Listen 5 min
Share
Comment on this story Comment
Prince George’s County Council members on Tuesday said they’d reconsider legislation to codify the ability of the body’s first pregnant representative to participate in meetings virtually, an apparent course change after a rejection of the measure prompted forceful criticism from other elected officials, labor rights groups and county residents.
Fast, informative and written just for locals. Get The 7 DMV newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning. ArrowRight
“In the spirit of compromise and knowing this division is not something the county needs right now, we will support the resolution with amendments with the hopes that we can all work together without vilifying each other publicly,” member Ingrid Watson said during a council meeting after a dynamic show of opposition outside of the Wayne K. Curry administration building in Largo.
The bloc opposed to the bill had on Monday cast the effort as an unnecessary expansion of existing rules that already allow for virtual meeting participation in limited circumstances. But to unions, liberal organizations such as Progressive Maryland and other supporters of Krystal Oriadha, District 7, the group’s opposition marked a nakedly political and deeply personal strike against a vocal member of the Democratic body’s more-liberal majority.
Advertisement
Oriadha said a vote by the group last week and ensuing statement Monday showed a lack of concern about maternal health, her health and the health of her unborn child.
“The time in which they said a woman like me should give birth in a field and go back to pick cotton is over,” Oriadha said during Tuesday’s council meeting. “We are gonna do better, and we’re gonna demand better as a community — period.”
Watson (District 4), Sydney Harrison (District 9), Wanika Fisher (District 2), and at-large members Calvin Hawkins and Mel Franklin last week voted down a resolution that would permit council members to virtually vote if they are experiencing illness, parental leave or “a significant or unexpected factor or event” outside of the council member’s control. While the pandemic upended expectations about virtual participation, resulting in legal challenges, many localities, such as neighboring Montgomery, allow for it in certain circumstances.
Advertisement
Oriadha said in an interview that she had been advocating for the legislation since the early stages of her pregnancy when she was trying to understand rules around parental leave as the first pregnant person to serve on the council.
She recalled hearing murmurs that some other members would not favor the resolution but had maintained hope that they would see the measure’s merits and not reduce the bill to a personal issue.
“This is about the ability for any woman in this position to have the ability to still vote and do what she needs to do for her own health,” Oriadha said. “When we advocated for this policy change, we could have just said only for parental and maternity leave, but we also tried to do a holistic approach that said any council member that’s dealing with the illness or illness of a family member to make reasonable accommodations around health in general because we saw how many council members were affected by different things and [who] forfeited their right to vote.”
Advertisement
At the meeting last week, Hawkins accused Oriadha of making herself “the victim” and said his vote was against how the majority members of the council have operated.
Share this article Share
“You all since December have made it a council of six,” Hawkins said, referring to the liberal majority of the 11-member board.
Oriadha has been at the forefront of many left-leaning bills in the county such as rent stabilization and universal basic income, delivering an unfiltered, activist perspective on policies that has at times rankled her more moderate colleagues.
Council member Edward Burroughs III (District 8) and council chair Thomas Dernoga (District 1) both said in a news conference Tuesday in support of Oriadha that their colleagues who voted against the resolution could’ve possibly benefited from it.
“This was an intentional, deliberate attempt to disenfranchise the [120,000] voters in District 7, by taking away access to voting from council member Oriadha in Prince George’s County,” Burroughs said at the news conference. “Deliberately denying someone access to vote because you’re afraid of the outcome of the vote sounds a whole lot like Trump tactics.”
Advertisement
In a statement to The Washington Post, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D) said that modern times offer “capabilities and technology to enable secure access to virtual voting.”
“That said,” she added, “it is the job of the County Council to establish the most effective policies and procedures to guarantee that they are able to provide active and equitable representation for the residents they serve.”
Dernoga told the crowd on Tuesday that the resolution was an “innocuous change” to the rules because the council had placed itself in a position of conducting hybrid and virtual meetings for which it didn’t have authority, he said.
“This is not a rule change about being pregnant,” Dernoga said. “This is a rule change about having medical and family issues that require you to do something else and make it accessible.”
Advertisement
Present on Oriadha’s behalf was Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy, who said she wished she didn’t have to speak on the issue but circumstances compelled her.
Braveboy mentioned the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which requires employers to provide employees with reasonable accommodations to the worker’s known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, as an example of the need for reasonable accommodations.
“[Oriadha is] employed by her constituents and if she can represent her constituents, if she can still be a voice for her constituents while ensuring that she is safe and her child is safe, that’s the best of both worlds and that’s the world that we live in today,” Braveboy said. “That’s what covid taught us. Covid taught us that we can do things differently and still be effective. Krystal can still be effective from home.”
Share
Comments
More coverage of Maryland
HAND CURATED
She cherished the home where her family fled slavery. Then a stranger bought it.
August 5, 2023
She cherished the home where her family fled slavery. Then a stranger bought it.
August 5, 2023
Late at night on a deserted beach, she found a 15 million-year-old fossil
August 27, 2023
Late at night on a deserted beach, she found a 15 million-year-old fossil
August 27, 2023
Many teachers said a principal sexually harassed them. He was promoted.
August 11, 2023
Many teachers said a principal sexually harassed them. He was promoted.
August 11, 2023
View 3 more stories
Loading...
View more