She has been making the rounds in Howard County, speaking to both large and small groups, granting interviews and doing all of the things other candidates do.
Voters are beginning to listen to her message and her vision for the public school system in the County.
Recently, Mauvorene Robinson met with a small group of people at the East Columbia Library where she spent a few hours answering questions about why she is running to become a Howard County School Board member.
Of course, voters can find her positions on issues on her website. But what stands out more is what she says and how she states her case in public.
At the small gathering and also at a forum in April at the Miller Library in Ellicott City she made a strong case for focusing on all children in the system—not just the brightest or the neediest.
She asks the questions, “How can we get the kids in the middle to succeed?”
She openly refers to Dr. Michael Martirano’s Strategic Technology Plan as not strategic and not a plan.
She asks, “What’s the plan and how is it being used?”
“It’s not a strategic plan” and it lacks funds, said Robinson.
Robinson worked as a parent volunteer on the HCPSS Operating Budget Review Committee along with Barb Krupiarz, a Howard County parent and fellow committee member.
Krupiarz, a supporter, said, “[Robinson] can talk to us without emotion and help get things done.”
Robinson, who conveys confidence in her bid for the school board seat said, “I can’t imagine that I would have said this ten years ago, but I’m it.”
When asked by Marci Isaacs, a County resident, how she plans to build consensus on the Board, Robinson said that she would not compromise as would a politician. “If I do that, I lose sight of the real goal.” Robinson said, “My goal is not to be a cheerleader, but rather to be the voice of reason.”
She laid out her strategy for taking sound ideas and clearly communicating to others why a particular plan is the best option.
Her strategy is in line with Krupiarz statement that Robinson leaves out the emotional component of ideas and simply speaks to the facts.
Robinson said, “I don’t have a political machine behind me…and I am not going to sell myself to any special interest groups.” She said that she was invited to attend a developer’s group, but she declined the invitation.
Robinson believes that “ideology is pulling us apart more than bringing us together.” She wants to be part of a new discussion that makes education the primary objective.
Robinson said that she is not better than anybody else, but she acknowledges that divergent thought is often extreme and she tends to shy away from knee-jerk, quick-fix solutions. She said, “I want to bring the two extremes together.”
Harry Dunbar, Democratic candidate for County Executive, was seen in attendance at Robinson’s East Columbia Library Meet and Greet.
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