This article was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partners at Maryland Matters. Sign up for Maryland Matters’ free email subscription today.
Acting Prince George’s County Executive Tara H. Jackson appeared to be out of a job with the election this month of State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy to fill out the remaining 18 months of the county executive term that Jackson has been caretaker of since December.
But it turns out, to paraphrase the old expression about doors, when one job closes, another job opens.
The Maryland Judiciary announced in an email Monday night that the county’s circuit court judges have selected Jackson to serve as acting state’s attorney, filling out the remaining 18 months in Braveboy’s term as the county’s prosecutor.
Jackson had been serving as the county’s chief administrative officer when then-County Executive Angela Alsobrooks was elected last fall to an open seat in the U.S. Senate. The county charter says that in the event of a vacancy in the executive’s office, the job is to be filled on an interim basis by the chief administrative officer, the No. 2 official in the county.
Jackson immediately said she was not interested in running for the position permanently. But a return to her old job appeared to have been be foreclosed by Braveboy’s announcement, less than a day after the election, that Maxene Bardwell, an administrator in Montgomery County, would serve as chief administrative officer in a Braveboy administration.
County Councilmember Wanika Fisher had indicated an interest in pursuing the interim appointment as state’s attorney, but released a statement Monday morning saying she would not seek the temporary job. Fisher said she will run for state’s attorney in 2026.
Fisher cited the cost of a special election to fill her District 2 council seat if she moved into the state’s attorney job now. She estimated such a race could cost $500,000 to $800,000.
“In recent years, Prince George’s has experienced a significant number of special elections. These elections come at a considerable cost to taxpayers and often occur with limited voter engagement,” she said in her statement “That’s not something I believe serves the public well at this time.”
Special elections are over — it’s official
The Prince George’s County Board of Elections officially declared Braveboy the winner of the county executive race and Shayla Adams-Stafford the winner of the special election for the District 5 County Council seat that was held on the same day.
Certification of the two June 4 votes brings to a close almost a year of special elections for county government seats that began last year with the conviction of Jamel “Mel” Franklin, a former at-large council member, for a theft scheme relating to his campaign accounts.
Official results released Friday showed Braveboy and Adams-Stafford, both Democrats, with overwhelming margins of victory in the heavily Democratic county.
Braveboy received 82,062 votes, or 91.2% of the vote to 7,185 votes, or 8% for Republican challenger Jonathan White. Adams-Stafford, a former county school board member, got 8,091 votes to 559 votes for Republican Fred Price Jr., a margin of 92.8% to 6.4% in the race for race to fill the District 5 seat left vacant by the election of Jolene Ivey to fill Franklin’s at-large seat.
Braveboy, who’s scheduled to be sworn in at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center at the University of Maryland, College Park, will not have much time to savor the win. In addition to naming Bardwell, she named Shawn Joseph as interim superintendent for the county’s public schools on Friday, to replace current Superintendent Millard House II. House, who was pushed out after a vote of no confidence by the county teachers union, will leave on Wednesday.
And Braveboy may also need to seek a new county police chief, after news broke that Malik Aziz is a finalist for the same position in Phoenix. She said Friday, when introducing Joseph, that she would like to look within the department for a replacement if Aziz leaves.
“We have one of the best, most professional police departments in the country,” she said. “I want every man, woman who serves on our department to know that they are being seen, their experience is valued, and they have an opportunity to rise to the top ranks of their department.”
Director named for new Tenant and Landlord Affairs office
Alyce Thompson, a former attorney with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, will lead a new state office to help renters navigate their rights as tenants in disputes with landlords, Maryland housing officials announced Monday.
The Department of Housing and Community Development said Thompson will serve as the first director of the Office of Tenant and Landlord Affairs, created from 2024 legislation as part of Gov. Wes Moore’s (D) package of housing bills that year.
Need to get in touch?
“Making sure tenants and landlords alike are well informed about their rights and responsibilities … will go a long way towards helping families maintain stable housing, in turn strengthening communities across Maryland,” Thompson said in a written statement.
“I’m excited to be here at the inception of the Office of Tenant and Landlord Affairs to work with partners across the state to achieve this vision for Maryland’s future,” her statement said.
A native of Decatur, Georgia, Thompson received her law degree and a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Michigan, according to a Monday statement from the state housing agency.
Thompson served 12 years with HUD where she “she supervised a team of attorneys who advised housing and community development grant programs that funded states, local governments, tribes, and nonprofit organizations,” the announcement said. There, she also played a part in launching programs such as a housing program for Native American veterans experiencing homelessness.
‘Bill of Rights’ come to tenants
Maryland housing officials also announced the first Tenant’s Bill of Rights Monday, which was also part of the 2024 housing legislation package.
Starting July 1, landlords will be required to provide renters a list of their rights as tenants when they agree to residential leases, as part of the Renters Rights and Stabilization Act of 2024.
That law prompts the Office of Tenant and Landlord Affairs to create and publish a Tenants’ Bill of Rights that summarizes existing rights and remedies available to renters under Maryland and federal law. Landlords are to include a copy of the Tenants’ Bill of Rights each residential lease agreement. The Bill of Rights will be updated annually to keep up with changes in state and federal law.
“I’m proud that Maryland is the first state in the nation to create and require such a lease attachment,” Housing Secretary Jake Day said in a written statement. “While we work to tackle Maryland’s housing shortage, we still need to protect vulnerable tenants in a challenging rental market.”
