not an attorney, he and others attempted to smear them as racist. In another instance, Councilmember Opel Jones falsely accused Councilmember Deb Jung of “silencing” him on WebEx during a charter amendment work-session. 

I expected the 2022 Primary Election to be about race and all the other political hot-button issues that the political establishment exploits. But I did not expect this line of attack to be as vicious and brazen as it became.

It is one thing to say, “ I am a black man, I am an immigrant, please vote for me.” After all, for much of this country’s history, a whites were elected simply by being white.

It is entirely another to smear your opponent as racist without any basis whatsoever, coordinate this smear with a political action committee and ask voters for their support.

Unfortunately, this was the messaging approach of Mr. Evelyn’s campaign, Howard Progressive Project PAC, certain members of The Rouse Project’s steering committee, the local and state president of NAACP, the president of the African American Community Roundtable, certain members of Howard County Democratic Central Committee, and certain community activists involved in People Acting Together in Howard (PATH).

In their desperation to unseat Deb Jung community leaders engaged in some of the most shameful and awful smear campaigns.

Mr. Evelyn’s campaign in collaboration with the Howard Progressive Project sent out thousands of mailers that made false allegations against Ms. Deb Jung – the incumbent councilmember in D4.

The local and state president of NAACP, and the president of the African American Community Roundtable, held a press-conference, which was attended by a stenographer from the Howard County Times, to initiate the smear against councilmember Deb Jung by alleging that she was racist. Without any basis whatsoever.

Certain members of Howard County Democratic Central Committee, with the help of certain community activists involved in People Acting Together in Howard (PATH) latched on the despicable allegations made at the press conference and continued to push the smear on social media.

During all these incredibly irresponsible actions, nobody on their side spoke up. People either stood on the sidelines and engaged in a whisper campaign of condemnation, stood silent, or participated in the smear.

WHERE WERE THE ADULTS?

Mr. Ken Ulman led this county for eight years, including through a painful mall shooting that rocked the community. No doubt he played a huge role in bringing the community together during that trying time. Yet, years later, he is participating in a despicable smear that rocked the council district he once led.

Mr. Vernon Gray is a pioneer in Howard County. The first black council member, who also happens to be the longest-serving. One would expect a man in his position to defend ferociously any attempt to exploit race for the benefit of a corporate agenda.

The NAACP is one of the oldest civil rights organizations. Instead of protecting the integrity of such a hallowed organization, the President of the State and Howard County NAACP Willie Flowers used the name of this organization to perpetrate this vicious smear to benefit a corporate agenda. A corporate agenda that preys on and dispossesses vulnerable communities.

The mission of the African American Community Roundtable, according to its website, is to improve the overall quality of life for African Americans throughout Howard County. It then begs the question, why did representatives of this organization participate in the press conference organized and led by the president of the local and state NAACP to lodge a political hit job against councilmember Deb Jung. How does this help the overall quality of life for African Americans throughout Howard County?

A system – whether it is an organization or a machine – unless it is designed with a failsafe mechanism runs the risk of irredeemable failure that not only destroys itself but also potentially destroys everything around it.

The political system in Howard County lacks this basic failsafe mechanism. Organizations lack the ability to rein in craven and irresponsible leaders and we lack the basic checks and balances including a responsible media to hold our elected officials accountable.

The Howard County Times failed county residents in general, and District 4 residents in particular by serving as a stenographer in the smear attempt and developing a framing in its article to create an opening for the despicable smear.

The only organization that unequivocally condemned this despicable exploitation of race and black pain in order to advance a developer agenda was the Progressive Democrats of Howard County.

Though Howard Hughes Corporation and other developers nearly succeeded in high-jacking the District 1 and District 4 elections for county council, Councilmembers Liz Walsh and Deb Jung have advanced to the General Election.

The Rouse Project failed again. But our county lacks the failsafe mechanism to protect us from a sustained system-wide failure.